Anand Teltumbde (First published in September 2011) What has been the impact of reservations for women, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in panchayati raj institutions? In case the reserved seat is for a woman, it is usually the wife or daughter in-law of the old sarpanch who is made to sign papers, while the husband or the father-in-law is de facto in control. In the …
On Yanadis, committed activism and a successful land struggle
Karthik Navayan I don’t know Whether it is athiesm or animism But I am the Adi Dalit Who first excommunicated Brahmanvad. — from the Telugu poem ‘Yanadonni‘ by G.V. Ratnakar. ~~~ In 2006, Thupakula Munemma, a Yanadi tribeswoman in Nellore district, received a parcel from the local Revenue Divisional Officer through post. Munemma …
On Reservation Policy for Private Sector
Sukhadeo Thorat (First published in June 2004) Given the range of economic discrimination against marginalised groups like SCs, STs and OBCs the reservation policy for the private sector ought to cover not only employment, but also markets, agricultural land, capital, consumer goods, education, housing, government contracts, etc. Faced with caste related discrimination against and deprivation of marginalised …
Durga ka Mithak aur Bahujan Sangharsh ki Gatha: a documentary
‘The myth of Durga and the saga of Bahujan resistance’ Bahujan Films This short documentary (posted at the end of this note) named ‘Durga ka Mithak aur Bahujan Sangharsh ki Yatra‘ has its genesis in the OBC students of the country’s premier university, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, asserting their right to redefine the brahminical …
State Atrocities VS Oppressed Representation
Dinesh Maurya Earlier Forbesganj (Arariya, Bihar) and recently Nalanda (in Bihar) and Paramakudi (Tamil Nadu) are some examples of atrocities on the oppressed people directly involving the state machinery in the name of law and order. But before going into details, it is first necessary to know what does atrocity mean? The term atrocity, …
Perils Of Primary Teachers Messy Recruitment Process Fiasco ?
by L Lalit Singh (Calling for CBI probe or enquiry by a Judicial Commission) The news of rampant mark-tampering by way of destroying the answer scripts of all aspirant candidates of the Primary Teachers written test examination conducted by the Board of Secondary Education through bureaucratic bungling and corruption have been haunting and letting loose …
Why Dalits in West Bengal are on protest
Manohar Mouli Biswas (First published in World Prout Assembly site in August 2007) Dalits are perhaps by their birth communist in nature. They are born in the graded inequality of the society and as a result what happens they have to face the lot of sufferings in their daily life. They are by birth …
Caste Census and Indian Muslims A rejoinder to Abusaleh Shariff : by Khalid Anis Ansari
Khalid Anis Ansari In a recent piece Mr. Abusaleh Shariff (‘Casting the Caste Net’, Indian Express, 23 August 2010) has attempted an imaginative intervention in the debate around the caste census. While he enters the debate both in his ‘professional’ capacity as a renowned economist/demographer (to ‘discuss alternatives for collecting caste data’) and as a ‘communitarian’ …