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Educate, Agitate, Organize

Popular Culture and Ideology: The Phenomenon of Gaddar

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  P Kesava Kumar (First published in February 2010) The cultural sphere has its own advantage over politics in terms of pulling people into its fold. Through his songs and cultural performances, Gummadi Vittal Rao, popularly known as “Gaddar”, the Telugu poet singer, maintains the historical continuity of people’s lives and their struggles. He brings politics into everyday life situations and …

Thought

Hindutva and ethnicity

Gail Omvedt (First published in February 2003) The antagonism to conversion rests on an ideological foundation which takes ethnicity, that is a presumed community of blood and heritage, as central. IN 1996, during a six-month employment in Bhubaneshwar, fascinated by the beauty and antiquity of the area, I travelled with friends to Konarak and to …

Thought

Neobrahmanism, human rights and social democracy

Braj Ranjan Mani (First published in 2009) The image of India is that of a democratic, multicultural, inclusive society. But more often than not, appearances are not reality. India is a republic—a secular, socialist, democratic republic—where millions of children, women and men remain demoralised, enslaved to the powerful, crying out for fundamentals of life. Fragmented …

Features

“I am not a slave and don’t make me a slave”- Annan Pasupathi Pandian, a tribute

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  Ravi Chandran (With editorial suggestions from Kuffir) This article is an attempt to bring together information about the Dalit revolutionary leader Pasupathi Pandian, who was brutally murdered a couple of days ago (January 10, 2012). Since only bits and pieces of news material is available on him, I tried to gather some information from the …

Thought

Caste in India

Gail Omvedt [Written in the year 2008] (A Reply to the Hindu Council of UK essay on “The Caste System”) * I owe thanks to Michael Witzel for his note citing Vedic references on caste and his careful reading of an earlier version of this essay. Introduction The essay submitted by the Hindu Council of …