Speech delivered by Thol. Thirumavalavan, M.P., and President, Liberation Panthers Party (VCK) at ‘South Asia Parliamentarians’ Conference on Dalit Concerns’ ~Enabling Equity & Inclusion~ on 8th -9th December 2013, in Kathmandu, Nepal ~ Respected Chairperson Mr. Paul Divakar, Co-chairperson Mr. Yam Bahadur Kisan, Respected Panel Members of this session – Mr. Ranendra Barali, Mr. …
Revealing the ‘Male Teacher Authority Figure’
Nidhin Shobhana ‘Every Image embodies a way of seeing’ – John Berger. He enters the giant classroom in his crisp white short kurta, he walks with an ease which inspires pensive and fearful silence; he is fair-skinned, well-fed and tall, and he speaks clearly with authority. One of the most powerful images of our …
Blood under Saffron: In Search of Justice
‘Under your fascist skySlowly pants the terrified dalit ghetto.’* Raju Solanki (Raju Solanki is an activist and poet based in Gujarat. These are a few of his notes on Gujarat, the state of Dalits, minorities and other marginalized sections under the Modi regime. They provide keen insights into how ‘Moditva’ works and its …
Representation to the President: Review FYUP in Delhi University
Text of Representation given to the Visitor Of Delhi University, the President of India, on May 14, 2013 by the Joint Action Front for Democratic Education ~ ToShri Pranab MukherjeeVisitor, University of Delhi & President of IndiaRashtrapathi BhavanNew Delhi. May 14, 2013 The 4-Year Degree at Delhi University: Request to institute a Visitorial inquiry …
Political Philosophy of B.R. Ambedkar: A Critical Understanding (Part 2)
Dr. P. Kesava Kumar Continued from here. Assessing the Political Thought of Ambedkar About Ambedkar there are diverse opinions. Upper caste nationalists has tried to brand him as a ‘British agent’. For instance, Arun Shourie, the Hindu nationalist and the “intellectual hero” of the upper castes at the time of the anti-Mandal agitation and …
Campaign for Reservation, Social Justice, and Democracy
Alliance For Social Justice & Students For Social Justice In a society divided along religious, caste, linguistic, and regional lines, the most efficient way for a dominant segment to perpetuate its hegemony is to keep the subaltern from getting educated. History as well as mythology illustrates this, as seen in the stories of Shambook, Ekalavya, …
More of the Same in the Global India
Braj Ranjan Mani The tyranny of capitalism in India cannot be grasped, let alone resisted, in isolation from its wider social context. Capitalism is far more dangerous in India than in the Euro-America because of the culture and economics of caste. Today, India (after China and the US) has the world’s third largest middle class …
Neobrahmanism, human rights and social democracy
Braj Ranjan Mani (First published in 2009) The image of India is that of a democratic, multicultural, inclusive society. But more often than not, appearances are not reality. India is a republic—a secular, socialist, democratic republic—where millions of children, women and men remain demoralised, enslaved to the powerful, crying out for fundamentals of life. Fragmented …
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 …