@ZachWeinersmith
Apologies, I only know snippets of colonial history, and at that only through works of purile fiction like "Flashman And The Great Game" (might be a laugh if you're bored), and Kipling's Barrack Room Ballads book (that fellow knew how to write a book for a specific market!). If anyone knows of any Indian equivalent of the book "Putin's People" I'd be all ears too.
Faced caste discrimination at temple, says Kerala minister
A member of the CPI(M) state secretariat, and seen as the party's chief Dalit face, Radhakrishnan also slammed the caste system in Hinduism and said those who created it had a clear agenda: “to keep people divided”.
We have been conditioned into accepting the violence against the Scheduled Castes as inevitable. This method of rationalisation is now slowly being extended to the attacks against Muslims.
Meet the trio who will soon become TN's first women temple priests
Ranjitha, Ramya, and Krishnaveni are thrilled at the prospect of becoming the first women priests in Tamil Nadu but are also aware of the long and arduous journey that lies ahead of them.
A goddess once discouraged her devotees from building a shrine for her. She wanted to be left free to wander as she pleased whereas the shrine door would restrict her movements. The doorless shrine her devotees then built for her still exists on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
‘I will fight until I die’: Nepal’s celebrated Dalit activist on her lifelong battle for equality
Being denied water as a child set Sarswati Nepali on a path to end caste-based discrimination. She has since been honoured by the US government and become an inspiration to women.
Indian-Americans Urge California To Veto Anti-Caste Discrimination Bill
If signed into law by Governor Newsom, California would become the first State in the United States and the first jurisdiction outside India to outlaw discrimination based on caste.
Sanatan Dharma: An Ideology or the Entire Hindu Community?
Even V.D. Savarkar, the most influential ideologue of Hindutva, hardly conflated ‘sanatan dharma’ with the entire Hindu community, unlike the BJP's position on the current controversy over the term.
Women’s Cricket Is Rife With Stories of Sexual Harassment. What Is the BCCI Doing?
With the kind of wealth available in Indian cricket and the lack of safeguards, there is no estimating what a more accurate number of cricketers facing harassment by their superiors—coaches, selectors, officials—may be. Women cricketers who have left the game are able to draw a clearer picture, but on condition of revealing neither their names nor the states they represented.
In Kerala, Dalit man slapped, abused for winning Sabarimala tender
A Dalit man was allegedly attacked, abused calling caste name and spat on face in public by two persons for winning a tender invited by Travancore Devaswom Board to prepare 'unni appam' at Sabarimala temple.
I started using Sanatana Dharma to stop Sangh Parivar groups from twisting my words as an attack on Hindu beliefs: Thirumavalavan
While Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin’s recent comments about “eradicating Sanatana Dharma” have snowballed into a political controversy, it was VCK founder Thol. Thirumavalavan who had enshrined Sanatana Dharma in the lexicon of Tamil Nadu’s political discourse over the past five years.
The BJP May End up Tying Itself in Knots By Attacking Udhayanidhi Stalin
The concept of sanatana dharma was given shape by the Hindu orthodoxy in the 19th century as a movement against reformist organisations like the Arya Samaj and Brahmo Samaj, which questioned regressive practices such as sati and child marriage.
Interview: ‘Vivekananda is the ideological nemesis of the Sangh Parivar’: Govind Krishnan V.
Govind Krishnan V.’s recently published Vivekananda: The Philosopher of Freedom is a conscious effort to challenge the Sangh Parivar’s depiction of the monk as an exemplar of right-wing values.
Gladstone Scion to Apologise for Slavery: Can Indian Upper Castes Too Look Within?
That Western capitalism had its first roots in the expropriation of slave labour is of course by now an established fact of history. Mr Gladstone’s conscientious lead is admirable, one that many others could emulate – even in the former colonies. Badri Raina writes.
TN Kuravan families allege torture and sexual assault by Andhra police
Entire families from the Kuravan tribe routinely face arrest and torture for crimes they are unconnected to, revealing the police’s reluctance to shed their prejudice against what were earlier called ‘criminal tribes’.
Read: Manoj Mitta on Why Caste-Based Violence Continues With Impunity in India
Discussing his latest book with Sravasti Dasgupta, Manoj Mitta says that whenever there is an instance of mass violence, one arm or another of the Indian state has betrayed caste prejudice.
J&K: Dalit IAS officer files complaint of “harassment, humiliation” against L-G, Chief Secretary
In a major development, a Dalit whistle blower IAS officer Ashok Kumar Parmar has knocked the doors of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) against Lt Governor Manoj Sinha and chief secretary Arun Mehta for “inflicting harassment and humiliation upon him.”