Raju Solanki 25 May 2019 It had been only a few hours since Emperor Narendra Modi had been re-elected for a second term in office, like an Avatar of Sri Krishna, by the electorate. The BJP offices all over the country, grand as 5-star hotels, were in a mood of celebration. TV anchors everywhere …
Who really owns the feminist spaces in mainland India?
Ruth Chawngthu Coming to Delhi for my undergraduation was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life; I had always felt like a big fish living in a small pond living in Mizoram – one of the least populated states in India. It was my ‘big city dream’, something that would finally catapult …
Land is worth dying for! Protect a Madiga family’s right to their land
Dr. B. Karthik Navayan Land is worth dying for! Brahmin-savarnas see land as property, but land is a livelihood for Dalit Bahujan Adivasis. When Brahmin-savarna thugs defraud Dalits and Adivasis of their lands, they take away the livelihood of Dalits and Adivasis as a property in own their names on papers. Taking away the …
Nation of Caste: Can India Tolerate A Dalit Prime Minister?
Rahul Sonpimple I was told that I couldn’t rent the bicycle that day. All entries to our basti (slum) were blocked by the police. I was eighteen then. I insisted, but Namdeo, the cycle wala (shop owner), didn’t even bother to look at me and hurriedly shut the shop. With all his ferocity and …
The English Mantra
Kuffir (This is a collection of Facebook updates from the author from the year 2017, critical of India’s obsession with English, not education, as a liberation mantra to the point of absurdity) Two hundred years of English education doesn’t seem to have brought any change in the value systems of the Brahmins. …
Community Struggles Towards Democracy – Part 1
KK Kochu Democracy, according to Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, is not just an order of governance, but it is a way of living. Unsegregated living with sense of unity and sharing of acquired experiences is necessary in order to achieve such a state. He has said that it is impossible to achieve such a state …
The power and the danger of personal stories
Anand Silodia Babasaheb said, “Ours is a battle, not for wealth or power. It is a battle for freedom. It is a battle for the reclamation of the human personality.” What does it mean, the reclamation of human personality? You reclaim something that you have lost. How does one lose one’s human personality? The caste …
Ambedkarite Movement after Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and contribution of Bahujan Women
Sheetal Kamble (The text of her speech ‘Ambedkarite Movement after Dr. Babashaeb Ambedkar and the contribution of Dalit-Bahujan Women’ at IIT Mumbai. It was the Second Lecture in ‘The Savitribai Phule – Fatima Sheikh Lecture Series’ and was organized by Ambedkarite Students Collective, IIT Mumbai on 18th April, 2019.) I would like to thank the Ambedkarite …
Bhima Koregaon: Commemoration as an Alternative Narrative for the Dalits
Nandhana Prem As a girl of 12 years, I came across Kancha Ilaiah’s book “Why I am not a Hindu?” for the first time. Stepping away from the fictions of that time, I took interest in works like “Karukku” by Bama, “Mother Forest” by C. K. Janu and most important politically, “Annihilation of Caste” by …