S. M. Dhabarde Once upon a time there was a Brahmin journalist. Let us call him Happy Sage. Happy Sage was extremely happy with his own life. Why wouldn’t he be –he was born with knowledge! As a journalist, Happy was extremely pained and distressed to see the ‘degraded’ status of his caste fellows …
Roy-Navayana on Savarkar’s path
Dhruwa R Introduction Gandhi is just an episode in Indian history and not an epoch maker…..it is the efforts taken on the part of the Congress party to keep celebrating Gandhi through various days, the artificial respirations given to keep Gandhi’s memory alive for the nation, otherwise Gandhi if left to the people would …
Does Arundhati Roy have any other qualification than her stardom?
[This interview with Sunny M. Kapicadu appeared first in the online Malayalam portal Utharakalam on April 17, 2014. He was interviewed by Dr O. K. Santhosh, Assistant Professor, University of Madras. Sunny M. Kapicadu is one of the most prominent Dalit activists and intellectuals in Kerala. He has been active in all the subaltern protests …
Roy-Navayana project: The critique so far
We have put together, for our readers’ convenience, this compilation of all the articles which have appeared on Round Table India so far (some more are yet to be published) on the Roy-Navayana project of appropriation of Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Annihilation of Caste. The articles have been listed in chronological order, with short excerpts from each article. …
Masked Messiahs: The Politics of Comparison
Joby Mathew [Today marks the 150th birth anniversary of Ayyankali. On 18th June this year, which marks his 73rd death anniversary, Kerala University instituted a chair in his name and invited Arundhati Roy to deliver the keynote address in which she reduced the ‘Ambedkar-Gandhi debate into a Gandhi-Arundhati debate’ and ‘deliberately ignored’ Ayyankali] The …
On how Arundhati Roy introduces AoC without losing her upper hand
Murali Shanmugavelan In 1936, Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, fondly called as Babasaheb, wrote an un-delivered lecture called Annihilation of Caste (AoC) for a Hindu reform group called Jat-Pat Todak Mandal (Society for the Abolition of Caste system). The group rejected Ambedkar’s text as too radical as it made the case for the fundamental destruction of …
‘The Doctor and The Saint’ should be detached from ‘Annihilation of Caste’
[Via Karthik Navayan] The event Democratic Debate on Appropriation of Ambedkar’s Writings was held on 10th April 2014, in Hyderabad. It was addressed by Dalit Bahujan intellectuals, Bojja Tharakam, Professor Kancha Ilaiah, U Sambashiva Rao, Joopaka Subhadra, Gogu Shyamala and other participants who discussed thoroughly the content, and also the intentions of the publisher …
Democratic Debate on Appropriation of Ambedkar’s Writings
~ Democratic debate on the appropriation of ‘Annihilation of Caste’ by Navayana on 10th April, 5 p.m., at Sundarayya Vignana Kendram, Hyderabad ~ Dear Friends, All of you are aware about the ongoing discussion on the issue of publication of Dr B.R.Ambedkar’s “Annihilation of Caste” by Navayana Publications with an introduction of Arundhati Roy …
The Not-So-Intimate Enemy: The Loss and Erasure of the Self Under Casteism
Gee Imaan Semmalar “In my judgment, it is useless to make a distinction between the secular Brahmins and priestly Brahmins. Both are kith and kin. They are two arms of the same body, and one is bound to fight for the existence of the other.” ~ Babasaheb Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste, 1936. Babasaheb Ambedkar, …