Round Table India brings together perspectives from Dalit and Bahujan communities.
The Architecture of Trust: What Manipur Teaches us About Democracy, Conflict, and the Long Road to Peace
Why the Demand for Scheduled Tribe Status Sparked Manipur’s Disastrous Ethnic Conflicts
Haokholal Kipgen The ethnic conflict that erupted in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur in May 2023 became one of the most devastating episodes of ethnic violence in contemporary India. Initially triggered by the demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for the dominant Meitei community, the crisis soon escalated into a prolonged conflict between the …
Manipur: A Nation’s Silent Spectacle of Murder, Betrayal, and Neglect
Nonglik Claire Asem Imagine a photograph of a child cradled on his mother’s lap, a fleeting moment of innocence captured in a world falling apart. Now imagine that same child, not days later, found lifeless — shot in the knee and stabbed in the chest. This is not fiction. This is Manipur. This is India’s …
Mirabai Chanu – Bahujan, Brahmin or just Meitei?
Khakhlari How digital activism narratives around the athlete exposed structural racism towards the ‘chinky northeasterner’ When Mirabai made news as the first woman to score a medal at the Tokyo Olympics, people across several socio-political factions were quick to claim her. Her win evoked nationalistic pride and sentiments and celebratory posts poured in. A …
Racist mainland Indians were more terrifying than Covid
Chongtham Rameshwori My phone records 9:21 pm with the first picture of my favourite but unfortunate black T-shirt splattered with the thick pungent tobacco remains over my neck and chest area. On 22nd March 2020, after the nationwide curfew ended at 9 pm, I went outside with my friend to buy some groceries, to …
Some Thoughts on Manipur and Asad Haider’s book, Mistaken Identity: Race and Class in the Age of Trump
Jackson RK Racism is a face producing machine. It gives a face to the living things, non-living things, and, this time, to an entity that is both a living and a non-living thing at the same time: virus. As the world shrinks into private rooms in the aftermath of the corona-virus pandemic, racism succeeded …
The indigenous people are used to sharing, not distancing: Santa Khurai
Santa Khurai (SAVARI and Round Table India are doing a series on the Coronavirus pandemic) Santa KhuraiPhoto credit: Sonia Nepram Round Table India: Thanks for taking time, Santa. Could you share what is the situation in Imphal right now around the COVID-19 crisis? Santa Khurai: The situation has become much worse. The government acted …
An Enquiry Beyond Citizenship Amendment Bill
Veewon Thokchom The question of migrant population in the “Northeast” – Land of the rising sun, Land of festivals, Scotland of the East, Jewel of India – has always remained elusive in the popular discourse of the country, just as the question of occupation in Kashmir – a Paradise on Earth. These artfully contrived …
Story of Khudei
Thongam Bipin Khudei is traditionally a Meetei word for a piece of cloth which the Meetei men wear around their waists. It is worn on various occasions: when he is at home, sometimes at a family feast and other specific occasions. It carries value and culture and signifies a particular lifestyle. It also indicates …