The lockdown is slowly being lifted. For many among us it was a semi-sabbatical, albeit with a mild feeling of being held in captivity. Perhaps a good time to reflect on another lockdown that hides in plain sight. Mythily Sivaraman, a fierce fighter for equality, between the sexes as well communities, writes with feeling of the despair that casteism generates for the mass of the people. Taken from Haunted by Fire: Essays on Caste, Class, Exploitation and Emancipation (LeftWord, 2013; also availa[...]
When Raosaheb Kasbe's Zot was published in Marathi, in 1978, RSS cadres made a public bonfire of it at the Janata Party convention in Pune that year. The book presented an incisive critique of M.S. Golwalkar's Bunch of Thoughts, the main ideological treatise of the RSS. Kasbe traced the historical roots of cultural nationalism as outlined by Golwalkar, and exposed its authoritarianism. His study of the functioning of the RSS revealed its communal blueprint, its anti-modern views and anti-democra[...]
Today, April 14, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar's birthday is a monumental day for India. It is the day when we celebrate the movement to break the bonds of caste and of social hierarchy. The point of Dr. Ambedkar's movement - as he said in 1927 during the Mahad Satyagraha - was to fight to ensure that our society 'treats human beings like human beings'. In 1944, Dr. Ambedkar was most explicit at a Depressed Classes Conference, 'The root of untouchability is the caste system; the root [...]