Chhotelal Kumar Adivasis are often referred to as ‘aboriginal’, ‘autochthonous’, or ‘tribal’. However, the government classified them as Scheduled Tribes, which is more of an administrative status than a meaningful community classification. This classification generalises everyone, and it is an example of colonial continuity. However, there is a distinction between being Adivasi and being Tribal. …
What happened to the ‘Silent Revolution’ in Uttar Pradesh?
Nirban Ray & Om Prakash Mahato There have been mainly two approaches by means of which the politics of North India in general and Uttar Pradesh in particular is analyzed. These two approaches or analysis, although based on different methodologies or diverse case studies, their fundamental aim is to understand and explore the politics of …
Akhila Naik’s ‘Bheda’: A significant novel on Odisha’s caste-ridden society
Chanchal Kumar My presentation will be brief and touch upon the intellectual and philosophical core of the novel. The social and historical background of the work has been covered at length by Professor Raj Kumar in his introduction to the novel, as well as in his essay “Alienation, consciousness and assertion – an interpretation of …
Why is there no political will to end manual scavenging?
Dr. Bhushan Amol Darkase India is a place of perverse social contradictions. A few days ago, news flashed that in the QS World University rankings, apart from IISc, eight IITs (Delhi, Bombay, Madras, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Roorkee, Guwahati, Indore) are ranked among the top 500 globally. [1] IIT Kharagpur has an associate professor who makes casteist …
Lingayat Community’s demand for Religious Minority status
Vinay D Damodar Introduction All over India, the working of party politics bears a marked influence exercised by the caste factor. Even left parties (witness Kerala) have not escaped from the prevailing socio-political atmosphere. In Karnataka, as in several other states, the tussle for political power has evolved on clear lines. Karnataka Assembly Election is …
Two poems by Jitendra Suna
Jitendra Suna Beauty Conundrum The beauty It lures me, So does the voice, Of Lata Mangeshkar, When I see & hear it, I desire it I seek it! But, then There is a silent revolt Against the beauty, The voice. It exasperates me It itches my mind For its perfection Its flawed existence The …
India should reject the Eat Lancet Commission report and any other groups that push for predominantly plant-based foods
Dr. Sylvia Karpagam The Eat Lancet Commission on Food, Planet, Health was launched on April 4, 2019 at the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) headquarters, New Delhi, India with the question “Can we feed a future population of 10 billion people a healthy diet within planetary boundaries?’. Dr. Brent Loken from the …
Dalit children in an iron cage: a socio-cutural analysis of child labour
Rose Jalal The term ‘child labour’ combines two words in itself: child” and “labour” which have different meanings that vary across contexts. In 1980, International Labour Organisation made the distinction between “child labour” and “child work”. ‘Child labour’ is a form of work that includes work that is exploitative and harmful to children, which especially …
Have educational spaces in Karnataka become the hub of hate politics?
Jerald D’souza The Oxford dictionary defines education as, “a process of teaching, training, and learning, especially in schools or colleges, to improve knowledge and develop skills.” . The gurukul is envisaged as “a place where students live together as equals, regardless of their social standing at birth to create an environment and share a vision …