How months of deliberations preceded Santhal Hul
Kedar Prasad Meena’s research concluded that Hul was the response of a people yearning for freedom and self-respect to their exploitation by moneylenders, the loot of their land and sexual exploitation of their women by railway employees, writes Devendra Sharan
Laxman Yadav: ‘Manusmriti’ could only be taught alongside ‘Gulamgiri’ and ‘Annihilation of Caste’
‘The situation today is that even if the BJP loses the next election, teachers wedded to the RSS ideology will continue teaching students for...
Naming military action ‘Operation Sindoor’ unconstitutional, says retired CRPF commandant
If you have still not realized who named the operation 'Sindoor' and why, look at what followed. Even more absurdly, BJP purportedly announced that...
Dhadak 2 and CBFC’s cuts: Are we ready for Pariyerum Perumal’s truth in Hindi?
'Pariyerum Perumal' was a battle cry against caste. If 'Dhadak 2' mutes that cry before its release, are we not losing a chance to...
Dominant husbands, hegemonic castes still part of Bihar’s rural landscape
In a study of Aurangabad and Rohtas districts, calls made to women mukhiyas were mostly received by their husbands or other family members. The...
Manoj Jha: A war-like situation faced the country, so we have been calm but alert on caste census
The Cabinet decision to hold a caste census revealed that there has been change in the government’s stand on the concerns of the Bahujan...
Many Ramayanas
Historical, anthropological and literary research on the Ramayana reveal that remarkable variations exist and that Adivasis and women of India have their own take...
‘Dabba Cartel’: Amid drug trafficking, an exciting entanglement of class and gender questions
The women coming together to run a drug business disguised as a ‘dabba’ service has us wondering whether the old doctrine of class struggle...
A multifaceted approach needed to end witch-hunting in Jharkhand and other states
There is a pressing need for a comprehensive national law that criminalizes witch-hunting and ensures strict penalties for perpetrators. Providing communities with proper healthcare...
‘Girls Will Be Girls’ is a poetic journey through adolescence
Director Shuchi Talati’s decision to employ a predominantly female crew results in a perspective that feels authentically feminine without being performatively so, writes Neeraj...
Pro-upper-caste bias warps Left’s sense of history
Remaining in denial about the caste system obfuscates the identity of its victims and leads us to forget their struggles. It also creates a...
Seminal role of Dalit-OBCs in development of language and literature
Scripts were invented by painters and sculptors, and not scholars. Not only in India but in civilizations the world over, paintings and sculptures predated...
‘Sahitya Akademi has brought itself honour by honouring Sanjeev’
In his more than a dozen novels, Sanjeev has depicted the reality of the post-Independence Indian society. The issues and topics that he has...
In his ‘Ambedkar: A Life’, Shashi Tharoor betrays his privileged-caste naivete
After coming out with ‘Why I Am A Hindu’, Tharoor has predictably set out to look for Ambedkar’s ‘flaws’ in his biography of Ambedkar,...
Phanishwar Nath Renu – who gave centrality to the toilers of ‘the provinces’
Renu took the genre of reportage to new heights in Hindi literature. No one has been able to match him to date. In his...
Rajesh Paswan: Criticism within Dalit Literature is still in its infancy
Our Dalit writers don’t take criticism well. They begin enquiring about the caste and ideology of the critic. They evaluate criticism on these parameters,...
How months of deliberations preceded Santhal Hul
Kedar Prasad Meena’s research concluded that Hul was the response of a people yearning for freedom and self-respect to their exploitation by moneylenders, the...
Ambedkar’s insights and foresight remain deeply underappreciated
Dr B.R. Ambedkar’s vision of democracy transcended the simplistic notion of majority rule. He critiqued majoritarian democracy as a system that risked perpetuating the...
Raidas: A modern revolutionary thinker from the feudal medieval era
Raidas’ radical thinking and works didn’t get wider national and international acceptance. In fact, his modern vision wasn’t even accorded the place it deserved...
As Jharkhand turns 24, a reason to celebrate and a reality check
Jharkhand stands at a crossroads. The state must strike a balance between preserving its rich cultural heritage and meeting the demands of modernization and...
How Ambedkar began mobilizing for conversion 20 years before the event
Ambedkar said that religious conversion was no child’s play and that it couldn’t be achieved with merely political measures. It had to be realized...