For An Informed Ambedkar Age
Raju Chalwadi Affirmative action and Merit are two concepts on which every Indian has an opinion, especially, the former. Affirmative action policy is always seen in a negative light because of the ambiguity regarding the rationale for such a policy and its effect on social relations. And the term merit in the Indian context …
Sumit Turuk Jai Bhim was never a slogan among the “progressives”, who are in fact regressive, of JNU until around mid 2015. It grew louder among them post Rohith Vemula’s institutional murder, considering the imminent threat of Dalit Bahujan Student assertion which started gaining a much powerful form across campuses in India. The anti-caste …
B. Prabakaran JNU has been celebrated for critical thinking, political activism and regarded as one of the premier institutions for higher education and excellence in research. Students also strongly believe that campuses like JNU would be a ‘cultural mechanism’ for interactions within the student community coming from diverse social groups, and a resourceful platform …
Riya Singh Yes, I am assertive. Assertive of my caste identity. It is not a ‘fashion statement’ trust me, it takes a lot of courage and training of your own self to be this assertive. You asked me what harm did you do to me. You know what you did, you asked me to …
Rakesh Sanal “If I die, I will fail. I shall live and win. I very well know how tough it is. Hearing people speak of this nation as a democracy makes me laugh, for isn’t it this nation which witnessed the suicide of Rohith Vemula who had noted,”My birth is my fatal accident”? But …
Anju Devi Balmiki community is highly discriminated by this society since long. Despite the various government programs which are aimed at the development of this community, discrimination and exclusion continues to be important factors in the low educational status of such marginalised communities. Within a broader discourse of educational attainment of the marginalised communities, …
Deepak Kumar In Gujarat, on the 25th of June 2016, an NGO called ‘Human Development and Research Centre’ (HDRC) attempted to problematize and eradicate the social stigma on the untouchables who work as sweepers. But this initiative was welcomed with stone-throwing by the so-called upper castes1. This is the real face of Hinduism and …
Christina Thomas Dhanaraj The practice of caste in India and the rest of South Asia is indisputable. The 3000-year old oppressive structure has its footprint in pretty much everything that is remotely Indian or South Asian. And no, 60 years of being a Republic, or the Mandal commission couldn’t do much to erase it. …
Bobby Kunhu “My Birth is My Fatal Accident” Rohith Vemula As a law student I was obsessive about Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code which defines attempt to commit suicide as a crime and prescribes a punishment of up to one year along with fine. I believed that the section was unconstitutional and …