Ratnesh Katulkar The sudden rise of Aam Aadmi Party led by Arvind Kejriwal is the most prominent political event that emerged in the recent assembly polls. This is certainly a big blow to the established political parties and is particularly a strong setback to the Congress which found its tally reduced to merely eight …
Caste and the sari
Kuffir In a Times of India column a couple of years ago, Shashi Tharoor tried to stand up for the sari, and was roundly castigated by many readers for trying to impose patriarchal burdens on Indian women, in the name of tradition. In his next column, though apologetic, he still tried to bring back …
Arippa Land Struggle: The Geography of Caste in Kerala
Ajith Kumar A S The people in the protest land in Arippa in Kollam district in Kerala, are celebrating the first anniversary of their land struggle in the last week of December. It was on December 31st, 2012, that over 150 landless families, under the leadership of ADMS, ‘occupied’ and set up temporary shelters …
African Americans Call for End to Oppression of Dalits
On January 15, 2014, in commemoration of the 85th birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., several prominent African American Legacy Families, descendants of those whom directly experienced unspeakable degradation and brutality during the dark days of American slavery, will voice their own concern and empathy, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., for those families …
‘25 out of 100 is our RIGHT’: Dalits, Adivasis demand budget for addressing Urban Poverty Issues
National Coalition on SCP TSP Legislation ’25 out of 100 is our RIGHT’ New Delhi: On the death anniversary of their icon Baba Saheb Ambedkar, hundreds of Dalits and Adivasis gathered today at Jantar-Mantar in the heart of the capital to demand their rights which they have been constantly deprived of. On the second …
Dalit houses burnt & ransacked by Vanniyars
Joshua Isaac Dalits of Nadupatti colony have been facing atrocities committed by Vanniyars of Kariyampatti for some time. During October 2013, the Nadupatti colony Dalits left their houses and took shelter in a nearby hillock fearing attacks from Vanniyars following a temple festival dispute, where Dalit youth were attacked for wearing T-shirts with Ondiveeran’s …
Tsunduru says: ‘You just fight back’
Unnamati Syama Sundar [This graphic narrative on the Tsunduru massacre follows Syama Sundar’s earlier brilliant work on Karamchedu. Chunduru remains one of the biggest, and most vicious organized attacks on Dalits in independent India’s history. There are varied accounts of how many people were actually killed in the attack, and after the attack (due …
Mapping Gender: Bodies & Sexualities in Contemporary Art across the Global South
Exhibition and Events 16th November – 3rd December at School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). [Via Shaheen Ahmed] The topic of gender, gender-based violence, fetishization, and casteism in contemporary works of art by twenty artists launches in a few days in New Delhi. Including video, performance art, photography, painting and drawing …
Asur Utsav, not Durga Puja
“It is an Utsav, Not Puja”: Asur Utsav, Mulnibasi Culture and Challenges to Brahminical Hegemony Georgy Kuruvilla Roy and Samata Biswas (For Dalit Camera: Through Un-Touchable Eyes) The social media is rife with allegations and counter allegations regarding the casteist, brahminical, Hindu and/or secular nature of Durga Puja. Mainstream Bengali media have chosen to …