I’m going to a vigil tonight for the Sikh genocide of 1984, that truthfully hasn’t stopped. This year is the 37th anniversary of the horrifying massacre and crimes committed against Sikhs in India. It’s only been 37 years since my people was mass murdered and brutally tortured. The crimes were committed by the indian government, police, hindu supremacists, along with support from the british government as well. Even now, decades later, Sikhs still face inequality and injustices, not just in India, but around the world, especially as India refuses to acknowledge and take responsibility for the genocide denying much of it. A prime example of the ongoing oppression is the silencing of and violence against the farmers of Punjab as a majority of the farmers, who are still protesting labour laws as the government and privileged citizens stay silent, are Sikh. Along with the recognition of oppression against Sikhs, people need to acknowledge the ongoing pattern that is still prevalent across the globe and the ingrained hatred of Sikhs within the Indian government and media.

Here is why farmers in Punjab are currently protesting. Click here and see below for resources to donate and to educate yourselves on the farmers protests, the largest labour protests in history, that are still ongoing, for over 6 months now. The farmers of India bring food to people all around the globe. The least we could do is support them.

Link to donate to KhalsaAid

https://www.khalsaaid.org/donate

Khalsa Aid is fucking amazing. They're who you want to donate to, period.

This is one of the few cases where I advocate donating to organisations rather than individuals, because right now, in India, the breakdown of medical infrastructure is so bad that money won't help you. The effort is being carried out now by volunteers who are coordinating resources.

Khalsa Aid is a very old and proven and beloved organisation with absolutely no ties to the hindu government. In fact they have extensive ties to the still-ongoing farmer's protests. They are effective, established, trusted, and sound.

[video transcription:

I’m gonna try and get through this without crying. Let’s see how that goes!

Maybe you’ve heard by now, but the COVID situation in India is...bad, It’s really bad. Not only have there been hundreds of thousands of new cases every day, but poor leadership has caused people to die before they even have a chance. People can’t get into hospitals because they’re full, and the people inside hospitals can’t get oxygen. And of course, as always low caste and poor people are suffering the most. 

I’m not gonna lie to you, it’s been hard to stay updated on the news with this one. But I’m trying to remember that we can try to help. There are organizations on the ground right now, trying to provide oxygen to the people who don’t have access to it. Khalsa Aid is one of them! You can donate to Khalsa Aid through the linktree that’s in my bio! 

And if you can’t donate, just share this video, or other stuff about this. Let’s just try and do what we can. Thanks for listening.

end transcription.]

So, India is dying.

Look, I know a good number of you are from the US and things aren't amazing there either, but my country is literally on the brink of collapse. So I'd love it if we could talk about that for a minute.

If you can't do anything else, please just read and reblog.

To put things in perspective,

1 USD = 75.22 Indian rupees

1 euro = 90.99 Indian rupees

1 pound = 104.40 Indian rupees

Even a small amount of 5 or 7 or 10 of foreign currency will help a lot. Our government has essentially abandoned us. People have turned to social media for help. WhatsApp groups and DMs on twitter/insta is where we find help. Our helpline is a Google doc. Situation is so dire that hospitals are discharging patients due to lack of oxygen. Every night the same story, oxygen running out in hospitals, citizens running around to somehow arrange for oxygen with minutes to spare. Last night, we had manged to get oxygen to a hospital with 14min to spare.

Please, PLEASE help. 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

LINKS LINKS LINKS

^ that post has links to petitions and donations PLEASE boost the versions of this post with links!!

Reblogging with more links. Listen to @groundzero-and-deku ☝️ they know what they're talking about.

Some of you in the US have asked what else you can do. I'm not the best person to answer this since I'm not from there, but I do know that Biden is being urged to ship supplies to India. Maybe a more informed person can chime in with how best you can help but calling your representative and registering your concern sounds like a good starting point.

From one democracy to another, thank you. Please keep this going, you're all amazing.

Reblogging one more time

EDIT: Reblogging with some more donation links from @spacegirlstuff Here and Here

Y'all, this is a good time to mention that I am not affiliated with any charity or donation centre, and am not receiving donations on behalf of anyone. This is a list of resources compiled by me and more importantly, other people who have a better grasp on the situation than myself. They are to the best of our knowledge great resources but I still encourage you to do your research and put your money where you believe it will be used best. If you find more ways to help or donate, add them in a reblog - let's get as much information out there as possible. Much love and please stay safe

PLEASE BOOST THIS VERSION OF THE POST WITH THE EXTENDED LIST OF LINKS TO DONATIONS AND RESOURCES

Quick pointers regarding the covid 19 situation in india.

Donations and information

i dont remember the last time I saw trans representation in Indian media but this ad just made me feel so blessed

xx

what makes this add so precious to me is it actually stars a transwoman (activitist) Meera Singhania Rehani

[Image ID:

Advertising in India has, at snail’s pace, been inching towards inclusivity. We are still eons away from seeing strong representation from the LGBTQ community in our communications. Therefore what makes Bhima’s ad special is the fact that it features a trans-woman and activist, Meera Singhania. It gets it narrative right, its casting is brilliant and the product fit is great.

End ID]

i dont remember the last time I saw trans representation in Indian media but this ad just made me feel so blessed

xx

This

Is

So

Literal heart eyes

Here’s a quick video summarizing what’s happening with the farmers protests

Big companies are gonna benefit from the 3 new laws that have been passed. And on top of that more than 80% of India's farmers are small growers who don't have storage facilities at their disposal. These new laws will essentially lead to the growing debt for the farmers in Punjab and other parts of India. Notice how I said 'growing'. They could even be forced to sell their land and small farmers' businesses will be crushed. India's farmers are extremely important and contribute nearly 15% to India's $2.7 trillion economy. So if the farmers have a problem with these rules, there's a damn problem. Currently in India farmers are peacefully protesting these laws, but they're being brutally attacked by the police. Tear gas, water cannons and other atrocities are being committed and we can't allow this to happen.

The farmers are also being told they're only allowed to protest on the outskirts of India's capital, New Delhi. Now, this is pretty shady especially when you consider that all other major rallies get to take place at 2 venues at the center of the city. Why are we silencing the farmers' voices? The farmers of Punjab and throughout the rest of India are essential and need to treated better. Even with the mandi system in place they were not making liveable wages and they've been living in serious debt. We need to spread awareness and find ways to support those who literally feed the country. Check out these resources to help:

Idk if I have ‘foreign followers’ but I know for sure a lot of you are not from here.

If you want more insight of what happened, just google it. PLEASE.

IF YOURE NOT INDIAN IM BEGGING YOU TO SPEAK ABOUT THIS

I’M INDIAN AND I RLLY NEED THIS EXPOSITION FOR DALIT LIVES BECAUSE THEY MATTER!! PLS BOOST!!!

DALIT PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SUBJECT TO SO MUCH HATRED AND BIGOTRY THAT NEEDS TO BE MADE AWARE OF ALL OVER THE WORLD @thehugwizard @one-time-i-dreamt @anxious-ace-dork @aadya-said-chal-be @goswlogpncmcrfobpjstltruaqhtma42 @midwaylocket270 @calltothewild BOOST

BOOST THIS

What exactly is going on in India? Genuinely curious

thanks for asking! TW: (mentions of rape)(killings)(police brutality)

Untouchables, also called Dalit, in traditional Indian society, is the former name for any member of a wide range of low-caste Hindu groups and any person outside the caste system.

In india, most of the public no less than the police believe that third degree is a normal procedure to extract confessions and solve crimes. The judicial system seems so incapable of convicting criminals with money and contacts that “encounter specialists” — policemen who specialize in gunning down suspects in cold blood — are hailed as heroes rather than murderers.

Also, violence based on caste, religion, and gender is so ingrained in society and politics that police violence is viewed as not as an exceptional outrage but an extension of social and political feuding. Mayhem and killing routinely happen in clashes between people of different castes, religions, regions and ethnicity.

Dalits will tell you that the police often refuse to register cases against upper castes. For what it is worth — a gross under count — the National Crime Records Bureau shows that crimes against Dalits rose from 33,655 in 2012 to 40,801 in 2016.

Also, recently, four men from the dominant-caste community of Thakurs brutally gang raped and murdered of a 19-year-old Dalit woman in Hathras, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (U.P.). This horrifying incident of casteist violence was followed by unimaginable police brutality and complicity with the dominant-caste perpetrators throughout the investigation. Similar cases of rapes and killings have been reported from across North India in the past month, bearing witness to the escalation of centuries-old structural violence against Dalit women under extremist Hindutva’s reign of terror in recent times.

But the media doesn’t care, the police don’t care, the society doesn’t care— literally, so many crimes against Dalits go unnoticed or ignored. And the constitution of india does state that scheduled casts should be treated equally— but it isn’t enough, like at all. It’s what the society does that matters, and it turns out that society doesn’t care. So whatever the police do goes unnoticed or once again, ignored.

And really, what I’ve stated doesn’t even begin to cover it all.

Sources:

x

x

Some genuinely incredible acts of goodness through these days of struggle.

I swear, it makes my heart swell so much when I see Indian citizens standing up for one another.

To see Indian women standing up for the community as they use the very few legal privileges we are provided against authoritative threats.

If you are outside India, I am practically begging you to reblog this

Builders removed about 200,000 tons of rock to create the ancient Indian temple called Kailasa. The entire temple was carved out of a single rock. Carvers started at the top of the original rock and excavated downward.

Delhi Queer Pride 2017 🏳️‍🌈

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

Swoon!

A Trans Woman Can Now Be Recognized as a Bride Under the Hindu Marriage Act

Vice reports:

Photo: A Trans Queen India beauty paegant contestant dressed in bridal attire. (Apurva Sinnarkar)

bajirao mastani outfits 2/?

Thanks to @survivablyso for info about the pink on the palms!

Alta is a bright red dye or liquid color used to adorn palms and feet in simple patterns. Painting the soles with this red liquid dye and adorning the upper foot with elaborate designs to bring out the beauty of the feet, Alta is a common Indian tradition, particularly during religious festivals and weddings. A common ritual followed by the womenfolk in West Bengal, Alta is also known as Mahavar, which is dark pink in color. In fact, a Bengali bride is incomplete if her hands and feet are not adorned with Alta. In other words, Alta is another form of putting Mehendi or Heena. The Islamic invasion of India brought along with its new customs and traditions – henna or mehendi, being one of them.  Due to the increasing influence of Muslim culture, the usage of Alta was slowly replaced by Henna in other parts of India.

Alta is more prevalent in West Bengal, where a woman devotes as much attention to adorning her feet with Alta as much as she does to her hair and face.  Wearing Alta on Durga Puja is a common ritual for Bengali womenfolk.

In few parts of India, Alta is not only used as an adornment for the feet, but also used to perform an important post-wedding ceremony in which, the bride enters her in-laws home for the first time. Before entering the new house or house of the in-laws, the newly-wedded bride steps into Alta and then walks inside the home, leaving a trail of her footsteps. This trail indicates that Goddess Lakshmi in the form of the bride has now entered the home.

Alta is a very important part of Oriya wedding ceremonies as the color red stands for purity and prosperity.

According to Hindu Mythology, the images and sculptures of the Goddesses, particularly that of Durga and Lakshmi is painted with Alta.  The same is for depictions of Krishna and Radha.

Alta is an inherent adornment for mostly all the Indian classical dance forms such as Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Kathak, Mohiniyattam and Manipuri. It has been retained as a necessary part of the dancer’s make-up routine.   Alta is the most striking part of an Odissi dancer’s overall look as her hands and feet are intricately adorned with bright red Alta.  The red hands made the mudras (gestures) look splendid and dramatic.

The second largest country in the world just decriminalized homosexuality. The Supreme Court of india struck away a colonial era ban on gay sex. “History owes an apology to LGBT persons for ostracisation and discrimination; It is difficult to right a wrong by history. But we can set the course for the future.” This is such a victory for the lgbtq+ community within India and all over the world. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈