Satish Parghi In the vibrant tapestry of Gujarat’s socio-political landscape, a significant and powerful movement has emerged— Dalit assertion. Rooted in a history of discrimination and social marginalization, this movement represents the collective voice of Gujarat’s Dalit community striving for equality, justice, and the recognition of their inherent dignity. This article delves into the historical …
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 …
Dalit Assertion through Conversion to Buddhism
Amiya Ranjan Jena On 13 May 2018, Krushna Chandra Sagaria, the Member of Legislative Assembly of Odisha from Koraput constituency embraced Buddhism along with 55 families in his ancestral village Burja under Laxmipur block of Koraput district. Around 3000 people across Koraput, Kalahandi and Bolangir district had attended the two day run Dhamma Kranti ceremony …
Countering Hindu Morality – A Tale of Conversion
Rahul Sonpimple “The history of India is nothing but a history of mortal conflict between Buddhism and Brahmanism”. ~ Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. Once again, my city Nagpur will be the hotspot of two contrasting realities. One will be the show of arrogance by caste Hindus through their religious practices and other will be the …
Wherever Dalits assert themselves, there is a massacre!
Ravi Chandran All the atrocities committed on Dalits are a result of Dalit assertion. This was also exposed on the intellectual level recently, when some Dalits theorized on the Ambedkar cartoon and the non-Dalit intellectuals joined hands for an all out war against them; in this too they found a few amenable Dalit intellectuals …
Ambedkar’s Cartoon and the Caste question
Raj Kumar A harrowing monologue is in vogue in the popular media and academic forums apropos a cartoon of Dr. Ambedkar in a Political Science textbook prepared by NCERT for its Class XI students. Apparently, in the cartoon, Ambedkar is depicted being whipped by Jawaharlal Nehru for delaying the framing of the constitution. The …
The cartoon controversy: Inside the mind of one ‘fanatic’ Dalit – I
Anoop Kumar ‘I have an open mind, though not an empty mind. A person with an open mind is always the subject of congratulations. While this may be so, it must, at the same time, be realized that an open mind may also be an empty mind and that such an open mind, if it …
‘We will do a Chunduru on you!’
Desecration of Ambedkar statues: Truth is the first casualty (Part II) Continued from here. In this concluding part on the issue of desecration of Dr Ambedkar’s statues in Andhra Pradesh, G Jhansi, of Dalit Sthree Sakthi, maps for us the morphing forms of atrocities on dalit assertions. In her analytical narrative of the complex caste …
“I am not a slave and don’t make me a slave”- Annan Pasupathi Pandian, a tribute
Ravi Chandran (With editorial suggestions from Kuffir) This article is an attempt to bring together information about the Dalit revolutionary leader Pasupathi Pandian, who was brutally murdered a couple of days ago (January 10, 2012). Since only bits and pieces of news material is available on him, I tried to gather some information from the …