Jyotsna Siddharth Today’s status quo bites me. The upper-caste, upper class, elitism in feminism, the hypocritical pretension about issues and a bit of everything is disturbing. I would not have come up with this piece if I did not have the opportunity to attend an event recently in Delhi and would like to thank Zubaan …
Dalit Feminism
M. Swathy Margaret (First Published in Insight Youth Voices magazine in 2005) I am a Dalit-middle-class, University educated, Telugu speaking Dalit-Christian-Woman. All these identities have a role in the way I perceive myself and the worlds I inhabit. I, as a Dalit woman, primarily write for Dalit women to uphold our interests. This statement of …
Education as equaliser
(This interview was published in OneWorld South Asia in February 2010) For inclusive growth, there is need for dual policy with share of benefit reaching to the poor and minorities, says Prof. Sukhadeo Thorat, Chairman, University Grants Commission, New Delhi. Breaking hierarchy and establishing a common public educational system with effective policy against discrimination will …
Elite Responses: Constructing ‘Hinduism’
by Gail Omvedt ( An excerpt from the chapter ‘Colonial Challenges, Indian Responses and Buddhist Revival‘ from the book ‘Buddhism in India: Challenging Brahmanism and Caste‘) The response of the Brahmanic elite to colonial challenges was to emphasise the question of foreign rule and regain independence. The challenge of industrialisation and India’s material backwardness was …