A National level campaign, #MereGharAaKeToDekho (Visit My Home, Be my Guest) is being launched by hundreds of national networks, secular and democratic groups and individuals on August 15, 2023 across the country.

In India, hate and bias against those who are different from us is growing.  The “othering” of those who might belongs to a different religion, caste, class, sexual orientation, language, or region is often based on stereotypes and hierarchies handed down to us and a lack of opportunities to understand and know them.

As our society becomes increasingly segregated and we live in exclusive communities of people like us, prejudice and mistrust grow.  Add to this the circulation of politically motivated rumors and hate on social media and we have a situation where violence and hate crimes are easily engineered.  It is easy to construct “the other” and spread hatred in the absence of direct contact with one another.

The campaign has been designed to help counter and change preconceived ideas and unquestioned populist opinions about different communities-on the lines of , but not limited to class, caste, religion, sexual orientation, language, ethnicity, region and disability.

The objective is simple- people visit the home of someone from another community, spend a few hours with them, and share water, tea or a meal together.  This modest act, we believe, goes a long way in breaking existing socially constructed barriers.  

The warmth of a home, sharing a meal together, and a open conversations have the power to spark life-long friendships that provide a bulwark against persistent political efforts to divide people.

In absence of direct positive interaction with one another, we are more disposed to creating believing and circulating false constructions of the “Other”, thereby feeding into established narratives of prejudice and hate.

In the Andhra region multiple civil society organizations have come together to make this campaign a grand success.

On Behalf of Andhra organizing Committee: