For An Informed Ambedkar Age
Kancha Ilaiah The backward class politicians failed in forcing the government to undertake a caste-wise census of all sections. The Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the country have had two setbacks in the recent political manoeuvring of Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh. The pushing of the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha and also …
[Babytai Kamble passed away on April 21, 2012. She will continue to inspire us, keeping us connected to the joys and pain of the community, urging us to step beyond individual concerns, anchoring us firmly to Ambedkarism as we move ahead with the struggle for equality and freedom. In our sorrow today we hold …
Anand Teltumbde (First published in September 2011) What has been the impact of reservations for women, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in panchayati raj institutions? In case the reserved seat is for a woman, it is usually the wife or daughter in-law of the old sarpanch who is made to sign papers, while the husband or the father-in-law is de facto in control. In the …
A handbag. A false beard. Two seemingly innocuous objects which transform into fearsome symbols, when they adorn the statues of Mayawati and Hatshepsut respectively. These women statues have unleashed unprecedented amounts of societal outrage. Is the cause for outrage the engravings themselves, or the depicted demeanor, or is it the act of consecrating …
Human Rights Forum Demands Immediate Arrest of ABVP Activists Who Attacked Beef Festival in Osmania University We Human Rights Forum, strongly condemn the attack of ABVP on the ‘Beef Festival’ in Osmania University today. The ABVP exposed its undemocratic ugly face today by attempting to disrupt the beef festival. We demand immediate arrest of culprits …
V. Ratnamala The history of the press in India is the history of the freedom movement in the country. To a great extent, the Indian National Congress owed its popularity and position to the Indian press (Mazumdar, 1993). The history of the freedom movement happened to be the history of Congressmen. Hence the …
Gail Omvedt (An excerpt from her book ‘Ambedkar: Towards an Enlightened India’) Less than two months after the huge conversion ceremony, Bhimrao Ambedkar was dead, found on the morning of 6 December, slumped over the papers he had been working on late at night. His death was followed by outpouring of grief as great as …
(The following is the text of a speech on Babasaheb Ambedkar delivered by the former President K.R. Narayanan at the Babasaheb Ambedkar Institute of Research and Training, Bombay in 1979) I am happy and honoured to be here on the auspicious occasion of the birthday of Dr B.R. Ambedkar. Babasaheb Ambedkar was one of the …
Gail Omvedt (First published in May, 2002) The publication of a collection of English translations of the writings of Jotirao Phule, the nineteenth century social radical, by LeftWord publications marks, hopefully, a transition in the attitude of the left towards the struggle against Brahmanism. It also marks an increasing recognition of the importance of Phule, …