Shiv Shankar Das

The history of Buddhism in India was brought back in its glory mainly by the colonial period's excavations, when many statues and other Buddhist symbols were found by archeologists. Besides, the Bhikkhus who came to India, chiefly Bhikkhu Dhammapal, Bodhanand and Pragyanand, from Sri Lanka during the last and the first quarter of 20th and 21st century, respectively, contributed immensely to the revival of Buddhist history and culture in the northern part of the country. The Buddhists in Lucknow quickly name these Bhikkhus in the history of Buddha-Dhamma in Lucknow. Among Barau Buddhists, Bhikkhu Kripasaran is very much credited with spreading Buddha-Dhamma here. The role of Dr. Ambedkar is duly credited by both: Ambedkar-Buddhists as well as Barau-Buddhists.

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Jenny Rowena

On first or second Saturday coming after the Hindu New Year's Day (Gudhi padawa), the devadasis, who are mostly dalitbahujans, were openly sexually enjoyed in public, about hundred years ago.

This is now replaced by another tradition called "Okali", which was in vogue till 1987. It is a festival like 'Rang Panchami'. The young boys from higher castes assemble around a pool of coloured water in front of town temple. Young devadasis in the town stand in front of them in a row, and each receives a sari, a choli and a flower garland. The coloured water is poured over the devadasis who appear virtually naked as the cloths given to them are very thin, scanty, delicate and transparent. The boys play with the bodies of devadasis as they like, doing everything just short of sexual intercourse. All assembled enjoy the scene. This happens in the name of god 'Bili Kallappa'. [Uttam Kamble, Sugawa, p. 81]

Vasant Rajas describes another custom, called "Sidi attu" in town Madakeripura in Karnataka which was in vogue till 1987, when it was banned by the Govt. Here a devadasi is suspended [on a rope balanced on] a hook in her back on one end of a transverse rod placed on a vertical pole planted in ground, and rotated by a rope at the other end. She salutes the gathering, while her garments fly and all the naked lower part of her body is visible to all, for their amusement. This was supposed to bring prosperity to town, and the devadasi used to get a sari, a choli, a coconut and a betel nut, for which she thanked the gathering. [p. 27]

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Raj Kumar

Ever since the change of government in Uttar Pradesh in the month of March 2012, the state is witnessing very bizarre, obscurantist and lamentable politics and some of the decisions of new government are profoundly baffling to democratic civilized society. The people of Uttar Pradesh voted Samajwadi Party (SP) to power with absolute majority, but by now, they must have started realizing the Frankenstein they have created, if one analyzes the retrograde decisions taken by Akhilesh Yadav government devaluing social diversity and inclusive growth. A change of government is supposed to bring exuberance to the state apparatus and extricate the masses from the lethargy and banality of the outgoing government. But the new government in the name of change is apparently involved in the most backward looking misadventures. Specially its decision to scrap girl child education incentive scheme is most perplexing and smacks of its feudalistic orientations. Constitution envisages justice to all and makes special provisions to the deprived sections to make India a truly egalitarian and sane society. The goodwill of illiterate, poor and half starved masses towards constitution is the testimony of the constitutional commitment it has with the neediest.

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Rahi Gaikwad

The name Ranvir is usually given to a boy. It means brave warrior or battle hero. This is the name a section of landed castes in Bihar, chiefly the Bhumihar landlords, adopted to christen themselves as an army of warriors, the Ranvir Sena

In Hindu mythology, the idea of the warrior king who wages a battle against demons to root out evil is all-pervasive. These god-vs.-demon battles involve killing, beheading, slaying and using all kinds of tricks to ensnare the enemy. The warrior in Hindu faith, epitomised in the legend of Ram in popular myth-making, is ascribed the quintessential "masculine" virtues of physical strength by virtue of which he is able to be the guardian and protector of the religious moral order.

Hindutva extremist groups share and draw upon this concept in their aggressive pursuit that takes on battle-like proportions, to maintain their supremacy in a certain social order they believe has been ordained by religion and tradition.

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Nilesh Kumar 

'These upper-caste authors who are forever miles away from reality and who can only make ceremonial and meaningless speeches in big meetings, can never understand what we the shudras and atishudras have to suffer and what calamities we have to undergo. All this is not entirely unknown to the high-caste founders of various conferences and organizations. They pretend to be modernists..' - Jotiba Phule

The conscious acts of the NCERT advisers in the selection, inclusion and now defense of Shankar's cartoon on the 'delay' in the constitution making process is up for examination by one and all. Depending on the location from where it is being examined all these processes can be read as complex or simple, moral or immoral. From an anti-caste perspective with respect to Dr Ambedkar's representation in school textbooks: violence lies in the acts of exclusion, selective inclusion and misrepresentation. I would like to elaborate on this systematic and strategic alienation of Dr Ambedkar in mainstream literature, textbooks and even in caste studies as a type of violence that enables the maintenance of status quo or caste hierarchy.

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Lalit Khandare

The National Curriculum Framework 2005 for social sciences states:

"In the social sciences, the approach proposed in the NCF recognises disciplinary markers while emphasising integration on significant themes, such as water. A paradigm shift is recommended, proposing the study of the social sciences from the perspective of marginalised groups. Gender justice and a sensitivity towards issues related to SC and ST communities and minority sensibilities must inform all sectors of the social sciences. Civics should be recast as political science, and the significance of history as a shaping influence on the child's conception of the past and civic identity should be recognized " (pg. ix)[1]

Indeed, the National Curriculum Framework 2005 attempts to disembark from the uncritical, undemocratic, pedagogic practices to advance towards a critical, democratic and an egalitarian outlook.

"It's really cruel burdening kids like this. I had to hire that boy to help my son!"

Source: Page 77 of National Curriculum Framework, 2005

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