Dalit History Matters Collective (Vee Karunakaran, Christina Thomas Dhanaraj, Asha Kowtal, Sanghapali Aruna, Manisha Devi, and Thenmozhi Soundararajan) I am Dalit HistoryYOU are Dalit HistoryWE are Dalit HIstory And we believe thatit’s not just HISstory, but HERstory, and OURstorythat are necessary to set us free. Founded on these beliefs, Dalit History Month is committed …
Interpreting the passage of Hindutva in Maharashtra
Yogesh Maitreya The ideology of Hindutva, or the revival of the Vedic dharma or Brahminic religion, represents the starkest contradiction to the Indian constitution, in Maharashtra and throughout India. Its infusion into the soil of Maharashtra can be traced back to the reign of the Peshwas, the period during which untouchability had attained its worst …
The Brahmin Problem
Anu Ramdas “That which is not destroyed when the upadhis of time, space, and causation are destroyed, is Brahman, the immortal Reality.*” The foundational belief system of the Brahmins as per their own foundational texts is unapologetically supremacist. When confronted, one expects the present day brahmin with stakes in rational thought to readily agree …
‘Ghar Wapsi’: Owner of the house or servant?
Dale Luis Menezes and Amita Kanekar With the BJP coming to power in the last Lok Sabha elections, we have witnessed increasing violence against religious minorities and their places of worship. There has been no action to curb the violence, nor even a statement of condemnation from the Centre. Instead, in the last few months, …
Fight against Brahmanical ‘Food Untouchability’
EFLU Students (Satish Kumar, Diksha, Kanagaraj and Bhupati) Bans and appropriation have been prominent strategies of brahmanical forces to maintain caste hierarchy for thousands of years. They have sustained their hegemony by positing resistance cultures as illegitimate or immoral. This culture of banning is evident through the denial of access to Vedas for the Shudras …
The Dalai Lama’s religion and anti-caste Buddhists
Yogesh Maitreya I had started to read texts on Buddhism during my four years at one of the Buddhist orders. It was first conceptualised in a western country, i.e., England, and then started its operation in India in the late 1980s. I read several texts. I found the classical ones to be unclear but …
6th December: Glimpses of a revolution that changed millions of lives
Yogesh Maitreya 6th December every year means a lot to Dalits all over the world, many of whom have converted to Buddhism as well. Some of them are also a part of the Indian diaspora abroad and are forming a struggle against caste from their host countries. This day has significant importance in their …
Pitting Love against Love, the Hindu Moral Code on Sex and Sexuality
Hari Prasad “Students of social organization have been content with noting the difference between equality and inequality. None have realized that in addition to equality and inequality there is such a thing as graded inequality….. To make the thing concrete the Brahmanic law of marriage is full of inequity. The right of Brahmana to …
The Unclean Politics behind Swachh Bharat
Ravi Chandran The Swachh Bharat (Clean India) campaign has raised a few critiques questioning the credibility of the campaign. Most of the debates are responses to the pictures where Mr. Narendra Modi is shown holding a broom and posing for pictures. This article is a small response to the proposed programme. Brief Outline The …