Anitta Anna Moncy “Our motto is still alive and to the point: pessimism of the intellect and optimism of the will”, says Antonio Gramsci in his Prison Notebooks. Alpa Shah, the author of ‘Nightmarch: Among India’s Revolutionary Guerrillas’ in her new book ‘The Incarcerations: Bhima Koregaon and the Search for Democracy in India’ actualizes this …
Hindutva culture in higher education campuses
Sanjukta Bhowal What does religious tolerance and celebrating secularism in a college campus look like? In my college – Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya, it looks like this – saffron insignia decorating the mess, special veg lunch for January 22, no non vegetarian food in the mess for the hindu month of shravan, seminars by iskcon, holidays …
Bhimsongs: The Ambedkarite Popular Culture
Vaibhav Kharat A song composed or sung on Babasaheb Ambedkar is called Bhimgeet in Marathi and Bhimsongs in English. Bhimgeet, or Bhimsongs, are also known as Jaibhim geet/songs or Ambedkar geet/songs. Ambedkar’s work, his thoughts, his political and social philosophy, and his lived experiences are presented through these songs. Today, thousands of Bhimsongs are available …
Bhima Koregaon: The battle between writer and director
Rahul Pagare Bhima Koregaon is an epitome of glory, bravery, and courage that our ancestors gifted us by sacrificing their lives. The freedom which we got in 1818 is more significant than any other kind of independence. This freedom gave birth to the revolutionary Mahatma Phule, the super courageous Shahu Maharaj, and the nation …
Statement in support of twelve Bhima Koregaon activists
We the undersigned twenty two organizations strongly condemn the shameful imprisonment of public intellectuals and social justice defenders, Dr. Anand Teltumbde and Mr. Gautam Navalakha, who’ve been in custody since April 14, 2020. Dr. Teltumbde & Mr. Nalvlakha join nine others – journalists, lawyers, writers, academics & organizers- Surendra Gadling, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, …
A film that celebrates the memory of Bhima Koregoan
Amarnath Sandipamu In January of 2017, at the screening of my film Bommalollu – The Puppeteers in Bangalore, Karthik Navayan, who then worked at Amnesty, introduced me to a young man as an apprentice at his organisation. He said he was interested in filmmaking and was enthusiastically happy about meeting me and another friend …
Bhima Koregaon: Commemoration as an Alternative Narrative for the Dalits
Nandhana Prem As a girl of 12 years, I came across Kancha Ilaiah’s book “Why I am not a Hindu?” for the first time. Stepping away from the fictions of that time, I took interest in works like “Karukku” by Bama, “Mother Forest” by C. K. Janu and most important politically, “Annihilation of Caste” by …
Immediate and Complete Withdrawal of all Charges against Dr. Anand Teltumbde
We the undersigned demand the immediate withdrawal of the fabricated charges by the Pune police against Dr. Anand Teltumbde, Senior Professor and Chair, Big Data Analytics at the Goa Institute of Management. Dr. Teltumbde is one of India’s leading contemporary public intellectuals and an internationally known scholar. He is the longest standing columnist at the Economic and Political Weekly …
Bhima Koregaon: Justice for victims of casteist attack
Akash Sable Summary: Bhima Koregaon is a historical site, it has witnessed nearly 200 years ago in 1818 on the very first day of the year, a huge Peshwa force defeated by a small troop of British army constituting of a majority of soldiers from the Mahar community. This history has been memorialized through …