[Via Karthik Navayan]
The event Democratic Debate on Appropriation of Ambedkar’s Writings was held on 10th April 2014, in Hyderabad. It was addressed by Dalit Bahujan intellectuals, Bojja Tharakam, Professor Kancha Ilaiah, U Sambashiva Rao, Joopaka Subhadra, Gogu Shyamala and other participants who discussed thoroughly the content, and also the intentions of the publisher and the author of the introduction, of the new ‘critical edition’ of Dr BR Ambedkar’s Annihilation of Caste published by Navayana.
Further, they had resolved the following to recommend to the author of ‘The Doctor and The Saint’ and the publisher:
1. The introduction to Annihilation of Caste written by Arundhati Roy, titled as “The Doctor and The Saint”, should be detached and may be republished as a separate book as the introduction is not about Annihilation of Caste.
2. The annotations and footnotes be removed from Annihilation of Caste, as it is an attempt to establish savarna scholarship as the only relevant scholarship on anti-caste and dalit literature, as most of the referenced books and article were written by savarnas.
3. The image of Dr B.R Ambedkar on the cover page of this book is unsuitable.
4. The publisher may withdraw this book and republish incorporating the above-mentioned recommendations.
Around a hundred people, including Dr GV Ratnakar, Battula Ramprasad, Ganumala Gnaneshwar, Madhavarao, Prem Kumar, Kuffir, Karthik Navayan, Kasukurty Ramalingam, and other scholars, activists and thinkers participated in the debate.
Two participants, Surepally Sujatha and Babu Gogineni, expressed no objections against the book in its current form.
~ Committee Against Appropriation of Ambedkar Writings (CAAAW)
~~~
