Naveen Prasad Alex Who is a Chrisanghi Chrisanghis is a term that recently came into use for Syrian Christians who share with sections from other religious groups the common hatred of Muslims, predominantly in Kerala. Efforts by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to increase their stake in Kerala’s legislative …
What is Caste discrimination in Kerala Christianity?
Vinil Paul The study of the historical background and socio-cultural aspects of Christians in Kerala, boasting a lineage spanning centuries, constitutes a significant domain of investigation for academic scholars in the field of social sciences. Christians are divided among numerous denominations in Kerala, distinguished from each other by ecclesiastical authorities, historical context, and differences in …
Being Dalit, Being Christian: The dilemmas of carrying these identities
Sumeet Samos Growing up in a small village in South Odisha in a Christian family, there were regular prayer meetings in our house and Sunday services in a nearby church, and my parents would always emphasize the teachings of the Bible and ask us to remember the verses from the Bible for our everyday lives. …
Mixed handling of Caste in Shekhar Kammula’s “Love Story”
Moses Tulasi *Spoiler Alert: The piece contains an analysis of the film and inadvertently has to divulge certain plot details.* When was the last time one had seen a Dalit character playing a protagonist in Telugu films before the OTT revolution? Shekhar Kammula’s recent Telugu film ‘Love Story’ deserves to be applauded in that …
Making Stars on the Shore: Ramblings on Caste, Religion
Carmel Christy The Christmas star was hung on top of the mango tree in front of Metilda’s house. It was made of white paper and nine edges of narrow plywood pieces carved from bamboo trees, pasted together by a mix of maida flour boiled in water. Manuel, Metilda’s father worked on the star everyday after …
The Caste of Right to Religion: The Peculiar Case of Umashankar
Bobby Kunhu Amidst all the #acchedin of ghar wapsi and the demands for anti-conversion laws, a peculiar case has been brewing in Tamil Nadu – a case that would have been amusing – if not for the tragic locations surrounding it. As I write this piece, I am watching an interview on Thanthi TV …
If all the accused are innocent, then who killed the Tsundur Dalits?
Duddu Prabhakar On August 6 of 1991, around 11 am in the morning the high caste mob of Reddy’s and Kapu’s from Tsundur, Valiveru, Modukuru and Munnangi Vari Palem, with the help of police pursued and hacked to death Dalits from Tsundur. After four days, 8 corpses (7 Malas, 1 Madiga) were recovered from …
Tired of Democracy?
by GAIL OMVEDT Why are such masses of people (apparently: in our village some came out for a morcha organized by the Maharashtra Navnirman Samiti) following Anna Hazare, when it is now clear that his Lokpal is an authoritarian, centralized and undemocratically pushed proposal? Several articles, including those by Arundhati Roy and Aruna Roy, have …