The Tamil Nadu govt has ordered a judicial panel to enquire into the death of Ilavarasan. Round Table India has been documenting the caste violence in Dharmapuri since the news of the burning of hundreds of Dalit homes there broke out. We are adding video testimonies from Dalit activists, and news reports, as an …
Political Agenda of Pasmanda Muslims in Lok Sabha Elections, 2014
National Alliance of Pasmanda Organizations (NAPO) In a meeting of various pasmanda (dalit and backward caste) muslim and other dalit/OBC organizations/intellectuals held in Lucknow on June 30, 2013 the following resolutions were adopted in the wake of Lok Sabha Elections 2014: a) Boycott of any political party supporting the ashraf-driven demand of TOTAL MUSLIM …
Lok Sabha Elections 2014 and Pasmanda Muslims
Draft Note circulated by National Alliance of Pasmanda Organizations (NAPO) for discussion in its inaugural meeting to be held in Lucknow on June 30, 2013. ~ National Alliance of Pasmanda Organizations (NAPO) The key personalities (L to R): Fakhr-e-Qaum Abdul Qaiyum Ansari, Maulana Ateeq-ur-Rehman Mansuri, Baba Kabir, Dr. Ejaz Ali, Ali Anwar Introduction Caste …
Kalekuri Prasad, the fluttering flag of defiance
Karthik Navayan I was Shambhuka in the Treta Yuga Twenty two years ago, my name was Kanchikacherla Kotesu My place of birth is Kilvenmani, Karamchedu, Neerukonda Now Chunduru is the name that cold-blooded feudal brutality Has tattooed on my heart with ploughshares From now on, Chunduru is not a noun but a pronoun …
Sunita Babu’s Suicide: Driven to Death by Police Harassment
‘Suicide of Sunita Babu – Due to Police Harassment‘A fact-finding report on a Dalit woman’s suicide in Kerala by Sthreekoottayma (A women’s collective) The suicide of Sunita Babu, a Dalit woman, in Eroor, Thrippunithara of Ernakulum District appeared and was discussed in the media, but not with the seriousness that it deserved. The media …
Gaddar, Universal Poet-Singer-Performer Of Our Times
Kalekuri Prasad (Foreword to Dr. P. Kesava Kumar‘s forthcoming book Gaddar: Mahakavi of Our Times, written by Kalekuri Prasad) Gaddar with the author Kalekuri Prasad ( poet, writer, critic and activist who passed away recently) At last an effort to assess the great poet-singer of our times, Gaddar, is being made. It is not …
Lal Singh Dil, the lonely revolutionary
Gurinder Azad Lal Singh Dil, a Dalit and a poet of renown in Punjab, was called ‘Dil’ by his friends and admirers. He was a man of many parts: poet, writer, struggler, a wandering gypsy, but always a loner. In the course of his Dalit-life, he got entangled with the Naxalite movement but disentangled …
What I have to say: Chithralekha
On May 18th, 2013, Chitralekha (the dalit woman autorickshaw driver from Payannur, Kerala, who has been fighting CITU/CPM men and who has faced repeated attacks from them in the past) and her family were attacked at her home by a mob of 30 plus men, including her neighbors. This article is her account of …
Repression let loose in EFLU: Dalit and Muslim Students arrested
Today, following unrest in EFLU, Hyderabad, after the death of M Narsing Rao, a Dalit contractual employee, the police entered the EFLU campus and lathi charged students and employees who were protesting peacefully demanding compensation for the bereaved family. Many students and employees including faculty members were hurt in the lathi charge. 6 students …