Letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh regarding Sexual Assault Case in Police Custody Dr. Manmohan Singh Honorable Prime Minister of India South Block, Raisina Hill New Delhi 110011 India Dear Prime Minister Manmohan Singh: I am writing on behalf of Human Rights Watch to draw your attention to the case of Soni Sori, a tribal …
Another Gohana: Dalit Bastis ransacked in Salwan village of Karnal
(Based on a Fact Finding report first posted in the Google group NCDHR, in March 2007) A Fact Finding Team of Human Rights Defenders and Social Activists from National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights was formed with a mandate to Investigate into the reports of Salwan village of Karnal district, carried in several news papers and electronic Media …
Dalit Feminism
M. Swathy Margaret (First Published in Insight Youth Voices magazine in 2005) I am a Dalit-middle-class, University educated, Telugu speaking Dalit-Christian-Woman. All these identities have a role in the way I perceive myself and the worlds I inhabit. I, as a Dalit woman, primarily write for Dalit women to uphold our interests. This statement of …
Voters were against BSP, not for anybody
Vivek Kumar This election is historical because, once again, upper castes have been kept out of power. This has been the trend in the state for the past two-and-a-half decades. Secondly, this election can also be seen as a backlash of upper castes against the consolidation of Dalit power in Uttar Pradesh. Dalit workers and a …
The Chamcha Age (An Era of the Stooges) – Preface
by Kanshi Ram (Released on 24th September, 1982, on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of Poona Pact) ~~~~~ Dedicated to Mahatma Jotirao Phule Whose initiation of cultural revolt in colonial India, later taken up by Babasaheb Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Periyar E.V. Ramaswamy and many other rebellious spirits brought us …
AIIMS: A Death Trap for Aspiring Reserved Category Students
Gurinder Singh Azad [Gurinder Singh Azad, of the Dalit & Adivasi Students’ Portal, was involved in the Death of Merit campaign against caste discrimination and suicides of Dalit, Adivasi students in India’s premier educational institutions. The tragic death of Anil Kumar Meena, a tribal student from a marginalized background, in AIIMS brings back memories of …
How to stop another Gujarat?
Karthik Navayan [Karthik Navayan wrote this article ten years ago, in 2002, after visiting Gujarat as a relief volunteer seeking to offer aid to the victims of the 2002 carnage. The one persistent thought on his mind after the experience was: how to stop Andhra Pradesh from becoming Gujarat? How to stop any other state …
What is wrong with Bhagvad Gita? (Part III)
Rahul Bhalerao Continued from here. To the question ‘what do Karma and Guna exactly mean according to Gita?’ a generic and philosophical meaning is proffered as the answer. According to this response, Karma is any act or deed, be it good or bad, which in turn produces good Karma or bad Karma respectively. But, irrespective …
Gohana Atrocity: Caste Terror in Haryana
[A fact-finding team of the Forum for Democratic Initiatives* visited Gohana on 4th September 2005 to enquire into the gruesome torching of houses belonging to the Balmiki community on the day of 1st September 2005. The team met the victims and their relatives; local college lecturers and primary school teachers who were conducting a survey …