For An Informed Ambedkar Age
Kuffir GujaratIs an experimentTo see if a state would growWhen you sow blood ~ Netala Pratap Kumar Not just Gujarat, but the whole of India has been an experiment, in essence, since its formation as a state herding together disparate pieces of political, cultural and social geography into a make-believe nation. In the process …
Kuffir Feel hotFeel a nausea stirring in my stomachFeel like I am listening to Sanskrit Slokas ~ Madduri Nagesh Babu, in ‘A Rakshasa’s proclamation’. You might think the ruling classes want all Indians to speak Hindi, to impose Hindi on everyone. That is not the idea, they want to impose the fear of imposition …
[Via Karthik Navayan] The event Democratic Debate on Appropriation of Ambedkar’s Writings was held on 10th April 2014, in Hyderabad. It was addressed by Dalit Bahujan intellectuals, Bojja Tharakam, Professor Kancha Ilaiah, U Sambashiva Rao, Joopaka Subhadra, Gogu Shyamala and other participants who discussed thoroughly the content, and also the intentions of the publisher …
Kuffir In a Times of India column a couple of years ago, Shashi Tharoor tried to stand up for the sari, and was roundly castigated by many readers for trying to impose patriarchal burdens on Indian women, in the name of tradition. In his next column, though apologetic, he still tried to bring back …
Kuffir The sweat that silently drops From the furrows of my forehead Becomes ears of rice That bow and salaam me with humility But! He, still adjusting his janeu, is edging, Towards the borders of the hill, Away from me… ~ J. Gautam, Telugu writer, in his poem ‘naaku duurangaa..’*. ~ You think they …
Asha Kowtal has been seeking, organizing and raising the voice of Dalit women across India and the world. As General Secretary of All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch (AIDMAM) she has been actively working to mobilize Dalits, and Dalit women in particular, across states – from Dabra in Haryana to Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu …
This is the second part of the interview with P. Sivakami, ex-IAS officer, writer and politician who founded the political party, the ‘Samuga Samatuva Padai’, to work ‘on the principles of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar, as a forum for social equality’. She is also the founder of the Dalit Land Rights Movement in Tamil …
P. Sivakami, a role model for young dalit adivasi and bahujan women, spent two days at the National Dalit and Adivasi Women’s Congress interacting with students and fellow activists. She is an ex-IAS officer, writer and politician who founded a political party, the ‘Samuga Samatuva Padai‘, to work ‘on the principles of Dr Bhim …
Kuffir Unfortunately thought in India is rare, and free thought is rarer still. This is particularly true of Hindus. ~ Babasaheb Ambedkar, in the epilogue to ‘Pakistan, or The Partition of India’. The left has been questioning the foundations of anti-caste politics recently, a little more whiningly than it usually does because it has …