25. Why Vegans Should Stop Celebrating India’s Beef Ban with Rama Ganesan

Rundown In this episode, Marine interviews Rama Ganesan on the problematic associations that many vegans make when they hold up India and Hinduism (or even Buddhism and Jainism) as inherently vegetarian/ vegan. Rama also explains why it is counter to vegan values to celebrate India’s beef ban, to use the word “Ahimsa” as a synonym for “vegan”, or even to use quotes from Gandhi to advocate views of compassion and non-discrimination. Sources and Links * Rama’s presentation slides: https://medium.com/@ramaganesan/these-are-the-slides-from-my-talk-at-vegans-of-color-conference-at-dublin-vegfest-september-23-79626adcde61 * Rama’s organization, Vegan Michiana: https://veganmichiana.com/ * Rama’s Facebook page, Anti-Caste Vegan: https://www.facebook.com/Anti-Caste-Vegan-824278461115942/ * Livestream of the Vegans of Colour Conference in Dublin, 2018: https://www.facebook.com/NARAcampaignsIRELAND/videos/523350941468793/?hc_ref=ARQicw-97ayNS-rJtCbiSRd6tg4WBRRe0Psr3mfRdGg00G4RsnTjUB67qkGNAsHe0y4&__xts__[0]=68.ARBuqk3H_zCTH2zVCJuwJb3uyfsf4ir6eV4tRTapL02IToSR-oZAhMVbpSaVPc0FactXgXNQUw4PjenJJsz27pJ-WRK6TETEYKa2TZU_VOkDg7hH-MtsNkdBaITR6a9OXW3k2tdjjAnacojxsDJwkAyoWidIUkzjPI9Sq0_wJhiStknuqFPT2TXwEAXCtXg2HiDcVPVT90QcrNLI6UUw6ZSL-IfDTF8nsUq_LYbUCGcwB8EE-V9YO3k1OU_22Q&__tn__=FC-R Books: * Kancha Ilaiah, Why I am not a Hindu, A Sudra Critique of Hindutva Philosophy, Culture and Political Economy * Kancha Ilaiah, Buffalo Nationalism, A Critique of Spiritual Fascism * Ed Julia Feliz Brueck, Veganism In an Oppressive World, A Vegans of Color Community Project * Kim Socha, Animal Liberation and Atheism, Dismantling the Procrustean Bed * D.N. Jha, The Myth of the Holy Cow * Sujatha Gidla, Ants Among Elephants, An Untouchable Family and the Making of Modern India * Romila Thapar, The Past as Present, Forging Contemporary Identities Through History * B.R. Ambedkar, Introduction by Arundhati Roy, Annihilation of Caste Articles: * Rama Ganesan, Veganism is not Brahminism:  https://medium.com/@ramaganesan/veganism-is-not-brahminism-71ce8f2658a8 * Rama Ganesan, Vegans demanding to change ancient religions: https://medium.com/@ramaganesan/vegans-demanding-changes-to-ancient-religions-46ded205ff12 * Dalit Diva – Thenmozhi Soundararajan, Why it is Time to Dump Gandhi: https://medium.com/@dalitdiva/why-it-is-time-to-dump-gandhi-b59c7399fe66 * Anand Neelakantan, Is India really a spiritual civilization, in New Indian Express Sep 2 2018: www.newindianexpress.com/magazine/voices/2018/sep/02/is-india-really-a-spiritual-civilisation-1865178.html * Adrija Bose, Vegetarian India A Myth? Survey Shows Over 70% Indians Eat Non-Veg, Telangana Tops List: