June 26, 2019 was the 145th birth anniversary of Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj. Shahu Maharaj was a social reformer and also the ruler of Kolhapur, whose Government was perhaps the first to implement caste-based reservations, not just in education but across all Government agencies. His Government, working on ideas of Mahatma Phule, was also one of […]
In order to decide the meaning of ‘Economic Backwardness’, Modi Government set up no Commission, or undertake any comprehensive study across the country, unlike what the apex court had stipulated in the Indra Sawhney case (1992). But the present arbitrariness of a blanket 8 lakh per annum slab for economic backwardness for the ‘forward classes’ […]
10th January marks the martyrdom of Bhagwat Jhadhav, the first martyr of the Dalit Panthers Movement, a militant anti-caste struggle that shook Maharashtra during the 70s. Like every year, several anti-caste, cultural organisations and political parties including the Kabir Kala Manch, Samta Kala Manch, Republican Panthers and the Republican Party of India organised meetings in […]
Within the last month and half there have been a series of caste killings in Telangana – often narrated as “honour killings” – murders of young dalit and OBC men for marrying in defiance of caste hierarchies. While the ruling party maintains a stoic silence with upcoming Assembly elections, people are coming together to protest. […]
The Allahabad High Court recently extended the incarceration of Bhim Army leader Chandrashekhar Ravan under NSA, by 3 months. Ravan will be held in jail now for at least till 2nd November. Chandrasekhar was arrested by the Yogi Government on charges of ‘rioting’ in the context of the violence that broke out in Saharanpur in UP […]
Speaking at the 6th Hyderabad district committee meeting of the Kula Nirmulana Porata Samiti (Struggle Committee for Annihilation of Caste), Bandaru Laxmaiah, State President of KNPS, spoke of the wave of dalit organising in the wake of the Karamchedu massacre in 1985, led by the Dalit Mahasabha, and subsequent formation of KNPS in 1998. Addressing […]
United Against Hate is a citizens’ initiative against the rising hate crimes and communal-casteist violence rampant in the country today. This platform was formed in Delhi in August 2017 and since have been running campaigns, meetings and protest demonstrations against various such cases of atrocities. GroundXero sits down for an interview with Nadeem Khan and […]
“Kaath ki handi baar baar nahi chadhti (Wooden cauldron can be used only once)”. This is not the first time we are witnessing high-profile conspiracies when elections are around the corner. While the faces of the “conspirators” have changed, the storyline is uncannily similar. GroundXero digs into the recent bouts of alleged death threats on […]
On June 7, 2018, under the united call of 27 organizations, a rally was organized at Jantar Mantar, Delhi, protesting the arrests of lawyer Surendra Gadling, cultural activist Sudhir Dhawale, professor Shoma Sen and activist Mahesh Rauth from Nagpur and CRPP Press Secretary Rona Wilson on June 6, 2018. Attended by activists, students, lawyers and […]
গ্রাউন্ড জিরো : প্রায় একযোগে সাতসকালে হানা দিয়ে মুম্বাই, পুনে, নাগপুর, দিল্লি থেকে আইনজীবী, অধ্যাপক, পত্রিকা সম্পাদক, দলিত ও উচ্ছেদ বিরোধী আন্দোলনের নেতা ও সক্রিয় কর্মীদের গ্রেফতার করল মহারাষ্ট্র পুলিশ। এই ঘটনার তীব্র প্রতিবাদ জানাল দেশের মানবাধিকার সংগঠনগুলি। পিপলস ইউনিয়ন ফর সিভিল লিবার্টিজ (পিইউসিএল), মহারাষ্ট্র এই গ্রেফতারকে প্রতিহিংসামূলক ও স্বৈরাচারী বলে বর্ণনা করেছে। পিপলস ইউনিয়ন […]
As this academic year comes to an end, accounts get settled for the year 2017-2018. But there are many that are yet to be settled and ones from years past that will take a long time to be settled. This article by Kaushik Tekur looks at a few of these accounts that continue to unsettle […]
V. Geetha In this summer of our discontent, with fury raging on our campuses and streets, I would like to take a detour through nineteenth century lives and ideas, so as to return to the present, with an enabling sense of history. I start by calling attention to the way knowledge came to be reconceptualised […]