For An Informed Ambedkar Age
Rupesh Kumar As a documentary film maker, while working on Dalit stories and narratives, I have been completely in sync with the film, both as a participant and as a chronicler. In this article I want to note down some of my personal dilemmas while making my latest documentary – Sabitha, A woman and a …
Anoop Kumar (This article was first published in INSIGHT in its November 2004 issue on ‘Reservations’. Anoop Kumar is one of the founder-members of the magazine) 1. Why India continuously gets outwitted by Pakistan in diplomacy at various international fora? Can any of the readers guess? No? Let me explain to you. It is because …
Kuffir An article in The Times of India a couple of days ago, titled ‘Missing the point on policing the moral police‘, expresses anger over the fact that instead of commiserating with the victims of the recent attack by Hindutva goons on a private party in a resort in Mangalore ‘a section of society …
Gail Omvedt “Dalit”, “Scheduled Caste”, “Ex-Untouchable” and “Harijan”. These are only some of the many words used to refer to the most oppressed sections of Indian society, “untouchable” in the traditional caste order, performers of the most degrading task, and still today caught in the throes of poverty, discrimination and the remnants of untouchability. “Dalit” …
Gail Omvedt (Posted yesterday on her blog, ‘seeking begumpura’) The Thorat Committee has recommended that the term “dalit” used in textbooks should be expunged and replaced by the legalistic terminology “scheduled caste.” The reasoning for this is not clear. “Dalit” has become partly a controversial term, and it is true that not all who fall …
[Today marks the 15th anniversary of the brutal Melavalavu massacre. Read about it in this excerpt from the chapter ‘The Pattern of Abuse: Southern District Clashes in Tamil Nadu and the State’s Response‘ from the report ‘Broken People: Caste Violence Against India’s Untouchables’ published by Human Rights Watch (HRW) in 1999.] In September 1996, the village …
Lalit Khandare The National Curriculum Framework 2005 for social sciences states: “In the social sciences, the approach proposed in the NCF recognises disciplinary markers while emphasising integration on significant themes, such as water. A paradigm shift is recommended, proposing the study of the social sciences from the perspective of marginalised groups. Gender justice and a …
Chandra Bhan Prasad Wrong history real issue, not cartoon A couple of weeks back, almost all television channels and newspaper carried the controversy that arose over a National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) book that had a caricature of Dr BR Ambedkar and Jawaharlal Nehru. The newspapers, news channels and columnists were aggrieved …
Dr. N. Sukumar The cartoon controversy has exposed the deeply divided faultlines in the sarkari academia which has gone into a damage control mode. A brief glance through all the news (both electronic and print), blogs, facebook chatter etc reveal the deep anguish at the frittering away of “academic freedom”. One appreciates the immense …