Gail Omvedt (Written in November 2003) M V Nadkarni’s recent article “Is Caste System Intrinsic to Hinduism?: Demolishing a Myth”, (EPW, November 8, 2003) comes as a follow-up to his earlier article “Ethics and Relevance of Conversions: A Critical Assessment of Religious and Social Dimensions in a Gandhian Perspective” (Januay 18). Both articles show the fundamental stamp of Hindutva ideology, …
Exactly whose sentiments are hurt by beef and pork? Part 2
Continued from here. Ravi Chandran As we saw earlier, beef was made an issue associated with only Muslims. Read the constituent assembly debate on banning cow slaughter– Seth Govind Das in his speech he says: …The Muslims should come forward to make it clear that their religion does not compulsorily enjoin on them the …
Exactly whose sentiments are hurt by beef and pork?
Ravi Chandran When its udders were squeezed and milked You didn’t feel any pain at all When it was stitched into a chappal you stamped underfoot and walked You didn’t feel hurt at all When it rang as a drum at your marriage and your funeral You didn’t suffer any blows When it sated …
Warning: Ayyankali Ahead!
Ajith Kumar A S At Vellayambalam junction in Trivandrum, Ayyankali stands in the centre. We have to circle the Ayyankali square to get to our destinations. The heavy traffic in the junction may not help us to take a passing glance at the statue most of the time. But our politics would. That could never …
Don’t Give Me Red!
Ajith Kumar A S Going straight into the matter, let me confirm that this note is my response to Anand Teltumbde’s article “It’s Not Red Vs Blue” published in Outlook ( Aug 20, 2012). I am sure that it is not a comprehensive critique of the article. But rather I will be sharing some questions …
Will Sikh Leaders install Hindu Gods in the Golden Temple?
Pardeep Attri The first step in liquidating a people is to erase its memory. Destroy its books, its culture, its history, Then have somebody write new books, manufacture a new culture, invent a new history. Before long the nation will begin to forget what it is and what it was. The world around it will …
Attacks on Dalits in Kalappatti
Findings of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) Team that visited Kalapatti village, Tamil Nadu, in May 2004 1. Caste Discrimination and Untouchability practices Kalapatti is a village which is located in the Coimbatore district under the Kovilpalayam police station limits. It is 14 km from the Coimbatore-Avinashi road. This village consists of nearly 2000 families …
A paradigm shift called Kanshi Ram
Kancha Ilaiah [This article was first published in two parts, ‘A paradigm shift called Kanshi Ram’ and ‘Dalits and the horizontal ladder’, in 2003; we have combined the two parts into one single piece of writing. We, along with our readers, celebrate the memory of Manyawar Kanshi Ram on his birth anniversary- Round Table …
How to stop another Gujarat?
Karthik Navayan [Karthik Navayan wrote this article ten years ago, in 2002, after visiting Gujarat as a relief volunteer seeking to offer aid to the victims of the 2002 carnage. The one persistent thought on his mind after the experience was: how to stop Andhra Pradesh from becoming Gujarat? How to stop any other state …