For An Informed Ambedkar Age
A folk song from Kerala translated by Sreekala Sivasankaran What kind of untouchability is this? The untouchability of the lords! Go away, go away The stumbling block, go away Go away, go away Even Pakkanar* has to go away! If the salt is sown, Would it sprout? And creep onto the fence? Then, what is …
Umar Nizar Nearing Thiruvananthapuram, the road bends, entering the city, as a vein enters the heart. The bus moves along the curve with its load of human destinies. People nap inside, in the secure snugness of their seats. For those who are awake, it seems like an age. The tarmac is slipping away under …
Bobby Kunhu “State propaganda, when supported by the educated classes and when no deviation is permitted from it, can have a big effect. It was a lesson learned by Hitler and many others, and it has been pursued to this day.” ― Noam Chomsky, Media Control:The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda I have always been a vocal advocate …
Bobby Kunhu “Lo, justice flees from you.Expelled from its seat!The magistrates do wrong,Right-dealing is bent sideways,The judges snatch what has been stolen.”― Miriam Lichtheim It is accepted jurisprudence that judges have biases that are rooted in their identity location. This is the reason for the strong pitch for judicial diversity across the globe to …
Bobby Kunhu “… Without a sense of identity, there can be no real struggle…” ― Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed Detractors and supporters alike would agree that Dilli Chalo was a unique model of resistance that had global impact despite an authoritarian regime within which it played out. What the resistance was facing …
Umar Nizarudeen I am also surprised at the praise for this book from a sensible social science scholar like Neera Chandhoke, in another review. Caste-blind scholarship which draws a quick distinction between Hinduism and Hindutva is forcing the Congress of Rahul Gandhi to own Hinduism, as a strategy to bring the Congress back to …
Vinith Kumar [This is part 1 of a series of essays on Dravidian politics today and its historical roots.] There are pessimists who say that there is no guarantee that victory will be followed by a New Order. There is perhaps room for this pessimism. The New Order, which is the ideal of labour, has …
Bobby Kunhu “There is no escape – we pay for the violence of our ancestors” – Frank Herbert It has been the fate of every radical social and political activist in history from Jesus to Ambedkar to Malik el-Shabbazz to be mistreated by their peers during their lifetime and to be celebrated and coopted …
Bobby Kunhu “Christ is born, my wise Solomon, my wretched pen-pusher! Don´t go picking things over with a needle! Is He born or isn´t He? Of course He is born, don´t be daft. If you take a magnifying glass and look at your drinking water-an engineer told me this, one day – you´ll see, …