Of Pests And Genocides: Anupam Kher and a tweet that is wrong on all levels
Of Pests And Genocides: Anupam Kher and a tweet that is wrong on all levels by Meha Khanduri To my horror, I learnt a few days back, that Anupam Kher, the respected Bollywood actor, 2016 Padma Bhushan awardee, and whose profile says he is the 'UN Women champion of Gender Equality", tweeted this on 20 February in Hindi: "Gharon mein pest control hota hai to cockroach, keede makode etyadi bahar nikalte hain. Ghar saaf hota hai. Waise hi aajkal desh ka pest control chal raha hai" (When pest control is done in the house, then cockroaches, insects etc come out. The house becomes clean. Similarly, these days the country is undergoing pest control.) To say that I am shocked is an understatement. I only hope fervently, that the actor who has in the past lashed out against academics and writers, doesn't know the historical context of the word 'pest' /cockroaches/vermin being used consistently during genocides. It is also unclear to me whether he was