Ravi Chandran Osmania University is a hotbed of Dalit politics. OU was a bastion of the upper caste middle classes in the 60s and 70s, but since the late 80s, the upper caste student population has drastically come down. After Mandal, the representation of SC/ST/OBCs has gone up to a majority in the university. …
Exactly whose sentiments are hurt by beef and pork?
Ravi Chandran When its udders were squeezed and milked You didn’t feel any pain at all When it was stitched into a chappal you stamped underfoot and walked You didn’t feel hurt at all When it rang as a drum at your marriage and your funeral You didn’t suffer any blows When it sated …
Judges on Concept of Equality Under the Constitution
Nagesh Chaudhary On 8th September, 2012, a memorial lecture was organised in Mumbai under the auspices of ‘Adv. N L Belekar memorial lecture’ series. The speaker was ex-supreme court judge B.N. Srikrishna. The subject was ‘Concept of Equality under the Constitution’. J M Shah, chief justice of Bombay high court presided over the function. Three …
Learning from a controversy
Sukhadeo Thorat The insights in the NCERT cartoon report can help to make the curriculum and the classroom more inclusive While the NCERT textbooks report has generated much heat, it has also shed positive light on the issue. It is time to reflect on this side of the debate and deal with the questions it …
Name of God, wealth of Brahmins
Dr. K. Jamanadas Dr. Ambedkar asked to use temple money for public good In a special editorial in Mahanayak of 14th July 2012, titled, ‘Name of God, wealth of Brahmins’, the author has given interesting statistics. The following is the gist of it. Mr. Sharad Yadav has recently demanded that the money collected in the …
Two Lessons from Ashoka and Ambedkar
Shiva Shankar (Talk presented at the conference on ‘Dr.Ambedkar and the Modern Buddhist World’, Nagaloka, Nagpur, October, 2006) Dear Friends, We all learn early that in 250 BC the Mauryan king Ashoka waged and won a cruel war with the neighbouring kingdom of Kalinga, yet when he went to inspect his spoils, it was not triumphant glory …
Buddhism as a social, democratic doctrine: a liberation ideology
Karthik Navayan In 1935, while addressing the Yeola Conversion Conference, Dr. BR Ambedkar declared ‘I am born a Hindu. I couldn’t help it, but I solemnly assure you that I will not die a Hindu’. He said: ‘Hindu civilsation.. is a diabolical contrivance to suppress and enslave humanity’. It was created by Brahminical parasites to …
The Other Mahatma
Gail Omvedt (First published in May, 2002) The publication of a collection of English translations of the writings of Jotirao Phule, the nineteenth century social radical, by LeftWord publications marks, hopefully, a transition in the attitude of the left towards the struggle against Brahmanism. It also marks an increasing recognition of the importance of Phule, …
Stop Forced Religious Conversions!
Dr. Udit Raj (First published in September 2006) The Sangh Parivar is not able to resolve the dangers looming large on the caste-based Hindu religion on its own. There is a saying that you should first try to resolve your differences on your own, and then consult your neighbours. But instead of taking recourse to …