by thedeathofmerit The large number of suicides by Dalit students in Indian educational system, especially in premier science and professional colleges and universities, are a mere pointer towards the widespread prevalence of various forms of caste-discrimination and humiliations that our students have to undergo on a regular basis while pursuing their higher education.
Echoes of stillborn histories
by thedeathofmerit admin What can we learn from this documentary, ’The Death of Merit’? Bal Mukund Bharti was determined to become a doctor. And his teachers were also very determined: ‘you’ll never pass MBBS’, they told him. Bal Mukund didn’t give up, nor did his family. Father, mother, married sister, uncle, aunt– they were all determined to …
‘The Death of Merit’: A Documentary
On Suicides of Dalit Students in India’s Premier Educational Institutions Linesh Mohan Gawle, a second year PhD student from National Institute of Immunology (NII), New Delhi, committed suicide in his hostel room on 16 April 2011. He belonged to a Dalit family from Dindori Tehsil in Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh). Linesh’s suicide is just one more addition in the growing list of Dalit …
Dr. Suryakant Waghmore: Subalterns have a role in making of civil society
Dalit and Adivasi Students’ Portal (First published in the ‘Dalit and Adivasi Students’ Portal’ in 2010) Dr Suryakant Waghmore is an Assistant Professor, Centre for Social Justice and Governance, School of Social Work, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. He has been recently awarded with his Doctorate degree from University of Edinburgh, Scotland …
The Black and White of Life
“I had neither kith nor kin Only as much ground as I walked upon The shelter of shops And the free muncipal pavement, always open As I moved through this rootless life given to me.. “ — Narayan Gangaram Surve, My University
Dalitizing History: A New Paradigm in South Asia
Chinnaiah Jangam [Reviewed by Chinnaiah Jangam (Wagner College), Bhagavan, Manu; Feldhaus, Anne, eds., Claiming Power from Below: Dalits and the Subaltern Question in India. H-Asia, H-Net Reviews. December, 2009.] Over the last two decades, the South Asian landscape has experienced a resurgence of untouchable voices challenging the dominant social, economic, political, cultural, and epistemological structures, …
Why Dalits in West Bengal are on protest
Manohar Mouli Biswas (First published in World Prout Assembly site in August 2007) Dalits are perhaps by their birth communist in nature. They are born in the graded inequality of the society and as a result what happens they have to face the lot of sufferings in their daily life. They are by birth …
Karthik Navayan: A Scholar. An Activist. A Role Model
Dalit and Adivasi Students’ Portal (First published in the ‘Dalit and Adivasi Students’ Portal’ in 2010) Advocate Karthik Navayan, age 33, is one of our mentors for law students. Based in Hyderabad, he is an activist-scholar who is instrumental in organising various campaigns on the issues of Dalit students, child labour, land rights and …
Dalit parties have worked to strengthen caste system
The Roundtable team express their deep condolences over the passing away of Bhagwan Das, this morning in New Delhi. His tall legacy as an Ambedkarite and Buddhist will continue to guide our efforts in our struggle against caste. ———– Bhagwan Das, a research associate of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, is best known as compiler and editor of …