Manisha Mashaal Today, when I see myself as a national leader fighting a battle against caste tyranny, when I speak about changing the oppressive system, when I’m completely engaged with the reality of the ground level, there is only one thing that my heart screams for, that is justice! Whatever happens now, we must …
Open Letter to VC, Ambedkar University: Reconsider Invitation to Prof. Romila Thapar for Ambedkar Memorial Lecture
An Open Letter to the Vice Chancellor, Ambedkar University, Delhi, to Reconsider Decision to Invite Prof. Romila Thapar for Ambedkar Memorial Lecture, 2016 We, the members of Dalit Bahujan Adivasi Collective, are writing this Open Letter to the Vice Chancellor, Ambedkar University, Delhi (AUD) in order to register our protest with the manner in …
Flaunting noble intentions, nurturing caste privilege – Part 2
Asha Kowtal In August 2013, Kaafi, our sister from Jind Haryana was on her way to write her final exams and qualify to be a teacher. She was kidnapped, raped and murdered. Her dream to be a teacher and her aspirations to contribute to her family, her community and to this nation were shattered. …
Surnames and ‘Merit’: A Case of Miranda House
Nidhin Shobhana Recently I had the opportunity to participate and speak in a two-hour session on the ‘Intersectionalities of caste and gender’ conducted by National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights at Miranda House, Delhi. The session aimed at understanding how caste and gender operate in Higher Educational Institutions. It was organized as a part …
A Dalit Teacher’s Successful Crusade against Caste and Corruption
Rahul Kumar Prem Chand “Vimal” has been fighting against autocracy and corruption in the Education Department of Delhi for nearly three decades and has won in about ten such instances. These include one case in the High Court, two in the District Court, twice in the Centre Administrative Tribunal (CAT), and five times in …
Bhagana outrage: On the dire need for a collective struggle
Jyotsna Siddharth Delhi witnessed a protest to condemn the rape of four dalit girls which took place in Bhagana village in Haryana. A huge outcry was demonstrated outside Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s house on 11th May 2014 to demand justice for the minor dalit girls who were kidnapped, violated and raped on …
On the “differences” between Delhi, 1984, and Gujarat, 2002
Preetika Nanda I find it deeply disturbing when debates or articulations tend to neatly categorize tragedies even if it is to highlight lacunae in the way our judiciary functions or various other factors like the extent of media attention to a particular issue and so on. At a very basic human level there is …
Cultural Fascism and the Death of the Republic
Shailaja Menon and N Sukumar “It takes years of “political, social, economic and human degradation to create a terrorist”. So “fighting terror can only succeed by rehumanising degraded societies, by undoing, one by one, the many individual acts of repression, obstruction, denial, marginalisation and autocracy.” ~ Rami Khouri, Jordan. Many eons ago, the Films …
‘25 out of 100 is our RIGHT’: Dalits, Adivasis demand budget for addressing Urban Poverty Issues
National Coalition on SCP TSP Legislation ’25 out of 100 is our RIGHT’ New Delhi: On the death anniversary of their icon Baba Saheb Ambedkar, hundreds of Dalits and Adivasis gathered today at Jantar-Mantar in the heart of the capital to demand their rights which they have been constantly deprived of. On the second …