‘Dabba Cartel’: Amid drug trafficking, an exciting entanglement of class and gender questions
The women coming together to run a drug business disguised as a ‘dabba’ service has us wondering whether the old doctrine of class struggle premised on inevitable antagonism between classes has been turned on its head and we are witnessing class cooperation instead, writes Survesh Pratap Singh
K.K. Kochu and his struggle to redeem human dignity
One of the foremost Dalit thinkers of Kerala K.K. Kochu, 76, passed away on 13 March 2025. Historian Vinil Paul recalls his enduring contributions...
Economic redistribution through democratic politics
The modern version of redistributive politics is concerned with redistribution of income and other forms of material welfare. Caste census will play a decisive...
Does Mahakumbh no-show confirm Rahul Gandhi as a believer in social justice?
By not taking a dip in the Ganga, Rahul Gandhi has finally mustered the courage to show which side he is on. He is...
A Christian burial in Chhattisgarh: Supreme Court rules in favour of ‘Hindu’ Adivasis
The family members of the deceased faced discrimination and socio-economic boycott because they happen to be Christians. The family have been Christians for the...
President’s rule in Manipur: Still a bumpy road awaits the return of peace and stability
A significant chasm of distrust between communities has arisen, which can only be bridged by a government that works under the supervision of an...
‘Dabba Cartel’: Amid drug trafficking, an exciting entanglement of class and gender questions
The women coming together to run a drug business disguised as a ‘dabba’ service has us wondering whether the old doctrine of class struggle...
A multifaceted approach needed to end witch-hunting in Jharkhand and other states
There is a pressing need for a comprehensive national law that criminalizes witch-hunting and ensures strict penalties for perpetrators. Providing communities with proper healthcare...
‘Girls Will Be Girls’ is a poetic journey through adolescence
Director Shuchi Talati’s decision to employ a predominantly female crew results in a perspective that feels authentically feminine without being performatively so, writes Neeraj...
Pro-upper-caste bias warps Left’s sense of history
Remaining in denial about the caste system obfuscates the identity of its victims and leads us to forget their struggles. It also creates a...
Looking back at Indian cinema in 2024 through an anti-caste lens
Together, ‘Thangalaan’, ‘Kottukkaali (The Adamant Girl)’, ‘Blue Star’ and ‘Vaazhai’ signify a transformative moment in Tamil cinema, using the medium to interrogate caste-based discrimination,...
Seminal role of Dalit-OBCs in development of language and literature
Scripts were invented by painters and sculptors, and not scholars. Not only in India but in civilizations the world over, paintings and sculptures predated...
‘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,...
Raidas: A modern revolutionary thinker from the feudal medieval era
Raidas’ radical thinking and works didn’t get wider national and international acceptance. In fact, his modern vision wasn’t even accorded the place it deserved...
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...