Why and how I wrote the novel ‘Harappa: God’s City of Civilisation’
Neither Ayodhya named in the Ramayana nor Dwaraka named in the Mahabharata have proven excavational evidence of having been ancient cities. My novel, on the other hand, draws on the world’s oldest city – Harappa – that existed around 3000 BCE in the Sindhu river basin, as proven by excavations and DNA studies, writes...
Obituary: Rupi Soren and the long wait for Shibu’s homecoming
Rupi Soren used to run her household with the help of her mother-in-law, Sonamani, and the wife of Shibu’s elder brother, Rajaram. Whether it...
A yellow show of unity and resolve at the OBC Mahasabha meeting in Delhi
The OBC Mahasabha meeting brought together representatives of various castes, including the Pasmanda (Muslim) community, from most of the Hindi-speaking states as well as...
‘Sal versus Sagwan’ movement that led to Gua firing incident 46 years ago
Eleven Adivasis were brutally killed in Gua. Three of them were killed in the firing during a clash between the Adivasis and the police....
The rush to delete the digital archive of resistance
When fact checkers reconstructed the events of July 20 Chalo Sansad march they relied on hundreds of user-generated videos with different timestamps and vantage...
The Dalits of Dangawas after the court judgment
Sonki Devi, the wife of Paancharam, had never ever ventured into her village without her face covered and head down. Little did she know...
Why and how I wrote the novel ‘Harappa: God’s City of Civilisation’
Neither Ayodhya named in the Ramayana nor Dwaraka named in the Mahabharata have proven excavational evidence of having been ancient cities. My novel, on...
Savitribai Phule: The Mother of Indian English
By celebrating Indian English Day every 5 October alongside a beautiful portrait of Savitribai Phule, PACPET wants to immortalize her heroic declaration in 1854...
80 years after Independence, we, the manual scavengers, are still fighting for our freedom
We, the Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA), have launched a yearlong campaign to free India from the shameful practice of manual scavenging. There is a...
Why are men afraid of women’s freedom?
Men are not necessarily afraid of women’s freedom itself. Sometimes we are afraid of what women’s freedom asks us to reconsider about ourselves. It...
Unmistakably Dalitbahujan character of the Ramdev Pir Jatra
Held in the month of Bhadon, the ‘jatra’ (pilgrimage) is very different from the Kanwar Yatra. The pilgrims are disciplined – they don’t provoke...
Gender, displacement and minorities: A critical review of Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar’s ‘The Adivasi Will Not Dance’
As an Adivasi, the author is justified in highlighting the distinct traditions and values of the Adivasi community, but progressive politics places on him...
Review: Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd’s ‘Harappa: God’s City of Civilisation’
Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd’s first foray into fiction is a courageous declaration that the oppressed, too, have the right to imagine, narrate and reclaim their...
Why Meera was forced to say that no one understood her anguish
With her husband no more and remarriage appearing impossible, the woman in Meera became articulate. Before considering any other aspects of her, Meera should...
Revisiting Meera and Raidas: Who was Girdhar Nagar?
Meera shedding social inhibitions was not about quitting royal life and embracing a spartan existence; it was about a widow being drawn to a...
Virendra Yadav’s struggles in the ‘progressive’ camp
Virendra Yadav’s heart was riddled with barbs hurled by his ‘own’ people. But he kept fighting for secular-progressive ideas. He could have easily immersed...
Socialism: Ram Manohar Lohia versus Jagdeo Prasad
If the RJD and JDU leadership in Bihar and the SP leadership in Uttar Pradesh do not have a clear, scientific and rational outlook...
Mangu Ram Mugowalia, Ad Dharm movement and the rise of the Ravidass Panth
Although Guru Ravidass was already a revered figure among the Untouchable community of Punjab, it was the Ad Dharm movement that used images of...
Shabbir Ahmed Ansari: Harbinger of Pasmanda consciousness
Shabbir Ahmed Ansari’s life shows that social reform is not only about sloganeering. It is also about making use of constitutional and legal provisions...
Phule’s Sarvajanik Satyadharma in times of religious hatred
What is surprising is that references to how Phule saw Islam and Christianity are totally missing from the discourse even as communalism in general...
Discovering Babasaheb’s lost speeches in the West
At the time of the Round Table Conferences, Dr Ambedkar had become a sought-after speaker in the UK, the US and Canada, as a...