Banaras Hindu University researches Manusmriti ‘applicability’
Banaras Hindu University is researching the continuing “applicability” of the Manusmriti, which codified what became the caste system and gave women the status of family property, with government funds earmarked for worldclass academic projects.
UGC's Committee to Probe Caste Discrimination on Campuses Offers No Solutions
Members of the committee have no track record of tackling discrimination – but do have a closeness to the BJP. Their affidavit in the Supreme Court does not respond to the many issues raised in Abeda Tadvi and Radhika Vemula’s petition.
Colonial and casteist ideas still shape criminalisation and policing in India
The disproportionate policing and incarceration of Denotified Tribes and other caste-oppressed communities must be understood as a result of colonial and Brahminical power, writes Nikita Sonawane.
India needs a caste census – and Southasia does too
Demands for a caste census are shaking up politics and prompting a fresh reckoning with historical injustices in India. Everywhere that caste is endemic, overdue caste counts have the power to do the same. Anil Verghese and Naval Kishore Kumar write.
Challenging this agenda will mean condemning efforts to brand anti-Hindutva as discriminatory and compassion for Hindus who face religious marginalisation.
Supreme Court Issues Notice on PIL Filed By The Wire Reporter on Caste-Based Prison Rules
Prison manuals in India continue to retain unconstitutional caste-based labour rules. The Wire's series on prisons, which was the basis of the PIL filed in the apex court, has won awards both in India and abroad.
Mohan Bhagwat May Quote Ambedkar, But RSS Is Polar Opposite of His Ideology
It is ironic that despite core contradictions in ideologies, RSS leaders make a show of paying respect to Ambedkar for electoral gains, writes Ram Punyani.
At Visva-Bharati University, Neglect Marks Multiple Allegations of Sexual Harassment Against Faculty
The university has seen numerous show-cause notices and suspension orders issued to students and teachers since controversial V-C Bidyut Chakrabarty assumed his position in November 2018.
Manual scavenging: The unending pain of India's sewer workers
Manual scavenging is banned in India but the practice is still commonplace, with people forced into it because of rigid caste rules and the lack of other livelihood options. Successive federal governments, including the current one, have missed several deadlines to declare India free of manual scavenging, most recently in August this year.
'Completely Eradicate Manual Scavenging' : Supreme Court Directs Union & States; Increases Compensation For Sewer Deaths To Rs 30 Lakh
Expressing grave anguish at the continuance of this abhorrent practice in India, the Supreme Court directed that the compensation in cases of sewer deaths must be increased to Rs.30 lakhs. In cases of permanent disablement arising from sewer operations, the Court directed the increase of compensation to Rupees 20 lakhs and for other forms of disablement, the compensation must be not less than Rs 10 lakhs.
How technical knowledge became the preserve of a ‘meritorious’ upper-caste elite: an interview with Ajantha Subramanian, author of 'The Caste of Merit: Engineering Education in India'. (From October 2020)
Nationalist efforts have traveled far from the Indian mainland from which they originated, extending their influence into diasporic communities. This trend can be discerned through the emergence of a term that has become increasingly recognizable in the United States — “Hinduphobia.” Muskaan Arshad writes. (H/T: hindutvawatch.org)
59% General Category students agree with or are neutral to casteist remarks: 2019-20 IIT-Delhi survey
One of the disturbing findings of the survey shows that one in two “general category” respondents admitted to making casteist comments intentionally or unintentionally. Of them, nearly 15% admitted to having intentionally passed casteist comments.
Activist Beena Johnson becomes first Dalit woman to address UN General Assembly
Beena Johnson, the General Secretary of the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights said that principles of non-discrimination should be upheld if poverty has to be eradicated.
Savarnas can pose as extremely radical and culturally progressive and then, with the flip of a metaphorical switch, slip back into their privileged family lives without the slightest existential friction. This switching is possible because Savarna social lives are largely public-facing performances, writes Prof. Ravikant Kisana.