Suvendu Barik 1. Caste violence on barbers A default understanding of the social position of barbers in the Shudra hierarchy is of holding them accountable for denying haircuts to Schedule Caste communities. While barbers are considered low-caste, they hold onto various casteist norms and simultaneously are minutely regulated by oppressor castes (and feudal, landed communities) …
Phule, Paine and the Idea of Religion
Dr. SPVA Sairam Religion has played a significant role throughout the human history and its legacy is mixed. As a means of social control, it not only divided people and subjected them to the ignominies of the worst sort, but also, at times, it acted as a unifying force, unleashing the tremendous potential within humans …
Logarithmic castes in Kerala and exponential pride
Navin Sambrani While the caste elite, being twice born enjoy the exponentially `squared ‘ status, the Keralite caste elite, savouring their status owing to erstwhile informal marital alliances with the twice born, are its logarithmic inverse (square rooted, to the power of two) counterparts. Life thus shrinks into itself, in all its tropical pestilence. Shashi …
Suicidal ruminations of a frustrated Bahujan academic
Ravikant Kisana As I paced around my house at 1am in the night, I realized I didn’t own any ropes. I wondered if ripping out the straps of my backpack and tying it together with horizontal strips cut from my towels would make a strong enough noose to hang myself with. Then in …
Why and How the Government Fails to Remove Caste-Based Manual Scavenging in India!
Ajay Rahulwad Introduction Manual scavenging is a caste-ridden occupation done by manual scavengers, workers who clean human excreta manually, meaning, with hands. If one would want to understand why these workers have to do this job, one has to look at its genesis in the caste-based occupational stratification in India. It is said that, “All …
Caste System and Mechanization of Human Feelings
Hemangi Kadlak Caste is not only the mechanism that runs Indian society, but it also turns human feelings mechanical. We have been becoming less human and more machines as we watch, hear about atrocities on other human beings but there is no alert system to prevent or punish the culprits. Rapes are seen as daily …
Silent Revolution – The Shudras towards an Enlightened India
Subal Meher Babasaheb said, “They cannot make history who forget history”. The term ‘Shudra’ is very difficult to understand. Who are/were they; how did they come to be known by this name? How did they become the fourth varna in the Indo-Aryan society? Many questions like this come up when one tries to understand the …
Mahatma Phule’s Thoughts on Caste-Patriarchy: A Critical Evaluation
Sachin Garud It is a well-known fact that at the time of India’s national movement, there was another movement known as the movement of social engineering or social revolution, led by Mahatma Phule, who had pioneered the foundation of a social revolution in India. Although contemporary thinkers like Ram Mohan Roy, Justice M.G. Ranade …
मैं परस्पर सम्मान या जन सम्मान की राजनीति के पक्ष में हूँ: अशोक भारती
संजय जोठे (Sanjay Jothe) अशोक भारती, संक्षिप्त परिचय: अशोक भारती नेशनल कन्फेडरेशन ऑफ़ दलित एंड आदिवासी राइट्स (NACDOR) के संस्थापक हैं और इस संस्था के माध्यम से भारत के 23 राज्यों में दलित आदिवासी अधिकार की लड़ाई लड़ते रहे हैं. श्री भारती अशोका फेलो भी हैं. एक आइईएस अधिकारी रह चुके श्री भारती ने …