Global heritage recognition has been regarded as an unquestionable honour for many years. The highest level of protection for a cultural site or tradition is thought to be a UNESCO designation, an international award, or widespread media coverage. Acknowledgement is celebrated as a combination of pride, validation, and preservation. Beneath this joyous story, however, is a more subdued and unsettling reality: rather than protecting heritage, global recognition frequently puts

History adorns itself with its oldest habit- hierarchy, and inequality, its most faithful shadow. One thing that remains constant with every civilisation, religion, and government is power imbalance, and whenever such imbalances strutted around too confidently, satire has emerged with sharpened words as a humbling weapon. Illustration by The Geostrata Particularly in the Indian context, where social, religious, and political stratification have long shaped the public imaginat