Jyotsna Siddharth Them and Us I, me, mine, we, us, oursYou, them, they, theirs, those people. “It’s just a band name” is what the tombstone should read when the Calgary post-punk band, Viet Cong, finally decides to put the offensive and self-confessed dumb band name to rest. It was those exact words from lead …
Calling out Hysteria
Jyotsna Siddharth When Dalits are beaten up mercilessly with an iron rod in broad daylight, it shakes but doesn’t break us. When an 11-year-old Dalit girl is gang raped repeatedly by the same men, it doesn’t question our morale; it disturbs us, but doesn’t leave us sleepless at night. What do we do? And …
Bhagana outrage: On the dire need for a collective struggle
Jyotsna Siddharth Delhi witnessed a protest to condemn the rape of four dalit girls which took place in Bhagana village in Haryana. A huge outcry was demonstrated outside Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s house on 11th May 2014 to demand justice for the minor dalit girls who were kidnapped, violated and raped on …
State’s Apathy towards Caste Based Violence
Jyotsna Siddharth The grisly incident that took place a couple of months ago in Jind, Haryana is a stark reminder of the State’s antipathy towards Dalits, which continue to downplay their concerns, many years after the Prevention of Atrocity Act came into being. It bring us back to the debate as to what sort …
Love Blooms in the Caste Closet
Jyotsna Siddharth An incident took place a couple of months ago in JNU, one of the most liberal and radical universities in the country: an undergraduate girl was axed by her classmate in broad daylight. Another recent incident: Ilavasaran, a dalit boy whose love for a Vanniyar girl was reciprocated, was found dead on …
Ashis Nandy’s comment: A Need to Think and Re-think!
Jyotsna Siddharth Renowned sociologist, Ashis Nandy’s comment at Jaipur Literature Festival that ‘it is a fact, that most of the corrupt come from the OBCs, Scheduled castes and now increasingly certain tribes’ once again reiterates the fact that casteism is very much prevalent in India. As India celebrated its 64th Republic Day on 26th …
Confessions of a confused Dalit Woman!
Jyotsna Siddharth Today’s status quo bites me. The upper-caste, upper class, elitism in feminism, the hypocritical pretension about issues and a bit of everything is disturbing. I would not have come up with this piece if I did not have the opportunity to attend an event recently in Delhi and would like to thank Zubaan …