Sophie Shepherd was 17 in July 2019 when she went on the trip to Peru
She had just finished her senior year at the prestigious boarding school Andover
It s unclear if all of the other students were from Andover or other schools
McNeil argued with white kids on the trip about racism and used the N word at lunch
Shepherd said it wasn t his worst comment and that he also told her it was frustrating that black Americans keep blaming the system
McNeil resigned last week after his comments on the trip were shared by a Daily Beast article
It has also emerged that Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet wanted to fire him in 2019 but the union stopped it
This article by
Harsh Agarwal is based on a freewheeling conversation with river rights activist, Shri Tapas Das of the Nadi Bachao Jibon Bachao Andolan. During this conversation, Shri Das covered multiple aspects – from his cycle rallies, the ill-effects of river barrages, weak regulatory bodies to the lack of political intent, our lackadaisical approach to river conservation and his hope for the future
Shri Tapas Das runs the Nadi Bachao Jibon Bachao Andolan (Save Rivers, Save Life movement). Based out of Kolkata, Mr. Tapas has a unique way of organizing cycle rallies to raise awareness and garner support for the river conservation movement. One such rally in 2014 ran over 47 days as the activists covered 2200 kms distance from Gomukh till Gangasagar to protest the NaMo government’s plan of building barrages at every 100 kms on river Ganga.