Sudhanshu K. Singh The Jat-Patel agitation and the anti-reservation protests of the 1990s are of the same pattern of angst against the grotesquely wrong conception of injustice that is attributed to Affirmative Action made possible through the Reservation policy. In a modern egalitarian political economy, one of the primary aims of the State should be …
Inclusion or Illusion: My experiences at the World Conference on Youth
Swati Kamble As I read the article ‘India denies ‘caste’ as factor of gender inequality‘ by Meena Menon, in The Hindu, I was reminded of my experiences at the World Conference on Youth. Below is my account of the incidence. The World Conference on Youth started on 6th May 2014 with a grand inauguration ceremony in …
Unequal rights: Freedom, Equality, Life, and Liberty of citizens and “others”
Hany Babu Introduction The way in which certain classes of people including Dalits, Adivasis, Minorities and the disabled persons are made invisible or marginalised in the mainstream discourse has been often talked about. Mainstream discourse also pays scant attention and there is hardly any public outrage when Dalit students are driven to suicides in …
The root causes of racism against North Easterners
Haineube Newme Racial discrimination against North Easterners by the Non-North Easterners (I will use N & Ns hereafter) in India’s metropolitan cities is paradoxical. This article will focus only on its root causes. In a survey released by The Washington Post, India was ranked among one of the most racist countries in the world …
The eternal relevance of Dr. Ambedkar and his philosophy
Sirra Gagarin “Time is infinite and the earth is vast. There will be born a man who will appreciate what I say” (Bhavabhuti) is the hope expressed by Babasaheb Ambedkar referring to his mission and philosophy. In India primordial loyalties are too strong to recognise the intrinsic worth of an individual unless s/he belongs …
Political Philosophy of B.R. Ambedkar: A Critical Understanding (Part 2)
Dr. P. Kesava Kumar Continued from here. Assessing the Political Thought of Ambedkar About Ambedkar there are diverse opinions. Upper caste nationalists has tried to brand him as a ‘British agent’. For instance, Arun Shourie, the Hindu nationalist and the “intellectual hero” of the upper castes at the time of the anti-Mandal agitation and …
Political Philosophy of B.R. Ambedkar: A Critical Understanding
Dr. P. Kesava Kumar (This is the first part of the paper first published in International Research Journal of Social Sciences, Vol.1 No.2. Pp.193-210, 2008, Pondicherry University, Puducherry) Abstract The political philosophy of Ambedkar may help in renegotiating the crisis of western political theory in particular and leading the struggles of the masses in general. …
Caste and Caste-Based Discrimination among Indian Muslims – Part 10
Caste and Caste-Based Discrimination among Indian Muslims – Part 10: Transformations in the Colonial Period Continued from here. Masood Alam Falahi (Translated by Yoginder Sikand for NewAgeIslam.com) [Part 10 of Masood Alam Falahi‘s Urdu book Hindustan Mai Zat-Pat Aur Musalman (‘Casteism Among Muslims in India’)] ~ Caste and Religion With the onset of British …
Buddhism as a social, democratic doctrine: a liberation ideology
Karthik Navayan In 1935, while addressing the Yeola Conversion Conference, Dr. BR Ambedkar declared ‘I am born a Hindu. I couldn’t help it, but I solemnly assure you that I will not die a Hindu’. He said: ‘Hindu civilsation.. is a diabolical contrivance to suppress and enslave humanity’. It was created by Brahminical parasites to …