Mano

From Kashi Café to Mecca Café: a mirror test for Kerala’s selective secularism. The Kashi Art Cafe controversy exposes two political failures: the radical Right’s habit of turning ordinary life into a communal conspiracy, and the willingness of some liberals to whitewash troubling politics merely because the Right opposes it. I reject both. Neither deserves protection from scrutiny. Police registered a case against vlogger Amrit Singh Darren over allegedly communal remarks involving Kashi Art Cafe, its food, its artwork and Fort Kochi’s Muslim population. His criminal liability is a matter for investigation. The intellectual poverty of his argument is already visible. He bundled a name, a menu, an artwork and a community into one ominous story. It was poor investigation and worse storytelling. This is the far Right’s familiar talent: even when a subject deserves scrutiny, approach it so clumsily that the legitimate question disappears beneath the rubbish piled around it. Read more: theruvath.com/from-kashi-caf…