Baluta: A Cry From The Heart
The first Dalit autobiography to be published, Baluta created a stir when it appeared in Marathi in 1978. Set in Mumbai and rural Maharashtra of the 1940s and 50s, author and poet Daya Pawar depicts the stark reality of caste violence and untouchability in this classic. It also celebrates the resilience, dignity and courage of the Dalit community and their fight for equality in an unequal society.
The English Goddess
In April 2010, a goddess was installed in a small single-storey temple in Banka in Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh. It was an ambitious undertaking to fill the vacancy of a goddess in a Dalit household.
Gaddar's Art And Politics Lie In Sensibilities That Connect Us
Gaddar, a poet and a communist revolutionary, died on August 6
Murder, Rape, Humiliation: A Timeline Of Atrocities Against Dalits
Atrocities against Dalits are taking place regularly across India. Here’s a snapshot
How About A Museum Of Untouchability To Display Caste Oppression?
The practice of untouchability and the heinous crimes that are committed in the form of brute killings, rapes, and public beatings are still in practice. How about a space that depicts all of this?
Tracing The Anti-Caste Movement
Dalit radicality in the name of Ambedkar is threatened of decay and cooption, thereby running the risk of receding into the landscape of caste
Ambedkar’s Ideal Of Maitri | Ambedkar Jayanti
Babasaheb’s universalist vision of the community based on maitri enriches the political imagination everywhere
Ambedkar And Gandhi: Conflicting Ideas On Dalit Liberation
Ambedkar saw no hope for Dalit liberation without ‘political separation from the Hindus’. Gandhi, while agreeing that the honour of Hinduism could not be saved ‘without eradicating untouchability root and branch’, considered the idea of Dalit political separation from Hinduism ‘suicidal’ for the national movement.
'It’s Not Impossible To Smash The Caste System': Professor Anand Teltumbde
Anand Teltumbde is a scholar and civil rights activist known for his extensive work on B.R. Ambedkar’s life and work as well as the caste issue. He was arrested in connection with the Elgar Parishad case in 2020 and released on bail in November 2022 after spending 31 months in jail. The 72-year-old spoke to Snigdhendu Bhattacharya
Bhima-Koregaon: A Battle Over Past And Present
The direct conflict between Hindutva and the Ambedkarites’ views of the past and present have turned Bhima-Koregaon into what it now is
'Not Just A Woman, A Dalit Woman': Fighting Caste And Class Within India's Feminist Movement
Dalit women’s fight for equality and assertion has been as much with the ‘woman’ as with the ‘man’
‘Monumen’tal Loss: What BSP Once Stood For
The monuments, statues and parks in Lucknow are a stark reminder of what the Bahujan Samaj Party once stood for
Dalit Panthers: Founding A Movement
On the occasion of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’s death (Mahaparinirvan) on December 6, a relook at the formation and founding of Dalit Panthers. The Dalit Panthers were committed to the mission of fighting cruelty and oppression
Caste For The 'Casteless': Unsettling Truths
This issue is for all of us. To act and to agitate. To keep faith and to confront the realities. To love and to understand. To stand together and to demand answers and keep asking questions. This issue is for the sake of freedom for everyone. In the hope that we annihilate caste, we invoke memory to guide us through this.
'Need For Ideological Ambedkarism': Union Minister Ramdas Athawale On Dalit Panthers
A Dalit Panthers cadre from Maharashtra, Ramdas Athawale, was closely associated with the formation of the Bharatiya Dalit Panthers and then became the president of the Republican Party of India (A). Today, he is the minister of social justice and empowerment in the Union government. He spoke to Suraj Yengde.
Manual Scavenging Is A Political Problem, Not Social: Activist Bezwada Wilson
Data discrepancy, coupled with the ignorance of the consecutive political dispensation, worsens the situation of the marginalised communities, feels Bezwada Wilson, the national convener of the Safai Karmachari Andolan (SFA).
Poem: Ripples Of Revolution | Ambedkar Jayanti
While breathing the air of oppression, I will use it to slit the asphyxiation, and drown the gutter of civilisation.
Rise Of Mandal vs Kamandal Politics In Bihar
Only social justice can be the antidote to radical Hindutva and the caste census can prove to be a strong step in this direction
Art From The Margins: Y S Alone's Exhibition Represents Dalit Lives
Artists from marginalised communities reflect on the everyday lives of Dalits and the oppressed classes at an exhibition