Meandering conversations with the psychiatrist, actor and producer on the historical thread that ties playwrights and psychologists, the defeat of the language of love before Indian wives, the intellectual roots of egotism, the corrupting power of libraries and the true making of an artist. Dr. Agashe, I can only see your forehead! “Uh oh, what…
Maya Krishna Rao delivered a powerful performance during the "Not In My Name" protest at Jantar Mantar, Delhi on 28 June 2017. She wrote the script and brought it to light in less than two days, over 27 and 28 June. Image Courtesy: Chandan Gomes Not In My Name In the…
What we learn and teach about history and how the process of this learning has been crafted or developed, shapes our understanding of the events of the past. This understanding of the past influences our ability to grapple with the present and therefore also the future. Such knowledge, if both rich and varied, can also…
![[Transcript of the Discussions]The Political Economy of The Dalit Struggle](http://indianculturalforum.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/c1.jpg "[Transcript of the Discussions]The Political Economy of The Dalit Struggle")
Following is a summary of the discussions on The Political Economy of The Dalit Struggle. This discussion, organized by The Maharashtra Sanakritik ani Rannaniti Adhyayan Samiti & Working group on Alternative Strategies, was held on 1 May 2017 at India International Centre, New Delhi. The transcribing has been done as faithful to the essence of…
Bhanwar Meghwanshi is an incisive and forthright contemporary voice of the progressive Dalit movement in Rajasthan. He has untiringly participated in campaigns and movements across the country, creating awareness on communalism, casteism, gender violence, globalisation, displacement and so on. Born on February 25, 1975 in village Siridiyas in Bhilwara district into a Dalit weaver family,…
The tribunal was organized by the concerned teachers, writers, and lawyers of Hyderabad. It was chaired by Justice K. Chandru (Retired judge, High Court Madras). Prof Govardhan Wankhede (TISS, Bombay) and Prof Ghanshyam Shah (formerly Prof, JNU) were the members. The brief to the tribunal was to examine the circumstances leading to the suicide of research scholar…
History Of Anti-Superstition Legislation Need for the Law: As the population of human beings increased on our planet, and they began to live in larger tribal groups to prevent disputes and aggressive behavior between members of the group or tribe, certain rules and regulations became necessary so that the members of the group could…
Anjali Monteiro and K. P. Jayasankar on the growing censorship in India, and the need to resist and create an open space for dialogue and debate so that we can "listen fearlessly".
The Uttar Pradesh government must respond to the horrendous case of atrocity inflicted on a dalit child in Jaunpur. It was 9 AM on the morning of December 28. Jamuna Devi and her husband Mahendra Gautam had gone out for their usual daily wage work in Maharajganj block of district Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh. Eight year…
We all know the importance of conversations. If they are freewheeling without any prejudices, these conversations are of a great importance. Our aim here is to bring voices and conversations that are not a part of our “main stream” media. We wish to raise uncomfortable questions in our discussions to benefit the viewers. There will…
This report contains findings by a three-member committee constituted by the Government, and headed by Professor Sukhadeo Torat in order to probe into the matter of discrimation and differential treatment in the All India Institue of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi, one of the top medical colleges in the country. Students in the college belonging to…
This report assesses the conditions of the survivors of the Muzaffarnagar riots who live in abysmal "relief camps", along with the trauma of the violence they experienced. A team comprising thirteen members from various organnisations in the country, convened by the Centre for Peace Studies, visited the riot affected areas in 2013. This report also provides a comrehensive context…
Citizen’s Inquiry Committee: Digant Oza Harsh Mander Irfan Engineer Lakshmanbhai Rathore Prasad Chacko Ram Puniyani Rohit Prajapati Shabnam Hashmi Suresh Khairnar Uttambhai Parmar Contents Executive Summary Introduction Political Economy of Dangs The Sangh and anti-Christian mobilisation Shabri, the Kumbh and the pseudo-mythology of Dangs Voices from the Dangs: Testimonies The open Sangh-State Nexus Conclusion Annexures…
The 2002 riots witnessed largescale violence, brutality and murder of Muslims in Gujarat. This report sheds light on the complicity and participation of the State. Human Rights Watch's findings show that the attacks were not only planned in advance, but also included the active participation of the police, and in close cooperation with the State government (Bharatiya Janta Party, BJP).
International Federation of Journalists on behalf of South Asia Media Solidarity Network
Testimony given by Bhagwan Das, Chairman, All India Samata Sainik Dal, and Ambedkar Mission society In the 36th Session of Commission on Human rights Sub-Commission on Prevention Of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, held at Geneva in August 1983 I am grateful to the chairman of the sub-committee for granting me an opportunity to present…
Workers Solidarity Center, Gurgaon-Bawal The struggle of 3000 Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India (HMSI) workers of Tapukara plant in Alwar, situated at the Haryana-Rajasthan border, in the face of brutal repression from the management-police-administration side, has emerged as an important and intense workers' struggle. As the workers saw commonality, forged unity across internal segmentation, initiated…
Full text of the Delhi High Court judgement quashing "the summoning orders and warrants of arrest" issued against artist M. F. Husain, which went on to add that "Freedom of speech has no meaning if there is no freedom after speech":
Matidari: Forum for Peoples' Right to Land, Life and Dignity This compilation of the history of the affected areas, factual evidences, reports by fact-finding teams, photographs as well as experiences of journalists and lawyers who have worked in the area under siege, hopes to bring attention to the general Indian citizenry to the gross human…
The Navsarjan Trust and the RFK Center spent four years compiling quantitative, comprehensive and reliable data exposing the current state of untouchability (caste-based discrimination) against Dalits (“untouchables”) in Gujarat, India. This 2010 report presents data on untouchability practices in 1,589 villages from 5,462 respondents in Gujarat on the issue of untouchability. Download the report here….
Seema Mustafa in conversation with Newsclick Jammu and Kashmir has been on the boil for a long time. First the NIT student protests, then the firing in Handwara on protestors, are not isolated events but the consequence of what has been happening in the state for some time. These incidents also happened soon after the…
Idea of India Conclave During the two years of the Narendra Modi government, there has been an all-round attack on various established institutions in the country, whether educational or cultural. There have been attempts to interfere with curricula, the way these institutions are run, as well as their mandate and autonomy. The Idea of India…
T. S. R. Subramanian et al The Subramanian Committee received two extensions before finally submitting its report to the MHRD on May 27, 2016. Within a week of submitting the report, Mr. T. S. R. Subramanian, Chairman of the Committee wrote to Ms. Smriti Irani, the then Union HRD Minister to make the NEP draft…
Image via Eoghan Bridge "This is the second edition of the India Exclusion Report, for the year 2015. As with the first Report in 2013–14, the attempt of this highly collaborative, trans-disciplinary annual enterprise is to bring together experts from many fields—scholars, human rights and development workers, policy makers, and persons from disadvantaged communities—to…
Rakesh Sharma / An Excerpt from Final Solution I've filmed inside the Gulberg society on multiple occasions – twice in 2002, once in 2007, and thrice in 2012. Each time, it is an eerie experience, standing inside the Jafri home, imagining February 28, 2002, with people packed inside seeking shelter. Mr Jafri desperately ringing up…
Gail Omvedt via Sabrang Gail Omvedt's 1971 paper on why Jotirao Phule was India's first rennaisance figure: It is one of the tragic dilemmas of the colonial situation that the national revolution and the social revolution in a colonial society tend to develop apart from one another. Jyotirao Phule represented a very different set of…
A Citizens' Enquiry Committee Report A people’s investigation was undertaken regarding plans to organise what was then described as a massive Shabri Kumbh in the tribal district of Dangs in Gujarat, on Feb 11-13, 2006. Organisations affiliated to the Sangh with the open support of the BJP state government strenuously mobilised around 5 lakh adivasis and Hindutva…
A Committee Report The Government constituted a committee headed by Prof S.K. Thorat to enquire into allegations of differential treatment of SC/ST students in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. This was in the wake of media reports and complaints to the Government about the said harassment and abuse. The committee was given the…
State Participation and Complicity in Communal Violence in Gujarat © Jogen Chowdhury In February 2002, Gujarat witnessed the worst incident of communal violence in at least a decade, a majority of whose victims were Muslims. While Indian government officials at the time estimated the loss of over 850 people, unofficial estimates pegged the toll at about…
K.P. Sasi Image courtesy Deviantart In recent times, there have been many discussions against the agenda of the communal fascists owing to recent events like the developments in FTII; twisted nationalism; rise in fabricated cases; human rights violations using draconian laws; developments in Chennai (IIT) against Dalits; the beef debate; moral policing; attacks on human…
Etihas Video Magazine – Issue 4, April 2016 Nationalism and patriotism are popular subjects of discussion in India today as some zealous individuals try to test everyone else for their love for the nation or desh prem. Should a narrow definition or identity of Indian nationalism be imposed on everyone, or should our nationalism be…
A Fact-Finding Report from Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh's local communities continue to be the worst affected by the tussle between Maoist forces and the state machinery attempting to quell it. In this situation a group comprising of Sanjay Parate, Secretary State CPI-M, Vineet Tiwari, Joshi-Adhikari Institute of Social Studies and CPI, New Delhi, Archana Prasad, Jawaharlal Nehru University…
Panchendra Kumar Naik "Pankaj" Image Courtesy Orijit Sen Abstract: The article is an attempt to conduct an inquest into the tragic suicide of Rohith Vemula, a Dalit scholar at the University of Hyderabad. It argues that the death must not be analysed in isolation and hence calls for a framework considering the broader socio-political context…
Saikat Majumdar, Githa Hariharan, Arunava Sinha, Anjum Hasan © M.F. Hussain / 'The Obscure Object of Desire 8' / via artnet March 1, 2016 — It is hard to remember a time when literature attracted so much front-page space, prime airtime, or mass attention in the Indian public sphere as it did in 2015. But not…
Vrinda Grover, Ravi Hemadri, Bela Bhatia and Sukumar Muralidharan © Veer Munshi, "Fate of a Kashmiri Pandit" / via Kashmir Lit A fact-finding team of Vrinda Grover, Ravi Hemadri, Bela Bhatia and Sukumar Muralidharan released their report, Four Months the Kashmir Valley Will Never Forget at a press conference at the Constitution Club in Delhi on March 26,…
Jahnavi Sen Alex Frishberg, 'The Prison Doors' / thesteelbarons.com In a study that lasted close to two-and-a-half years, a group of scholars, legal researchers and students based out of the National Law University, Delhi attempted to interview every death row prisoner in India and their families. The aim was to fill what they saw as…
Michael Morgenstern / via Chronicle.com On Tuesday, 5th July, 2016 the Madras High Court quashed the criminal case against Tamil writer Perumal Murugan. The writer, a resident of Tiruchengode town, faced the ire of local organisations for portraying the town and its customs in a bad light in his book Madhorubagan. The problems for the…
Sujatha Surepally Impressions from the first National Dalit and Adivasi Women's Congress held on February 15-16, 2013, at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Durga Bai / via gondtribalart.com We live in nature! We die in Nature! It's our life, if you occupy our land where should we go and how do we live? Whose…
All India People’s Forum Fact-Finding Team's Visit to Bastar Courtesy AIPF Raipur, 12 June 2016: An 8-member fact-finding team of All India People’s Forum visited four districts of Bastar, Chhattisgarh between 8-11 June 2016. The fact-finding team found several incidents of communal violence against Christians as well as fake encounters, rapes, fake cases and arbitrary…
Manipur, literally translated “Land of Jewels” is a former Asiatic kingdom that joined the Union of India in 1949 and became a state of India in 1972. It is home to 2.2 million people belonging to a diverse community of over 39 ethnic groups and communities. 90% of the state of Manipur is hills and…
SC/ST Faculty Forum and Concerned Teachers of Hyderabad University © Libby Hartle / via the Bushwick Daily In the early hours 28th May 2016, at around 2 P.M., the authorities at the University of Hyderabad removed the tents erected in North Shopcom around the Velivada and the venue of protest following the death of Rohith…
Amar Khade, Round Table India El Greco, 'Laocoön' / Wikipedia A compilation of news and commentary. The United Nations Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Rita Izsák, recently published a report on minority issues. The report was presented and discussed at the UNHRC on 15th March 2016. The mandate of the Special…
On 14 January 2016, a combined team from Coordination of Democratic Rights Organizations (CDRO) and Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS) conducted a fresh fact-finding investigation in the Sukma and Bijapur districts of Chhattisgarh. Initially the objectives of the fact-finding mission were to investigate cases of encounter killings, supposed “surrenders” by Maoists and…
Sohan Qadri, 'Vichon vichon' / UddariArt Click here to read the full report. United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur Leilani Farha has taken strong exception to “discrimination” against minorities in housing in India's big cities, pointing towards how “private landlords, real estate brokers, and property dealers will often refuse to rent to someone who is Muslim,…
Act Now For Harmony and Democracy (ANHAD) organised a Women Convention on October 2-3, 2015, in New Delhi. A report on the convention prepared by Shyamolima Ghosh Choudhury, titled 'Challenges Before Women in Contemporary India', can be accessed here (pdf). We have compiled a playlist of videos of those who addressed the convention, uploaded by…
Rembrandt van Rijn / Art Details We, concerned faculty from the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, strongly condemn the police brutality at the University of Hyderabad on 22nd March 2016, after the return of Prof. Appa Rao Podile, the Vice-Chancellor accused of abetting the suicide of the Dalit Research Scholar Rohith Vemula. As an…
Syed Haider Raza / ArtKonsult Click here for a pdf of the full report. At least 250 million people worldwide still face appalling and dehumanising discrimination based on caste and similar systems of inherited status warned the United Nations Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Rita Izsák-Ndiaye, during the presentation of the first comprehensive UN report…
Ram Kumar / ArtKonsult We, academicians, activists, artists and writers, condemn the ongoing brutal attacks on and unlawful detention of peacefully protesting faculty and students at the University of Hyderabad by the University administration and the police. We also condemn the restriction of access to basic necessities such as water and food on campus. The…
Statement by the SC and ST Faculty Forum and Concerned Teachers of the University of Hyderabad Egon Schiele, 'Bare Tree Behind a Fence' / WikiArt For the past three days the news media has been widely circulating stories about ‘vandalism’ by students of the University of Hyderabad that led to the police crackdown. Surprisingly little…
Members of the Fact-Finding (FF) Team: Henri Tiphagne, Human Rights Defenders Alert–India Tara Rao, Amnesty International Burnard Fatima, International Movement against all forms of Discrimination and Racism Kuffir Nalgundwar, Round Table India Kiruba Munusamy, Supreme Court Lawyer Beena Pallical, National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights Ramesh Nathan, National Dalit Movement for Justice Asha Kowtal, All…
A student from the group that visited arrested students and faculty at Cherlapally Jail on March 24 addresses a meeting on the University of Hyderabad campus: 'The students inside were very clear that the only thing they were worried about was that the movement outside would be low. So they have explicitly said: "Please keep…
Jackson Pollock, Mural / University of Iowa Museum of Art February 2, 1931 To The Young Political Workers. Dear Comrades: Our movement is passing through a very important phase at present. After a year's fierce struggle some definite proposals regarding the constitutional reforms have been formulated by the Round Table Conference and the Congress…
Reflections from Concerned Teachers The manner in which the state is intervening in higher education is causing concern and even alarm in the academic community. Both the unlamented UPA—II regime and the current NDA government have been remarkably similar in their authoritarian impatience to introduce wholesale changes without adequate or careful preparation. This position paper…