Dr. Chandraiah Gopani The concept of emancipation is occupied a central theme for Dalit movements and politics both in colonial and post-colonial period. There were organic leaders among Dalits during Nizam period from 1906 to 1953. The period between 1906-1953 was crucial for vibrant Dalit activities and autonomous assertions in Hyderabad state. Although Nizam …
Chhatrapati Shahu’s Crusade against Untouchability – 2
B. D. Khane Maharaja was a champion of social justice and equal opportunities for all. He believed in protecting the weak against the strong. The aim of his measures was to raise the lower castes from their abject position in society by employing them and fitting them for hitherto closed avenues of life. For …
Chhatrapati Shahu’s Crusade against Untouchability
B. D. Khane [Shahu was born in 1874 as Yeshwantrao ghatge, elder son to Appasaheb Ghatge. he was adopted by Anandibai, widow of Maharaja Shivaji IV of Kolhapur in 1884. In 1891 Shahu married Lakshmibai Khanvikar who gave birth to four children. Shahu took responsibility of the State in 1894 and died on May …
Maulana Ali Hussain ‘Aasim Bihari’: Father of the first Pasmanda Movement and Freedom Fighter
Faiyaz Ahmad Fyzie Maulana Ali Hussain “Aasim Bihari” was born on April 15, 1890, in Mohalla Khas Ganj, Bihar Sharif, Nalanda district, Bihar, in a devout but poor Pasmanda weaver family. In 1906, at the young age of 16, he started his career in the Usha organization in Kolkata. While working, he pursued interests in studies …
Miller Committee Report 1919 (Adequate Representation of Communities in Public Service)
[An anti-caste movement led by the backward communities under the banner Praja Mitra Mandali launched a focused movement to bring pressure on the king of Mysore for reservation in recruitment and education. The Miller Committee was constituted by Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV, the Maharaja of Mysore in the year 1919. This committee’s findings provided a …
Mahatma Phule, philosopher revolutionary
Kathi Padma Rao (This is a translation of his Telugu article ‘bhaaratiiya saamaajika gharshaNalanunDi aavirbhavincina taatvikuDu mahaatma jOtiravu phuulE’) Mahatma Jyotirao Phule is a thinker who shook brahmanic India’s foundations. No philosopher is born on his own, he emerges from the conflict between various historical forces. In India, Phule and Ambedkar are the most …
‘Slavery’ by Mahatma Phule: Preface
‘Slavery’ by Mahatma Phule ~ Preface by The Author Himself ~ “The day that reduces a man to slavery takes from him the half of his virtue,” – Homer. “Our system of Government in India is not calculated to raise the character of those subject to it, nor is the present system of education one …
Dnyanajyoti Savitribai Phule – II
Prof. Hari Narke Continued from here. (This is the second part of his essay ‘Dnyanajyoti Savitribai Phule’, published in the NCERT booklet on the ‘Savitribai Phule First Memorial Lecture’ in 2008. You can read the first part here) In 1877, Maharashtra was facing a severe drought. It was not possible for Savitribai and Jotirao, who …
Dnyanajyoti Savitribai Phule – I
Prof. Hari Narke (This is the first part of his essay ‘Dnyanajyoti Savitribai Phule’, published in the NCERT booklet on the ‘Savitribai Phule First Memorial Lecture’ in 2008) “More than Jotirao, his wife deserves praise. No matter how much we praise her, it would not be enough. How can one describe her stature? She cooperated …