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TITLE: PARASITES UNITE
DIMENSIONS: 100CM X 100CM
MEDIUM: DIGITAL COLLAGE
CREATION DATE: 22ND FEBRUARY 2021
In a Rajya Sabha (Council of States) speech, on 8th February 2021, India's Prime Minister coined the term 'Andolan jeevi' (translates as "those who live off agitation") while referring to the protestors. He went on to use dehumanising language by calling the protestors, parasites. The Nazis referred to Jews as rats and created one of the worst in-group and out-group politics and violence. Since the renewal of Bhartiya Janta Party's second term as the ruling party in 2019, India has seen a series of protests for a number of bills passed by the parliament, such as the CAA NRC, and farmer's bill which saw massive protests from various communities of India. People across India are raising their voices, they incidentally fall under the ambit of protestors. And Prime Minister of India just referred to protestors as parasites and trivialised their struggles.
The inter species politics also plays part here, the species who are called parasites are a part of our food chain, they balance the flow of resources, energy and food. Humans have long lived a non-compassionate life towards insects, rodents and parasites without appreciating their importance. The work positively rebrands the political and environmental context of the term 'parasites'. I unite with my fellow parasites while we watch the world burn and degrade, but together we also watch the beauty that thrives in the world. To be able to see beauty in the times of disparity keeps the hope alive.
The artwork follows a synoptic narrative style with no particular end or beginning, the events are cyclical in nature.
The image of the burning effigy is sourced from The Tribune.