As Jharkhand turns 24, a reason to celebrate and a reality check
Jharkhand stands at a crossroads. The state must strike a balance between preserving its rich cultural heritage and meeting the demands of modernization and inclusivity. Addressing systemic inequalities, ensuring equitable representation, and fostering social harmony are imperative for a prosperous future, writes Md Tabrez Alam
An international web conference to build synergies between nomadic peoples’ movements
The Asian continent boasts a huge diversity of gypsies/nomads, such as pastoral, peripatetic, forest and sea nomads spread across many countries. Yet the two...
‘How many economists have seen the inside of a factory?’
Prof Jean Drèze says academia hasn’t had much influence on politics in India and that white supremacists in the US, who are a powerful...
Dawn of coalition governance in Tamil Nadu
The rise of parties like the VCK, the changing dynamics within the major Dravidian parties, and the evolving expectations of the electorate all point...
Deconstructing ‘power’ in today’s India
How have Brahmanism and Hindu nationalism become synonymous with power? Aniket Gautam seeks answers in the insights of B.R. Ambedkar, Steven Lukes and Louis...
G. Karunanidhi: Tamil Nadu knows from experience that Scheduled Caste subquotas further social justice
‘Because of the three per cent reservation for Arunthathiyars [through subcategorization of SCs], 82 candidates from the caste got seats in medical colleges prior...
‘Vaazhai’: Love, compassion and resilience amid the harshness of Dalit life
Vaazhai is a testament to how personal experience can shape a filmmaker’s narrative arc, with Mari Selvaraj’s socially charged storytelling elevating the film’s themes....
RSS and the question of caste
On the one hand, they celebrate the Constitution Day and pay obeisance to the Constitution of India. On the other hand, they consistently talk...
When a film has a Dalit protagonist named Vedaa and defends the Vedas
This film exemplifies the Gandhian ‘upper caste’ saviour gaze, in which the Dalit characters, particularly women like Vedaa, remain marginalized within their own narrative....
Decoding ‘Thangalaan’: A cinematic exploration of caste and colonialism
By centring the experiences of those traditionally marginalized in historical narratives, Pa. Ranjith’s latest film opens up new avenues for understanding India’s past and,...
Pa. Ranjith’s ‘Thangalaan’ is another compelling portrayal of the struggles of the Bahujan
The film’s masterful use of close-up shots allows a profound and intimate exploration of the characters, drawing the audience into their emotional depths with...
‘Sahitya Akademi has brought itself honour by honouring Sanjeev’
In his more than a dozen novels, Sanjeev has depicted the reality of the post-Independence Indian society. The issues and topics that he has...
In his ‘Ambedkar: A Life’, Shashi Tharoor betrays his privileged-caste naivete
After coming out with ‘Why I Am A Hindu’, Tharoor has predictably set out to look for Ambedkar’s ‘flaws’ in his biography of Ambedkar,...
Phanishwar Nath Renu – who gave centrality to the toilers of ‘the provinces’
Renu took the genre of reportage to new heights in Hindi literature. No one has been able to match him to date. In his...
Rajesh Paswan: Criticism within Dalit Literature is still in its infancy
Our Dalit writers don’t take criticism well. They begin enquiring about the caste and ideology of the critic. They evaluate criticism on these parameters,...
Memoir: When Rajendra Yadav visited Gorakhpur
Both Rajendra Yadav and Namvar Singh participated in a seminar on Premchand in Gorakhpur University. At the seminar, Namvar Singh declared that fiction was...
As Jharkhand turns 24, a reason to celebrate and a reality check
Jharkhand stands at a crossroads. The state must strike a balance between preserving its rich cultural heritage and meeting the demands of modernization and...
How Ambedkar began mobilizing for conversion 20 years before the event
Ambedkar said that religious conversion was no child’s play and that it couldn’t be achieved with merely political measures. It had to be realized...
Ambedkar’s hitherto unseen intercontinental-travel and census records, some of which expose baseless claims
A powerful, authoritative biography of Dr Ambedkar, one that is based solely on hard, verifiable evidence, and not hearsay, is yet to be written....
Ambedkar the democrat shone in the making of the Indian Constitution
Unlimited powers were not vested in the Indian president. Instead, it was Parliament which was vested with all the powers. That was meant to...
Jagdeo Prasad wanted to forge a national confederation representing the exploited classes
‘DMK has been formed in Madras, Shoshit Dal in Bihar and Rashtriya Shoshit Sangh in Uttar Pradesh to secure freedom from the upper-caste imperialists....