Sophia I entered the Delhi queer movement in my early 20s, as a complete outsider in terms of language, origin, race, class, and caste identity. I wanted to bring change to the status quo and challenge the existing caste and class hierarchy that pervaded the movement. I started my initiative and became a vocal …
Karnan : A powerful cinematic projection of Dalit Assertion and Anger
Vidyasagar “He did not hit us because we vandalized the bus. No, he hit us because we stood tall. He hit me because I, Maadasamy’s son, was named Duryodanan.” ~ (Dialogue from Karnan) Karnan is a Tamil language film which was recently released on Amazon Prime. Karnan is the second movie directed by the Periyerum Perumal …
Casteism in City Colleges and Classrooms
Aarushi Punia It is a common myth perpetrated by upper caste faculty, students, politicians, and media that caste superiority and casteism is exercised amongst uneducated people in the villages, and not amongst the educated in urban and academic spaces. The myth of city colleges and classrooms being caste-free stems from the unidentifiability of the conventional …
Systematic Dismantling of Social Justice & Equity in Higher Education by the Modi Government
Dr. Magilan Karthikeyan In the Indian union of states, the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are considered the most socially and educationally disadvantaged groups among the other disadvantaged sections, namely other backward castes (OBCs) and religious minorities.1 Despite several policy interventions, the number of OBC/SC/ST/Minority students enrolled in higher education continues to remain …
Manifestation of Power Dynamics in Higher Educational Institutions during the Pandemic
Annesha Mukherjee, Satyaki Dasgupta and K Chandra Shekar The outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020 saw a number of reports highlighting the plight of students in the country because administrations of higher educational institutions asked them to vacate their hostels. In this light, we conducted a survey among students in September using Google …
Old is Gold
Shell Shield (This poem has been penned based on urban life settings browsed over from newspapers, heard on corporate floors and in hostels) His storyHe loved her, and she used himShe demanded – this, that and what notHe gave her all, and debt piledIn the end, she leftHe had no thread to tie her …
Deconstructing the greatness of Indian Gurus
Prof Vivek Kumar September 5th, the birth anniversary of Sarvaplli Radhakrishnan, is celebrated as teacher’s day in India. Students wish their teachers ‘Wish you happy Teacher’s day’. Many others quote the greatness of the ‘Guru’ from Guru Strotam dedicated to Adi Shankaracharya. However, if we analyze the autobiographies of Dalits then this ideal type …
Dealing with old foes: Perpetual Exclusion and Loneliness
Akshit Sangomla My name is Akshit Sangomla. I work as a senior reporter at the Down To Earth magazine in Delhi. I report and write stories on climate change, natural disasters, astronomy, artificial intelligence and other science (and technology) related topics – something that Rohith Vemula would have loved to do but was not allowed …
Asserting voices of marginalized youth in university space
Sudarshan Kasbe In 2017 two dalit students pursuing higher education committed suicides in premier institutes of India which really shook the nation. These suicides cannot be looked at as independent events but are subject to critical scrutiny by researchers in the wake of the hierarchical structure present in Indian education system. After 73 years of …