Prabin tells you why he is proud of Mayawati’s statues:
So I believe, what is disconcerting to the political parties about the statues that Mayawati unveiling and the Memorials she is constructing is not the wastage of precious resource - there are a lot many instances of govt. squandering revenues and tax payers money- but the [...]
Archive for the 'Dalit' Category
Proud of the Statues
Published by July 2nd, 2009 in Dalit, Government, History, Justice, Politics, Prejudice and Society. 2 CommentsShivam is critical in his review of “Khairlanji: A strange and bitter crop”
All Teltumbde wants to talk about is Shudra oppressors, neoliberalism, Naxalism and the State—Khairlanji being a mere symbolic peg on which to hang all these ‘larger’ issues. Which is why you are surprised to read, on the second-last page:
Khairlanji soon got transformed into [...]
Silence and resistance
Published by June 25th, 2009 in Caste, Dalit, Feminism, Gender & Sexuality, History, Human Rights, Patriarchy, Politics, Prejudice, Violence and Women. 0 CommentsAnu 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 [...]
Equal 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.
Insight Young Voices is a bimonthly Dalit magazine.
The latest issue carries an interesting article, by Anoop Kumar, on the evolution of Dalit student politics in JNU:
The reasons may be varied - the predominance of students from a particular segment of the society or the ‘party line’ with which the student activists are ideologically committed, or [...]
Under the table
Published by June 10th, 2009 in Dalit, Photography, Prejudice and Society. 1 CommentRahul Pandita explains:
Sunil and Arvind Parmar, owners of a tea stall in Surendranagar, Gujarat, break for lunch while their servant Mangal, an 11-year-old Dalit boy is made to sit under the table.
[via Amitava Kumar].
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 [...]
Different perspectives on the quota
Published by June 8th, 2009 in Dalit, Democracy, India, Patriarchy, Policy, Politics, Prejudice and Women. 1 CommentAbantika Ghosh on the proposed quota for women: Let’s at least have the good sense to feel ashamed of it.
Because in the end the need for women’s reservation arises in the mindset and after all the promises of universal education and compulsory primary education, somehow women, as young girls, always seem to miss out on [...]
Meira Kumar and Sukka Pagadaalu
Published by June 4th, 2009 in Adivasi, Dalit, Development, Politics, Poverty and Women. 0 CommentsKingshuk Nag would like to know: how’s Meira Kumar’s appointment going to help ameliorate the fate of millions of Dalit women across the country?
If the ruling party is so keen to uplift downtrodden women, it should first think of the likes of Sukka Pagadaalu (picture below), who at 64 is the same age as Meira [...]
‘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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Statism or the Market?
Published by May 13th, 2009 in Capitalism, Dalit, Democracy, Economy, General Elections 2009, Government and Politics. 0 CommentsSauvik Chakraverti suggests the only hope for the Dalits lies in the market:
Yet, if you search the archives of the Dalit website dedicated to Dr. BR Ambedkar, you will find my old article “Caste and the Market Economy” that argues urbanization and globalization are in the best interests of the lower castes. That is, the [...]
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’ [...]
and we bring you different shades of it.
Shruthi thanks motherhood for helping her appreciate her mother even more.
My mother - I know that I was not a very easy child - stubborn, lazy, and yes, rude too. Yet, I can count on my fingers the number of times my mother has lost her temper with [...]
Abhik Majumdar writes about the history of the relationship between the Congress party and Dr Ambedkar, in light of the recent allegations made by Advani and reiterated by Mayawati.
Ambedkar was forced to seek election from Bengal, a province he did not have much connection with, because he lacked the requisite support in his home province [...]
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’.
Jade observes things have changed for the better in UP in Mayawati’s administration:
I was traveling from Singraulli to Varanasi few days back, there were few SP workers protesting the LPG rise hike & they had blocked the road. I was filled with pride that our bus driver yelled at them “Yeh Mulayam ka raj nai [...]
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 [...]
Balaraju, after Senthil
Published by February 12th, 2009 in Caste, Dalit, Education, Human Rights and Prejudice. 1 CommentBalaraju, another HCU student commits suicide, after Senthil. Anu reflects on why do these suicides happen?
The caste based reason for suicides show up as higher numbers in HCU, and protests happen when they die, these students are not more special than others in terms of their lives worth, it is because of their extreme vulnerability [...]
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