Ayaz Ahmad The verdict of Bihar elections holds many lessons for the national mission to annihilate caste & gender inequality from Indian soil. During and after election campaign, for the first time in the history of electoral politics of independent India, RSSBJP (Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh Bhartiya Janata Party) has been stripped off the …
Lessons from the Laxmanpur Bathe massacre
Sylvia Karpagam The Laxmanpur Bathe case has been discussed and dissected by dalits, activists, academicians and experts. In the meantime, for the intended audience of these discussions, dalit rapes, massacres and violations are as significant (or insignificant) as what the cat brought in that day. The Brahmin scholar aka academician, after hearing about the acquittal …
Gujarat: Myth and reality
Bhalchandra Mungekar A war of words has erupted between the chief ministers of Bihar and Gujarat. Bihar’s chief minister Nitish Kumar has slammed Narendra Modi for taking potshots at the state’s slow socio-economic growth. The altercation began with Modi saying that caste politics has ruined states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Hitting back, Nitish has …
The warriors who slayed babies and other tales
Rahi Gaikwad The name Ranvir is usually given to a boy. It means brave warrior or battle hero. This is the name a section of landed castes in Bihar, chiefly the Bhumihar landlords, adopted to christen themselves as an army of warriors, the Ranvir Sena In Hindu mythology, the idea of the warrior king who wages …
Analyzing the ‘OBC-Minority’ Sub-Quota–Part IV
Khalid Anis Ansari Continued from here. [IV] 4.5% Sub-Quota for OBCs within Minorities: The ‘Political’ Dimension The approach that merely concentrates on government jobs and seats in higher educational institutions is indeed a very savarna (upper caste) view of reservation policy. From the perspective of upper caste discourse, which has little appreciation for dignity of …
Analyzing the ‘OBC-Minority’ Sub-Quota–Part II
Khalid Anis Ansari Continued from here. [II] The Muslim Quota Debate The recent lower caste movements within the non-Hindu religions like Islam, Christianity and Sikhism have foregrounded the presence of caste-based differentiation and discrimination within these communities in the public sphere. As far as the Muslims are concerned the caste cleavages within them were duly …
Analyzing the ‘OBC-Minority’ Sub-Quota
Khalid Anis Ansari [I] The recent announcement of a 4.5% sub-quota for backward sections within minorities in the overall Central OBC quota by the UPA government on 22nd December, 2011 in the wake of elections in five states, including the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, has drawn in a number of reactions, some valid …