Neel Kranti Media (First published in the ‘Dalit and Adivasi Students’ Portal’ in 2010) Narinder Jakhu, age 31, is pursuing his PhD at Department of Political Science, Punjab University, Chandigarh and is also teaching there as a guest faculty. He is a JRF scholar working on the issue of Dalit Assertion, Mobility and Atrocities in …
Dalit Mahila Garima Yatra: Updates from the Karwan
Asha Kowtal Following the spate of media reports of gang rapes on dalit women in Haryana, several dalit organizations came together to express solidarity with the rape survivors and outrage against the institutionalized sexual violence on dalit women, by conducting a Karwan called Dalit Mahila Garima Yatra. In this photo-essay, through images we bring …
The ‘Myth’ in Mythology
Twish Mukherjee (This guest article tries to understand the protests by Bahujan students in JNU and other universities over Durga Puja and the demonizing of Mahisha and other Dalitbahujan personalities in Brahmanic mythology. These protests picked up steam around a year ago in JNU, and this article in Round Table India had covered the protests …
Triumph of the spirit over injustice
P. Dayanandan Sixty years ago I learned to write Tamil alphabet on sand, in a remote Dalit village. It was at Bertram Hall, Loyola College, that I wrote my TOEFL (English test) in 1970 before I went on a Fulbright Scholarship to study in the US. It was a great privilege indeed to participate in this celebration …
Subaltern Response to the Brahminic Trap: EFL- U Election Context
(The Struggle Committee for the Abolition of Lyngdoh Committee Recommendations in English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, puts forward its response to the postponement of elections in the university. Kotesh Devulapally has composed it) We condemn both the postponement along with the entire election process right from the constitution of the EC to the announcement …
Gandhi and Congress are responsible for the political culture in India today
Ravindra Pankaj I have been thinking about the following questions since a long time regarding our polity: why do our political representatives not represent us properly? Why do they not listen to us? Why do they not even bother to talk to us? Why can we not go to them and tell them what are …
Dalit Graduation Celebration at Cheyur, Kanchi district
Dalit Graduation Celebration 10th November, 2012, at Cheyyur, Kanchi District [Via Paulraj Dayanandan] THUDI has organized four Dalit Graduation Celebrations since 2009. More than 500 people from all over India gathered at Chennai to felicitate 100 first generation college graduates and 200 school students and honor five outstanding Dalit achievers. Right Livelihood Award recipient Dr. …
Caste And Hinduism
Gail Omvedt (Written in November 2003) M V Nadkarni’s recent article “Is Caste System Intrinsic to Hinduism?: Demolishing a Myth”, (EPW, November 8, 2003) comes as a follow-up to his earlier article “Ethics and Relevance of Conversions: A Critical Assessment of Religious and Social Dimensions in a Gandhian Perspective” (Januay 18). Both articles show the fundamental stamp of Hindutva ideology, …
We have to write our own stories: Abhay Xaxa
Neel Kranti Media (First published in the Dalit and Adivasi Students’ Portal as ‘Abhay Xaxa: A Role Model Par Excellence’ in 2010) Abhay Xaxa, age 34, born and brought up in Jashpur District of Chhattisgarh, is a researcher-activist based in Delhi. He is currently with the Indian Institute of Dalit Studies, working on the …