Tag: CASTE

FILM REVIEW The medium of cinema is such that it has the power to depict the social world in a manner in which even the most profound messages are delivered with cinematographic aesthetic and nuanced symbolic codes.

ANALYSIS Legislation have banned manual scavenging but despite these, the practice continues to exist in most states of India. Without a change in social orientation and sustained state initiative, it is impossible to abolish this inhuman compulsion that rules over the lives of lakhs of Dalits employed as manual scavengers. Sundaresha D. S. 

CASTE | In an Uttar Pradesh school when children refuse a meal cooked by a Scheduled caste woman, it speaks about the paradox of our culture and the absence of interventions that bring about grassroot transformation.

REPORTAGE The system of caste is oppressive and pathological and unless it is addressed the inherent domination and suppression of marginalised voices cannot be addressed.

About 1.24 lakh students in Kerala have refused to fill the caste-religion column in their admission details. When identity politics has become widespread, this action in Kerala is a ray of hope.

INDIAN UNTOUCHABILITY The system of institutionalised hierarchy in the form of caste cannot be eradicated without a change in societal perception.

The task of manual scavenging in India is done largely by a caste community called the Valmikis which is situated at the bottom of the caste hierarchy. It is time that marginalization and deprivation derived out of caste is abolished. Collective reconstruction of institutions accompanied by institutional reforms shall enable our communities to stand for justice.

The Musahar community in Bihar is one of the most deprived and socially disadvantaged groups that are present in the country. Its pathetic condition has not improved much despite a series of reforms and changes in Indian political history. The empowerment of the Musahars is an intrinsic need for the wellbeing of the society as a whole.

This year the election campaign in Gujarat had an element of surprise in it. The entire process of voter mobilization was not based on Hindutva politics or the promise of development however what took centre stage was the assertion of caste politics. The rise of Patidars under the leadership of Hardik Patel was a major factor to reckon with. With the resurgence of caste politics in such a dominant manner is the political landscape of the nation a fragmented reality?

Caste as a social institution has continued to marginalise and oppress certain sections of the society and this has meant that there have been perpetual hindrances to inclusive growth in the country. It is time we revisit this age old institution with not only renewed criticality but also empathetic understanding and the ethic of care. Nivedita Dwivedi