Gail Omvedt “Dalit”, “Scheduled Caste”, “Ex-Untouchable” and “Harijan”. These are only some of the many words used to refer to the most oppressed sections of Indian society, “untouchable” in the traditional caste order, performers of the most degrading task, and still today caught in the throes of poverty, discrimination and the remnants of untouchability. “Dalit” …
Learning from a controversy
Sukhadeo Thorat The insights in the NCERT cartoon report can help to make the curriculum and the classroom more inclusive While the NCERT textbooks report has generated much heat, it has also shed positive light on the issue. It is time to reflect on this side of the debate and deal with the questions it …
Name of God, wealth of Brahmins
Dr. K. Jamanadas Dr. Ambedkar asked to use temple money for public good In a special editorial in Mahanayak of 14th July 2012, titled, ‘Name of God, wealth of Brahmins’, the author has given interesting statistics. The following is the gist of it. Mr. Sharad Yadav has recently demanded that the money collected in the …
Nothing but academic immorality
Kancha Ilaiah Educational issues are best left with Parliament and not with ‘intellectual’ experts Ever since the Thorat committee submitted its report on the political science text books of the NCERT of class IX to XII recommending deletion of some cartoons, changing of some words a gnat war has started against Thorat personally. M S …
Dalit or Scheduled Caste: A Terminological Choice
Gail Omvedt (Posted yesterday on her blog, ‘seeking begumpura’) The Thorat Committee has recommended that the term “dalit” used in textbooks should be expunged and replaced by the legalistic terminology “scheduled caste.” The reasoning for this is not clear. “Dalit” has become partly a controversial term, and it is true that not all who fall …
The Cartoon Conundrum
A counterpoint: Conundrum of a cartoon and the proselytization of professors ~~ Bojja Tharakam A considerable bunch of professors are up in arms against those who condemned the cartoon republished in the text book in political science for class XI (published by the National Council of Educational Research and Training), depicting Jawaharlal …
Dr. Ambedkar, Neo-liberal Market-Economy and Social Democracy in India (Part II)
Ronki Ram Continued from here. [This paper was originally published in Human Rights Global Focus, Vol. 5, Nos. 3&4, July-December 2010, pp 12-38 (late issue)] Moreover, atrocities against Dalits (social boycott, kidnapping, murder, abduction, bonded labour, intimidation, rape, honour killings and residential segregation) have also increased many folds during the economic reforms measures. Tapan Basu …
Dr. Ambedkar, Neo-liberal Market-Economy and Social Democracy in India (Part I)
Ronki Ram [This paper was originally published in Human Rights Global Focus, Vol. 5, Nos. 3&4, July-December 2010, pp 12-38 (late issue)] Abstract Social democracy, as a philosophy, occupies a pivotal role in determining the social life of millions of oppressed and downtrodden communities all over the world. In the case of India, it occupies …
Identity politics and the annihilation of castes
Anand Teltumbde Identity, one’s sense of self and its persistence, as shaped through ascriptive and subjective processes, is natural to humans as social beings. Identity politics, however, is not natural. It is articulated through a persistent sense of discrimination and oppression, either innate or induced, along the axis of ‘defining’ one identity from among many. …