Articles by: Aseem Hasnain

Dalit Sikhs gather for a protest in New Delhi. AP Photo/ R S Iyer

Caste doesn’t just exist in India or in Hinduism – it is pervasive across many religions in South Asia and the diaspora

by Aseem Hasnain and Abhilasha Srivastava The California State University system, America’s largest public higher education system, recently added caste, a birth-based social hierarchy system, to its anti-discrimination policy, allowing students, staff and faculty across its 23 campuses to report caste bias and discrimination. CSU’s move has drawn a sharp response from some in the Indian diaspora: About 80 faculty members of[Read More…]

by — 25/05/2022 — 2 comments — Annihilate Caste
Photo by Sudharak Olwe / https://sudharakolwe.com/insearch.html

Manual Scavenging in India: Caste Privileges and the Continuing Search for the ‘Ideal Bhangi’

Co-Written by Aseem Hasnain, Abhilasha Srivastava and Avinav Kumar Sudharak Olwe’s photographs of conservancy workers in Mumbai are heartbreaking. They depict the lives and work of sanitation workers, as much as they reflect the fundamental nature of our society. In this haunting image a young adult is standing neck deep in an open bubbling drain, underground, both literally and metaphorically.[Read More…]

by — 27/08/2020 — 3 comments — Annihilate Caste