Neeraj Bunkar Navodaya Vidyalayas, established under the vision of the former Prime Minister Shri Rajiv Gandhi, were conceived to ensure holistic development of underprivileged children from rural areas and promote social justice. Presently, there are around 700 such residential schools across India, aiming to provide quality education to marginalized students. However, instances of caste-based discrimination …
Everything is in a Name: RSSisation of Criminal Justice
Bobby Kunhu “Every empire, however, tells itself and the world that it is unlike all other empires, that its mission is not to plunder and control but to educate and liberate.” – Edward Said Colonization is one amongst the convenient pet peeves of Savarnas across ideological spectrum – from communists to Shashi Tharoor to the RSS, …
Who has the right to be Beautiful: Reflections on Caste, Class & Colorism
Durga Hole One day I went street shopping in Chembur in Mumbai. After buying the thing I asked the shopkeeper for a concession. He was not ready for it then my friend from Bihar just added that ‘Bhaiya de dona wo Maharashtra se hi hai’ (give it to her, she is from Maharashtra). He was …
From Bhaijaan to Bhai, the Slogans that Divide Cultures in Contemporary India
Vinod Kumar On August 8, 2023, front page news in the Times of India reported the violence that recently broke out during communal riots in Haryana. On a usual day, I prefer not to take sides based on what I read because the representation of facts is often minced in the news. However, the article …
Human Feces and Caste in Tamil Nadu
Raja M In the socio-political structures of Tamil Nadu, caste is a pertinent issue in which all the problems are tied together. The following questions raise more skepticism about Dravidian Politics: Do Dalits access public places? Can Dalits have everyday lives/practices without caste discrimination? Can they easily avail of state-assigned civil rights without any discrimination? …
The Darker Side of AI
Pranav Jeevan P AI (Artificial Intelligence) models have become part of everyday use. Generative AI models, especially those using latest diffusion models capable of producing realistic images and videos are becoming increasingly popular. Since the advent of ChatGPT from OpenAI, the use of LLMs (Large Language Models) are becoming the standard practice in industry and …
Homogenizing Muslims
Brahmanism and Politics of Production of Muslimophobia – II This is the second of a two-part series of examples of the production of Muslimophobia in India and its hegemonic linkages. The first part is here. Bobby Kunhu The people themselves are not a homogeneous cultural collectivity but present numerous and variously combined cultural stratifications which, …
Kerala coastal highway: Fisherfolk without land rights are sitting ducks for corporate land grabs
Ibin Nayakam My friends and I, youngsters from the fishing community, were playing football on the shore as we often do. Suddenly, we saw a line of pink stones on the shore. We used them as goalposts for our game that day. But the pink stones revealed a great injustice that was about to befall …
Indigenous Peoples Day: Meaning and Importance
Samaan Shekhar In July 2014, a delegation of some tribal communities came to Jhabua (a district in Madhya Pradesh) District Collector Office and handed over a representation to me. The representation mentioned that 9th August is celebrated collectively, at many places, on a large scale as ‘International Tribal Day’ by tribal communities in Jhabua District …