Anu explains that silence doesn’t mean the absence of resistance:
This on the face of it seems like pretty sound explanation, so with a magic wand if we push the upper caste down the ladder, upper caste men lose their ‘manhood’ when their women are appropriated and humiliated, right? Any caste that finds itself at the [...]
Archive for the 'Caste' Category
Silence and resistance
Published by June 25th, 2009 in Caste, Dalit, Feminism, Gender & Sexuality, History, Human Rights, Patriarchy, Politics, Prejudice, Violence and Women. 0 CommentsEqual Opportunity Commission
Published by June 24th, 2009 in Activism, Adivasi, Caste, Dalit, Policy, Prejudice and Religion. 0 CommentsTarunabh, of the Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion, writes to the Ministry of Minority Affairs, to further the public debate on equality of opportunities.
Seems to me more like an attempt to start a private, exclusive debate among a select group of elites in the academia, lawmakers and the enforcers, among others.
Lohia and the ‘People’s Movement Left’
Published by June 18th, 2009 in Activism, Capitalism, Caste, Democracy, Development, Economy, History, Politics, Science & Technology and Theory. 0 CommentsAmit Basole evaluates Lohia in a ‘time of crisis’ in the Indian left movements:
Along with the question of Eurocentrism, the question of the type of economic development was Lohia’s most fundamental theoretical challenge to Marxism. Marxists have been by and large unwilling to confront the possibility that industrialism and not capitalism may be the primary [...]
K.P.Girija ponders on merit:
Equality always deflects from diversity. One can’t be equal by being different from the prevailing social norms; one needs to disown certain cultural differences at least temporarily in order to be equal. In this way, equality (though indirectly) demands a kind of homogeneity which makes the promise of equality hollow and unattainable. [...]
The same little featherheads?
Published by June 15th, 2009 in Caste, Democracy, Policy, Politics and Women. 0 CommentsSneha Krishnan finds the debate on women’s reservations ‘immensely entertaining to watch’:
The debate on reservation for women, as most constitutional debates in India, is as old as the tome itself. In 1949, however, the Assembly’s female members rallied against this move, saying that women in India had never demanded special privileges. Ironically, the only voice [...]
The other side of every stand
Published by June 13th, 2009 in Caste, History, India and Politics. 0 CommentsMircea says the historian in India today has few options:
One can always be a card-carrying communalist, writing textbooks about Muslim invasions and finding a safe home in the arms of the BJP. One can be a righteous leftist going on about protest and resistance while the backyard burns from Naxalite murders and bombs. Or, one [...]
More MPs from St.Stephens?
Published by June 9th, 2009 in Caste, Dalit, Democracy, Policy, Politics and Women. 0 CommentsFrom social point of view, from the view of representativeness this is the worst parliament in the last few decades (it is a painful realization. There are 20 odd MPs who have passed out from St Stephen, delhi!. Surely we are back to 1960s). Frankly this blogger saw it coming, when they were making hullabaloo [...]
Quota for women
Published by June 5th, 2009 in Caste, Democracy, Patriarchy, Policy, Politics and Women. 0 CommentsThe debate has just started, and I hope it picks up.
Sunny likes the idea of reservations for women in parliament. Churumuri offers a nice picture of poison to Sharad Yadav. The blogger seems, like Mr.Yadav, ‘unwilling to concede, comprehend or come to terms’ with what those who hold opposing points of view are talking about. [...]
Sacred threads and knots
Published by June 4th, 2009 in Caste, Patriarchy, Religion and Women. 4 CommentsVidya revisits the the rights of women in ‘the golden sanatana scheme of things’:
While it is very convenient to blame invading cultures and encounters with them as possible reasons for denial of education in Medieval India this does not tell the complete story. The fact remains is that the exceptions were far and few and [...]
‘Us’ and ‘Vais’ in the North East
Published by June 3rd, 2009 in Adivasi, Caste, Dalit, India, North East, Prejudice and Racism. 5 CommentsParitosh Chakma says ‘racial discrimination’ thrives within the North East too:
Outsiders (meaning of course long-nose plains people) are called “vais” in Mizoram. “Vai” is a Mizo word and the term is used in contempt towards the people who look “different” from “us” in Mizoram. The people of Mizoram may contest my claim but I have [...]
Attacks on Indian students in Australia
Published by May 30th, 2009 in Caste, Education, Indiaspora, Prejudice, Racism, Violence and World. 97 CommentsSome bloggers seem to think they’re racially motivated.
Sanjeev Sabhlok, in a long detailed post, disagrees:
I agree that more can be done to ensure the safety of Indian students. But I am personally outraged at the unsolicited allegation being made about Australian racism by the Indian Foreign Minister (and India’s High Commissioner as well). This amounts [...]
Why the Green Revolution wasn’t such a blessing
Published by May 28th, 2009 in Caste, Dalit, Development, Economy, History, Indiaspora, Politics, Prejudice, Religion and Violence. 0 CommentsVidya Bhushan Rawat looks at the roots of the current conflict in Punjab:
Problem is in our perception about Punjab as a casteless society where Sikhism grew. The fact is that inspite of great preaching in the Guru Granth Saheb and their own sacrifices, the leadership that emerged in Punjab is upper caste dominated feudal Sikhs. [...]
Violence in Vienna
Published by May 27th, 2009 in Caste, Dalit, History, Indiaspora, Prejudice and Religion. 1 CommentAmardeep Singh reflects on the violence in Vienna and tries to ‘imagine a narrative that led to these events’:
Then, when a new temple opens, many of the heterodox members of the congregation jump at the chance for a different kind of experience. The new temple is run by heterodox Ravidasias, who do things slightly differently [...]
Women’s representation in parliament
Published by May 26th, 2009 in Caste, Democracy, Gender & Sexuality, General Elections 2009, Human Rights, Justice, Patriarchy, Policy, Politics, Prejudice, Society and Women. 0 CommentsDeepali Gaur Singh writes on the unfinished business of women’s representation in parliament:
India ranks 115th of 162 countries in terms of gender development. Lack of representation directly translates into a de-sensitized political leadership that is completely cut-off from the issues facing half the population of the country. It also results in disproportionately less legislation empowering [...]
Yet another farce?
Published by May 24th, 2009 in Adivasi, Caste, Dalit, Democracy, Education, General Elections 2009, Health and Politics. 0 CommentsKarthik RM asks questions that weren’t raised in the recent polls:
For the poor, however, the polling booth is one place – in my opinion, the only place where democracy functions. This again, when you exclude cases of booth capturing or rigging. Democracy, otherwise, doesn’t exist for the underprivileged in India. The country’s healthcare sector is [...]
Have Dalits rejected Mayawati’s sarvajan formula?
Published by May 23rd, 2009 in Caste, Corruption, Dalit, General Elections 2009, Policy and Politics. 0 CommentsSR Darapuri analyses why Dalits ‘have slammed Mayawati’s sarvajan formula’:
This alliance with BJP not only confused the dalits but Muslims also moved away from BSP as they consider BJP as their bitterest enemy. During the first tenure of BSP rule in 1995 some land was distributed to empower the dalits because till then the party [...]
Wish List
Published by May 19th, 2009 in Business, Caste, Education, Government, Health, Human Rights and Policy. 0 CommentsHarini writes a letter to the new Government, listing out a few basic expectations:
a) Education - If you haven’t noticed - there is a caste system been created in education. The way the system is moving there are one set of institutes for the middle class and one set for the poor. The former delivers [...]
Caste in politics
Published by May 18th, 2009 in Caste, General Elections 2009, India and Politics. 1 CommentShivam sees it.
Another Congress candidate, Krishna Tirath, has to to best of my knowledge, not been similarly honoured by the ‘Vaish samaj’. I wonder why. My feeble mind wonders if this could have something to do with her not belonging to the ‘Vaish samaj’, unlike JP Aggarwal? I wonder. I also wonder if this could [...]
The brown man’s burden
Published by May 13th, 2009 in Activism, Adivasi, Caste, Dalit, Democracy, General Elections 2009, Human Rights, India, Politics, Prejudice, Religion, Secularism and Women. 0 CommentsAnother good post (after Adnan’s) that I found today: Jason Keith Fernandes looks critically at the dynamism of the ‘Friends of the BJP’:
It is because the BJP and the ‘Friends’ stresses this coded language of the club, that they appeal to the middle-class constituents of the ‘minority’ groups in India. ‘We are one of you’ [...]
Corrupt, autocratic and casteist
Published by April 16th, 2009 in Caste, Corruption, Democracy and General Elections 2009. 0 CommentsPawan thinks all these attributes assigned to Mayawati are just a campaign by the English-speaking media to slander Mayawati’s image:
It is time for the elite to shed its prejudice and intolerance, and realise that India is best represented through the regional parties. And that if these did not exist, violent struggles would have broken out [...]
So is Mayawati the next Prime Minister?
Published by April 15th, 2009 in Caste, Dalit, Democracy and General Elections 2009. 2 CommentsJhangora asks the question:
What troubles me is that like most other regional parties BSP hasn’t groomed the second rung of leadership. I don’t see any entity, be it political, economic or military, succeeding without a well distributed power structure. Bahujan Samaj Party may claim to be the front runner in their determination to uplift the [...]
The Great Indian Circus
Published by March 31st, 2009 in Business, Caste, Culture, Dalit, General Elections 2009, History, Human Rights, India, Media, Politics, Religion, Secularism, Society and Women. 0 CommentsMaloy Krishna Dhar, ‘having seen Indian elections since 1952 as a school kid, managing a couple of these exercises during service career in the IB, manipulating a few on orders of the ruling cabal and witnessing the bones, marrows, and soul of the Indian electoral process’ describes an encounter with an election manager of a [...]
arey aaj kal to dhobi, rikshey valley bhi lete hain ek dhed lakh dahez mein
Published by March 31st, 2009 in Caste, Culture, Dalit, Education, Gender & Sexuality, India, Patriarchy, Society and Women. 0 CommentsAmrita, a Dalit Buddhist girl who worked hard to build a career for herself as a businesswoman, talks about how tough it is to escape the hold of institutions such as dowry and arranged marriage in India and how most of the times a girl loses her identity in the process of marriage and dowry. [...]
‘Atrocities on Arunthathiyers’
Published by March 25th, 2009 in Caste, Dalit, Human Rights, Language and Prejudice. 0 CommentsAn interesting blog- the blogger, Karuppu Samy, is a ’social worker working with Arunthathiyer children and women for thier rights’.
An Alternative History
Published by March 20th, 2009 in Books, Caste, Dalit, History and India. 0 CommentsMy narrative is alternative both to the histories promulgated by some contemporary Hindus on the political right in India and to those presented in most surveys in English–imperialist histories, all about the kings, ignoring ordinary people. But the texts tell us not just who was the ruler but who got enough to eat and who [...]
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