Sufi Ghulam Hussain There is abundant literature on Dalit/Dalitbahujan ideology that is being consumed in academia globally; however, the mainstreaming of Dalitbahujan theory is yet to take place. The empirical studies on Dalitbahujans are increasingly becoming the subject of study and curricula in different universities in India, such that the emergence and subsequent receptivity of …
Ambedkar is as relevant for today’s Pakistan as he is for India
Auwn Gurmani Recently, a video was making the rounds, wherein a ponytailed man wearing glasses could be seen slapping a hapless man at the shrine of Bahaudin Zakariya. This man was Syed Mureed Hussain Shah, brother of Shah Mehmood Qureshi who is the vice chairman of Pakistan’s Tehreek-e-insaaf (the major opposition party in the Parliament). Qureshi’s …
‘The Manu Smriti mafia still haunts us’: A speech by a Pakistani Dalit Rights Leader
Surendar Valasai Probably the first comprehensive political statement for Dalit rights in Pakistan framed in the vocabulary of Dalitism was given in 2007 by Surendar Valasai, who is now the Media Cell Incharge, Bilawal House of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). Although Dalit activists have been agitating and struggling in Pakistan since last 30 years, …
Mission Impossible: RSS Goal of Hindu Rashtra by 2023
Mangesh Dahiwale It has become clear recently that the RSS/BJP is making its agenda open. The agenda is to make India a Hindu nation by 2025 to mark 100 years of foundation of the RSS. One of the outfits of the RSS, Hindu Janajagriti Samiti (HJS), the offshoot of infamous Sanatan Sanstha founded by …
Bheel Intellectual Forum: Heartbeat of Dalit Activism in Pakistan
Sufi Ghulam Hussain On 26th of March, the Bheel Intellectual Forum (BIF) organized a Scheduled Caste Jagarta Rally, the first ever rally that saw the participation of all major Dalit communities of Sindh. Kolhi, Bheel, Meghwar and Baghri walked through the streets of Mithi city of Tharparkar to demand rights of Scheduled castes communities, …
Dr. Khatumal Jeewan on the Rise of Meghwars in local Politics of lower Sindh
Dr Khatumal Jeewan Dr Khatumal Jeewan (Khatu) is the most celebrated Dalit leader of Pakistan. He has been senator, four times MNA (Member of National Assembly) and two times MPA (Member of Provincial Assembly) on party ticket of Pakistan People’s Party, between 1985 and 2013. This speech was delivered at a time when the …
War: Win Win Time for the Ruling Class
Vikas Bagde To unite a diverse mass, one must create an external enemy, so that by considering such an enemy as a severe threat to their interests, those diverse people can be united. After that, it becomes very easy for a ruler to keep control of them and divert all their attention from any …
Rise of Modi and Anti-Muslim Politics: A Critical Reading of the Left
K K Baburaj After hearing the news of BJP securing individual majority in parliament, I visited a friend of mine. His father, a retired teacher and a well-known leftist locally being an ex-leader of a left wing teachers’ association, started talking to me enthusiastically about the election results. “This result is a reply to the …
We have cleansed our eyes and tongues: On diasporic denials and revisionism
Sinthujan Varatharajah He sat down in the crammed living room of a flat in a low-income suburb in Toronto, Canada. Every weekend he would travel to the other end of the city to enter the 12th floor of a high rise complex in the immigrant area. He would arrive at 11 AM and sit …