Vaibhav Kharat The recent notification by the UPSC, inviting applications for 45 lateral entry posts at the levels of Joint Secretary, Director, and Deputy Secretary across 24 Union government ministries, has reignited the toxic debate of meritocracy vs reservation. The government’s promotion of lateral entry as a tool to bring in fresh talent and expertise …
Teacher’s Day and Upper Castes’ Glorification
Pramod Kumar India celebrates 5th September as Teacher’s Day, which marks the birth anniversary of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishan. According to Caste Hindu society and Brahminized narratives, he is considered a champion and role model for teachers, someone who inspires students. However, this raises the question of which student community is inspired by such figures and …
A Review of Thangalaan’s anti-caste philosophy
Mayur S. Hadke Thangalaan is a Tamil language movie directed by Pa Ranjith, known for his socially conscious movies that shed light on the lived realities of oppressed communities. Thangalaan is a movie that projected the struggle for dignity and self respect. The question of land and self respect was the central focus of the …
Hindutva culture in higher education campuses
Sanjukta Bhowal What does religious tolerance and celebrating secularism in a college campus look like? In my college – Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya, it looks like this – saffron insignia decorating the mess, special veg lunch for January 22, no non vegetarian food in the mess for the hindu month of shravan, seminars by iskcon, holidays …
The 2024 General Elections and the Stifling of Muslim Anti-caste Discourse
Md Asif Uzzaman Abstract: This article looks at the uses of Pasmanda political discourse during the Indian general elections of 2024 by the two contending sides represented by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) in order to bring out a larger process of invisibilization of the politics based …
Dalits in Freedom Movement: An Year of Academic Events
Dr. Chandraiah Gopani, Mr.Anand Kumar, Mr. Pradip, Mrs. Annu Chouthmahal There are contested views and understandings of the Indian freedom movement and nationalist thinking. A comprehensive study of the literature suggests that the Indian Freedom Movement was manifested in various ideological positions. Subalterns articulated a distinct nationalist thought aimed at challenging British and Brahmanical supremacy. …
`Rasa’ theory and Subversion of Muslim imaginaries in Malabar
Umar Nizar The culinary crafting of Bharata’s `rasa’ theory has been established so much so that it is even compared to the South Indian spice soup called `rasam’ which is a cocktail of spicy, sweet, tangy and sour flavours. `Rasa’ depends on the sue generic creation of emotion. `Vibhavaanubhavavyabhicharisamyogit rasa nischpatti’ is the famous rasa …
The Problem with Locating Queerness in Hinduism: Caste and Nationalism
Dhruva Bhati In recent years, there has been an increased discussion on the reclamation or reinterpretation of religious texts or scriptures to validate the idea of queerness. This revivalism is more rigorous in the East, where “this reclamation/reinterpretation” is used to obliterate the idea of “Queerness as a western concept.” However, this quest for the …
An Ode To Bukowski
Dhamma Darshan Nigam Long Live Bukowski Do not shy away to contradict contradictions are inevitable no one is ever free of contradictions it is an essential character to call a life – life lived enough like a necessary condition – like a basic need – like whiskey confronting men – eye to eye justifying its …