Why caste census matters most to the Most Backward Classes
A caste-based census, followed by expansion and scientific sub-classification of OBC reservation, can lead to a socio-economic transformation as envisioned by the Constitution, writes Shyam Kumar
Why caste census matters most to the Most Backward Classes
A caste-based census, followed by expansion and scientific sub-classification of OBC reservation, can lead to a socio-economic transformation as envisioned by the Constitution, writes...
Prof B.P. Mahesh Chandra Guru’s memorial in Gundlupet dedicated on his first death anniversary
Prof Guru’s uncompromising rationality and his extraordinary commitment to justice left an indelible mark on his students. They would be protesting wherever there was...
Obituary: When Dishom Guru’s defiant dares shook the hills
The land on which the public meeting was being held in Bokaro belonged to Bhavesh Manjhi but had been grabbed by moneylenders. Shibu Soren...
The teacher who wrote the poem ‘Kanwar Lene Mat Jana’ speaks his mind
“Some good-for-nothing Savarna teachers only kill time in school. Who attends government schools these days? Only children from SC, ST and Muslim families. Teachers...
Obituary: Prof Nandu Ram – who introduced Ambedkarism to JNU
Only a scholar like Prof Nandu Ram could have written ‘Beyond Ambedkar: Essays on Dalits in India’ (1995) and the first encyclopaedia on Scheduled...
Indian Renaissance’s unease with education of women and Dalits
The author of 'Shiksha Ka Phal' was aware that losing the Shudras from the Hindu fold would not only be distressing for the upper...
Dalit Journeys: Speaking beyond the ‘Subaltern’
The first volume of ‘Dalit Studies’ (2016) established the field, historicizing Dalit politics and thought while probing questions of representation and reservations, feminism, and...
Lyricist Shailendra, whose songs taught the masses to never lose hope
Shailendra preached what he inherited with his Dalit identity and what he imbibed with class consciousness and an ideological commitment to Marxism. Writing more...
Rajasthani musicians: Applause for their music yet to ease the burden of their caste
The Manganiyars and Langas have travelled far beyond their desert villages, taking Rajasthan’s folk music heritage with them. But the heritage does not belong...
Yes, I’m a Bahujan Communist
Bahujan Communist Party founder Himmat Singh says, ‘People often describe Brahmin and Kshatriya as castes. These are not castes, they are varnas. Castes have...
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 Jagdeo Prasad saw Jan Sangh’s animosity towards Muslims
The BJP has been fomenting hatred against the Muslims, leading to the community being gripped by a feeling of insecurity and helplessness. Against this...
How Jagjivan Ram was repeatedly denied prime ministership
Jayaprakash Narayan should have ensured a democratic election for the leader of the Janata Alliance’s parliamentary party. In his book ‘Ek Zindagi Kafi Nahi...
When Ambedkar urged workers of India to unite against Brahmanism and capitalism
Two years after he launched the Independent Labour Party, Ambedkar addressed a conference of Dalit workers employed by the railways in Manmad in which...
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...