Dr. Chetana Sawai On September 20, 1932, Mahatma Gandhi announced a fast unto death in protest against Dr.BabasahebAmbedkar’s demand for a separate electorate, which later turned into the Pune Pact. However, today, on September 20, 2024 at Wardha, the Shudra, an untouchable community of this country once again saw the killing of their rights, justice, …
The Problem with Locating Queerness in Hinduism: Caste and Nationalism
Dhruva Bhati In recent years, there has been an increased discussion on the reclamation or reinterpretation of religious texts or scriptures to validate the idea of queerness. This revivalism is more rigorous in the East, where “this reclamation/reinterpretation” is used to obliterate the idea of “Queerness as a western concept.” However, this quest for the …
The Bloody Silence: When the Rape of a Dalit Woman Means Nothing …
Vaibhav Kharat India’s recent history has been stained once again by two horrifying incidents of sexual violence—one in Bengal and the other in Bihar. Both crimes were monstrous, but the response to them exposes the rot at the core of Indian society, a society that remains shackled by caste even in its darkest moments. The …
Reservation is not a Poverty Alleviation Program but a Weapon for Social Justice
Vikas Parasram Meshram Much has been written on the split decision of the Constitution Bench of the Hon’ble Supreme Court upholding reservation for economically weaker sections; therefore, it is unnecessary to repeat it. Only one point needs to be highlighted: there was no disagreement in the constitution bench of the Hon’ble Supreme Court regarding economic …
Being a Tai-Ahom: The Anti-caste Movement and the Problematics of Self-identification
Arunabh Konwar (This is not a historical observation, just extrapolations on personal experiences and observations.) Over the last couple of years, because of my own limited apparent proximity to some manifestations of the anti-caste movement in university politics in the mainland, I have often felt at loggerheads as to how to identify myself in this …
Siddaramaiah: ‘They created the caste system and then they ask us, Why reservation?’
Siddaramaiah This is a translation of a speech made by Mr. Siddaramaiah on the topic of caste, reservation and EWS quota. The video link was shared on his Facebook page on 26, June 2022. They ask, “more, how many years of reservation?” After 72 years, even now we don’t have representation equal to our proportion …
Equality is not established by just making symbols
Vikas Parasram Meshram Even after 75 years of independence, Dalits are being subjected to horrific atrocities in the country. Such incidents happen every day. According to the information provided by the government in Parliament, 1,29,000 cases of atrocities against Dalits were reported in the country during the years 2018-2020, with Uttar Pradesh having the highest …
Dalit children in an iron cage: a socio-cutural analysis of child labour
Rose Jalal The term ‘child labour’ combines two words in itself: child” and “labour” which have different meanings that vary across contexts. In 1980, International Labour Organisation made the distinction between “child labour” and “child work”. ‘Child labour’ is a form of work that includes work that is exploitative and harmful to children, which especially …
Independence from Caste!
Milind Thokal Anniversaries are occasions for remembrance and renewal: these are the stock taking moments, we must introspect our achievements and failures. On this day we must ask ourselves whether we are truly Independent? Does this Independence belong to all of us equally? Has this Independence unfolded its wings to the lower strata of our …