For An Informed Ambedkar Age
Akshay Pathak Advancing the most penetrative and succinct theory of caste, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar had this to say in 1916 when he first presented his paper ‘Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development’: This sub-division of a society is quite natural. But the unnatural thing about these sub-divisions is that they have …
Rafiul Alom Rahman ‘Making Love’, the 1982 American film, talks about a married man (played by Michael Ontkean) coming to terms with his homosexuality. There are several beautiful moments in the film, but the one that strikes me the most is the scene in which the character of Ontkean ‘comes out’ to his wife. …
For my fellow comrades, friends, lovers, sisters and brothers (a not so open letter) Shaheen Ahmed It was biting cold in New Delhi in December last year. But this did not stop me or hundreds of other people, young and old alike, to hit the streets in protest. In protest against the brutal gangrape …
Jenny Rowena On first or second Saturday coming after the Hindu New Year’s Day (Gudhi padawa), the devadasis, who are mostly dalitbahujans, were openly sexually enjoyed in public, about hundred years ago. This is now replaced by another tradition called “Okali”, which was in vogue till 1987. It is a festival like ‘Rang Panchami’. The …
M. Swathy Margaret (First Published in Insight Youth Voices magazine in 2005) I am a Dalit-middle-class, University educated, Telugu speaking Dalit-Christian-Woman. All these identities have a role in the way I perceive myself and the worlds I inhabit. I, as a Dalit woman, primarily write for Dalit women to uphold our interests. This statement of …
report translated by Cynthia Stephen On June 30th 2010, Karnataka woke up to hear the news of Honamma’s horrific murder, killed with stone slabs by an upper caste mob of men. A year since, there seems to be no substantial progress in this case. We hope more awareness about it might expand and strengthen the …