Joshil K. Abraham and Judith Misrahi-Barak, eds. Routledge India, US and UK; September 2015350 pages, Kindle edition and Hardback ISBN 9781138891944https://www.routledge.com/products/9781138891944 With this eclectic collection of critical essays, written from a range of positions and raising a variety of issues, it is clear that Dalit literature has come of age. — Susie Tharu, Department …
Ambedkarite Movement in Kalahandi, Odisha: Some Reflections
Bansidhar Deep Recently in Kalahandi, Odisha, Ambedkar’s 125th birth anniversary was celebrated on a big scale. This celebration was deliberated and pre-planned by the Ambedkarite groups at Kalahandi. Ironically, the right wing forces were also celebrating Ambedkar on their platforms for vote bank and other political purposes. Kalahandi is one of the backward districts …
Nation, Nationalism and Oppressed Communities
Vinod Kumar State came into existence with the failure of human values in the society. As far as Marxist understanding is concerned, in the primitive society, there was no existence of private property and private family. The very existence of private property led to conflict in society. Where there is property there is greed, …
Chintu Kumari’s flawed defense of the Left
Murali Ramathoti The essence of Chintu Kumari’s response, that “The left and the Ambedkarite movements need Debate and Unity”, is to say that CPIML Liberation’s (henceforth Liberation) struggle focuses not only on economic lines but on social lines too, i.e. on caste, feudal pride, women’s degradation etc. To justify her argument she narrated the …
Reserved about Reservation
Periyar Bhim Vemula I had an interesting conversation on Facebook, triggered by a small LinkedIn post that I shared on the social media website. The article was related to how Tina Dabi, the first rank holder in India’s qualifying exam for its civil services, was a beneficiary of ‘reservation,’ a mode of positive discrimination …
Ambedkarite vs. Left Debate: A Bahujan Perspective
Ambedkar Reading Group, Delhi University It is summer and the rage to appropriate on the part of the Savarna left parties is more evident than ever, especially in university spaces such as ours. In JNU, they have created BASO, to compete with BAPSA, (Birsa Ambedkar Phule Student Association). We also hear of another Bhagat …
Ambedkar does not need to be rescued – II
Nilesh Kumar Continued from here. On 25th December, 1927, Ambedkar along with his Brahmin and Muslim colleagues (who donated land to conduct the ceremony) burned ‘manusmirti’ at the hands of Bapusahib Sahastrabuddhe. Will the RSS or the Brahmins, who Ambedkar called the natural leaders of the Hindus, be able to digest that the manusmriti …
Seeing the Violence of Caste, Literally, Visually
Sruthi Herbert I have a major deadline to meet next week, and this must be why all those things I feel I should write come to me at this moment. Below is a screenshot from the movie Kammath & Kammath that released in Kerala in 2013. Before I go further, let me explain that I …
Custodians of Love
Swapnil Dhanraj Regressive social laws wield much more power over self-choice marriages/ love marriages today. Even few powerful politicians and educated parents do not dare to come out and demand action against ‘social killings’ of young people, and marriage outside one’s caste. Many young people who are trapped in the unbearable and restricted rules …