Ajith Kumar A S Going straight into the matter, let me confirm that this note is my response to Anand Teltumbde’s article “It’s Not Red Vs Blue” published in Outlook ( Aug 20, 2012). I am sure that it is not a comprehensive critique of the article. But rather I will be sharing some questions …
Caste and Caste-Based Discrimination among Indian Muslims – Part 3
Caste and Caste-Based Discrimination among Indian Muslims – Part 3: The Impact of the Aryan Invasion of India Continued from here. Masood Alam Falahi (Translated From Urdu by Yoginder Sikand for NewAgeIslam.com) (Part 3 of Masood Alam Falahi’s Urdu book Hindustan Mai Zat-Pat Aur Musalman (‘Casteism Among Muslims in India’)) ~ [Translator’s Note: This …
Learning from a controversy
Sukhadeo Thorat The insights in the NCERT cartoon report can help to make the curriculum and the classroom more inclusive While the NCERT textbooks report has generated much heat, it has also shed positive light on the issue. It is time to reflect on this side of the debate and deal with the questions it …
Dalit Camera: Past Achievements, Principles and an Appeal
Dalit Camera: Past Achievements, Principles and an Appeal to Contribute ~~~ Ravi Chandran, Dalit Camera Team One year ago, a Dalit (Arunthathiyar) woman Panchayat President was brutally attacked. She did a remarkable job in her Panchayat as a Panchayat President. This was the fourth Dalit Panchayat President who was attacked. She is the only …
Asthan Violence: Conspiracy to divide Dalits and Pasmanda
Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz Shri Ali Anwar Ansari, MP and National President, Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz, has described the incident of setting ablaze the houses of the pasmanda muslims of the Asthan village of the Kunda teshil, Pratapgarh, as preplanned and an instance of political conspiracy. He has alleged that the main perpetrators of this violence enjoy …
Dalit or Scheduled Caste: A Terminological Choice
Gail Omvedt (Posted yesterday on her blog, ‘seeking begumpura’) The Thorat Committee has recommended that the term “dalit” used in textbooks should be expunged and replaced by the legalistic terminology “scheduled caste.” The reasoning for this is not clear. “Dalit” has become partly a controversial term, and it is true that not all who fall …
Memorial Addressed To The Education Commission
[Jotiba Phule‘s deposition before the Education Commission in 1881 (also known as the Hunter Commission) is reproduced here from the book, Selected Writings of Jotirao Phule; this extract is recorded between pages 140-145 in Education Commission, Bombay, Vol II, Calcutta, 1884 – Round Table India] ~~~ My experience in educational matters is principally confined to Poona and the surrounding …
Identity politics and the annihilation of castes
Anand Teltumbde Identity, one’s sense of self and its persistence, as shaped through ascriptive and subjective processes, is natural to humans as social beings. Identity politics, however, is not natural. It is articulated through a persistent sense of discrimination and oppression, either innate or induced, along the axis of ‘defining’ one identity from among many. …
The ‘dirt’ in The Dirty Picture: Caste, Gender and Silk Smitha
Jenny Rowena On first or second Saturday coming after the Hindu New Year’s Day (Gudhi padawa), the devadasis, who are mostly dalitbahujans, were openly sexually enjoyed in public, about hundred years ago. This is now replaced by another tradition called “Okali”, which was in vogue till 1987. It is a festival like ‘Rang Panchami’. The …