[Via Prashant Kamla]
Prashant Kamla says:
Friends, perhaps this is the first time the Dalit student community (with Ambedkar Student Association) of University of Hyderabad is challenging the cultural hegemony of Brahmnism, embodied in the various local and folk cultural festivals of India which are unconsciously and ritualistically celebrated by the Indian masses (including Dalits), without knowing the actual history and local inherent beliefs and stories associated with such folk cultural festivals.
The Brahmanic interpretation of such stories are entirely different from the local Dalit stories and Dalit knowledge, and hence it reflects the political motives of Brahmnism and their vested interests to oppress the Dalit culture by creating and propagating cultural dominance and thus creating hegemony over Dalits.
This hegemony was first challenged by Mahatma Phule by reinterpreting the story of Dalit king Baliraja and his killing by Vamana (incarnation of so called Vishnu) in his famous book the ‘Slavery’.
Now the Dalit student community of UoH has come up with the “Resurgent fete” … which is aimed at the same project as Mahatma Phule, that is the reinterpretation of the story behind the Kerala’s famous festival ‘Onam’, in the form of drama through the Dalit perspective and Dalit consciousness.
So please do attend the program organized by the Dalit Bahujan student community of University of Hyderabad and enlighten yourself with Dalit Wisdom and Knowledge.
~~~
