Praveena Thaali The academic sphere is generally seen as a space for knowledge creation. However, it can be argued that there is Brahminical hegemony over knowledge which is knowingly or unknowingly reflected in the academia. What kind of knowledge is being produced and by whom? This issue has to be debated seriously. There are …
Prof Amartya Sen, Address Caste Discrimination in University of Hyderabad
Raju-Venkatesh Solidarity Committee This appeal finds its importance and urgency in the context of Prof.Amartya Sen’s arrival to University of Hyderabad on 19th December 2013; as well as, due to the prolonged student protests and debates against the Vice Chancellor and the administration, at the campus. In the wake of Dalit suicides, systemic failure …
Indefinite Hunger Strike at University of Hyderabad over Suicides
S Swaroop Sirapangi I As a response to the non-stop suicides in the campus, especially among the Dalit students, over the past few years, various student organisations and concerned active University students have come under the platform of ‘Raju-Venkatesh Solidarity Committee’ and started an indefinite hunger strike from the morning of December 06, 2013, …
Dalit Girls Negotiate Women’s Studies
Rupali Bansode Entering the academic space is not an easy journey for Dalit women. After studying in social science institutions and reading/learning theories about gender and women, there is a phase when self-reflection becomes necessary. In fact, reflexivity is considered very important in feminist research methodology. Taking this into consideration, this note is an …
Dalit and Adivasi students prepare to fight: National Dalit and Adivasi Students’ Parliament
Note on the National Dalit and Adivasi Students’ Parliament to be held on 9th December, 2013, Jantar Mantar, New Delhi ~ Abhay Xaxa, Prachi R Beula and Babita Negi In the words of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, education is milk of the lioness which will empower everyone who drinks it. History stands witness to the fact …
The Strange Meaning of Teachers’ Day in India
Ratnesh Katulkar Varnanam brahmano guru! Meaning: among all the varnas only the Brahmin can be appointed as a teacher. This dictum is followed in Indian society from time immemorial. But in contrast to this principle there has been frequent mention of a non-brahmin teacher called Shukracharya, the guru of the Rakshasas, in the Vedas and …
The Killing Fields of Academia
N. Sukumar & Shailaja To those children whoIn coal mines, soot, and ash,Furnaces and masonry…….Bathe in the dust of sand, lime and cement,And carry the stinking leather from the bone mill;AndIn the modern social order—-In hotels, schools, hostelsAnd in the abode of the pseudo-religiousBecome a victim of abuse,And under the shadow ofPain, misery, vulnerability, …
The death of Anil Meena
Anoop Kumar (First published in The Indian Express in March, 2012, we’re reproducing this article on Dalit and Adivasi students’ suicides in India’s premier higher educational institutions to commemorate the death of Senthil Kumar, a student of University of Hyderabad, on 26th February, 2009) Suicides by Dalit and tribal students is a story of …
The Ashis Nandy Controversy: Inside the Mind of One ‘Intolerant’ Dalit
Anoop Kumar Vaibhav Diwakar Ghadge, a post-graduate from TISS (Mumbai), got married on 20th January, 2013. Two days later, he left his village Kulakajai in Maharashtra’s Satara district, along with his wife, to visit a nearby temple. On the way, the couple got waylaid and was brutally assaulted, robbed, molested and then thrown down …