Caste in India is a terrible thing. It can surface anywhere in a weirdest manner and forms. In the Chitradurga district of Karnataka, famed for the rule of Nayakas, the chieftain whose descendents have strangely found a place in the schedule for Tribes, prepared by the independent India to do them social justice, it still …
The Mahar Movement’s Military Component
Richard B. White [I]n the Bombay Army, `the Brahmin stands shoulder to shoulder in the ranks, nay sleeps in the same tent with his Parwari [Mahar] soldier, and dreams not of any objection to the arrangement.’ –Brigadier John Jacob, Views and Opinions, 1858. Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, is famous for being “the most …
Dalit killed for plucking two brinjals in Bihar village
Patna : A Dalit man was beaten to death for plucking two brinjals from a field belonging to a landowner of a higher caste in a village in Bihar, police said Wednesday.To escape the clutches of law, the landowner later offered the grieving Dalit family Rs.75,000 and a piece of land. The family turned down …
Women’s commission appeals to Maoists for peace
Kolkata :West Bengal Women’s Commission on Women Victims of Maoist Violence (WBCW) on Wednesday expressed deep concerns over the growing attacks perpetrated by Maoists in West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia districts on women and appealed to them to abjure violence.
National Conference on Movements for Equity in Reservations
Conference on: February 21-22, 2011, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi The process of identification, classification and grouping of castes and tribes in India has become contentious due to self-perceived incongruity between socio-ritual and politico-economic statuses of various castes and tribes. This is increasingly manifesting in the recent times with some castes and tribes demanding a …
All hail goddess English?
Dennis Baron Global English may be about to go celestial. A political activist in India wants the country’s poorest caste to improve its status by worshipping the English language, and to start off he’s building a temple to Goddess English in the obscure village of Bankagaon, near Lakhimpur Khiri in Uttar Pradesh. English started …
Disturbing Aspects of Kerala Society
Gail Omvedt Arundhati Roy’s prize-winning novel, The God of Small Things, focuses on the most socially explosive of all relationships in India, a love affair between a dalit man and a high-caste woman. It ends with the brutal murder of the man by the police, “history’s henchmen,” and the woman’s banishment — punishments for …
Justice at last for Dalits
MYSORE: After a long wait of 17 years, justice was delivered to dalits of Badanawalu village of Nanjangud taluk where three community members were killed by a mob following a row over puja at a village temple. Sixth additional sessions judge L Malvalli convicted Suresh and 19 others. The sentence will be pronounced on October …
Dhammada Story of Gautam Buddha and Angulimala
Ahimsaka was a bright and obedient student, well loved by his teacher. His classmates soon became jealous of him and started a rumor that he was having an affair with their teacher’s wife. At first the teacher refused to listen to any of the gossip, but slowly became convinced that, indeed, his favorite student was …