For An Informed Ambedkar Age
(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 …
Iyothee Thass or Pandit C. Ayodhya Dasa (Tamil: ?????????) (May 20, 1845–1914) was a practitioner of Siddha medicine who is regarded as a pioneer of the Dravidian Movement.Born on 20 May 1845, Thass’s original name was Kaathavarayan. His grandfather has served as a butler to Lord Arlington. Kaathavarayan gained expertise in Tamil literature, philosophy, Siddha …
This is taken from the last chapter, chapter XI “Gandhism-the doom for untouchables” of the Book “What congress and Gandhi have done to the Untouchables” by Dr. Ambedkar. If there is an ‘ism’ which has made full use of religion as an opium to lull the people into false beliefs and false security, it is …
The history of Buddhism traces back to the teachings of Lord Buddha after He attained enlightenment in 528 BCE under the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya, India. Ater attaining enlightenment, Lord Buddha spent the rest of His life in making others aware of the truth of life. It was after His Mahaparinirvana in 483 BCE …
By Louis Antony INTRODUCTION:A person, who has devoted his whole life to a particular cause, should have three special qualities in order to be successful in his work. Those qualities are absolute courage, self-sacrifice and a clear plan of action. To a large extend Periyar posses all these three qualities.
The Adivasis (original inhabitants) is the collective name used for the many tribal peoples of India. Officially they are termed “Scheduled Tribes” but this is a legal and constitutional term which differs from state to state and area to area and therefore excludes some groups who might be considered tribal.
Education and Health are basic necessities for enlightenment of mind and social emancipation. Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, the father of India’s Social Revolution searched for causes of degradation of Shudras and Ati Shudras. His considered conclusion was that the root cause of degradation was ignorance born out of lack of education. As a matter of fact …
The sharp and manifold increase in the caste and communal struggles of the recent past has made Phule’s thought and action more relevant than ever before. A report on a seminar which evaluated his relevance in the present crisis.