Unni Wikan Books

In a small village in Kerala, people begin to feel threatened by an invisible rooster that crows at odd hours. It is heard interrupting the morning and night prayers at the temple, the mass at the church, the azaan at the mosque and the martyrs’ day ceremony. When it hoots in the middle of the national anthem being sung at the local school, it is instantly labelled as a threat to national security. It offends the sentiments of all those who are religious, political, patriarchal, exploitative, fanatical and homophobic. Naturally, there are many baying for its blood. The witch-hunt that ensues fuels suspicions that the invisible cock might even be a human; an anarchist who is trying to destabilize the nation with help from outside. Incisive and hilarious by turns, The Cock is the Culprit does an astute job of exposing the dark underbelly of Kerala society.

"In 2002 young Fadime Sahindal was brutally murdered by her own father. She belonged to a family of Kurdish immigrants who had lived in Sweden for almost two decades. But Fadime's relationship with a man outside of their community had deeply dishonored her family, and only her death could remove the stain. This abhorrent crime shocked the world, and her name soon became a rallying cry in the struggle to combat so-called honor killings. Unni Wikan narrates Fadime's heartbreaking story through her own eloquent words, along with the testimonies of her father, mother, and two sisters."-- Page [4] of cover

Many immigrants in Europe find marginalization, discrimination, and increasing segregation. In this book, the author shows how an excessive respect for their culture has been part of the problem. Culture has become a concept of race, sustaining ethnic identity politics that subvert human rights.