Post Tagged with: "Annihilate Caste"

Who ‘stagnated’ the Ambedkarite ‘movement’?

Who ‘stagnated’ the Ambedkarite ‘movement’?

Ambedkarite movement is a term most Dalits, Bahujans, Activists, Academia from Social Sciences and Political fraternity are aware of. This has been and will be used abundantly in their writings, speeches, slogans etc. No one can in totality define ‘Ambedkarite Movement’ but one surely knows what it means in their respective domain. Having travelled enough, after meeting abundance of activists,[Read More…]

by 23/04/2023 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
Ambedkarites need to be content creators

Ambedkarites need to be content creators

On 14th April 2023, I had an opportunity to meet and listen to Prof Scott R. Stroud at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Deonar Mumbai. He has recently authored an amazing book, “The Evolution of Pragmatism in India” and was speaking about the same. With a mind captivated by the contents of the talks, combined with a zeal due to[Read More…]

by 17/04/2023 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
Omnipresent Caste

Omnipresent Caste

by Sanjana Sree Manusanipalli and Sandeep Pandey The city is supposed to be the place where anyone can be anything they want to be. They say in a city like Hyderabad, there are no feelings of caste, class or religion. Everyone is supposed to be equal. Sociologists have also believed that urbanisation could signal the end of the caste system.[Read More…]

by 02/03/2023 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
Anti-Caste Laws in America: Thwarting Aryan Hatred Against Jesus As Dalit?

Anti-Caste Laws in America: Thwarting Aryan Hatred Against Jesus As Dalit?

Lot of discussion and writing is happening in India about anti-caste laws and rules getting framed in America, the dream land of Dwijas of India. Several Hindutva intellectuals are telling stories about their love for Dalits without telling anything about how their forefathers created this barbaric system, which is now getting globalized and how they want to participate in abolishing[Read More…]

by 27/02/2023 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
Radical Desi declares Kshama Sawant as Person of the Year 2023

Radical Desi declares Kshama Sawant as Person of the Year 2023

Recognizing the historic move of banning caste-based discrimination by a Seattle City Councillor, Vancouver-based online magazine has decided to pick her as person of the year. Kshama Sawant, the lone Indian-American member of the Seattle City Council, has been known for her unwavering dedication to social justice. She has consistently stood up for the underdog, including the poor working class[Read More…]

by 27/02/2023 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
Seattle’s ban on caste discrimination has created history in America: Indian American Coalition

Seattle’s ban on caste discrimination has created history in America: Indian American Coalition

  Seattle, WA (February 21, 2023) – A coalition of Indian-American civil rights organizations today commended the Seattle City Council for its leadership in passing the historic legislation to ban caste-based discrimination in the city. Introduced by Council member Kshama Sawant (District 3, Central Seattle), the legislation passed on Tuesday with a 6-1 vote prohibits, “businesses from discriminating based on[Read More…]

by 22/02/2023 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
Climate Crisis, SDGs & Shit-dumped Water

Climate Crisis, SDGs & Shit-dumped Water

Climate Disaster; as the mounting scientific evidence is pointing to a fast-approaching inevitable happening of ‘human extinction’, the attention of the world is turning towards the details of the potential manmade disaster. Crazy! You guys are bothered about your extinction. It seems absurd as you shout and debate in hundreds of seminars and COPs! How come you guys gain more[Read More…]

by 31/12/2022 Comments are Disabled India
Persistence of Caste as the axial principle of stratification

Persistence of Caste as the axial principle of stratification

Based on his twenty-one-year fieldwork, Jonathan P Parry authored ‘Classes of Labour: Work and Life in a Central Indian Steel Town’, in which he argued the weakening of the caste system as a principle of stratification. According to Parry, with a few exceptions, class system is key for social divisions and in determining social behaviour of individuals. Though his arguments[Read More…]

by 16/12/2022 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
Atrocities against SCs and STs in Odisha shows an increasing trend – NCRB report 2021

Atrocities against SCs and STs in Odisha shows an increasing trend – NCRB report 2021

The state is featured among the top five states having more number of atrocity cases against SCs and STs. National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in its annual report Crime in India 2021 captures the trends of crime in our country. The report contains crime against vulnerable sections such as women, children, senior citizens and SC’s and ST’s and others. As[Read More…]

by 01/09/2022 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
AKSC urges companies in the USA to include caste discrimination in the policy documents

AKSC urges companies in the USA to include caste discrimination in the policy documents

Ambedkar King Study Circle’s 3rd annual conference urged the companies in the USA to include caste discrimination in the policy documents Anti-caste activists gathered in Cupertino on Aug 27th under the theme to resist Brahminism and Hindutva urged the companies in the USA to include caste discrimination in the policy documents and appriciated Apple being the first company in the[Read More…]

by 29/08/2022 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
From Ambedkars’ Chavdar Talab to Indra Meghwal

From Ambedkars’ Chavdar Talab to Indra Meghwal

Indra Meghwal a nine year old student of Sarswati Vidya Mandir, Jalore in Rajasthan was beaten by his teacher on 20th July 2022. The crime of this boy, was that he drank from the water pot reserved for his upper caste teacher. This is the version of Indra’s parents and classmates. Another version is being floated that the boy was[Read More…]

by 25/08/2022 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
The Culturalization of Caste in India: An Interview with Balmurli Natrajan

The Culturalization of Caste in India: An Interview with Balmurli Natrajan

by Balmurli Natrajan and Raghav Kaushik Dr. Balmurli Natrajan is Professor of Anthropology at William Paterson University of New Jersey, USA. He works at the intersections of the material and the symbolic, of the biocultural and political economy, and of culture, cognition and practice.  His key research and teaching foci fall into three domains: group formation & inequalities (caste, race);[Read More…]

by 24/08/2022 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
Swami Acchutanand/Picture courtesy: velivada.com

Adi-Hindu Movement, The Chimera of Social Equality and The Way Forward

Co-written by Ms. Akanksha Sharma and Mr. Skand Priya I The phenomenon of caste as we see it today has evolved historically and been shaped materially. It is also perhaps the most written about Indian phenomenon and, consequently, has generated a truly colossal amount of scholarship, and this shows the hegemonic position Caste possesses in the contemporary Indian society and politics. Though[Read More…]

by 20/07/2022 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
St. Devasahayam’s Caste, Crucifixion And His Resurrection As A Global Shudra Saint

St. Devasahayam’s Caste, Crucifixion And His Resurrection As A Global Shudra Saint

The canonization of the first ever layman of India,  Devasahayam, or  Lazarus (1712–1752) as saint, on the lines of Mother Theresa or on the lines of St.Peter, by the Vatican on 15 May, 2022 is historic in many strange ways. The human history of religions does not find a man of his kind of torturous life from birth, growth and[Read More…]

by 09/06/2022 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
Bahujan politics needs a new radical alternative

Bahujan politics needs a new radical alternative

Dr. Ambedkar is considered the father of Dalit politics. He raised the demand for political rights to the Dalits in the Round Table Conferences and despite Gandhiji’s strong opposition, the Dalits got the status of a minority class and political rights apart from the Hindus, which were announced in the form of Communal Award. In this, Dalits got the right[Read More…]

by 27/05/2022 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
Future of Dalits in India

Future of Dalits in India

(Note: Although Bhagwan Das wrote this article in 2001, but in this he had identified the shortcomings and weaknesses of Dalits and predicted a bleak future of Dalits, it is proving to be completely correct today. Therefore, Dalits should learn from this article and fight for their rights by adopting Buddhism and forming a strong organization to secure their future.[Read More…]

by 20/10/2021 1 comment Annihilate Caste
Conversation with Dr Manisha Bangar Part I

Conversation with Dr Manisha Bangar Part I

Phule-Ambedkarite ideology is the only alternative for Bahujans, says Dr Manisha Bangar, National Vice President, People’s Party of India, former National Vice President, BAMCEF in conversation with Vidya Bhushan Rawat Dr Manisha Bangar is a practicing Senior Consultant Gastroenterologist and Transplant Hepatologist, with around 20 years of clinical cum research and teaching experience. In terms of her medical qualification, she completed[Read More…]

by 31/08/2021 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
The Shudra Kings And Brahmins: A mirror image of history

The Shudra Kings And Brahmins: A mirror image of history

But for the accidental reading of Shahu Maharaj’s letter to the retired Governor of Bombay presidency, Lord Sydenham, written in 1918, I would not have thought of writing this essay. In my life time experience of writing about the Brahmin-Bania power in contemporary times at the expense of life threats and cases in various levels of courts the Dwija pundits[Read More…]

by 24/08/2021 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
Privatisation as a Counter to Dalit Assertion

Privatisation as a Counter to Dalit Assertion

For Dalits now and backward castes then, from Phule to Periyar, while the education provided by the ancient natural philosophies like Budhism, modern egalitarian religions like Christianity, exploitative but ‘progressive’ British government and the independent India’s democratic government has been one of the prime factors in promoting consciousness of Dalits on their degraded social position, on their exclusion from knowledge,[Read More…]

by 28/04/2021 1 comment Annihilate Caste
Without ‘Annihilation of Caste’, It is Not Possible to Establish an Egalitarian Society in India

Without ‘Annihilation of Caste’, It is Not Possible to Establish an Egalitarian Society in India

“Inequality is the soul of Hinduism”. And that is why he finally came to conclusion that, “I was born a Hindu, but will not die a Hindu” (Dr.  BR. Ambedkar) “Until 1990, Ambedkar was untouchable to all mainstream political parties’’ (Prof. Kancha Ilaiah)   On the auspicious occasion of the 130th birth anniversary of Dr. Ambedkar (celebrated as the Ambedkar[Read More…]

by 15/04/2021 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
Ambedkar on Castes In India And Among Muslims

Ambedkar on Castes In India And Among Muslims

  This is part-1 of an article, being published to mark the Birth Anniversary on April 14, of Dr. BR Ambedkar (1891-1956). Referring to “a great deal of controversy” regarding  the origin of caste, “as to whether it is due to the conscious command of a Supreme Authority, or is an unconscious growth in the life of a human society[Read More…]

by 14/04/2021 2 comments Annihilate Caste
The Shudra Predicament

The Shudra Predicament

        With the recent book “The Shudras : vision for a new path” (edited by Karthika Raja Karuppasamy and Kancha Ilaiah) and the Shudra farmers protesting on the capital borders, the issue of historically neglected Shudras came to the forefront. At a time when the right wing hindutva agenda is on its rise, the need to counter[Read More…]

by 02/04/2021 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
Shudras And The Central Universities

Shudras And The Central Universities

  A well-known Dalit scholar Gopal Guru, presently editor of the Economic and Political Weekly, once wrote that “Indian Social Science represents a pernicious divide between theoretical Brahmins and empirical Shudras’ (2002). But Shudras did not get much attention in his, otherwise useful article. He immediately shifted his argument to the question of Dalits. Nowhere he elaborated his understanding of the[Read More…]

by 27/03/2021 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
Untouchable

Untouchable

I live next to a textile mill complex from an era long-passed. Today, the old stone buildings have been reduced to rubble and the trees that surrounded them, more than 100 in number have been felled. My tired senses don’t feel the same when I look out the window and see pale-grey, concrete walls. The sound of drilling, hammering, crushing[Read More…]

by 18/03/2021 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
State And Annihilation Of Caste

State And Annihilation Of Caste

    Indian state is part of Indian society and Indian society is built on caste based social order. That way state or the government can do very little to destroy the caste system because as the state is built on the caste and the caste society is controlled by the top castes – the state cannot go against the system[Read More…]

by 06/01/2021 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
Caste System in India: from the eyes of a Retired IPS Officer turned Social Activist

Caste System in India: from the eyes of a Retired IPS Officer turned Social Activist

The caste system in India is the oldest surviving social hierarchy. India is as much a caste-based country as it is an agriculture-based country. The whole societal structure is based on castes and class – dating back to the four varnas system, i.e. the Brahmins (priests), the Kshatriyas (soldiers), the Vaisyas (traders) and the Shudras (labourers). A fifth category that[Read More…]

by 24/12/2020 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
Photo Credit: John J Akash

Revisiting Keezhvenmani after 50 years; The Smoldering coal-Then and now

This article is about visiting Keezhvenmani after 50 years, where the Keezhvenmani Massacre was held and I discussed about the present condition of the village. It was during my post-graduation journalism studies at the Central University of Tamil Nadu in Thiruvarur, one of my professors enquired about my view on the recently watched movie; Asuran, a 2019 film directed by[Read More…]

by 21/12/2020 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
An attempt to revive the “Self-Respect movement”

An attempt to revive the “Self-Respect movement”

Unlike other leaders, why is Ambedkar’s statue caged? Is a question that needs to be answered before starting any debate about Dalits and the policies being framed for them. India’s social division is based on “caste” and not “class”. Sadly, the privileged lot always tries to confine the topic of “Caste discrimination & Dalits” to “Class discrimination & Reservation policies”[Read More…]

by 20/12/2020 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
So You want to ally with the Dalit Rights Movement?

So You want to ally with the Dalit Rights Movement?

On 25th May 2020, George Floyd, an unarmed Black man was murdered in police custody in Minneapolis, USA. A video showing a white police officer kneeling on his neck for almost nine minutes while he was pinned to the floor went viral. Following this, large anti-racism protests took place with many white people also standing against racism and police brutality.[Read More…]

by 28/10/2020 1 comment Annihilate Caste
Political Economy of Caste in India

Political Economy of Caste in India

Caste plays a role at every stage of an Indian’s economic life: in school, university, the labor market, and into old age. The influence of caste extends beyond private economic activity into the public sphere, where caste politics determines access to public resources. Sure, there has been a convergence in education, occupations, income, and access to public resources across caste[Read More…]

by 26/10/2020 Comments are Disabled Book Review
The Irony of Fear of Victims and the Fearlessness of Perpetrators in a Nation of Castes

The Irony of Fear of Victims and the Fearlessness of Perpetrators in a Nation of Castes

After the death of a Dalit girl from Hathras in a hospital at New Delhi, many video cameras turn to members of girl’s family to gather the know about of the incident. Many videos surfaced on social media showing girl’s brother speaking to a journalist just after the death of his sister, a grieving mother sitting on a soiled ground,[Read More…]

by 10/10/2020 Comments are Disabled India
Requirement Of An Independent Constitutional Body

Requirement Of An Independent Constitutional Body

The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 was enacted with a main objective to protect marginalised communities viz. schedule castes and tribes against discrimination and atrocities. Sec.3 of the said Act enunciates the nature of various acts committed against a schedule caste or a schedule tribe to constitute an offence punishable under the said Act. The said provision stipulates that any act which is[Read More…]

by 05/10/2020 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
Strengthen National Commission of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes

Strengthen National Commission of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes

Introduction National Commission of Scheduled Castes and National Commission of Scheduled Tribes, both constitutional bodies constituted to protect and monitor implementation of safeguards to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes have been lying vacant at highest level for the past six months. Barring employees, there are no Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Members. The governing body is vacant. Both the constitutional bodies are[Read More…]

by 05/10/2020 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
Cisco Case Shows Indians Still Take Caste Where they Go

Cisco Case Shows Indians Still Take Caste Where they Go

What happens to caste when Indians migrate to Western countries? Do their feelings of being born superior or inferior, their belief in the purity-pollution ethic, just melt away? The “model minority” has tried to avoid a conversation on this issue but it returns to haunt them time and again. Now the American state of California is at the centre of[Read More…]

by 15/07/2020 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
Caste Atrocities in Tamil Nadu in the wake of Covid-19 Pandemic

Caste Atrocities in Tamil Nadu in the wake of Covid-19 Pandemic

Humanity, which aspires to move to the moon to expand its empire by virtue of its so-called scientific advancement is forced to learn an indelible lesson taught by the virus Covid-19. The invisible tiny virus has completely overturned our perspectives of high and low; haves and have nots; rich and poor; black and white; male and female; educated and uneducated;[Read More…]

by 10/07/2020 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
Are Casteism and Racism Blood Brothers?

Are Casteism and Racism Blood Brothers?

Caste is not entirely the same as Race, yet Casteism and Racism remain blood brothers. They are both systems of structured oppression which date back centuries. While Racism surfaced back as a white knee crushing a black neck that belonged to a man called George Floyd who lost his life minutes after, clearly a case of murder in broad daylight,[Read More…]

by 09/06/2020 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
Democracies can’t breathe without responding to Race and Caste discrimination

Democracies can’t breathe without responding to Race and Caste discrimination

Two of the biggest democracies in the world now face the biggest challenges in their political history. Yes, I am speaking about United States and India. One has failed to accommodate the huge Black population victim of the racism in that country while the other has failed to include the Dalits in the decision making as caste hatred and caste[Read More…]

by 31/05/2020 Comments are Disabled World
Social Inequality in a Political Democracy

Social Inequality in a Political Democracy

In spite of India’s perceptible economic and social development, the caste system still obstructs and isolates the section of its population, the Scheduled Caste (SC) also called as Dalits and Scheduled Tribes (ST). The Dalits, who form around 16.6 per cent of Indian population[1], undergo systemic discrimination, and excluded from the development process even after 72 years of independence is[Read More…]

Mahishasur: A people’s Hero

Mahishasur: A people’s Hero

Alternative Readings of the Durga-Mahishasur Myth. A Revolt Against Brahmanical Epistemology: The beginning of a new cultural renaissance in India The alternative readings of myths from Brahmanical mythological reservoir mark the beginning of a new cultural consciousness among the Dalits, Adivasis and other deprived sections of the Indian society. The deprived peoples have realized that the Brahmanism has been able to[Read More…]

by 05/04/2017 5 comments Book Review
Caste System Remains The Biggest Threat To Democracy

Caste System Remains The Biggest Threat To Democracy

Despite a great threat to their own existence inside the JNU campuses which is being ‘cleaned’ to maintain Brahmanical purity and hegemony ( it was always there but in a better ‘coordinated’ and sophisticated way) the young Ambedkarites of Birsa Ambedkar Student Association ( BAPSA) today protested against the killing of a young Dalit boy in Telangana a few days[Read More…]

by 05/04/2017 1 comment Annihilate Caste
Vaarasa (The Inheritance ) – A Compelling Short Fiction On Caste

Vaarasa (The Inheritance ) – A Compelling Short Fiction On Caste

“The Inheritance” is a compelling fictional narrative of a young man who is sucked up by the whirlpool of caste system. This short fiction depicts with conviction how even educated young people of lower castes are tragically drowned by the inheritance of their own caste. Rahul Pagare, a student of ITI-Electrical believed in Ambedkar’s message of ‘Educate Organise Agitate’. Grown[Read More…]

by 28/12/2016 1 comment Video
Now You Don’t See Me, Now You Don’t-JatiIndia: A Flag of Atrocities Caste, Present And Future

Now You Don’t See Me, Now You Don’t-JatiIndia: A Flag of Atrocities Caste, Present And Future

An interview with MuslimPress Why did you choose the name “Jatiindia” for your work? What’s the significance of this name? Inequality exists in societies all across the globe. Designed by Brahmanism (which came before Hinduism), the caste system is a uniquely cruel and immutable version of this phenomenon because it has been conveniently sanctioned by the Hindu religion. The Indian[Read More…]

When The Voiceless Get A Voice

When The Voiceless Get A Voice

If there’s one overwhelming sign that numbers mean nothing and organization means everything, it is the plight of Dalits and Muslims in India. Dalits and Muslims are officially 17% & 13% of the population. That means that together one in three Indians is a ‘Dalim’ – Dalit Indian Muslim (my coinage today – in case it ever makes it to[Read More…]

by 26/10/2016 1 comment Annihilate Caste
I Am 16, Dalit, And A Video Of Me Being Tortured In Class Went Viral

I Am 16, Dalit, And A Video Of Me Being Tortured In Class Went Viral

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdC3iS1kGkI I am 16 years old, a student of a government school in Muzaffarpur in Bihar. For the last few days, everyone wants to know why I was beaten so mercilessly and why I kept silent for so long. Well, I am exhausted and frustrated from repeating my story time and again – for the cops, for my classmates, for[Read More…]

Satya Sodhak Trinity Of Mahatma Jothirao Phule

Satya Sodhak Trinity Of Mahatma Jothirao Phule

We pay our tributes to Mahatma Jothirao Phule, the founder of Satya Sodhak Samaj, on this 143rd year of its foundation, namely September 24, 1873. Mahatma Jothirao Phule, and his wife Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule, declared war on brahmanic-casteist culture and religion. This Maharashtrian couple presented the first major anti-caste ideology and led a mass activism against the ascriptive norms and[Read More…]

by 26/09/2016 1 comment Annihilate Caste
Inquiring Into The Role Of CPI(M) In The Annihilation Of Caste

Inquiring Into The Role Of CPI(M) In The Annihilation Of Caste

Vijoo Krishnan recently led a team of CPI(M) and its mass organizations to the historic Dalit Asmita Yatra (culminating in Una on 15-Aug 2016). In the light of this, and participation of the party in various anti-caste uprisings in the country, Dalit Camera poses a few questions to Vijoo about the party’s role in Annihilation of Caste and their effort to bring about a Left-Ambedkarite unity.

by 21/09/2016 3 comments Annihilate Caste
Periyar: Rationalist Bahujan Socialist Revolutionary And The Crusader Against Casteism

Periyar: Rationalist Bahujan Socialist Revolutionary And The Crusader Against Casteism

Erode Venkata Ramasamy Naickar(17 September 1879 – 24 December 1973), commonly known as Periyar also referred as E. V. R. or Thanthai Periyar, was an Indian social activist, freedom fighter and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam. Biography Born in 1879 into a rich family of Balijas (traders) in Tamil Nadu’s Erode district, Periyar was a pious[Read More…]

by 17/09/2016 2 comments Annihilate Caste
This is the latest ABVP’s poster put up on the wall of SIS building (new) of JNU with the portrait of Dr. Ambedkar. The poster qoutes him without mentioning the reference as saying that if Dalits convert to Islam or Christianity, it will “denationalize them”. Photo: Samim Asgor Ali

Hindu Right, Ambedkar And JNU Politics

The ABVP activists are hopeful that their “achievement” of having the library renamed after Dr Ambedkar will help them woo lower-caste students, particularly Dalits. With the JNUSU elections approaching, the Hindutva organization is desperate to broaden its social base by such acts of appropriation and tokenism This is the latest ABVP’s poster put up on the wall of SIS building[Read More…]

by 27/08/2016 1 comment Annihilate Caste
Dr. Ambedkar’s Historical Speech At Agra

Dr. Ambedkar’s Historical Speech At Agra

 (Note: This is Dr. Ambedkar’s historical speech (18th March, 1956)  in which he had put forward his experiences and the future strategy. In this speech he had addressed different sections of society. In fact it was a guideline for future Dalit movement but it is quite agonising to say that Dalits have forgotten it. It is reflected in a sharp[Read More…]

by 26/08/2016 1 comment Annihilate Caste
Racial Profiling Of African Americans In US And Caste Discrimination In India

Racial Profiling Of African Americans In US And Caste Discrimination In India

The African-American community has long suspected that they have been profiled, unjustly pulled over and killed by the police for the most ridiculous reasons. The typical response of the police and the authorities has been that the cops acted in self-defense and the broader community of whites and other privileged sections of the society supported the cops. Things began to[Read More…]

Jignesh Mevani: A Leader Is Born

Jignesh Mevani: A Leader Is Born

Very successful press conference at the Press Club of India, New Delhi by Jignesh Mevani, lawyer and Dalit activist from Gujarat. Very good attendance. Lot of questioning by journos’ almost amounting to interrogation, which Jignesh tackled very well. Jignesh Mevani was at the same time fire and brimstone lashing away at Mr. Modi and the BJP, and also Captain Cool[Read More…]

by 21/08/2016 5 comments Annihilate Caste
History In The Making, Dalit Leaders Must Step Up To It

History In The Making, Dalit Leaders Must Step Up To It

It is not surprising that the recent protests by dalits, especially the vigorous one in Ahmedabad following the Una incident in which four dalits were mercilessly beaten for skinning dead cows have evoked global attention: this is the first time in living memory that dalits have spontaeneously come together in large numbers to protest an atrocity committed over performing a[Read More…]

by 19/08/2016 2 comments Annihilate Caste
Una March: Challenging The Caste Barriers

Una March: Challenging The Caste Barriers

The Dalit march from Ahmedabad to Una has emerged as an important social revolt of the Dalits in Gujarat.This mass up-surgence is challenging the very base of the caste system. It is questioning the logic of division of work based on clean and unclean tasks among upper castes and Dalits respectively. On the basis of this division of labor, traditionally[Read More…]

by 17/08/2016 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
Demand For Dismissal Of Lt. Governor Kiran Bedi And Apologies For Insulting The Tribal Community

Demand For Dismissal Of Lt. Governor Kiran Bedi And Apologies For Insulting The Tribal Community

Kiran Bedi, Ex IAS officer, an active member of a political party and Puducherry Lt Governor, has insulted and condemned de-notified tribes by tweeting on 2ndAugust: ”Ex-criminal tribes are known to be very cruel. They are hardcore professionals in committing crimes. Rarely caught and/or convicted”.

by 13/08/2016 2 comments Annihilate Caste
‘Swachch Bharat Without ‘Untouchability And Caste Discrimination’

‘Swachch Bharat Without ‘Untouchability And Caste Discrimination’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is ‘honoring’ a safai karmchari from Hyderabad Municipal Corporation for his ‘commitment’ to the duty. NDTV’s Uma Sudhir reported that the said ‘civic worker’ always come before time and has not taken leave for a single day even during emergencies. He is the leader of his team of safai karmcharis and work day and night to[Read More…]

by 06/08/2016 2 comments Annihilate Caste
New York Times Calls Modi’s Silence “Shameful”

New York Times Calls Modi’s Silence “Shameful”

  One doesn’t often see a respected international media house asking a democratic republic’s prime minister to break his silence in an editorial. Even more rare is it to see this “silence” tagged with the adjective “shameful”. The New York Times did exactly that today, 4 August 2016. The editorial forewarns Mr. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, of the bleak[Read More…]

by 05/08/2016 6 comments India
 Stop Criminalising Communities

 Stop Criminalising Communities

The term ‘criminal tribe’ was introduced by the British in the legal system. It was definitely a racial profiling or clubbing of communities. It is not strange therefore most of the ‘criminal tribes’ were either Dalits, OBCs or aadivasis. Based on crime committed by one or two individuals, an entire community was placed as criminal tribe by the law which[Read More…]

by 04/08/2016 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
The Revolution We Are Waiting For

The Revolution We Are Waiting For

But don’t talk about revolution That’s going a bit too far —Phil Ochs Everyone is buoyed by the recent Dalit uprising in Gujarat, as we should be. Much as the struggle of the Hyderabad university students taught us to fight against all odds despite the grief that we carry in our hearts, the recent incident of Dalits in Gujarat refusing[Read More…]

by 04/08/2016 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
Dalit Anger Boils Over In Gujarat

Dalit Anger Boils Over In Gujarat

The simmering anger of Dalits of Gujarat over the flogging of Dalit youths by Gau Rakshaks (cow protection squad) in Utna boiled over into a massive rally in Ahmedabad and they vowed not dispose of animal carcasses, clean sewer lines, two dirty jobs which the dalits do as a centuries old practice since the upper caste people refuse to do[Read More…]

Fable For Our Times: The Lion Of Gujarat Is Silent

Fable For Our Times: The Lion Of Gujarat Is Silent

According to the Gujarat CID, a lion killed Najabhai Ahir’s cow in Bediya village. Najabhai informed Balu Sarvaiya of Mota village on the morning of July 11, 2016 to come and dispose the dead cow. Whereupon, the sons of Balu Sarvaiya, a SC by caste who traditionally skin and dispose off dead cows, brought the dead cow to their village[Read More…]

by 28/07/2016 2 comments Annihilate Caste
Political Battles Need Bigger Social Coalition

Political Battles Need Bigger Social Coalition

It was a solidarity protest against atrocities on Dalits in Gujarat and other parts of the country. Numerous organisations came. Jantar Mantar, during the session of Parliament, was crowded as usual with diverse group. On the left hand side of our protest was the MRPS, the biggest organisation representing Madiga community in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Madigas are one of[Read More…]

by 27/07/2016 1 comment Annihilate Caste
Ambedkar’s Path Alone Will Liberate Dalits

Ambedkar’s Path Alone Will Liberate Dalits

It was good to see Ms Mayawati in her strong way taking on the Sangh Parivar. She need to return to her old self. There is no need to read from written text in Parliament. It is time for her to now go back to cader and ask them to go for full blow. BJP’s attempted over enthusiasm to defame[Read More…]

by 21/07/2016 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
Authoritarian Rule At University Of Hyderabad

Authoritarian Rule At University Of Hyderabad

This is the shades of democracy where socially and politically privileged caste and class predominantly exercise their power. Generally, it is understood that, in democracy, everyone is equal before the law, it seems to be an abstract principle, and the actual case is gross unequal. The inequality of power is exercised in a democracy to function at the cost to[Read More…]

by 28/06/2016 1 comment India
Burning Of Dalit Houses At Odisha And Deliberate Inaction By The Government Machinery

Burning Of Dalit Houses At Odisha And Deliberate Inaction By The Government Machinery

The PUCL is deeply concerned at the growing caste atrocities on dalits by the upper caste communities in the state, particularly in the rural areas. Of more concern is the deliberate inaction by the government machinery in providing protection to the dalit communities and making a mockery of the Prevention of Atrocities Act (1989). The recent incident in Kamagarh is an example of this. On 3rd June, 2016, eleven dalit houses were burnt down allegedly by the upper caste (Sabarna) of the village Kamagarh of the eponymous Panchayat in the Aska Block of Ganjam District.

by 25/06/2016 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste, Human Rights
Using Ambedkar Against Dalits

Using Ambedkar Against Dalits

In 2014 Narendra Modi rode a massive campaign promising Acche Din for the people of our country. After suffering for 2 years from the witch-hunting of the minorities, murders of Dalits and fund cuts for marginalized students, the country has realized that the rule by the Sangh led government is not going to have any favorable impact on their lives.[Read More…]

Prof. Mahesh Chandra Guru Arrested

Prof. Mahesh Chandra Guru Arrested

The Karnataka police have arrested BP Mahesh Chandra Guru, a professor in the journalism department of Mysore University and a well-known Phule-Ambedkarite writer. Professor Guru had made some sharp comments against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union HRD minister Smriti Irani at a function organized in the university recently to pay tributes to Rohit Vemula. He had also allegedly insulted[Read More…]

by 20/06/2016 1 comment Annihilate Caste, Human Rights, India
A Conversation With Bhagwan Das

A Conversation With Bhagwan Das

Bhagwan Das is one of the most prominent faces of Ambedkarite movement. He worked with Baba Saheb Ambedkar and brought out the unpublished work of Baba Saheb : Thus Spoke Ambedkar. An excellent narrator, Bhagwan Das wrote numerous books including his famous ‘ main bhangi hoon’, narrating the conditions of person from manual scavenging community. In this conversation with Vidya[Read More…]

by 20/06/2016 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste, Video
Re-Reading Dr BR Ambedkar’s Earliest Paper On Caste 100 Years Later

Re-Reading Dr BR Ambedkar’s Earliest Paper On Caste 100 Years Later

It is hundred years since Dr B.R. Ambedkar (1891-1956) wrote, CASTES IN INDIA: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development, a Paper he presented on 9th May 1916 at an Anthropology Seminar at Columbia University. That was one of his earliest significant works, a scholarly work ; written by the scholar when he was 25, much before he became a politician. In[Read More…]

by 18/06/2016 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
Dalit Assertion – Strategic Considerations

Dalit Assertion – Strategic Considerations

Paper presented at the 2016 Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences – Sessions: Caste Oppression Today, University of Calgary (Alberta, Canada) By Dalit Assertion, I mean: The right to influence, assert, demand, express frustration, offer alternatives, and strategically align actions to achieve the overall objective of creating an inclusive society where caste is not a barrier or a discriminatory factor[Read More…]

by 18/06/2016 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
Visioning Bahujan Rashtra Against Hindu Rashtra: BSS vs RSS

Visioning Bahujan Rashtra Against Hindu Rashtra: BSS vs RSS

This is a monograph of an organization which is involved in reclaiming the Bahujan’s historical legacy of resistance and struggle for right to dignity for all Bahujans and creating knowledge, based on Buddha, Charvak, Kabeer, Basavanna, Phule-Ambedkar, Shahu and Periyar’s ideology. Predominantly it is talking about Bahujan Rashtra and countering the concept of Hindu Rashtra. The organization consistently following the[Read More…]

by 18/06/2016 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste
The Quest For Human Rights Was The Essence Of Dr Ambedkar’s Life

The Quest For Human Rights Was The Essence Of Dr Ambedkar’s Life

A presentation made at London School of Economics on 16th June 2016 in the conference organised by Federation of Ambedkarite and Buddhists organisations, UK in collaboration with London School of Economics to commemorate 100 years of Dr Ambedkar’s association with London School of Economics. It is a privilege to be able to speak to you on this historic occasion to[Read More…]

by 17/06/2016 Comments are Disabled Annihilate Caste, Editor's Picks, Human Rights