Freedom is Really Essential.

"Forgotten Victims": NARD 14 speech

Tue, 18 Jun 2024 00:00:00 UTC

On June 10, 2024, LIFE Chennai organised The National Animal Rights Day, a day to commemorate all the animals exploited and abused by humans. And here is the speech I gave.

My speech is about forgetting victims. Yes, forgetting. Not forgotten victims. Because when people talk about animal rights, be it animal abusers, or animal rights activists, they say so many things, which enables unnecessary bigotry, or even ignorance, sidelining the animals – the only victims in the whole system of carnism.

I have used various points which can open dialogues which brushes off animals. And as an animal rights activist, it is important for us, to not fall for that.

The thumbnail was photographed by Dhivakar and is licensed under CC BY 4.0

"We may bring Jallikattu as the next WWE": discussing Jallikattu at Chennai ComicCon

Sat, 24 Feb 2024 00:00:00 UTC

On February 18, 2024, PETA India held a campaign of "End Speciesism!" in Chennai ComicCon. Here is how the conversation with one of the audience went, about Jallikattu.

allikattu, the bull-taming sport, is often shielded from criticism because "it is culture", "it is traditional", "we don't kill the bull", "it is my identity" and what not.

But look at it from the bull's perspective. He needs to be tamed precisely because others were agitating him, forcing him to drink alcohol, twisting his tail, poking him with pointed objects, beating him among many things.

And when he is let "free", a group of people is ruining being that terrified bull, chasing him, only to catch hold of him to show how strong you are? While there is a huge crowd gathered to find amusement in bullying of that bull, having complete disregard for an innocent's exploitation.

If we were to swap your place with the bull, would you be willing to justify that?

And then, there is media who would be reporting about people who are hurt in the fest; but ignore the unwilling participant in this sport.

A lot many people claim it is part of the culture and far too many people would be in support of this sport. But it is also abusive to the bull. Once you can see from the victim's perspective, don't say "it is part of the culture" to cover up the apparent inability as an individual to put an end to Jallikattu. Saying that it is part of the tradition is only granting more power to the mob to continue this horrific sport, without facing scrutiny.

How do you suppose we weed out unjust parts of tradition when individuals, who understand this is barbaric, are unwilling to speak against it?

"We’ve Failed the Animals": NARD 15 speech

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 00:00:00 UTC

On June 1 (in Bangalore) and on June 8 in Chennai, we observed the National Animal Rights Day (NARD 15), where I spoke about how as a movement, we individuals as well as a collective group keep on failing the victims, and how we should stop aligning with the oppressors to fight against oppression.

Additionally, I was going to boycott the NARD 15 Chennai. You can read all about it here: Why I Almost Boycotted NARD 15 Chennai?

Street dogs v Supreme Court: Media interview clip from Dog Protest August 2025

Wed, 12 Aug 2026 00:00:00 UTC

Description It has been a year since the Supreme Court of India made things worse for the street dogs, by giving directions to put them in concentration camps. While a lot of people joined the protest (except for those comrades who would otherwise be against forced eviction and concentration camps), situations have not improved for the dogs one bit. Be it cutting off the welfare funds to feed them, or vaccination drives, this has served as an example that the evils of anthropo-supremacy can't be slashed by simply boycotting animal products and services.

This is but a small clip from last year.

Acknowledgements The video was recorded by Pranali and is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Subtitles track(s) for this video are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.