Meera and Pranav Jeevan P ‘Mukkuva’ denotes ‘fisherman’ caste in Kerala, considered among Other Backward Castes (OBC) in the National list and Other Eligible Castes (OEC) in the State List. Most of this community is limited to coastal areas of the state, and engage in the occupation of fishing. Here, it was caste that determined …
Feudalism By Other Names – London Bridge!
Bobby Kunhu Many of us aren’t grieving a head of state, but rather grieving truth as we watch history be rewritten right before our eyes. – Brea Baker I bear no ill will towards Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, known as Queen Elizabeth II, the ruler of 15 sovereign nations at the time of her death as …
Sayed-Ashraaf Outreach To Brahmin-Savarna: Scope And Limitations
Dr. Ayaz Ahmad[1] A group of Sayed-Ashraaf social elites met RSS head Mohan Bhagwat in Nagpur recently. It included former Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung, former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi, former Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University Lieutenant General (Retd.) Zameer Uddin Shah, Rashtriya Lok Dal national vice-president Shahid Siddiqui and businessman Saeed …
Anarchism In Periyar
Pranav Jeevan P If a larger country oppresses a smaller country, I’ll stand with the smaller country. If the smaller country has majoritarian religion that oppresses minority religions, I’ll stand with minority religions. If the minority religion has caste and one caste oppresses another caste, I’ll stand with the caste being oppressed. In the oppressed …
Claiming Space In History To Live, Love, And Heal
Krishna Kumar James H. Sweet’s article Is History History? in the president’s column of Perspectives on History attacked the histories concerning the issues of ‘racism, gender, sexuality, nationalism, capitalism’; It extends and does harm to the issue of caste in the histories of South Asia in this globalized world, where it is still struggling for …
Reform Was Necessary: Gorbachev’s Quest for A Socialist ‘Alternative’
Pranveer Bharti On 8 December 1991, Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev, the last General Secretary of the Communist Party and President of the USSR, was in Moscow when the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus signed the Union Treaty at Belovezhskaya Pushcha, declaring the USSR ceased to exist and establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States. It was the …
Kerala’s Right Wing Atheism And Caste Blindness
Arjun C “Dr. Ambedkar didn’t talk about atheism, it’s because atheism is so easily absorbed by Brahminism in India. Atheists in India do not get rid of brahminical hierarchy and caste conditioning” ~ Prof. Gail Omvedt I am often reminded of this quote while watching speeches of many popular atheists from Kerala. The rise of …
Siddaramaiah: ‘They created the caste system and then they ask us, Why reservation?’
Siddaramaiah This is a translation of a speech made by Mr. Siddaramaiah on the topic of caste, reservation and EWS quota. The video link was shared on his Facebook page on 26, June 2022. They ask, “more, how many years of reservation?” After 72 years, even now we don’t have representation equal to our proportion …
Contextualising Manu as a ‘hireling’: A Critical Analysis of Chapter VII in the Manusmriti
Somnath Pati “It has an affirmation of life, a triumphing, agreeable sensation in life, and that to draw up a lawbook such as Manu means to permit oneself to get the upper hand, to become perfect, to be ambitious of the highest art of living.” – Friedrich Nietzsche (attributed) Finding Manu’s verses “inspiring” and acting …