For An Informed Ambedkar Age
by Chandra Bhan Prasad British imperialism did help serve the Dalits’ cause. The sciences, modern institutions and democracy were attendant features of colonialism which, in turn, shook the very foundations of the Varna order. The British, however, had no such intent when Queen Elizabeth granted a charter to a few London businessmen on December 31, …
—Anoop Kumar I am posting a few extracts from a paper written by Parimala V. Rao (“Educating Women and Non-Brahmins as ‘Loss of Nationality’: Bal Gangadhar Tilak and the Nationalist Agenda in Maharashtra“). This was published as an ocassional paper by the Centre for Women’s Development Studies, New Delhi. She is also the author of …
by Olutosin Oladosu -Adebowale In our community, there are only three roles for women; a wife, widow or Devadasi…… Please go to my village and rescue other girls who are about to be initiated too… I was told that I was dedicated to our god when I was three months old and was taken to …
by Gail Omvedt THE KOYNA, built high in Satara district of the Sahyadris on one of the major tributaries of the Krishna, is a big dam, a ”major irrigation project” in the terminology of the Indian Government. Its reservoir has a storage capacity of 98 tmcft and the dam generates over 900 MW of electricity. …
by Gail Omvedt Dear Arundhati, I’m sorry to have to write a critical letter to you. I very much liked The God of Small Things. I also appreciated your intervention on the nuclear issue. I was impressed on reading in Indian Express that you had decided to donate some royalties to the Dalit Sahitya Academy. …
Translated by Gail Omvedt and Bharat Patankar Chapter 3 How the Arya Brahmans arrived from Iran and the prior condition of the Shudra peasants; and how the current government constantly levies all kinds of new taxes on the farmers in order to provide whatever pay and pensions their employees want; and how the farmers have been forced into …
Anu Ramdas This extract is from the book Dharmatheertha, No Freedom with Caste, The Menace of Hindu Imperialism, edited by G. Aloysius: It is clear therefore that the motive of the priests in forming an exclusive caste was not any consideration of a religious or spiritual or racial nature but one of sheer greed for …
by Chandrabhan Prasad The Dalits constitute one-fourth of India’s population – about 250 million people – equivalent to the combined populations of four European nations (255.10 million): France (58m), UK (58.30m), Germany (81.60m) and Italy (57.20m).
Anoop Kumar [Thanks to Taha for his comment on Gujarat riots and the role of Dalits which reminded me of this particular incident. I wanted to write about this since long but keep on postponing it as I didn’t have much material except what I heard at the seminar held in Pune University] Almost …