For An Informed Ambedkar Age
Kancha Ilaiah There are two prominent stories around the celebration of Diwali. One, this is the day on which Ram returned to Ayodhya and coronated himself as king after killing Ravan. It is also the day when Krishna and his wife Satyabhama killed Narakasur, known as the evil rakshasa. It’s the death of the …
United Dalit Students’ Forum (UDSF), JNU Dear friends, This is to bring to the notice of the JNU community that since last few months, caste atrocities have been proliferating in JNU campus. Many incidents have come to our notice in which not only workers, non-teaching but also the students have been targeted. It is …
[Received this article (slightly edited) via Karthik Navayan. Its original author is unknown. If any of our readers know about her/him, please let us know so that we can give due credit to her/him] Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them. ~ …
“It is an Utsav, Not Puja”: Asur Utsav, Mulnibasi Culture and Challenges to Brahminical Hegemony Georgy Kuruvilla Roy and Samata Biswas (For Dalit Camera: Through Un-Touchable Eyes) The social media is rife with allegations and counter allegations regarding the casteist, brahminical, Hindu and/or secular nature of Durga Puja. Mainstream Bengali media have chosen to …
(From ‘Religious Riddles’ in Part I of the book ‘Riddles in Hinduism’ by Babasaheb Dr. B. R. Ambedkar) There is hardly any Hindu who does not regard the Vedas as the most sacred Book of his religion. And yet ask any Hindu what is the origin of the Vedas and it would be difficult …
(From ‘Religious Riddles‘ in Part I of the book ‘Riddles in Hinduism‘ by Babasaheb Dr. B. R. Ambedkar) India is a congeries of communities. There are in it Parsis, Christians, Mohammedans and Hindus. The basis of these communities is not racial. It is of course religious. This is a superficial view. What is interesting to …
Jason Keith FernandesDale Luis Menezes Context In 1987 subsequent to mass demonstrations composed overwhelmingly of bahujan Catholics the legislature of the Union Territory of Goa, Daman and Diu recognised Konkani in the Nagari script as the official language of Goa. This recognition of script was used to privilege a brahmanical project of fixing the …
Asha Kowtal I was not yet in my first standard of school when the strategies of the Scheduled Caste Sub Plan (SCSP) (earlier known as Special Component Plan for Scheduled Castes) were put into force. Way back in 1979-80, the SCSP mandated every State/Ministry to earmark funds from the Plan outlay, atleast in proportion …
Eramangalathu Chitralekha On October 21st I was attacked again. This time they rounded up and beat my husband Sreeskanth because now they are scared to touch me. Sreeskanth has been living a life of social exclusion for a long time now. His relatives have abandoned him, his friends don’t talk to him, except very …