Kancha Ilaiah In my childhood, way back in the early Sixties, there was a Gandhi statue in my village. His clean shaved head and semi-naked body with a tucked-in dhoti, in a walking posture, resembled my illiterate shepherd father in every respect except for the classic stick in the right hand, a book in the left …
Response to P V Indiresan’s “No quotas for higher studies, please”
by Thavaseelan G [A former director of IIT Madras writes an essay which is featured in the Vision 2020 series of The Hindu Business Line. The title and the content reflects his racist, casteist and classist understanding of basic concepts of social justice, merit, testing, teaching and the responsibilities of a government funded teaching Institute. …
Casteism: alive and well in Pakistan
Raza Rumi Obedience to hierarchies, conformity and identification with groups are central tenets of existing in Pakistan. [The relief operations after the recent floods in Sindh have revealed the extent to which man-made structures of stratification remain entrenched in Pakistani Society. We thank Raza Rumi for sharing this article outlining his views on …
Caste in Urdu Prose Literature (Part I)
by Ajmal Kamal [With excerpts in Urdu and Hindi scripts] [I] The historical division of society in South Asia on caste lines is now an acknowledged sociological, political and economic fact. However, caste as a literary or social discourse does not, for several reasons, form a part of the predominantly Muslim culture of Urdu. …
Accrued Social Capital over Individual Merit
R. Ravi Kumar The debate on merit has once again come to the forefront with the movie ‘Aarakshan’. From various press clippings and debates on the movie one can come to the conclusion that the ‘Aarakshan’ team is much worried about the victimization of merit due to reservations for the disadvantaged groups. Though there …
Jan Lokpal Bill Contains Draconian Clauses
Press release by Citizens for Social Justice Jan Lokpal Bill Contains Draconian Clauses. Team Anna’s Civil Society Does Not Represent the Nation. Let 2014 General Election Decide on Jan Lokpal Bill. Citizens for Social Justice consisting of Prof Kancha Ilaiah, Dr. John Dayal – member of National Integration Council, Dr. Joseph D’souza – President …
Untouchability Declassified
by Pallavi Polanki, Discrimination is a dynamic industry in India. A survey recorded an astonishing 80-odd practices of untouchability—new, bizarre, vintage. Two thousand years and counting. We must hold the record for perpetuating one of the worst crimes on humanity for the longest time running. The practice of untouchability has an unbroken history. A record the …
Draft of Bahujan Lokpal Bill
TO BE INTRODUCED BEFORE THE STANDING COMMITTEE OF PARLIAMENT. By Dr.Udit Raj, (Chairman of All India Confederation of SC/ST Organizations). Other leaders included in the delegation are P. S Krishnan- Former IAS, Shabnam Hashmi- Anhed, Vinod Diwakar-Advocate, Joseph Dsouza, John Dayal-All India Christian Council, Prof. Ravi Varma Kumar- Former, Chairman, Karnataka, Backward Commission, Yusuf Ansari- Gen. Secy, Peace Party, Chandrapal Singh …
Hindu, savarna, urban, elite media: an X-ray, CT Scan, ECG, MRI report
By Dilip Mandal As expected, large sections of the media, especially the Hindu (sorry, Hindi) newspapers have adopted the policy of turning a blind eye towards the ‘Save the Constitution’ rally led by Dr.Udit Raj held on 24th, August in Delhi. A few newspapers seemed to be merely going through the ritual of reporting it. …