For An Informed Ambedkar Age
Rupali Bansode During my field work for research on female Tamasha artistes, I was fascinated by a few interesting links I found between the two communities: Bedias and Kolhatis. In a recent conference, where I presented my paper on Tamasha dancers, I pointed out the link between these communities and was questioned on its …
Shiuli Vanaja 5th April, 2014 One of the chief leaders of the Niyamgiri struggle is Lingraj Azad who is a Dalit from Kalahandi district. Lingraj Azad is 50 years old. He has been active for about 30 years as a full time activist of Samata Sanghatana and Samajvadi Jan Parishad. During the Niyamgiri agitation …
(Round Table India report) Washim, Maharashtra. Around 19 Dalits, including three children, were seriously injured in an attack on a procession marking Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’s birth anniversary on Monday at Adoli village of Washim district in Vidarbha. The peaceful rally took a violent turn after the dominant Kunbi Maratha community allegedly attacked Dalits unprovoked. …
(This report was first published in People’s March in January 2007) Avanti MARX’S famous phrase, “people make history” was witnessed this past one month in Maharashtra when the Dalits rose as one to protest against the gruesome killings of four Dalits in Khairlanjhi village. It is a fact that people develop the tactics and …
Surinder S. Jodhka The Jats, without doubt, have been the most important and powerful caste community in the rural landscapes of northwest India. The sources of their dominance have typically been their control over agricultural lands, their demographics and their networks beyond the village. However, unlike the other “dominant castes”, such as the Marathas …
Nilesh Kumar “Wisdom is born in pain, suppression and insult. Experiences lead to the creation of best works” Kannada poet Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy said in a speech at Akhila Bharatha Kannada Sahitya Sammelana in Madikeri, early this year. Director/writer Nagraj Manjule too, in his debut feature film ‘Fandry’ (pig in Kaikadi language), with his indelible …
Yogesh Maitreya After watching Fandry, I remembered my grandfather who died a few years ago. The movie suddenly brought back his memories alive, in front of my eyes. An ‘untouchable’, his name was Gariba (poor). He used to break stones, all his life, to earn a few rupees with which he raised a large …
Eminent Marathi poet Namdeo Dhasal passed away today (January 15th, 2014). This is the collective tribute of a group of Round Table India writers. ~ Here-in the distanceRevolution rumbles everywhereYou hear it? His poetry did not belong to the pages, for neat archiving in some anthology. It had trees, but they were leafless. It …
Are we living in our own state? Are we safe in this country? Yogesh Maitreya Today in the morning, at my desk in the office of the internship agency where I work, I wrote the brief story of an atrocity on a nineteen year old (SC) girl who was raped by two Maratha boys …