Ekalavya Ravidas The historic Hindu College of Calcutta, later named as Presidency College and currently known as Presidency University, has conventionally been an academic space almost exclusively occupied by the upper caste Hindus. The minorities of India, particularly those who are now known as SCs, STs, and OBCs and those who constitute 85% of India’s …
Do ideas of Phule-Shahu-Ambedkar matter anymore?
Shailesh Narwade Jayanti, for many, is merely a celebration of the birth anniversaries of socio-political thinkers who were instrumental in bringing social change of which our generation is a beneficiary. Some people see it as an occasion to eulogize and recollect the contributions of these great leaders. Though these modes of celebrating and remembering …
We and our Nationhood Ill-defined: Let’s Redefine & Reclaim it
Amit Kumar On the morning of 8th July 2020, the nation woke up to the news of vandalism[1] on Rajgruha, the residence of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in Mumbai. Like most of the news related to him, this story may also have been shoved under the carpet as a city crime, merely. However, there is …
The incompatibility of RSS-BJP’s agenda with the idea of India: A Zero Hour prognosis
Salman Farissi In 2019, when BJP won with a bigger majority than ever before, the minorities of the country, especially religious minorities, were not only disappointed but deeply distressed. While they pondered their prospects, followers of the hardcore right-wing, sycophants of Hindutva ideology, were celebrating and contemplating making their idea of Hindu-Rashtra a reality. Before …
The need to revisit conversion as a tool for fighting caste
Srutheesh Kannadi The issue of caste faced by Dalits is too complex to explain in the context of post-colonial modernity. The structural existence of caste has attained much flexibility and transformed into the behaviour of an amoeba where it appears to not follow any pre-defined principles. This illusion of caste made it invisible but at …
The Origin of Dalit Feminist Literature: Mukta Salve, the First Voice of Dalit Feminism
Shivani Waldekar 165 years ago, one young Dalit girl strongly criticised brahminical hegemony and the hierarchal oppressive social structure. She questioned and critically examined caste, class, gender and religion and that empirical data continues to remain very relevant today, as they were in 1855. She strongly believed that education is the only path which …
Who does Rohith belong to?
Ravikant Kisana On 28th January 2020, standup comedian Kunal Kamra walked up to BJP-ally & news anchor Arnab Goswami on the Mumbai-Lucknow Indigo flight and heckled him for a minute on camera. For many a sufferer of Goswami’s bombastic bullying on prime time, this was a moment of apt retribution and karmic justice. For …
Dalits and dichotomy of the Ganesh festival
Kavita Chohan I am from Haryana. I have been living in Ambedkar’s bhumi Mumbai since the past two years. This is a great time for me to have come in contact with Ambedkarites. I have come to understand that there are various shades and layers to the term ‘Ambedkarism’. Ambedkarism is a remarkable and dynamic …
Kashmir Problem: An Ambedkarite Solution
Ratnesh Katulkar Following its election manifesto, Modi led NDA government finally revoked Article 370 which gave a special status to Kashmir. Most of the parties supported this move while Congress seems to be divided on this issue until party leadership gave a statement against this move. The Hindu-nationalists forces are celebrating this decision as …