Dalit and Adivasi Students’ Portal (First published in the ‘Dalit and Adivasi Students’ Portal’ in 2010) Dr Suryakant Waghmore is an Assistant Professor, Centre for Social Justice and Governance, School of Social Work, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. He has been recently awarded with his Doctorate degree from University of Edinburgh, Scotland …
Jotirao Phule: Shetkaryaca Asud (Introduction)
Translated by Gail Omvedt and Bharat Patankar A brief introduction to Phule: Jotirao Phule (1827-1890) is considered a founder not only of the anti-caste movement; in Maharashtra he is also looked upon as father of the farmers’ movement, the women’s movement, and a bahujan-oriented environmental movement. He was born in a Mali (gardener jati) …
Women and political power
Gail Omvedt THE DRIVE for women’s political power had its beginnings in the rural areas. Even in 1975, when we had the first major feminist rally, a “Samyukta Stri-Mukti Sangarsh Parishad” in Pune, a group of rural women afterwards went back to their village and decided, with the help of some young male activists, to …
The Dravidian movement
Gail Omvedt “So many movements have failed. In Tamil Nadu there was a movement in the name of anti-Brahmanism under the leadership of Periyar. It attracted Dalits, but after 30 years of power, the Dalits understand that they are as badly-off – or worse-off – as they were under the Brahmans. Under Dravidian rule, …
Khairlanji Dalit Massacres: Justice for the Victims Aborted
A K Biswas (First published in ‘Mainstream Weekly’ in September 2010) Part I “If someone takes someone’s life (deliberately and not accidentally) then he forfeits the right to his life”. ~ John Stuart Mill The judgment delivered by a Division Bench in quadruple murders of members of the Bhotmange family, village Khairlanji, district Bhandara …
“We want permanent change” – An interview with Kanshiram
(This interview with Manyawar Kanshi Ram Saheb was first published in The Illustrated Weekly Of India on March 8, 1987) Question: Why are you so hostile to all the national parties, especially the communists? Kanshi Ram: To my mind, all parties represent the forces of status quo. For us, politics is the politics of …