Farrukh Dhondy | Will India too leave ‘divided histories’, like US & Britain?

“I never believed that caterpillars Would fly on sprouted wings Or why poets hearing chirpings Could say the nightingale sings Or that all the people born Within minutes on the same day Were destined to a certain path Along this Milky way Or that scattered haphazard stars Make shapes in the night sky So, tell me fellow traveller, Has beauty passed me by? One predictable consequence was that the BBC and national theatrical organisations announced that they would set aside funds and make space to include people of “diverse” origins and proclivities. An unpredictable consequence was the statement from the supermarket chain Sainsbury who announced its intolerance of racism: “We proudly represent and serve our diverse society, and anyone who does not want to shop with an inclusive retailer is welcome to shop elsewhere.” Now Sainsbury is 22 per cent owned by Qatar and a recent UN report said that country practices “structural racial discrimination through a de facto caste system based on national origin”. In this flurry of enquiry and interviews, apart from recounting the “history” of campaigns and exploits, I’ve been repeatedly asked what one should make of the Black Lives Matter movement.