The nation concept is an 18th century phenomenon. The ‘state’ and ‘nation’ are not synonymous terms. According to one definition, “the state is a political and geopolitical entity, while the nation is a cultural and ethnic one.’ Thus, the nation has a racial tone. But not all accept this definition. Some say it consists of a merger of state and[Read More…]
(The present article is published to mark the occasion of Constitution Day, November 26, 2022. It may be deemed as part-2 of an earlier article, published an year ago: A Peep into the past: On the occasion of 65th Anniversary of Ambedkar’s Nirvana – Remembering Ambedkar and Revisiting his Thoughts (06/12/2021) https://countercurrents.org/2021/12/a-peep-into-the-past-on-the-occasion-of-65th-anniversary-of-ambedkars-nirvana-remembering-ambedkar-and-revisiting-his-thoughts/ ) *** *** 26th November 2022 is being[Read More…]
Dr. Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar renounced Hinduism and embraced Buddhism on 14 October 1956 in Nagpur (Deekshabhoomi) along with five lakh followers. On the same day first he himself had received the initiation of Buddhism from the Buddhist monks and after that, he himself gave the initiation of Buddhism to the people present. As part of the initiation of Buddhism, he[Read More…]
It is said that if we can learn from our mistakes and not let them rob us of our boldness or hope, then we can grow. It was perhaps this sought of boldness which emboldened Dr B R Ambedkar to vigorously pursue the cause of real political representation of the depressed classes after the Poona-Pact debacle. On the 90th anniversary[Read More…]
While people across the country celebrated the 131st Ambedkar Jayanthi on 14th April 2022, in Bargarh district of Odisha, Bajrang Dal members carried out a horrendous assault on a bike rally taken out by youth celebrating Ambedkar Jayanthi. The attackers also tore/damaged Ambedkarite banners, flags and bikes and urinated on them. All India Lawyers’ Association For Justice (AILAJ) members from[Read More…]
This 14th April (2022) we will again witness different political outfits celebrating his anniversary with pomp and show. Last few decades most of the political parties have been garlanding this great champion of social justice. The latest in Ambedkar praise club is AAP party, the product of RSS backed Anna movement, to declare Babasaheb as one of their two icons.[Read More…]
I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved (B.R. Ambedkar) To commemorate 131Ambedkar Jayanti on 14 April, this time several programmes and memorial meetings are being organized by the political parties belonging to Left, Right, Secular and Social Justice Parties. Besides, this time Phule-Ambedkar Jayanti is being celebrated together with much[Read More…]
Political Democracy was never an ‘end’ for the leaders who carved out the ‘Idea of India’. They firmly believed that, political democracy should become ‘a means’ towards social and economic democracies. But both factual and counterfactual arguments on Indian society generates a common standpoint that – social inequality and injustice persist in contemporary India. Social engineering projects and trajectories related[Read More…]
Ambedkar is a man of our times. From RSS to communists all are busy including Ambedkar in their programs. It is a fact that Ambedkar is more popular among Indian people now, than during his life times. Starting from Indian ruling class at the top to the working masses below, attention has been drawn towards Ambedkar. This is an anachronism.[Read More…]
Part-1 of a two-part article Could there be a better occasion to remember Dr. B.R. Ambedkar than the 65th Anniversary of his NIRVANA? This “Memorial Article” entitled “Remembering Ambedkar and Revisiting his thoughts is designed in Two Parts ie. One Part, to revisit his Thoughts incorporated in the historic Address delivered by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, on 25th November 1949 to[Read More…]
April 14 is celebrated as Dr. Ambedkar’s Jayanti, that is, Dr. Ambedkar’s birth anniversary, not only in the country but also abroad. On this day, while he is officially paid tribute and he is praised by government representatives, his devotees also pay homage to him. All these events mostly take the form of a celebration and ritual. There are very[Read More…]
It is a matter of pride for the Indians that the United Nations including the University of British Columbia declared 14th April as “International Equality Day”. All over the world, Ambedkarites, and Buddhists are celebrating 130th birth celebration of Vishaw Guru Baba Sahib Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. Ambedakrites & Buddhists, nationally and internationally, have organized function virtually as well as physically[Read More…]
Jai Bhim, Jai Bheem, Jay Bhim, Bhim Salam, Neela Zindabad, Ek Number, Babasaheb Zindabad, Neel Salaam, We are because he was… etc are the comments one would observe in an online social media post, on or about Ambedkar, with lot of likes and comment when posted by a noted person with following. Ambedkarties have become excessively emotional about Ambedkar, a[Read More…]
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…]
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…]
The K.G.Kannabiran Memorial Lecture, 2020, “Death of Democratic Institutions”, was delivered by Justice B.Sudarshan Reddy, retired Supreme Court Judge. Listening to the lecture led this writer to consider democracy and its institutions, especially as per Dr.B.R.Ambedkar (Ambedkar, hereafter), often considered as the father of the Constitution of India. Ambedkar, who died on December 6, 1956 (precisely 36-years later, we suffered[Read More…]
Dr.BR Ambedkar (1891-1956) was remembered across the country on his death anniversary, December 6. It has become a showy ritual for many, more so for the most oppressive, fraudulent and corrupt rulers, the big media ready to give them plenty of coverage that is denied to burning issues of the day. They are interested more in making a stony[Read More…]
On 6th December, 1956 a great son of India Dr. B.R. Ambedkar breathed his last breath leaving behind billions of his followers in tears. His followers pay tributes to this visionary social scientist by Celebrating 6th December as Mahaparinirvan Day. In contemporary world, the thoughts and vision of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar are still alive in the minds and hearts of[Read More…]
On 27th Oct 1951, Baba Saheb Dr. Ambedkar started his Punjab election tour from Jalandhar and addressed a gathering of lakhs of people. He had in his heart the pain of overcoming the crisis of his society which made him not giving priority to a government job. After getting higher education from England he came back and joined politics as[Read More…]
C N Annadurai, former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu , and who headed the first DMK ministry in the state, was one of the few political leaders in the country who welcomed Babasaheb Dr Ambedkar’s decision to convert to Buddhism. Here is what he wrote (in 1956) about that momentous event. Annadurai’s birth anniversary was observed on September 15, and[Read More…]
In Conversation with Dr Obadele Bakari Kambon on Racism, white supremacy and caste system Dr Ọbádélé Bakari Kambon, Ph.D. is an Afrikan anti-amerikkkan. In India, he has been known for advocating vociferously for the removal of the statue of Gandhi, from the University Campus in Ghana which was gifted by the government of India. He had famously advocated that ‘we[Read More…]
Co-Written by Dag-Erik Berg and Torjus Midtgarden The scholarship of Bhimrao Ambedkar (1891-1956) has become visible during the last couple of years, but the discussion of his conceptual contribution and his relevance to contemporary political theory appears underdeveloped. Ambedkar was a scholar on caste, democracy and law; and he has been celebrated as the chairperson of the drafting committee of[Read More…]
Rajendra Trivedi, speaker of the Gujarat Assembly while speaking at the ‘Mega Brahmin Business Summit’ in Gandhinagar on 29 April added himself to the hall of infamy with his comments that Ambedkar was a Brahman. He thought that he was making a profound comment but it is as brain-dead as any of the loud-mouthed comments of the galaxy of[Read More…]
A few months back, I was introduced to an Indian settled in the United States who worked with the American military and wrote extensively against Gandhi. One thing that I don’t like is that writing against Gandhi does not mean somebody has become an Ambedkarite. We met in Delhi and there were lots of discussions. He was quite ‘rational’ till[Read More…]
Book Review: India & Communism by B R Ambedkar, Introduction by Anand Teltumbde, Left Word, New Delhi, 2017, p. 156 History repeats itself twice, not infrequently as tragedy for the masses of the people. All across the word, there is the emergence and rise to power of neofascism under various garbs and leaderships–from Hungary’s Viktor Orban to Greece’s Nikos Michaloliakos[Read More…]
( The following are extracts from A paper presented by Dr KS Sharma at the XXXII Indian Social Science Congress held at New Delhi from 18′” December to 22nd December 2008. The Paper quotes Dr. B. R. Ambedkar extensively and seeks to bring out some views he had expressed at one stage in his political life. A few extracts focussing[Read More…]
Today is Ambedkar Jayanti. It would be appropriate to take a re-look at Ambedkar’s idea of nationalism in the face of virulent Hindutva nationalism in India and also on the global context
(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…]
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Our beloved K.P.Sasi is no more. Filmmaker, cartoonist, writer, mentor, friend and above all tireless activist championing the cause of every underdog, Sasi breathed his last, mid-afternoon this Christmas day – after battling a medical condition for months. I remember the last time I met him, almost exactly a month before he passed away, at the ayurvedic healing center in[Read More…]
