Nirban Ray & Om Prakash Mahato There have been mainly two approaches by means of which the politics of North India in general and Uttar Pradesh in particular is analyzed. These two approaches or analysis, although based on different methodologies or diverse case studies, their fundamental aim is to understand and explore the politics of …
Who is the “Aaam Aadmi” in AAP?
Suresh Mane, General Secretary of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), spoke recently to Ria De, of Dalit Camera: Through Un-Touchable Eyes, on the Aam Aadmi Party and the emerging contours of politics in India. This video interview was transcribed by Ajith Francis. Recently, Indian politics is undergoing radical changes- drastic changes especially in the …
The question of casteism still remains
K. Satyanarayana The controversy around Ashis Nandy’s casual remarks at the Jaipur Literature Festival did not address a number of important questions of public concern. The frenzied ‘Save Nandy’ campaign that followed has actually foreclosed any productive discussion. His supporters have been trying to explain and contextualise Professor Nandy’s flippant remarks through references to …
Let’s skim the upper caste creamy layer
(This is the second part of the article ‘The compulsive need to oppose reservations’, continued from here) Kuffir What does Pratap Bhanu Mehta really want? He wants ‘alternative paradigms‘ other than caste based reservations to be considered. Why? To build a sense of ‘common citizenship’. His worry is ‘we are also about to do that to …
The Cartoon Conundrum
A counterpoint: Conundrum of a cartoon and the proselytization of professors ~~ Bojja Tharakam A considerable bunch of professors are up in arms against those who condemned the cartoon republished in the text book in political science for class XI (published by the National Council of Educational Research and Training), depicting Jawaharlal …
Critical Reading of NCERT text ‘Indian Constitution at Work’
Lalit Khandare The National Curriculum Framework 2005 for social sciences states: “In the social sciences, the approach proposed in the NCF recognises disciplinary markers while emphasising integration on significant themes, such as water. A paradigm shift is recommended, proposing the study of the social sciences from the perspective of marginalised groups. Gender justice and a …
Ambedkar Cartoon, Dalit Objections and Indian Left Liberals – II
Continued from here. This is the second, concluding part of the transcript of the interview Ravi Chandran, of the video news journal ‘Dalit Camera: Through Un-Touchable Eyes‘, conducted with Dr K. Satyanarayana, Associate Professor, Department of Cultural Studies, English and Foreign Languages University (EFL-U) on the recent Ambedkar cartoon controversy. Dr K. Satyanarayana: …
The cartoon controversy: Inside the mind of one ‘fanatic’ Dalit – I
Anoop Kumar ‘I have an open mind, though not an empty mind. A person with an open mind is always the subject of congratulations. While this may be so, it must, at the same time, be realized that an open mind may also be an empty mind and that such an open mind, if it …