Shekhar Gupta interviews Milind Kamble and Chandra Bhan Prasad Milind Kamble (left) and Chandra Bhan Prasad In this Walk the Talk with The Indian Express Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta, Milind Kamble, founder of the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DICCI), and Chandra Bhan Prasad, its mentor, say “the nation should know Dalits are …
Caste control & FDI
Kancha Ilaiah The opening of the retail market for foreign entrepreneurs has invited sharp reactions from several quarters. The main argument against it is that the livelihood of millions of small shop owners would be seriously affected as they would be handled by global marketing giants like Walmart and Tesco. According to the opponents …
(Un)Touchable in Durban
Martin Macwan (First published in the December 2001 issue of Seminar) The UN World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR) held at Durban had three major agenda themes among others: identification of the sources and causes of discrimination, identification of victims of discrimination, and working out a programme of action …
Caste, corruption and romanticism
Kancha Ilaiah The Dalit-Bahujan theory or Ambedkarism cannot negotiate with funny theories of sociologists like Ashis Nandy. The best way to counter them is to write a better theory. Utsa Patnaik, a noted economist said in a small note that she circulated “Ashis Nandy had earlier made approving remarks on the 1988 Deorala burning …
The ugly truth
Kancha Ilaiah ‘You labelled the SC/ST/OBCs as corrupt to equalise them with upper castes who are not merely corrupt but also exploit ‘ Dear Ashis Nandy, On the question of corruption — how to deploy that concept, and which section of the Indian society (not of the state) deserves to be deployed — it …
Delhi Gang Rape Case: Some Uncomfortable Questions
Anand Teltumbde The brutal attack and gang rape of a 23-year-old physiotherapy intern in Delhi on 16 December 2012 provoked countrywide angry reactions and foregrounded the issue of increasing incidents of sexual assaults on women in general and rapes in particular. It compelled the otherwise apathetic administration to take several exceptional measures such as …
Casting corruption
Mallepalli Lakshmaiah There is nothing new in the social scientist, Ashis Nandy’s formulation that “most of the corrupt” people in India “come from the OBCs (Other Backward Classes) and the Scheduled Castes (SC), and now increasingly Scheduled Tribes (ST)”. Those defending Nandy as an original thinker and so-called public intellectual may be reminded of …
Who’s here for the tribals?
Babulal Marandi In recent times, the issue of coal block allocation has seen unprecedented discussions in the media, Parliament and legislative assemblies of various coal-bearing states. But amidst the heated political discussions, what has clearly been missed, is a serious effort or thinking in setting things right. While CAG’s revelation vis-a-vis allocation of coal …
To empower dalits, do away with India’s antiquated retail trading system
Chandra Bhan Prasad & Milind Kamble A couple of months ago, the UPA government cleared Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail. It is a politically risky step. But for once, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh showed both spine and spunk biting the bullet. Since then, both Left parties and the BJP have expressed serious reservations …