Sirra Gagarin “Time is infinite and the earth is vast. There will be born a man who will appreciate what I say” (Bhavabhuti) is the hope expressed by Babasaheb Ambedkar referring to his mission and philosophy. In India primordial loyalties are too strong to recognise the intrinsic worth of an individual unless s/he belongs …
Fight against the NGOisation of Telangana
[Via Satish Nainala] Though with many limitations, Telangana has become a reality. We are in the initial stage of building a peoples’ Telangana, to dedicate ourselves to build a Telangana state where everybody is treated equal in all social, economic and political spheres irrespective of their caste, class, religion and gender; where people are …
Kanshi Ram, the political genius and true game changer
Raj Kumar Politics is the most difficult of life skills, and those who remain reluctant to master this art are condemned to remain as obedient slaves while the masters of politics enjoy undiminished supremacy in all human relations. History bears testimony that civilization developments have been made possible by the leadership of the political …
Political Philosophy of B.R. Ambedkar: A Critical Understanding
Dr. P. Kesava Kumar (This is the first part of the paper first published in International Research Journal of Social Sciences, Vol.1 No.2. Pp.193-210, 2008, Pondicherry University, Puducherry) Abstract The political philosophy of Ambedkar may help in renegotiating the crisis of western political theory in particular and leading the struggles of the masses in general. …
More of the Same in the Global India
Braj Ranjan Mani The tyranny of capitalism in India cannot be grasped, let alone resisted, in isolation from its wider social context. Capitalism is far more dangerous in India than in the Euro-America because of the culture and economics of caste. Today, India (after China and the US) has the world’s third largest middle class …
An Egyptian evolution
Kancha Ilaiah (First published in February 2011) The Egyptian revolution, perhaps, would be to the Islamic world what the French Revolution was to the Christian world. The Western intellectual predilection that the Islamic world is trapped in feudal Islamic dictatorships is likely to be disproved with this revolution. In fact, Western thinkers forget that the …
Neobrahmanism, human rights and social democracy
Braj Ranjan Mani (First published in 2009) The image of India is that of a democratic, multicultural, inclusive society. But more often than not, appearances are not reality. India is a republic—a secular, socialist, democratic republic—where millions of children, women and men remain demoralised, enslaved to the powerful, crying out for fundamentals of life. Fragmented …
Analyzing the ‘OBC-Minority’ Sub-Quota–Part II
Khalid Anis Ansari Continued from here. [II] The Muslim Quota Debate The recent lower caste movements within the non-Hindu religions like Islam, Christianity and Sikhism have foregrounded the presence of caste-based differentiation and discrimination within these communities in the public sphere. As far as the Muslims are concerned the caste cleavages within them were duly …
Analyzing the ‘OBC-Minority’ Sub-Quota
Khalid Anis Ansari [I] The recent announcement of a 4.5% sub-quota for backward sections within minorities in the overall Central OBC quota by the UPA government on 22nd December, 2011 in the wake of elections in five states, including the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, has drawn in a number of reactions, some valid …