Announcing the first title by The Shared Mirror
Hatred in the belly: Politics behind the appropriation of Dr Ambedkar’s writings
There has been an upsurge in the attempts to appropriate Babasaheb Ambedkar, his texts and the entire Ambedkarite thought and movements into the hindu/upper caste narrative. These subtle to blatant attempts negate and nullify the force of Ambedkarite anti-caste politics of the Dalit Bahujan who seek the simultaneous annihilation of caste and hinduism. A recent explicit example is the appropriation and manipulation of Babasaheb’s classic text Annihilation of Caste by Navayana Publishing Pvt Ltd.
This edition comes with an out of focus introduction by Arundhati Roy which also erases the vibrant history and journey of this text against structural obstacles faced by Dalit publishers for more than 60 years. It also has an elaborate annotation aspect which has excluded the contemporary scholarship of Dalit Bahujan on the topic of annihilation of caste. This can only be described as colonization of the intellectual world of Ambedkarites. It is not an act of intellectual theft for theft is done stealthily with the fear of being caught. Here, they don’t even have that fear. They act like colonizers.
As a response to this, a series of Dalit Bahujan writers, activists and others mounted a critique on this act of appropriation.
The 31 essays, interviews, video transcripts on the issue by a range of writers, thinkers, activists, students etc. have created an unparalleled debate around knowledge systems and their appropriation. They are being compiled into a book titled ‘Hatred in the belly: Politics behind the appropriation of Dr Ambedkar’s writings’.
The book will be published under the name of The Shared Mirror Publishing House.
(Do not forget to place your order for the ‘Hatred in the belly’, which is to be released later this month. Share the post in public interest.)
Details to follow soon.
