For An Informed Ambedkar Age
BY Dr. K. Jamanadas. Today is Christmas, 25th of December. It is celebrated all over the Christian world as the birth of Jesus Christ. But for the whole world of Dalits, it is an important day as “Manu Smruti Dahan Din“, as it was on this day in 1927 that Manusmruti was publicly burned by …
roundtableindia ‘Today is 24th death anniversary of Babu Jagjeevan Ram. For many, both in the Dalit movement and outside it , Jagjeevan Ramji is a puzzle, a subject of intense debate/discussion. There are people and political parties who will claim he is the tallest Dalit leader, of equal stature, if not bigger, as Dr. Ambedkar …
BY A K VISWAS The 119th birth anniversary of Dr Babasaheb Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar has been observed on April 14 this year. On this occasion we offer our sincere homage to that towering personality by publishing the following article and a piece that N.C. wrote on him in 1990 when the Bharat Ratna was posthumously …
by Katelyn Coyle The Buraku of Japan and the Dalit of India remain the lowest caste of their respective countries. Experiencing more than just poverty and low status, the Buraku and the Dalit have been described as being lower than human, filthy, and contaminated. Members of these castes are considered to be the untouchables. Highly …
Braj Ranjan Mani Jotirao Phule, and his wife Savitribai, declared war on brahmanic-casteist culture and religion. This Maharashtrian couple presented the first major anti-caste ideology and led a mass activism against the ascriptive norms and values. Their distinct brand of socio-cultural radicalism was based on uniting all the oppressed, whom they would call stree-shudra-atishudra. (Literally, …
ORISSA DIARY The Koya are a tribe inhabiting the hills in the north of the Godaviri district and are also found in Malkangiri district. They are said to belong to the great Gond family. The Koyas have a tradition that about two hundred years ago they were driven from the plateau in the Baster countary …
[This is one of the essays written by Dr. Ambedkar, in his book “Essays on untouchables and untouchability”. The importance of this article is the freshness, which it brings to our mind. Even though the article was written about 70-80 years back, It shows how hindus have tried every trick, in thier power, to stop the …
(First published in INSIGHT blog) He was born on 28 August 1863 in Travancore, Kerala. He was one of the seven children of Ayyan of Pulaya caste (agricultural labour). Ayyankali grew up to be a tall, well built and handsome young man. He was known for his physical prowess and proficiency in the martial …
THE FREE LIBRARY Dalit studies in Tamil has its foundational stage. Historically, Dalit literature witnessed a rather late start in Tamil as compared to its counterpart in Marathi or Kannada. As a result, theorization of Dalit writing or a systematic critical corpus has not been developed yet. The author urges the literary critics to start …