For An Informed Ambedkar Age
Shakyamuni Chandal A veritable danger lurks over the whole corpus of knowledge and practices developed as a result of Dalit existence, assertion and its resistance to Brahminism; in short, the entire Dalit episteme: from the teachings of Buddha, Ajiwakas, Siddhas, Naths, Bauls, south Indian revolutionaries like Akkamahadevi, Basavanna, Chenna Basavanna, Kinnari Bommayya, Siddharama, Allamaprabhu …
Atul Anand The film ‘Revolver Rani’ is about a Chambal based female dacoit/politician Alka Singh (Kangna Ranaut). She takes up arms after her father is killed by his upper caste brethren. She dresses up like a cross between Michael Jackson and Phoolan Devi. Unlike Phoolan Devi she wasn’t compelled to take up arms because …
Murali Shanmugavelan In 1936, Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, fondly called as Babasaheb, wrote an un-delivered lecture called Annihilation of Caste (AoC) for a Hindu reform group called Jat-Pat Todak Mandal (Society for the Abolition of Caste system). The group rejected Ambedkar’s text as too radical as it made the case for the fundamental destruction of …
[Via Karthik Navayan] The event Democratic Debate on Appropriation of Ambedkar’s Writings was held on 10th April 2014, in Hyderabad. It was addressed by Dalit Bahujan intellectuals, Bojja Tharakam, Professor Kancha Ilaiah, U Sambashiva Rao, Joopaka Subhadra, Gogu Shyamala and other participants who discussed thoroughly the content, and also the intentions of the publisher …
~ Democratic debate on the appropriation of ‘Annihilation of Caste’ by Navayana on 10th April, 5 p.m., at Sundarayya Vignana Kendram, Hyderabad ~ Dear Friends, All of you are aware about the ongoing discussion on the issue of publication of Dr B.R.Ambedkar’s “Annihilation of Caste” by Navayana Publications with an introduction of Arundhati Roy …
Karthick RM With her new preface to Dr. Ambedkar’s ‘Annihilation of Caste’ Arundhati Roy, and the publishing house Navayana, have received criticism from Dalit activists and writers. Very compelling critiques have been put forth explaining how Navayana’s annotated version of an Ambedkarite classic is an act of appropriation. In the short essay that follows, …
Praveena Thaali The recent debate on Arundhati Roy’s introduction to Annihilation of Caste: Annotated Critical Edition, published by Navayana, is quiet fascinating to look at, if viewed in a slightly different manner than usual. So, in this article, I will try to place some of my own observations. First of all, I would like …
James Michael and Akshay Pathak “His statues—dressed in garish blue, holding a copy of the Constitution—have been put up in city after city” ~ Arun Shourie, Worshipping False Gods “All the same, Ambedkar’s followers have kept his legacy alive in creative ways. One of those ways is to turn him into a million mass-produced …
Nidhin Shobhana For many days now, I have been grappling with a strong sense of unrest within me. I am thankful to the recent debates on Arundhati Roy and her mighty long introduction to ‘S. Anand’s critically annotated Annihilation of Caste’ which inspired me to finally ventilate this unrest. Oops! I forgot to mention …