Dalit Social Activitist
Anima Baa
Background and Identity
- Origins and Community: Anima Baa hails from Jharkhand (formerly part of Bihar), a region with significant tribal populations facing systemic marginalization, land dispossession, poverty, and discrimination. While not explicitly classified as SC/ST in every source, her work centers on Scheduled Tribes (ST/Adivasi) communities, which are constitutionally recognized as disadvantaged and marginalized groups in India (similar to SC for Dalits but focused on indigenous/tribal peoples). She addresses caste-like hierarchies, social exclusion, and economic deprivation within tribal contexts, often highlighting how the existing system holds "diversity, rich culture, and traditional practices" while solving community problems internally when empowered.
- This aligns her activism with those from disadvantaged, historically marginalized, and low-status communities in India's social justice framework—particularly Adivasi/ST groups facing exclusion akin to (but distinct from) Dalit/SC experiences. Unlike purely Dalit-focused activists (e.g., Thenmozhi Soundararajan, Suraj Yengde, or Cynthia Stephen from prior discussions), her emphasis is on tribal rights, though intersections with caste discrimination in rural India are implicit in her critiques.
Education and Professional Journey
- She is described as a passionate social worker who founded Ashray with a group of young professionals motivated by the realities of injustice and inequality.
- Recipient of several awards and accolades for her contributions.
- Participant in the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), a prestigious U.S. State Department exchange initiative for emerging global leaders.
Activism and Key Contributions
- Founding Ashray (1998): Established the South Vihar Welfare Society for Tribal (Ashray) in Ranchi/Jharkhand as a grassroots NGO. It began as a collective of committed individuals addressing the struggles of tribals and vulnerable groups through advocacy, capacity building, and community-led solutions.
- Core Focus Areas:
- Anti-human trafficking, child protection, and women's empowerment.
- Education, health & nutrition programs.
- Agricultural and livelihood support, natural resource management.
- Tribal rights, identity preservation, and cultural respect.
- Combating social discrimination and promoting internal community resolution mechanisms.
- Approach: Emphasizes empowering communities so they can solve their own issues, building second-line leadership, and fostering respect for tribal traditions amid modernization pressures.
- Public Engagements: Organizes events like International Yoga Day celebrations (e.g., 2019 in collaboration with local groups), participates in indigenous peoples' forums (e.g., Indigenous Knowledge and Peoples of Asia conferences), and engages in global networks (e.g., responses to calls for indigenous lands focus in 2020).
- Legal/Other Mentions: Involved in at least one documented legal proceeding (Anima Baa vs. State of Jharkhand, 2021, Jharkhand High Court—likely related to organizational or activist matters, though details are limited publicly).
Legacy and Recognition
Anima Baa represents dedicated, grassroots tribal advocacy in eastern India, where Adivasi communities face ongoing challenges from development projects, land grabs, and socioeconomic exclusion. Through Ashray, she has built an organization with departmental structure and leadership development, impacting vulnerable groups in Jharkhand and beyond. Her work promotes dignity, self-reliance, and cultural pride for tribals—making her a key figure in India's indigenous rights and social welfare movements.
Information on her is primarily from NGO profiles, CSR directories, organizational websites, and occasional news/social media mentions (e.g., Facebook pages for SVWST/Ashray). She maintains a lower public profile compared to transnational Dalit activists but is respected locally for her long-term commitment since the late 1990s. Her story highlights women-led change in tribal empowerment, emphasizing that community respect and internal strength are pathways to justice.
Abhina Aher
Early Life and Personal Journey
Abhina Aher was born as Abhijit Aher in a middle-class Marathi family in Mumbai’s Worli area. Her father passed away when she was three, leaving her mother, Mangala Aher, a trained Kathak dancer who worked for a government organization, to raise her single-handedly. Mangala later remarried. Abhina’s early exposure to her mother’s dance performances inspired her to emulate her, practicing in private and developing a passion for dance.
From a young age, Abhina experienced gender dysphoria, identifying with feminine traits and cross-dressing by age seven. Puberty brought challenges, as physical changes like facial hair and a deeper voice caused distress, leading her to avoid mirrors. She faced severe discrimination, including hate crimes at school, such as a traumatic incident of sexual violence involving a wooden ruler. Societal stigma and limited access to information about gender and sexuality in her youth compounded her struggles.
To cope and honor her mother’s wishes, Abhina initially tried to conform to societal expectations of masculinity during her college years, cutting her hair, wearing formal men’s clothing, and playing sports. She pursued a degree at Mumbai University and a diploma in software engineering. However, her encounter with Ashok Row Kavi, a journalist and LGBTQ+ rights activist, marked a turning point. Inspired, she abandoned her software career to join The Humsafar Trust, embarking on her lifelong activism journey.
Activism and Professional Contributions
Abhina Aher’s activism focuses on transgender rights, HIV/AIDS advocacy, and gender and sexuality inclusion. With over two decades of experience, she has worked with national and international organizations, addressing the needs of marginalized communities, including transgender people, men who have sex with men, sex workers, intravenous drug users, and people living with HIV. Her roles and contributions include:
Key Organizations and Roles:
- The Humsafar Trust (Mumbai): Abhina began her activism here, working on social projects to support the LGBTQ+ community and HIV/AIDS awareness.
- India HIV/AIDS Alliance: Since 2010, she has served as Associate Director for Gender, Sexuality, and Rights, managing programs like Pehchan, a Global Fund-supported initiative for transgender and MSM communities. She has also been a consultant on trans issues.
- I-TECH India: As a Technical Expert for Key Populations, Abhina works on health and human rights issues, leveraging her expertise in NGO management and social entrepreneurship.
- Family Health International (FHI) and Johns Hopkins University Centre for Communication Programmes (CCP): She contributed to health communication and program delivery for marginalized groups.
- Global Action for Trans Equality (GATE) and International Trans Fund (United States): Abhina serves as a consultant and steering committee member, advocating for trans rights globally.
- Asia Pacific Transgender Network (APTN): She was a board member from 2015 to 2018, working to increase transgender visibility and rights in the region.
- Women4GlobalFund and India Working Group (IWG): As a trans woman from the Hijra community, she advocates for increased domestic financing and global health grants.
Advocacy Work:
- HIV/AIDS and Health: Abhina has focused on reducing stigma and improving access to healthcare for HIV-positive transgender individuals and other marginalized groups. Her work includes community-based interventions, HIV testing campaigns, and addressing the unique needs of older adults living with HIV.
- Transgender Rights: She advocates for legal, social, and economic inclusion, challenging transphobia and promoting gender-neutral policies in workplaces and healthcare. Her efforts contributed to India’s 2014 Supreme Court ruling recognizing transgender rights.
- Public Speaking: A TEDx speaker in Delhi and Varanasi, Abhina shares her personal story and insights on gender inclusion, inspiring audiences to rethink societal biases.
- Pride Parades and Advocacy: She actively participates in pride parades and collaborates with organizations to promote transgender visibility and rights.
Founding Organizations
Abhina Aher has founded two significant initiatives to empower transgender individuals through art and advocacy:
- Dancing Queens (2009): A transgender-led dance group co-founded with Urmi Jadhav and Madhuri Sarode, Dancing Queens uses dance to break stereotypes, advocate for trans rights, and increase visibility. The group has performed across cities, including at Godrej India Culture Lab in Mumbai, blending traditional forms like Kathak with advocacy.
- TWEET Foundation (2016): The Transgender Welfare Equity and Empowerment Trust Foundation is India’s first organization led by trans men and women, focusing on empowerment, livelihoods, and rights. As Chief Executive, Abhina leads efforts to create opportunities and combat discrimination.
Challenges and Advocacy Through Personal Experiences
Abhina’s journey has been marked by significant personal and societal challenges, which she channels into her advocacy:
- Gender Dysphoria and Transition: Her decision to transition was emotionally complex, involving a two-hour conversation with her mother, who initially feared societal rejection but later joined the Sweekar Foundation, a group for parents of LGBTQ+ individuals, and Dancing Queens.
- Hate Crimes and Discrimination: Abhina endured violence and stigma, including being raped as an adolescent and facing societal rejection for her gender identity. She also engaged in sex work for survival, an experience she openly discusses to highlight systemic issues.
- Travel Incidents: Abhina has faced transphobia at airports, notably at Abu Dhabi in 2016, where security officials questioned her gender and refused to frisk her appropriately, leading to humiliation. She uses such experiences to advocate for sensitivity training and better policies.
Achievements and Recognition
- Global Activism: Abhina has been a global advocate for over 24 years, working with organizations like the International Trans Fund, APTN, and Women4GlobalFund. Her work on the Global Fund’s Replenishment and domestic financing advocacy highlights her influence.
- TEDx Speaker: Her talks in Delhi and Varanasi have amplified transgender voices and challenged societal norms.
- Media Presence: Abhina has been featured in outlets like BBC World Service, NDTV, and MagnaMags, sharing her story and advocating for change.
- Bond Conference 2019: She spoke at the opening keynote, discussing civil society’s role in inclusivity.
- Expertise: Recognized for her skills in NGO management, safeguarding, program delivery, and peer-to-peer service, Abhina is a sought-after consultant and leader.
Personal Philosophy and Impact
Abhina emphasizes the power of community engagement and education to change mindsets, stating, “Policies don’t change the mindset of the people. What changes the mindset is when people come together, try to understand the community and create a difference.” Her work with Dancing Queens and TWEET Foundation reflects her belief in using art and empowerment to challenge stereotypes and foster inclusion.
Her mother’s eventual acceptance and involvement in advocacy work highlight the personal impact of Abhina’s journey, inspiring others to embrace their identities and advocate for systemic change. By addressing issues like airport security protocols and workplace inclusion, she pushes for practical solutions to everyday discrimination.
Current Role and Contact
As of July 2025, Abhina serves as Chief Executive of the TWEET Foundation, leading transgender welfare initiatives. She is based in South Delhi and can be contacted at Abhina@tweetindia.org. Her LinkedIn profile reflects her extensive network and leadership in social development.
Critical Perspective
While Abhina’s contributions are widely celebrated, the broader context of transgender rights in India reveals ongoing challenges. Despite legal recognition in 2014, transgender individuals face persistent social and economic marginalization. Abhina’s focus on visibility and empowerment through initiatives like Dancing Queens and TWEET is a strategic response, but systemic issues like access to healthcare, employment, and legal protections require broader policy changes. Her work highlights the need for continued advocacy beyond individual efforts, emphasizing collective action and institutional reform.
Adv. Rahul Singh
Professional Background
- Practicing advocate (lawyer) with expertise in human rights law, constitutional matters, and cases related to caste discrimination and atrocities.
- Known for his role in documenting, analyzing, and advocating against caste-based violence and systemic exclusion.
- Involved in producing resources for effective implementation of protective laws for Dalits.
Key Contributions & Work
- Authored or contributed to "A Handbook for Dalit Human Rights Defenders: For Effective Monitoring of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989" — a practical guide for activists, lawyers, and community leaders to track and report atrocities, ensure justice, and hold authorities accountable.
- Associated with initiatives like the Atrocity Tracking and Monitoring System (ATM) and networks such as the National Dalit Movement for Justice (NDMJ) and Asia Dalit Rights Forum (ADRF), where he has been commended for dedication to Dalit rights.
- His efforts include legal support, awareness building, and advocacy for communities facing discrimination on grounds of work and descent (e.g., manual scavengers, certain occupational castes).
- Active on social media (X/Twitter @Kain_Rahul_S), where he positions himself as a "Rights Defender" and shares updates on Dalit issues, legal developments, human rights violations, and calls for protection of vulnerable groups.
Activism Focus
- Dalit rights & anti-atrocity work: Monitoring implementation of SC/ST (PoA) Act, supporting victims of caste violence, and pushing for better enforcement.
- Broader human rights: Addressing intersectional discrimination affecting Dalits and similar marginalized groups.
- He collaborates with civil society organizations to strengthen grassroots monitoring and legal interventions against caste oppression.
Public Presence
- Maintains an active profile on X (formerly Twitter) as @Kain_Rahul_S, describing his mission as the "Promotion & Protection of the rights of Dalits & communities discriminated on Work and Descent."
- Recognized in reports and acknowledgments from Dalit rights platforms for his contributions to justice mechanisms.
Note: "Rahul Singh" is a very common name in India, with many advocates sharing it (e.g., in Supreme Court, High Courts, or district levels). The activist profile matching "Adv. Rahul Singh" in the context of Dalit/human rights activism aligns most closely with the rights defender and handbook author described above. If this refers to a different individual (e.g., a specific regional activist or another advocate), additional details like location or specific cases would help narrow it down.
Sources: X/Twitter profile (@Kain_Rahul_S), Google Books (handbook details), Asia Dalit Rights Forum/NDMJ reports, AnnihilateCaste.in publications, and related human rights advocacy archives.
Mr. Amarjit Singh
Background & Early Involvement
- Born in India (exact birth date and place not widely publicized in public profiles).
- Migrated to the UK, where he settled and became part of the South Asian diaspora community.
- Deeply influenced by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's philosophy of social justice, annihilation of caste, and rationalism.
- Adopted an Ambedkarite worldview — emphasizing the need to dismantle caste hierarchies, promote education, equality, and human rights for marginalized castes and communities.
Activism & Key Contributions
Amarjit Singh has campaigned consistently on behalf of India's Dalit and Adivasi communities, both in the UK and internationally. His work bridges caste oppression in India with diaspora experiences and broader anti-racist struggles.
- Anti-caste campaigning in the UK — For decades, he has advocated for recognition of caste discrimination as a form of racism affecting South Asian communities in Britain. He has highlighted how caste prejudice persists in diaspora settings (e.g., employment, marriage, social exclusion, and religious spaces).
- Humanistic perspective on caste — Delivered talks and writings viewing caste as a dehumanizing system that contradicts modern values of equality and dignity. He has spoken at humanist, secular, and anti-racist forums.
- Support for Dalit liberation — Contributed to discussions, book launches, and events promoting Ambedkarite literature and politics. Notably:
- Participated in the London launch and related discussions of Hatred in the Belly: Politics behind the Appropriation of Dr Ambedkar's Writings (2016), a critical Ambedkarite publication edited by Ashok Gopal and others.
- Engaged with anti-caste scholars and activists in critiquing attempts to dilute or appropriate Ambedkar's radical legacy.
- Anti-racist work — Connected caste oppression to broader racism, collaborating with anti-racist groups and emphasizing solidarity between oppressed communities.
- Writings & intellectual contributions —
- Contributed letters, articles, and commentary to Dalit publications like Dalit Voice (e.g., discussions on caste vs. class, critiques of Brahminical influences).
- Featured in reviews and discussions in journals and books on Dalit movements (e.g., review contributions in South Asia Research journal in the 1980s).
- Events & platforms — Spoke at university events (e.g., SOAS University of London), humanist societies (e.g., Farnham Humanist Society talk on caste in India and the UK), and Ambedkarite gatherings.
Public Presence & Recognition
- Known in Ambedkarite and Dalit diaspora circles in the UK and beyond.
- Respected as an honest intellectual and consistent voice against caste hierarchy, often praised in Dalit activist spaces for clarity and commitment.
- Maintains a low-key but enduring presence — not a high-profile media figure, but a respected grassroots thinker and campaigner.
Distinction from Other Figures
Note: There are several prominent individuals named Amarjit Singh or Dr. Amarjit Singh in the UK and diaspora activism, including Sikh/Khalistan-focused leaders (e.g., Dr. Amarjit Singh associated with Sikh Federation UK and TV84 appearances). The Ambedkarite anti-caste activist described here is a distinct individual focused on Dalit rights, caste annihilation, and anti-racism, not Sikh separatist politics.
Amarjit Singh's lifelong dedication reflects the global reach of Ambedkar's ideas — taking the fight against caste from India to the diaspora and framing it within universal human rights and anti-racist frameworks.
Sources: Round Table India archives, Farnham Humanist Society, Dalit Voice historical issues, South Asia Research journal, book launch records (Hatred in the Belly), and related Ambedkarite activist network references.
Ashok Bharti
Early Life & Background
- Born on 26 May 1960 in an extremely poor Dalit family in Basti Rajaram, a slum for "untouchables" near Jama Masjid in old Delhi.
- One of seven children; his grandfather cut grass for fodder, father was a tailor, and mother made paper bags to supplement income.
- Despite extreme poverty and caste discrimination, his parents prioritized education; Ashok studied on merit at Hindu College (Delhi University) and then earned an engineering degree from the prestigious Delhi College of Engineering (now Delhi Technological University).
- Grew up with firsthand experience of Dalit vulnerabilities, shaping his lifelong commitment to upliftment.
Activism & Political Journey
- Began activism in the 1980s as a student leader, deeply influenced by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's teachings on equality, rationalism, and annihilation of caste.
- At age 18, organized a successful student strike to secure a promised building for his school.
- Founded Mukti (Freedom), a student organization that reformed university admission processes.
- Disillusioned by aspects of the Mandal Commission agitations (late 1980s), he shifted focus to alternative Dalit narratives.
- In 1995, founded the Centre for Alternative Dalit Media (CADAM), which organized India's first Dalit Women's Conference and laid groundwork for broader platforms.
- This evolved into the National Conference of Dalit Organizations (later NACDOR/NACDAOR in expanded form), a confederation of thousands of Dalit and Adivasi groups across India.
- As Chairman of NACDAOR, he leads nationwide campaigns for:
- Social justice, economic inclusion, and anti-discrimination policies.
- Better budget allocations for SC/ST/OBC/minorities (critiquing Union Budgets as inadequate or "jokes" on marginalized populations).
- Addressing insecurity among Dalits (e.g., in Bihar, highlighting failures in protection even for high-profile figures like judges or IPS officers).
- Critiquing political shifts (e.g., why Dalits deserted BJP in certain elections due to unfulfilled promises).
- Internationally: Co-Chair of Indigenous People International Action Team (Brussels); Convenor of Global Task Force on Social Exclusion (Global Call to Action Against Poverty); early leader in World Social Forum; representative for Asia in global Dalit rights networks.
Key Roles & Affiliations
- Chairman, National Confederation of Dalit & Adivasi Organisations (NACDAOR).
- Chairman, International Commission for Dalit Rights (ICDR), US (founding board chair until 2011).
- Kabir Chair on Social Conflict, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS).
- Member, Working Groups on Dalits, National Advisory Council (Government of India, during UPA era).
- Advisory board roles (e.g., FPACL).
- Frequent commentator on TV, media, and forums (e.g., interviews on Dalit issues, budgets, caste violence).
Awards & Recognitions
- Ashoka Fellowship (2005) for innovative social entrepreneurship in Dalit rights.
- Dalit Ratna Award.
- CARE Millennium Award (2011) for outstanding work on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), from CARE Deutschland-Luxemburg.
- Lifetime Achievement Award at National Dalit forums.
- Recognized as a nationally and internationally renowned Dalit leader, ideologue, and institution builder.
Views & Legacy
Ashok Bharti emphasizes inclusive democracy, critiquing exclusion in systems like budgets, politics, and society. He advocates for Dalits and Adivasis as central to India's progress, pushing for dignity, economic empowerment, and protection from violence. His work bridges grassroots mobilization with policy advocacy, making NACDAOR a powerful voice for marginalized communities.
He remains active (as of 2025–2026 reports), commenting on current events like caste insecurity in states, political alliances, and government policies.
Sources: Ashoka.org, NACDAOR official site, IPCS, LinkedIn profile, Hindustan Times, National Herald India, The Squirrels, Instagram/Facebook profiles, and related Dalit rights archives. (Note: There are other individuals named Ashok Bharti/Bhagat in different contexts, e.g., spiritual figures or unrelated activists, but this profile matches the prominent Dalit rights activist and NACDAOR founder.)
Father of the first Pasmanda Movement and Freedom Fighter
Faiyaz Ahmad Fyzie
Maulana Ali Hussain "Aasim Bihari" was born on April 15, 1890, in Mohalla Khas Ganj, Bihar Sharif, Nalanda district, Bihar, in a devout but poor Pasmanda weaver family. In 1906, at the young age of 16, he started his career in the Usha organization in Kolkata. While working, he pursued interests in studies and reading. He was active in many types of movements. He quit his job as it was getting restrictive, and for his livelihood he started the work of making beedis. He prepared a team of his beedi worker colleagues who would discuss issues that concerned nation and society. There would also be sharing of writings.
In 1908-09, Maulana Haji Abdul Jabbar of Sheikhpur tried to create a Pasmanda organization which wasn't successful. He felt a deep sense of grief about this. In 1911, after reading "Tarikh-e-Minwal wa Alahu" (History of Weavers), he was prepared completely for the movement. At the age of 22, he started a five year shceme (1912-1917) for educating adults. During this time, whenever he went to his native Bihar Sharif, he would keep make people aware by organising small gatherings.
In 1914 , at the young age of 24 years old, he started a Society called "Bazm-E-Adab"(Chamber of Literature) that started a library under its aegis, in his native location of Khasganj, Bihar Sharif in Nalanda district. In 1918, a study centre called "Darul Muzakra"(House of Conversation) was established in Kolkata, where labourers and others used to gather in the evening to discuss writings and contemporary issues - these meetings would sometimes go on all through the night.
In 1919, after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, leaders like Lala Lajpat Rai and Maulana Azad were arrested. Aasim Bihari then started a nationwide postal protest for the release of those leaders, in which people from all the districts, towns in the entire country sent about 1.5 lakh letters and telegrams to the Viceroy and Queen Victoria. This campaign was eventually successful, and all the freedom fighters were freed from jail.
In 1920, in Tanti Bagh, Kolkata, he created the organisation "Jamiatul Mominin" (Party of the Righteous), whose first conference was held on March 10, 1920, in which Maulana Azad also delivered a speech.
In April 1921, he started the tradition of the wall written newspaper "Al-Momin" (The Righteous) in which text was written on large sheet of paper and stuck on a wall, so that more people could read. This style became very famous.
On 10 December 1921, a convention was held in Tanti Bagh, Kolkata, in which Mahatma Gandhi, Maulana Jauhar, Maulana Azad etc., participated. In this convention, about 20 thousand people took part.
Gandhiji on behalf of the Congress party proposed to donate a huge amount of one lakh rupees to the organization, with some conditions. But Aasim Bihari, at the very beginning of the agitation, considering it better to keep the organization away from any kind of political compulsion and surrender, refused to accept the amount of one lakh, a big financial assistance, which was highly needed by the organization.
From 1923, the wall newspaper Diwari Momin began to be published as a magazine Al-Momin.
In the beginning of 1922, with the intention of giving an all-India look to the organization, he started a tour of villages and towns, beginning from Bihar.
On July 9, 1923, a local meeting of the organization (Jamiatul Mominin) was held at Madrasa Moinul Islam, Sohdih, Bihar Sharif, in Nalanda district, Bihar. On the same day his son Kamruddin, whose age was only 6 months and 19 days, died. But the passion of bringing society into the mainstream was such that he reached the venue on time and delivered a powerful speech for one hour.
In these constant struggles and travels, he had to face many troubles as well as financial difficulties. Many of the times had to deal with hunger issues too. At the same time, his daughter Baarka was born in the house, but the whole family was drowning in debt and hunger for long.
During this time in Patna, Arya Samajis defeated the Muslim Ulemas (Clerics) in debate as nobody was able to answer their questions. When this was reported to the Maulana, he then took a loan from a friend for travel fare. He carried roasted corn in his bag and reached Patna. There he defeated the Arya Samajis in such a manner, by his logic and arguments, that they had to flee. A regional level conference was convened in Bihar Sharif on 3-4 June 1922, after nearly six months of rigorous travel.
It was difficult to arrange for the expenditure of the conference and the funds collected were not sufficient. The date of the conference was getting closer. In such a situation, Maulana requested his mother to lend the money and jewellery that he had kept aside for his younger brother's wedding. He hoped that more funds would be arranged as the date of the Conference got closer. Unfortunately, not enough funds could be collected. He felt despair and even after being invited for the wedding, he didn't attend it and left the house, out of guilt. He could not even dare to be a part of it.
In the will of God, I have surrendered my being
His wish is my wish, what He wills shall happen
All such setbacks, however never affected his passion.
In spite of all the troubles, anxieties and frequent travels, he never missed studying newspapers, magazines and books in addition to writing articles and daily diaries. This study was not limited to education, or knowledge of only social or political activities, but he wanted to research science, literature and historical facts and reach their roots. In certain instances, he would not hesitate to write letters to the writers of famous newspapers and magazines of that time.
In August, 1924, the foundation of a core committee called 'Majlis-e-Misak' (Chamber of Covenant), was laid down for the solidarity of selected, dedicated people.
On July 6, 1925, 'Majlis-e-Misak' (Chamber of Covenant), started publishing a fortnightly magazine named Al-Ikram (The Respect), so that the movement could be further strengthened.
The "Bihar Weavers' Association" was formed to organize and strengthen the weaving work, and its branches were opened in other cities of the country, including Kolkata. After creating an organization in Bihar in 1927, Maulana turned to Uttar Pradesh. He visited Gorakhpur, Banaras, Allahabad, Moradabad, Lakhimpur-Kheri and other districts and created quite a stir. After UP, the organization was set up in Delhi, Punjab area too.
On April 18, 1928, the first All India level grand conference was held in Kolkata, in which thousands of people participated. In March 1929, the second All India Conference was held in Allahabad, third in October 1931 in Delhi, fourth in Lahore, and fifth on November 5, 1932, in Gaya. In the Gaya conference, the Women's Wing of the organization also came into existence.
Similarly in Kanpur, Gorakhpur, Delhi, Nagpur and Patna, State Conferences were organized.
In this way, the organization was established in places like Mumbai, Nagpur, Hyderabad, Chennai, and even in countries like Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Burma and hence Jamiautul Mominin (Momin Conference) became an international organization. In 1938, there were nearly 2000 branches of the organization in India as well as abroad.
A weekly magazine called 'Momin Gazette' from Kanpur also started to be published. Keeping himself behind the scenes in the organization and pushing others forward, Aasim Bihari never made himself the President of the organization. Only after many requests of the people, he kept himself confined to the post of General Secretary only.
When the organization's work increased a lot, and the Maulana did not have the opportunity of doing hard labor to raise his livelihood and family -- in such a situation, the organization fixed a very modest amount to be paid to him every month, but unfortunately that was also not paid to him many times.
Wherever the branches of Momin Conference were opened, small meetings were held continuously, and education and employment counseling centres and libraries wwere also established.
From the beginning, Maulana tried to ensure that Pasmanda castes other than the Ansari caste, were also made aware, active and organized. For this, he used to include people, leaders and organizations of other Pasmanda castes in every conference, their contributions in the Momin Gazette were also given equal space.
Meanwhile, the news of his brother's severe illness reached him and he was told "Come soon, he can die anytime". But the Maulana couldn't go home due to frequent tours. Even when his brother died, he could not even go for the funeral.
In the election of the Interim Government in 1935-36, the candidates of the Momin Conference also won a good number of votes across the entire country. As a result, a large number people also realized the power of the Pasmanda movement. This is where the movement began to witness opposition.
Already in the mainstream politics, the upper caste Ashraf Muslim class started defaming the Momin Conference and its leaders, by employing different types of allegations, religious fatwas, writings, magazines. In fact, they even made a song called 'Zulaah Naama', that indulged in the character assassination of the weaver caste as a whole and was also published.
During the campaign in Kanpur, a Pasmanda activist named Abdullah was murdered. Usually, Maulana's speech used to be about two to three hours. But on September 13, 1938, his five hour speech in Kannauj and the speech in Kolkata in October 25, 1934, that lasted a whole night became landmarks in human history, setting an unprecedented record.
The Maulana played an active role in the Quit India Movement. In the year 1940, he organized a protest in Delhi against the partition of the country, in which about forty thousand Pasmanda people participated.
In the elections of 1946, some candidates of the Jamiatul Momin (Momin Conference) were successful and many of them won against candidates of the Muslim League.
In 1947, after the storm of the partition of the country, he revived the Pasmanda movement with full rigor. The Momin Gazette was republished in Allahabad and Bihar Sharif.
The failng health of the Maulana started influencing his untiring hard work, travels. But he was determined to revive the tradition of Hazrat Ayyub Ansari (the Companion of Prophet Muhammad) . When he reached Allahabad, he did not have the strength to even walk a step. Even in such a condition, he was busy in the preparations for the Conference of the Jamiatul Momineen in UP State, and kept guiding people.
But Allah had taken from him whatever work he could. On the evening of December 5,1953, he suffered a sudden heart stroke and there was trouble in breathing; the pain and uneasiness of the heart grew, his face became sweaty, he fainted. Around two o'clock at night, he found himself in the lap of his son, Haroon AAasim. With a gesture he indicated his head be rested on the ground so that he could offer himself to Allah's favor and demand forgiveness for his sins. In these circumstances, on Dec 6, 1953, on a Saturday, in Haji Kamruddin's house, in Atala, Allahabad, he breathed his last.
In his forty years of vigorous and active life, the Maulana did nothing for himself, and where was the opportunity to do it? But if he wanted, he could have gathered many material things for himself and his family. But he never gave attention to this aspect. The Maulana kept lighting the homes of others throughout his life but he did not try to illuminate his own house with a small lamp.
Acknowledgement: I would like to thank Professor Ahmad Sajjad who has written the 700 page biography of Aasim Bihari titled Banda-e-Momin Ka Hath (The Hand of a Righteous Person) and guided me in telephonic and direct conversations.
Faiyaz Ahmed Fyzie is a freelance author and is working as a Research Associate in the Ministry of AYUSH. The English translation is done by Vinay Shende, who is an Ambedkarite working in the Corporate Sector.
Annie Namala
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Annie Namala
Occupation Education activist
Annie Namala is an Indian social activist and has been working for dalit rights. She is the director of Centre for Social Equity and Inclusion. She is a vocal voice in the fight of untouchable movement. She was appointed as a member of the National Advisory Council for the implementation of the RTE act in 2010.
Career
Annie Namala also worked with Solidarity Group for Children Against Discrimination and Exclusion (SGCADE).
Ashamma
The story of Dalit icon Ashamma from Andhra Pradesh, another Neeraja Banot winner, a socially-marginalized woman who has been fighting for her rightful place in society, too follows along the same line.
Ashamma was a ‘jogini’ or a sex worker in Karni village. Frustrated by this she decided to stand up for her dignity and self respect and joined the Andhra Pradesh Mahila Samatha Society and was influenced by them to live a new life. She helped other women who were forced into sexual favours by men, through this Society.
In such a situation, it takes an amalgamation of self-confidence, self- efficacy, determination, and empathy to build up a strong and inextinguishable fire of resilience. A research by University of Minnesota, 2010 by Suniya Luthar and Edward Zigler, indicates that during the early childhood years, it is important for children to have good quality of care and opportunities for learning, adequate nutrition and community support for families. A research finding showed that one reason for this could be Empathy. The National Council on Family Relations, 1995 conducted a study which explored the relationship between empathy and parenting strategy choices . Results showed that empathy was negatively related to the use of negative and ignoring parenting strategies.
At 35 years of age, Ashamma has nothing to share with the world expect tears. She comes from Karni village in Mehbubnagar district of Andhra Pradesh, where women belonging to the lower caste are considered objects of entertainment. Ashamma was made to undergo the jogini ritual when she was seven years old. As per this custom, she was married off to the village deity. Recalls Ashamma, "Since the day of the initiation, I have not lived with dignity. I became available for all the men who inhabited Karni. They would ask me for sexual favours and I, as a jogini, was expected to please them. My trauma began even when I had not attained puberty."
At 11, Ashamma attained puberty. As soon as the news spread, men hounded her all the more. She was forced to sleep with countless people, some of whom were much older than her. Still in her teens, Ashamma delivered a girl child. "I bore the child from the man I loved, but he did not marry me. Later, I escaped from the village," she says. But all the time she was reminded that she was a jogini and should not act like a pativrata.
During those days the Andhra Pradesh Mahila Samatha Society was running sanghams in villages. These forums voiced the concerns of sexually exploited women. When Ashamma heard the views of its leaders, she was impressed. She swore to fight against the baseless custom of jogini.
In 1997, Ashamma became the head of the sangham which operated in Karni. As the leader of the forum, she discouraged the practice of jogini. Her mission revolved around thwarting the attempts of villagers to initiate young girls into this evil practice. She still remembers how hard she had to fight in order to save a nine-year-old girl in her village from becoming a jogini. The police had refused to help her and no one in the village was prepared to cooperate with her. But Ashamma sat in protest until she succeeded in preventing the initiation ceremony.
The two courageous women -Alice Garg from Jaipur and Ashamma from Andhra Pradesh were awarded for their services to society in Chandigarh on April 28. The award money comprised Rs 1.5 lakh each. The commitment of these women to their respective cause was evident from the fact that both of them donated a part of the huge sum to their respective societies. Ashamma kept Rs 50,000 for her child and donated the rest to her sangham. Alice donated the money to Rustamji Trust which is dedicated to the amelioration of the plight of the poor.
by D . kasur
Absalom Jones
1. Early Life in Slavery
- Born enslaved on November 7, 1746, on a plantation in Sussex County, Delaware, owned by Abraham Wynkoop, a wealthy Anglican planter.
- Mother: unknown name; father: possibly named “Tom.”
- At age 16 (1762), his owner sold his mother, six siblings, and the plantation. Absalom was kept and moved to Philadelphia to work in Benjamin Wynkoop’s store on High (now Market) Street.
- Taught himself to read and write using the Bible, spellers, and any books he could find.
- Attended a night school for Black people run by Quakers (Society of Friends).
2. Path to Freedom
- 1770: Married Mary King (c. 1748–1824), an enslaved woman owned by a neighbor, Sarah King.
- Worked extra jobs and saved money to purchase his wife’s freedom first (October 4, 1778) so their children would be born free.
- Continued saving until October 1, 1784, when Benjamin Wynkoop signed his manumission papers—Absalom was 38 years old.
- Took the surname “Jones” after freedom.
3. Religious Awakening and Leadership
- 1780s: Became a lay preacher at St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church (mixed-race congregation).
- 1787: With Richard Allen, founded the Free African Society—the first Black mutual-aid society in America. Provided sickness/death benefits, education, and anti-slavery advocacy.
- November 12, 1787: Famous incident at St. George’s—ushers tried to remove Black members (including Jones and Allen) from new seats to the balcony. They walked out and never returned.
4. Founding the African Church
- 1792: Purchased land at 5th & Adelphi (now St. James Place) in Philadelphia.
- July 17, 1794: Dedicated the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas—the first Black Episcopal congregation in the U.S.
- Chose the Episcopal Church because it had no racial restrictions on ordination and offered structure.
- 1802: Ordained deacon; 1804: Ordained priest by Bishop William White—becoming the first African-American priest in the Episcopal Church.
5. Major Activism & Abolition Work
- 1793 Yellow Fever Epidemic: When white Philadelphians fled, Jones and Richard Allen organized Black nurses and burial teams. They saved countless lives but were falsely accused by publisher Mathew Carey of price-gouging. Jones and Allen published “A Narrative of the Proceedings of the Black People During the Late Awful Calamity in Philadelphia” (1794)—the first copyrighted pamphlet by African Americans.
- 1795–1816: Led annual Thanksgiving Day petitions to Congress calling for abolition and an end to the slave trade.
- January 1, 1808: Delivered a famous sermon celebrating the U.S. ban on the international slave trade, declaring: “Let the first of January, the day of the abolition of the slave trade, be set apart… as a day of public thanksgiving.”
- 1816: Helped found the Society for the Suppression of the Slave Trade.
6. Community Building & Education
- Established schools for Black children at St. Thomas.
- Founded beneficial societies for widows and orphans.
- Advocated for Black masons, carpenters, and sailors to form guilds.
- 1810: Helped establish the African Masonic Lodge No. 459 (first Black Masonic lodge in Pennsylvania).
7. Family Life
- Wife: Mary King Jones (freed 1778; died 1824).
- Children: 6 survived to adulthood (Absalom Jr., John, Sarah, Mary, Rachel, and another daughter).
- Lived modestly in a house on Spruce Street near St. Thomas Church.
8. Death and Legacy
- Died February 13, 1818, of “lung fever” (likely tuberculosis or pneumonia).
- Funeral at St. Thomas was attended by thousands—Black and white.
- Buried in the churchyard of St. Thomas (later moved inside the church in 1870).
- February 13 is now his official feast day in the Episcopal Church (Lesser Feasts and Fasts).
- Stained-glass windows, schools, and streets named in his honor (e.g., Absalom Jones Episcopal Center in Atlanta).
9. Famous Quotes
- “God is no respecter of persons… He hath made of one blood all nations of men.”
- “If we ever hope to see a better day in this country, we must educate our children.”
10. Modern Recognition
- 1976: Included in Holy Women, Holy Men (Episcopal liturgical calendar).
- 1993: U.S. Postal Service issued a Black Heritage stamp with Absalom Jones and Richard Allen.
- 2023: Featured in the PBS documentary “The Black Church” by Henry Louis Gates Jr.
Summary: Absalom Jones rose from chattel slavery to become America’s first Black Episcopal priest, co-founder of the independent Black church movement, and a fearless abolitionist who used faith, education, and community organizing to fight racism and uplift the most disadvantaged African Americans in the new republic. He is rightly called “The Black Bishop” and a father of Black liberation theology.
Anand Teltumbde
Early Life & Education
- Born on 15 July 1951 in Rajur village, Yavatmal district, Maharashtra (then Bombay State), to a poor family of Dalit (Scheduled Caste) farm labourers.
- Grew up facing caste discrimination in rural Maharashtra; his family endured poverty and social exclusion typical of landless Dalit labourers.
- Overcame barriers through merit: Earned a B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT), Nagpur (1973).
- Completed an MBA from the prestigious Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A, 1982).
- Obtained a PhD from the University of Mumbai (1993) in cybernetic modelling while working as an executive.
- Later awarded an honorary D.Litt. from Karnataka State Open University.
Professional Career
- Had a successful corporate career: Held senior executive roles at Bharat Petroleum and served as Managing Director & CEO of Petronet LNG.
- Transitioned to academia: Currently a professor at Goa Institute of Management, heading programs in Big Data and management.
- His professional success contrasts with his activist roots, allowing him to bridge corporate, academic, and activist worlds.
Activism & Advocacy
- Long-standing civil rights activist (over 40+ years), focusing on Dalit emancipation, human rights, anti-caste struggles, and protection of democratic rights.
- General Secretary of the Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights (CPDR).
- Associated with the All India Forum for Rights to Education (AIFRTE) (Presidium member) and other people's movements.
- Writes extensively on caste, class, Hindutva, neoliberalism, and state violence; regular contributor to Economic & Political Weekly, Frontline, The Wire, Scroll, Outlook, The Caravan, Indian Express, The Hindu, and Marathi/English outlets.
- Combines Ambedkarite anti-caste radicalism with Marxist class analysis; critiques both caste hierarchies and capitalist exploitation.
- Co-edited The Radical in Ambedkar (2018) and authored influential works on Dalit history and contemporary issues.
Key Books & Writings
Prolific author of over 30–33 books (many translated into Indian languages):
- Khairlanji: A Strange and Bitter Crop (2008) — on the 2006 caste atrocity murders.
- The Persistence of Caste: The Khairlanji Murders and India’s Hidden Apartheid (2010).
- Republic of Caste: Thinking Equality in the Time of Neoliberal Hindutva (2018).
- Dalits: Past, Present and Future (2016).
- Mahad: The Making of the First Dalit Revolt (2016).
- Iconoclast: A Reflective Biography of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar (2024).
- The Cell and the Soul: A Prison Memoir (2025) — detailing his 31 months in jail.
- Recent prolific output: Six books published since October 2024 (as of early 2026), including works on caste census and prison experiences.
Bhima Koregaon Case & Imprisonment
- Implicated in the Elgar Parishad–Bhima Koregaon case (2018): Accused under UAPA of Maoist links, inciting violence at the 2018 Bhima Koregaon commemorations, and plotting against the state (charges he denies as fabricated).
- Home raided in 2018; arrested on 14 April 2020 (Ambedkar Jayanti) after Supreme Court rejected anticipatory bail; surrendered to NIA.
- Spent 31 months in Taloja Central Jail (Navi Mumbai) under harsh conditions (including COVID risks).
- Released on bail in November 2022 (Bombay High Court granted, upheld by Supreme Court; stayed briefly then enforced).
- Case status (as of 2026): Out on bail with restrictions (e.g., cannot leave Maharashtra without court permission; trial ongoing, no conviction).
- Described post-release life as moving from a "small jail to a bigger jail" due to curbs on movement and social stigma.
Recent Events (2025–2026)
- Prolific writing continues despite restrictions.
- In February 2026, Mumbai Police directed cancellation of his book discussion (The Cell and the Soul) at Kala Ghoda Arts Festival (citing safety/permissions); event scrapped amid online backlash from right-wing accounts.
- Court permissions for travel (e.g., Kochi lit fest, family events) often denied or revoked, highlighting ongoing constraints.
- Remains a vocal critic of caste policies, state overreach, and democratic erosion.
Legacy & Views
Teltumbde is celebrated as a trenchant critic of caste violence, Hindutva, and neoliberalism; supporters view his arrest as state suppression of dissent. He has been called a "leading public intellectual" and compared to global figures for his sharp analysis. His work emphasizes that true equality requires annihilating caste alongside class structures.
He lives in Mumbai/Goa under bail conditions; his writings and activism continue to influence Dalit, leftist, and civil rights circles.
Sources: Wikipedia, The Hindu, Frontline, Scroll.in, Hindustan Times, USCIRF, Navayana Publishing, Bloomsbury, BBC, and recent 2025–2026 news reports.
Arige Ramaswamy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Arige Ramaswamy, a noted social activist, politician and social reformer.
Arige Ramaswamy
Born 1885
Died 1973
Occupation Political Leader
Social Reformer
Spouse(s) Rajamma (m.1921) Lalitabai (m.1929)
Early life
Born on 1895 in a Mala family to Arige Balayya at Ramankole, Hyderabad State (now Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh). He also worked as ticket collector in Nizam's railways.
He was follower of Achala Siddhanta and also the Brahmo Samaj. He founded Sunitha Bala Samajam and carried out social reform among the Dalits.
Movement
He worked along with Bhagya Reddy Varma, S. Venkat Rao and other activists, who organized the Dalits in the early 20th century. Recognising the socio-economic backwardness of Madigas, he formed the Arundhatiya Association for their welfare.
Ramaswamy married a Madiga boy with a Mala girl, which was opposed by Bhagya Reddy Varma and the community members. In 1922, he established Adi Hindu Jathoyonnathi Sabha.
Politics
Later, he joined INC and became Joint Secretary in Telangana Congress and been Minister in state govt. He was also associated with "Grandhalaya (library)" movement.
He died on 23 January 1973 at Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.
Aruna Kori
- Born: 15 March 1973 (age 52 as of 2025) in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India.
- She hails from the Kanpur region and has been active in politics primarily in constituencies around Kanpur Nagar district.
Political Career
Aruna Kori began her political journey with the Samajwadi Party (SP), a major regional party in Uttar Pradesh founded by Mulayam Singh Yadav.
- She was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from the Bilhaur constituency (Kanpur Nagar district) during the 2012 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections on a Samajwadi Party ticket.
- In the Akhilesh Yadav government (2012–2017), she served as a Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Women Welfare (often referred to as Women and Child Development) and Culture from 15 March 2012 to 19 March 2017.
- Notably, she is recognized as the first woman to hold the position of Uttar Pradesh Minister for Women and Child Development.
She was the lone woman minister in the Akhilesh Yadav cabinet at the time of her swearing-in.
Prior to 2012, she also served as MLA from Bhognipur constituency (2002–2007), though details on her party affiliation during that term align with her SP background.
Party Changes and Later Activities
- She was associated with the Samajwadi Party until around 2019.
- Later, she joined the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohiya) (also referred to as Pragatishil Samajwadi Party Lohia), a splinter or allied group in the socialist tradition.
- In 2019, she contested the Lok Sabha elections from the Misrikh constituency (Uttar Pradesh) as a candidate of Pragatishil Samajwadi Party (Lohia).
- She has also been linked to other electoral attempts, such as from Rasulabad in assembly contexts.
Some sources and her social media (e.g., Facebook pages) have referenced affiliations or descriptions like "Aruna Kori BJP" or updates on her roles as former MLA and minister, but her primary documented career is with Samajwadi Party and its offshoots.
Notable Incidents and Public Statements
In 2015, as Women and Child Welfare Minister, she faced criticism for stating that society (rather than the government) bore primary responsibility for incidents of rape, drawing flak from various quarters amid discussions on women's safety in Uttar Pradesh.
Other Notes
- Her name sometimes appears as Aruna Kumari Kori or Arun Kumari Kori in election affidavits and records (e.g., due to clerical entries during oath-taking), but she has clarified her correct name as Aruna Kori.
- She is active in social work alongside politics, focusing on women's issues, child welfare, and cultural matters, consistent with her ministerial portfolio.
Aruna Kori remains a notable figure in Uttar Pradesh politics, particularly for breaking barriers as a woman minister in a key department and her representation of reserved or general constituencies in the Kanpur belt. For the most current updates on her activities, checking recent election portals or her social media would be useful, as political alignments can shift.
Amit Jethwa
Background & Early Activism
Born: 31 December 1975, in Kodki village, Gir Somnath district, Gujarat.
Education: Law graduate.
Affiliations: President of the Gir Nature Youth Club and a vocal member of the Bishnoi community, a Hindu sect known for its strong environmental conservation ethos.
Core Cause: Protection of the Gir Forest—the last refuge of the Asiatic lion—from rampant illegal limestone mining in its periphery, which was destroying the ecosystem and wildlife corridors.
Key Battle & The RTI Weapon
The Target: Jethwa alleged that powerful politicians, including Dinu Bogha Solanki (then a BJP MP from Junagadh), were behind the illegal mining mafia operating in the Gir sanctuary area.
The Action: Instead of just protesting, he systematically used the Right to Information Act, 2005. He filed numerous RTI applications with the Gujarat High Court and the Forest Department to expose the illegal mining and the complicity of authorities.
The Lawsuit: His most significant act was filing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Gujarat High Court in 2010, specifically naming MP Dinu Bogha Solanki. The PIL sought a CBI investigation into the illegal mining and the alleged role of Solanki.
Assassination & Immediate Aftermath
Date: July 20, 2010.
Location: Shot at point-blank range outside the Gujarat High Court in Ahmedabad, a symbolically significant location representing the law he was using.
The Attack: Two assailants on a motorcycle shot him. He succumbed to his injuries. The brazenness of the attack, in the heart of the legal precinct, sent shockwaves across the nation.
Immediate Accusations: Jethwa's father, Bhikhabhai Jethwa, and the activist community immediately accused MP Dinu Bogha Solanki of orchestrating the murder to silence the PIL. Solanki denied all allegations.
The Long Road to Justice – A Twisted Legal Saga
The investigation and trial became a marathon, fraught with allegations of political interference and witness intimidation.
Initial Investigation: The Ahmedabad Police Crime Branch gave a clean chit to Solanki. This was widely criticized.
CBI Takeover: Following sustained pressure from Jethwa's father and the Supreme Court's intervention, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the case in 2013.
CBI Chargesheet: The CBI named Dinu Solanki as the main conspirator, alleging he hired killers for ₹5 lakh to eliminate Jethwa. Several others, including his nephew Shiva Solanki and sharpshooter Shailesh Pandya, were also charged.
Trial & Conviction (2019): In a landmark verdict in July 2019, a Special CBI Court in Ahmedabad convicted Dinu Bogha Solanki for murder and criminal conspiracy. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. Six others were also convicted.
High Court Acquittal (2024): In a dramatic turn, the Gujarat High Court acquitted Dinu Solanki and the six others in February 2024. The court cited lapses in the CBI investigation, doubtful witness testimonies, and lack of conclusive evidence linking Solanki to the shooters.
Current Status: The CBI has filed an appeal against the acquittal in the Supreme Court of India. The legal battle continues as of late 2024.
Legacy & Impact
Amit Jethwa's life and death left a deep impact:
Martyr for Environmentalism: He is remembered as a martyr for the cause of wildlife conservation, especially for the Gir lions.
Symbol of Activist Risks: His murder highlighted the extreme dangers faced by whistleblowers and activists challenging the powerful "nexus" of politicians, business, and crime.
RTI as a Tool: He exemplified the power of RTI as a weapon for citizens to fight corruption and environmental degradation.
Persistent Father: His father, Bhikhabhai Jethwa, became a symbol of a relentless pursuit for justice, fighting the case for over a decade despite threats and obstacles.
Unending Fight: The recent acquittal and the ongoing appeal underscore the immense difficulty in securing justice in cases where activists are killed for their work.
In summary, Amit Jethwa was a grassroots activist who used legal tools to protect a critical ecosystem, paid for it with his life, and whose quest for justice became a national story about power, corruption, and resilience.
Annabhau Sathe
Early Life & Background
- Born on 1 August 1920 in Wategaon village, Valva tehsil, Sangli district (then Bombay Presidency; some sources note nearby Satara links), Maharashtra.
- From a poor Matang family: Father Bhaurao (or Bhau), mother Valubai; siblings included elder sister Bhagubai, brothers Shankar and Madhukar, and younger sister Jaibai.
- Faced severe caste discrimination from childhood — humiliated in school (rusticated or dropped out around 4th standard due to abuse), lived in segregated Mangwada outside villages.
- Extreme poverty forced his family to migrate on foot to Mumbai in 1931 (a grueling 6-month journey).
- In Mumbai, worked menial jobs: porter, shoe polisher, daily wage labourer, mill worker — experiences that shaped his proletarian worldview.
- No formal higher education; self-taught through observation, reading, and immersion in labour movements.
Activism & Political Journey
- Joined the freedom struggle early; influenced by Gandhian ideals initially but shifted to revolutionary socialism.
- Became a full-time Communist Party of India (CPI) worker in the 1940s; member of CPI.
- Co-founded Lal Bawta Kalapathak (Red Flag Cultural Troupe) in 1944 — a performing arts group using folk forms (powadas, songs, plays) to propagate communist ideology, raise class consciousness, and fight caste oppression.
- Key role in Samyukta Maharashtra Movement (1950s–1960) for a united Marathi-speaking state (formed 1 May 1960); earned titles like "Samyukta Maharashtra Janak" and "Shilpkar."
- Participated in Goa Freedom Movement and anti-colonial/anti-feudal struggles.
- Founded the first Dalit Sahitya Sammelan (Dalit Literary Conference) in Bombay (Mumbai) in 1958 — a landmark event; in his inaugural speech: "The earth is not balanced on the snake's head but on the strength of Dalit and working-class people."
- Followed Ambedkar's anti-caste vision but emphasized Marxist class analysis over Buddhism (unlike many contemporaries).
- Advocated for Dalit-working class unity, dignity, and rebellion against feudal/caste bondage.
Literary Works & Contributions
Sathe was extraordinarily prolific (active 1942–1969), writing in accessible Marathi folk styles while depicting raw realities of Dalit life.
- Novels (32+): Landmark Fakira (1959) — story of a Dalit protagonist's rebellion against feudal exploitation; won Maharashtra State Award (1961); reached 19 editions.
- Short stories (22 collections), folk plays (10), powadas/ballads (10), plays (2), travelogues, and urban literature.
- Themes: Caste atrocities, labour exploitation, rural-urban migration, poverty, resistance; semi-autobiographical elements.
- Credited with pioneering Dalit literature — predating the 1960s–70s Dalit Sahitya movement; influenced writers like Baburao Bagul, Namdeo Dhasal, Daya Pawar.
- Used all art forms (literature, theatre, songs) for awakening; beauty in versatility noted by scholars like Gail Omvedt.
Personal Life & Death
- Lived in poverty throughout; resided in Ghatkopar slum in later years.
- Government allotted a modest house in Mumbai suburbs ~1968.
- Died on 18 July 1969 at age 48–49 in Bombay (Mumbai), in destitution despite his contributions — born poor, died poor, largely ignored by mainstream society/literary circles during lifetime.
Legacy & Recognition
- Posthumous honors: India Post issued a commemorative stamp (1 August 2002).
- Titles: Sahitya-Samrat, Lokshahir, Sahityaratn, Jahadvikhyat, Dinjanancha Sfurtidata.
- Regarded as a revolutionary poet/novelist/playwright; organic intellectual of the oppressed.
- Influence: Continues to inspire Dalit-Marxist activism; recent biographies (e.g., 2024) highlight his enduring presence in Maharashtra's socio-cultural life.
- His work remains relevant for highlighting caste-class intersections and the power of art in resistance.
Annabhau Sathe's life and writings embody the fusion of Ambedkarite anti-caste zeal with Marxist class struggle — a voice for the margins that challenged both feudalism and untouchability through powerful, people-centered art.
Sources: Wikipedia (English/Marathi), Countercurrents.org (2024 biography review), Velivada, HuffPost India (2019 tribute), Forward Press, Testbook, and scholarly articles (e.g., Literary Cognizance, The Criterion).
Angela Yvonne Davis
1. Early Life
Born: January 26, 1944 (age 82), Birmingham, Alabama, United States
Spouse: Hilton Braithwaite(m. 1980-1983)
Partner: Gina Dent
Parents: Sallye Bell Davis, Benjamin Frank Davis, Sr.
Education: University of California, San Diego, Brandeis University, Humboldt University of Berlin, Goethe University Frankfurt, Little Red School House
Family Background: Her family lived in a racially mixed neighborhood called “Dynamite Hill” due to frequent Ku Klux Klan bombings targeting Black families. Her mother, Sallye Bell Davis, was a teacher and an active member of the Southern Negro Youth Congress (a communist-affiliated civil rights group), which deeply influenced Davis’s political awakening.
Education:
Attended Brandeis University (B.A., French Literature), where she studied under philosopher Herbert Marcuse, who became a major intellectual influence.
Studied philosophy at the University of Frankfurt in Germany, engaging with the Frankfurt School of critical theory.
Returned to the U.S. and earned a Ph.D. in philosophy from Humboldt University of Berlin (then East Germany) but later completed her doctorate at the University of California, San Diego.
Family Background: Her family lived in a racially mixed neighborhood called “Dynamite Hill” due to frequent Ku Klux Klan bombings targeting Black families. Her mother, Sallye Bell Davis, was a teacher and an active member of the Southern Negro Youth Congress (a communist-affiliated civil rights group), which deeply influenced Davis’s political awakening.
Education:
Attended Brandeis University (B.A., French Literature), where she studied under philosopher Herbert Marcuse, who became a major intellectual influence.
Studied philosophy at the University of Frankfurt in Germany, engaging with the Frankfurt School of critical theory.
Returned to the U.S. and earned a Ph.D. in philosophy from Humboldt University of Berlin (then East Germany) but later completed her doctorate at the University of California, San Diego.
2. Political Awakening and Activism
Communist Party USA (CPUSA): Joined in 1968, attracted by its commitment to racial and economic justice. She later ran as the Communist Party’s vice-presidential candidate in 1980 and 1984.
Black Panther Party: Worked closely with the Black Panther Party and was particularly involved with the Che-Lumumba Club, an all-Black communist collective in Los Angeles.
Academic Career: Hired as an assistant professor of philosophy at UCLA in 1969 but was fired by the University of California Board of Regents (led by then-Governor Ronald Reagan) due to her Communist Party membership. This sparked nationwide protests and court battles over academic freedom.
Communist Party USA (CPUSA): Joined in 1968, attracted by its commitment to racial and economic justice. She later ran as the Communist Party’s vice-presidential candidate in 1980 and 1984.
Black Panther Party: Worked closely with the Black Panther Party and was particularly involved with the Che-Lumumba Club, an all-Black communist collective in Los Angeles.
Academic Career: Hired as an assistant professor of philosophy at UCLA in 1969 but was fired by the University of California Board of Regents (led by then-Governor Ronald Reagan) due to her Communist Party membership. This sparked nationwide protests and court battles over academic freedom.
3. The 1970 Arrest, Trial, and International Campaign
Connection to George Jackson: Davis became involved with the Soledad Brothers—three Black inmates accused of killing a prison guard. She developed a close relationship with George Jackson, a radical prison writer and Black Panther.
1970 Marin County Courthouse Incident: Jonathan Jackson (George’s younger brother) staged an armed takeover of a courtroom to demand the release of the Soledad Brothers. Police opened fire, killing four people, including the judge and Jonathan.
Davis as a Fugitive: Firearms used in the incident were registered to Davis, who went into hiding and was placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List.
Imprisonment and Trial: She was captured and spent 16 months in prison before her trial. An international “Free Angela Davis” campaign emerged, with protests, letters, and advocacy from figures like John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and the Soviet Union. In 1972, an all-white jury acquitted her of all charges.
Connection to George Jackson: Davis became involved with the Soledad Brothers—three Black inmates accused of killing a prison guard. She developed a close relationship with George Jackson, a radical prison writer and Black Panther.
1970 Marin County Courthouse Incident: Jonathan Jackson (George’s younger brother) staged an armed takeover of a courtroom to demand the release of the Soledad Brothers. Police opened fire, killing four people, including the judge and Jonathan.
Davis as a Fugitive: Firearms used in the incident were registered to Davis, who went into hiding and was placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List.
Imprisonment and Trial: She was captured and spent 16 months in prison before her trial. An international “Free Angela Davis” campaign emerged, with protests, letters, and advocacy from figures like John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and the Soviet Union. In 1972, an all-white jury acquitted her of all charges.
4. Intellectual and Activist Contributions
A. Prison Abolition
Davis is a foundational thinker in the prison abolition movement. She argues that prisons are a modern extension of slavery and racial capitalism.
Co-founder of Critical Resistance, an organization dedicated to dismantling the prison-industrial complex.
Key texts: Are Prisons Obsolete? (2003) and Abolition Democracy (2005).
Davis is a foundational thinker in the prison abolition movement. She argues that prisons are a modern extension of slavery and racial capitalism.
Co-founder of Critical Resistance, an organization dedicated to dismantling the prison-industrial complex.
Key texts: Are Prisons Obsolete? (2003) and Abolition Democracy (2005).
B. Black Feminism and Intersectionality
Davis’s work emphasizes intersectionality—how race, class, gender, and sexuality intersect in systems of oppression.
Her book Women, Race & Class (1981) is a landmark study of the often-fraught relationship between the feminist and civil rights movements.
She critiques mainstream feminism for neglecting the struggles of Black, working-class, and incarcerated women.
Davis’s work emphasizes intersectionality—how race, class, gender, and sexuality intersect in systems of oppression.
Her book Women, Race & Class (1981) is a landmark study of the often-fraught relationship between the feminist and civil rights movements.
She critiques mainstream feminism for neglecting the struggles of Black, working-class, and incarcerated women.
C. Anti-Capitalism and Internationalism
Davis frames racism and sexism as integral to global capitalism and imperialism.
She has been a lifelong advocate for Palestinian rights, drawing connections between Black liberation and anti-colonial struggles worldwide.
She actively supports movements like Black Lives Matter, viewing them as heirs to the radical traditions she helped build.
Davis frames racism and sexism as integral to global capitalism and imperialism.
She has been a lifelong advocate for Palestinian rights, drawing connections between Black liberation and anti-colonial struggles worldwide.
She actively supports movements like Black Lives Matter, viewing them as heirs to the radical traditions she helped build.
5. Academic and Public Role
Professor Emerita: Taught at the University of California, Santa Cruz, in the History of Consciousness and Feminist Studies departments until her retirement in 2008.
Authorship: Has authored over ten books blending autobiography, theory, and political analysis.
Public Speaking: Remains a sought-after global speaker on justice, abolition, and liberation.
Professor Emerita: Taught at the University of California, Santa Cruz, in the History of Consciousness and Feminist Studies departments until her retirement in 2008.
Authorship: Has authored over ten books blending autobiography, theory, and political analysis.
Public Speaking: Remains a sought-after global speaker on justice, abolition, and liberation.
6. Awards and Recognition
International Lenin Peace Prize (1979, from the USSR).
Nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame (2019).
Numerous honorary doctorates worldwide.
Featured in documentaries, songs, and art as an icon of resistance.
International Lenin Peace Prize (1979, from the USSR).
Nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame (2019).
Numerous honorary doctorates worldwide.
Featured in documentaries, songs, and art as an icon of resistance.
7. Personal Life
Identifies as a lesbian and has spoken about the importance of LGBTQ+ solidarity in liberation movements.
A vegetarian and advocate for animal rights, linking it to anti-capitalist and anti-carceral politics.
Identifies as a lesbian and has spoken about the importance of LGBTQ+ solidarity in liberation movements.
A vegetarian and advocate for animal rights, linking it to anti-capitalist and anti-carceral politics.
8. Legacy and Relevance Today
Angela Davis remains a living bridge between the civil rights era and contemporary movements. Her core ideas—especially prison abolition and intersectional feminism—have gained renewed traction in the 21st century. She represents:
Uncompromising radicalism rooted in scholarship and grassroots organizing.
Global solidarity across struggles.
The belief that freedom is a constant struggle, not a destination.
Key Quote
“I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.”
“I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.”
Conclusion
Angela Davis is far more than a historical figure from the 1970s. She is a theorist, organizer, and visionary whose work continues to shape how we understand and fight against racism, capitalism, patriarchy, and state violence. Her life underscores the power of intellectual rigor combined with relentless activism, making her one of the most influential political figures of the modern era.
Angami Zapu Phizo
Early Life & Background
- Born on 16 May 1904 in Khonoma village, Naga Hills District (now Kohima district, Nagaland), British India (then Assam Province).
- From an Angami Naga family with a history of resistance — Khonoma villagers famously fought British forces in 1847 and 1879.
- Educated by Baptist missionaries (under-matriculation level); influenced by Christianity but shaped by Naga traditions.
- Briefly joined the Indian National Army (INA) under Subhas Chandra Bose during World War II, fighting against British rule.
- Early exposure to nationalist ideas through encounters with Mahatma Gandhi and anti-colonial movements.
Political & Activist Career
- In the 1940s, joined the Naga National Council (NNC) — initially formed in 1946 as a political body representing Naga tribes.
- Elected President of the NNC on 28 December 1950 — a position he held until his death.
- Key actions:
- Declared Naga independence on 14 August 1947 (one day before India's independence), claiming Nagas were never part of British India or the Indian Union.
- Organized a plebiscite/referendum in 1951, claiming 99% support for independence (rejected by the Indian government).
- Rejected integration proposals, including the 16-Point Agreement (leading to Nagaland's statehood in 1963).
- In 1954–1956, went underground to lead armed resistance against Indian forces; formed the Naga Federal Government (NFG) and Naga Federal Army (NFA) in 1956.
- Fled to East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in December 1956 to seek international support; accused India of genocide and appealed to bodies like the International Commission of Jurists (1962).
- In June 1960, escaped to London via a secret route (using a fake passport), living in exile until his death.
- From exile, continued advocating for Naga sovereignty through writings, interviews, and appeals to the UN, British Parliament, and global forums.
- Opposed the Shillong Accord (1975) signed by some NNC leaders accepting Indian Constitution — viewed it as betrayal.
- His movement used Gandhian non-violence initially (1950s civil disobedience: boycotts, resignations) but shifted to armed struggle after Indian military deployment (1956 onward).
Legacy & Impact
- Revered by many Nagas as the "Father of the Naga Nation" for unifying diverse Naga tribes under a common identity and cause.
- Credited with modeling Nagas as "one people" beyond religious unity (e.g., Christian conversion).
- His uncompromising stance inspired later factions like NSCN (formed 1980), though the movement splintered (e.g., NNC vs. NSCN-IM/K splits).
- Criticized for contributing to prolonged conflict, ethnic divisions, and suffering in Nagaland (armed insurgency, AFSPA imposition).
- Died in exile in Bromley, London on 30 April 1990 (aged 85–86; cause: heart failure or undisclosed).
- Buried at A.Z. Phizo Memorial in Kohima, Nagaland — a site of pilgrimage and remembrance.
- Family legacy: Daughter Adino Phizo became NNC president; his vision influenced ongoing Naga peace talks and sovereignty demands.
Phizo's activism remains polarizing: a heroic patriot to supporters for asserting Naga rights and identity, but a source of division and violence to critics. His life symbolizes the Naga quest for self-determination amid India's post-colonial nation-building.
Sources: Wikipedia, E-Pao.net, India Today archives, Harvard Epicenter, University of Central Arkansas DADM project, Routledge biography (Zapuphizo: Voice of the Nagas by Pieter Steyn), and Naga media tributes.
Andre Beteille
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Andre Beteille, FBA (born 30 September 1934) is an Indian sociologist and writer. He is particularly well known for his studies of the caste system in South India. He is a Professor of Sociology at the Delhi School of Economics at the University of Delhi where he is Professor Emeritus of Sociology since 2003. He was appointed National Research Professor by the Government of India in 2007. He is a recipient of the Indian civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan.
Presently he is the Chancellor of North Eastern Hill University, Shillong, Meghalaya and formerly of Ashoka University, in India.
Bibliography
Sociology: Essays on Approach and Method, Oxford University Press, 2002.
Antinomies of Society: Essays on Ideologies and Institutions, Oxford University Press, 2000.
Chronicles of Our Time, Penguin Books, 2000.
The Backward Classes in Contemporary India, Oxford University Press, 1992.
Society and Politics in India: Essays in a Comparative Perspective, Athlone Press, 1991 (L.S.E. Monographs in Social Anthropology, no. 63).
The Idea of Natural Inequality and Other Essays, Oxford University Press, 1983 (new, enlarged edition, Oxford University Press, 1987).
Inequality Among Men, Basil Blackwell, 1977 (Italian edition published as La diseguaglianza fra gli uomini, Il Mulino, 1981).
Studies in Agrarian Social Structure, Oxford University Press, 1974.
Six Essays in Comparative Sociology, Oxford University Press, 1974 (enlarged edition published as Essays in Comparative Sociology, Oxford University Press, 1987).
Inequality and Social Change, Oxford University Press, 1972.
Castes: Old and New, Essays in Social Structure and Social Stratification, Asia Publishing House, 1969.
Caste, Class and Power: Changing Patterns of Stratification in a Tanjore Village, University of California Press, 1965.
Essays
Government & NGOs (scroll down)
Andre Beteille, social anthropologist, who resigned from the National Committee on World Conference against Racism.
While the government insists that caste-based discrimination is an "internal" matter of India, its detractors point to the need for "globalising" the issue. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) fighting for Dalit rights have charged the government with drawing the saffron curtain over the issue of human rights within the country.
Matters came to a head recently when Andre Beteille, the well-known social anthropologist, resigned from the National Committee on World Conference against Racism (NCWCR), which is preparing a draft to be presented at the Conference. Several other members who are opposed to caste-based discrimination are also apparently troubled by the implications of being part of the committee.
The government has been reiterating the declared objectives of the Conference: reviewing the progress made by the world in the fight against racial discrimination, finding ways and means to ensure better application of existing standards, increasing the awareness of people around the world about racial discrimination, and so on. While agreeing with the necessity of working towards these goals, the NGOs have been demanding the inclusion of caste-based discrimination in the agenda of the Conference. Said Dr. Ambrose Pinto, executive director of the New Delhi-based Indian Social Institute: "The U.N. needs to change the title of the Conference in such a way as to include caste discrimination. The present terminology is Eurocentric and fails to take the reality of caste-based discrimination into account." Agreeing with this view, Martin Macwan, national convener of the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights, said: "In earlier international forums, notably the Committee on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, the Government of India had successfully taken up the issue of caste-based discrimination. We do not understand why the present government does not want to take up caste-based discrimination. Why is it insisting that caste is an 'internal' matter?"
Dalit rights activists point out that the government's stand undermines India's commitment to numerous international conventions on human rights that it has ratified. They argue that it faces the risk of being exposed as a government that has not seriously addressed the crudest form of discrimination. Such an image, they say, would be detrimental to India's efforts to become a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council.
The Ministry of External Affairs, however, remains firm in its opposition to a discussion on caste-based discrimination at the Conference. Inaugurating the first meeting of the NCWCR in New Delhi on February 7, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh said that the government opposed all attempts to dilute the focus of the Conference by ascribing racial connotations to caste. He said: "We are strongly opposed to all such attempts. We must ensure that the Conference does not lose sight of its focus on racism."
Abid Hussein, a member of the NCWCR, said: "Caste-based discrimination and racial discrimination are evils. It is important to eradicate them from society. But it is not fair to take the Conference as the venue for fighting caste-based discrimination. One must remember that it is not a conference on taking up every kind of discrimination prevalent in society."
The intensity of the debate is not surprising. Understanding caste and how it came to be embedded in Indian society is a tough task, which involves the study of its cultural implications if it is seen as a religious phenomenon (Louis Dumont in Homo Hierarchicus) or its materialistic roots if it is analysed as a form of economic exploitation (Dipankar Gupta in "From Varna to Jati: The Indian Caste System from the Asiatic to the Feudal Mode of Production," Journal of Contemporary Asia, Number 10). Dalit rights activists see a similarity between race and caste in that inequality is intergenerationally transmitted in both. Said Pinto: "Prejudice and discrimination are both a part of caste and race. And what is worse is that such prejudice and discrimination are not merely personal but institutional, a part of the structure and process of the whole society. In both caste and race theories, the so-called higher or superior groups take the attitude that their culture is superior to all other cultures and that all the other groups should be judged according to their culture. What is the difference between the claims made by the white race in Europe and the upper castes in India?"
In this context, Beteille says that treating caste as a form of race is "politically mischievous and scientifically nonsensical". Citing the ineffectual attempts made in the past to identify and define race in India, Beteille says, "I am now convinced that identifying the races in the population of India will be an exercise in futility... It is sad but true that many forms of invidious discrimination do prevail in the contemporary world. But to assimilate or even relate them all to 'racial discrimination' will be an act of political and moral irresponsibility. Not content with condemning racism and racial discrimination, the U.N. now wants to take on racialism, racial discrimination and xenophobia and related intolerance. It has in its wisdom decided to expand the meeting on racial discrimination to accommodate exclusion or preference 'based on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin'. In doing so it is bound to give a new lease of life to the old and discredited notion of race that was current a hundred years ago." Making his opposition to such an exercise clear, Beteille says: "We cannot throw out the concept of race by the front door when it is being misused for asserting social superiority and bring it again through the back door to misuse it in the cause of the oppressed" ( "Race and Caste", The Hindu, March 10, 2001).
Beteille's arguments drew sharp responses from Dalit rights activists. Some of them took exception to the wording of his article and accused him of raising metaphysical arguments in scientific terms to negate the existence of caste.
Beteille, who has made a significant contribution to the study of caste in India, told Frontline: "There is a tremendous amount of genetic diversity in the Indian population. That does not mean that there are moderately identifiable races in India. Attempts have been made in the past also to divide the Indian population on the basis of race but they have ended in total failure. Thus, there are no satisfactory arguments that race is relevant to India. The argument that there is racial diversity in India falls on its face on these grounds. I agree there is an enormous amount of class- and caste-based discrimination in India but it is wrong to say that there is racial discrimination."
Activists like Macwan agree with Beteille and say that they do not see caste and race as the two sides of the same coin. But, according to them, there is a need to take up the issue of caste-based discrimination at a global forum.
The government has ignored this demand but has stated that the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution will look into the matter. Said Pinto: "The Constitution Review Commission is not a committee of Parliament. How can the government ask it to look into such a sensitive matter?"
Said Macwan: "We will appeal to all Members of Parliament to intervene in the government's decision-making process on such a sensitive issue. The membership of the committee, which is preparing the framework for the World Conference, also needs to be representative. We shall keep on lobbying at international forums to ensure that caste-based discrimination is not ignored at the Durban Conference."
The NGOs see the WCAR as the only acceptable forum to raise the issue of caste discrimination in India. Yogesh Varahade, founder-president of the Ambedkar Centre for Justice and Peace, said: "We will go to Durban to participate and highlight the discrimination based on birth and descent. World history tells us that any system based on any misleading theory for the benefit of the few at the cost of the majority, will not survive too long and is bound to collapse sooner or later."
Arun Krushnaji Kamble
Arun Krushnaji Kamble (born 14 August 1953-20 December 2009) is a prominent Indian activist, writer, and intellectual from the state of Maharashtra. He is a leading figure in the Dalit-Bahujan movement, particularly known for his work in advocating for the rights of Dalits (Scheduled Castes), Adivasis (Scheduled Tribes), Nomadic Tribes (NT), and Denotified Tribes (DNT) — the most marginalized communities in India.
He is the founder and National President of the Bharatiya Republican Paksha (BRP), a political party rooted in the ideology of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
Key Areas of Activism and Work
Championing the DNT (Vimukta) Communities:
This is arguably his most significant and lifelong work. The Denotified and Nomadic Tribes (DNTs) were historically labeled as "criminal tribes" by the British colonial government under the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871. Although "denotified" after independence, they continue to face severe stigma, harassment, and socio-economic deprivation.
Kamble has tirelessly fought for their constitutional recognition, reservation in education and jobs, and an end to police atrocities. He has organized massive rallies and agitations across Maharashtra and at Jantar Mantar in Delhi to highlight their plight.
Academic and Intellectual Contributions:
He is a prolific writer and orator in Marathi. His works critically analyze caste, social justice, and the political economy from an Ambedkarite perspective.
He has authored several books, including:
'Maharashtra: Ek Mahan Dharavi' (Maharashtra: A Great Slum) - A critical analysis of caste and power structures in Maharashtra.
'Dalit Chetna ani Sahitya' (Dalit Consciousness and Literature)
'Bharatiya Republican Ghadari' (The Indian Republican Revolution)
He was a Professor of Marathi and served as the Head of the Department of Marathi at Siddharth College, Mumbai (a college founded by Dr. Ambedkar himself).
Political Activism:
As the head of the Bharatiya Republican Paksha (BRP), he follows the political philosophy of Dr. Ambedkar and the legacy of leaders like Kanshi Ram.
His political activism focuses on consolidating the fragmented Dalit-Bahujan vote into a powerful, independent political force that prioritizes social justice over aligning with mainstream national parties.
He is a sharp critic of both the BJP's Hindutva politics and what he sees as the compromised stance of traditional Dalit parties.
Fight for Housing and Land Rights:
Kamble has been a vocal advocate for the housing rights of the urban and rural poor. He has led agitations demanding the regularization of slums and the provision of affordable housing for marginalized communities in Mumbai and other cities.
Ideological Stance
Arun Kamble is a staunch Ambedkarite. His ideology is centered on:
Annihilation of Caste: Following Ambedkar's core mission.
Social Democracy: Emphasizing constitutional morality, secularism, and equal rights.
Educational and Economic Empowerment: Viewing education as the primary tool for liberation.
Political Assertion: Believing in the need for an independent political voice for the oppressed, free from the influence of both upper-caste dominated parties.
Controversies and Criticism
Direct and Blunt Rhetoric: He is known for his fiery, uncompromising speeches, which often draw criticism from political opponents and those in power.
Political Rivalries: He has been critical of other Dalit leaders and parties, leading to tensions within the broader Dalit movement in Maharashtra.
Arrests and Legal Battles: His activism, particularly in organizing protests, has sometimes led to confrontations with authorities and legal cases.
Legacy and Significance
Voice for the Most Marginalized: Arun Kamble has brought sustained national attention to the issues of Denotified and Nomadic Tribes, a community often overlooked even within broader Dalit discourse.
Bridge Between Academia and Activism: He represents the strong tradition of scholar-activists in the Ambedkarite movement, using his intellectual work to inform and fuel grassroots organizing.
Keeper of the Ambedkarite Flame: In a complex political landscape, he is seen by his supporters as an uncompromising guardian of Ambedkar's radical ideology, constantly pushing for its implementation in its truest form.
In summary, Arun Kamble is a formidable and polarizing figure in contemporary Maharashtra's social justice landscape. He is not just a politician but a mass leader, an intellectual, and a relentless campaigner for India's most stigmatized and impoverished communities, firmly rooted in the revolutionary ideals of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
Ayyankali
Early Life & Background
- Born on 28 August 1863 in Venganoor village, Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) district, Travancore, to parents Ayyan and Mala in a poor Pulaya family of agricultural labourers.
- Faced severe caste discrimination: Pulayas were barred from public roads, schools, temples, covering upper bodies (for women), and basic human interactions; upper castes considered even their shadows polluting.
- Illiterate himself (no formal education due to caste barriers), but self-taught and exceptionally perceptive; worked as a farm labourer and later cleared jungles for a landlord, earning a small plot of land (rare for Dalits then).
- Tall and strong (reportedly 6 ft 6 inches), he was warned not to play with upper-caste boys or assert equality.
- Married Chellamma in 1888; had seven children.
Activism & Major Struggles
Ayyankali's activism began in the 1890s–1900s, using innovative, direct-action tactics (strikes, boycotts, cultural resistance) rather than petitions alone.
- Villuvandi Samaram (Bullock Cart Rebellion, 1893): Defied the ban on Dalits using public roads by riding an ox-cart from Venganoor to Neyyattinkara. When attacked by upper-caste gangs, it escalated into the first armed Dalit resistance in modern Indian history; he fought back with supporters, leading to clashes but forcing concessions.
- Right to Education & School Strikes: Organized agricultural labourers' strikes (first successful in Kerala) against upper-caste landlords to demand Dalit children's admission to government schools. In 1907–1910, Pulaya children were admitted after prolonged agitation.
- Dress Code & Dignity Struggles: Fought against the "breast tax" or restrictions on Pulaya women's upper-body covering; advocated for equal dignity.
- Sadhu Jana Paripalana Sangham (SJPS, 1907): Founded the Association for the Protection of the Poor (later Pulaya Mahasabha), uniting oppressed castes (Pulaya and others) for education, land rights, labour rights, legal aid, and self-respect. Raised funds for Pulaya-run schools and published journals.
- Political Representation: Nominated in 1910 as the first Dalit member of the Sree Moolam Popular Assembly (Travancore's legislative council). Demanded and secured concessions like education access, land reforms, and social support for downtrodden groups.
- Other efforts: Promoted land ownership, economic independence, and unity among oppressed castes; staged cultural dramas protesting Dalit oppression.
Legacy & Recognition
- Died on 18 June 1941 (aged 77–78) in Venganoor.
- Praised by Mahatma Gandhi during his 1937 visit to Venganoor.
- Commemorative statue unveiled by Indira Gandhi in 1980 at Kowdiar Square, Thiruvananthapuram.
- Honoured as a pioneer in Kerala's renaissance; his methods (strikes, organization-building) influenced later Dalit movements.
- Remembered as a revolutionary organizer — first to lead successful agri-labour and school strikes, first Dalit in assembly.
- Modern tributes: Featured in books, articles, and events (e.g., birth/death anniversaries in 2025–2026); seen as an icon of democratization, equality, and anti-caste resistance.
Ayyankali's fearless, strategic activism — rooted in self-respect and collective action — challenged Travancore's rigid caste system and laid foundations for inclusive rights in Kerala. He remains an enduring symbol of Dalit dignity and empowerment.
Sources: Wikipedia, The Satyashodhak (2023), Countercurrents (2021), The Better India (2017), Forward Press (2019–2020), BYJU'S, HuffPost India (2016), and recent tributes (2025).
Ayya Vaikundar
Ayya Vaikundar (1809–1851), also known as Siva Narayana or Vaikunda Swami, was a prominent 19th-century social reformer, spiritual leader, and founder of the Ayyavazhi faith in southern India, particularly in what is now Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Born into a marginalized Nadar family, he is revered by his followers as an incarnation of Vishnu (Narayana) who emerged to combat social inequalities, caste oppression, and religious hierarchies during the colonial era in Travancore. His movement blended indigenous beliefs with reformist ideals, emphasizing equality, fraternity, and human dignity, making him a pioneering activist who transformed religious reform into a grassroots people's movement.
Early Life
Born as Muthukutty (or Mudisoodum Perumal) on March 12, 1809, in Poovandanthoppe (now Swamithoppe) village near Kanyakumari in the princely state of Travancore, he came from a humble background. His parents were Ponnu Madan and Veyilal Amma, and he belonged to the Nadar (Shanar) community, which faced severe caste-based discrimination. From a young age, he showed a deep interest in Vishnu worship, setting up a small shrine at home. At 17, he married Thirumalammal, who had left her previous husband to be with him. In his early twenties, he fell gravely ill for a year, an event that marked the beginning of his spiritual transformation.
Spiritual Awakening and Incarnation
According to Ayyavazhi mythology detailed in the scripture Akilathirattu Ammanai (Akilam), Vaikundar's divine incarnation occurred in 1833. During a festival at the Thiruchendur temple, his mother took him to the sea for a ritual bath, where he disappeared into the waves. He re-emerged as Ayya Vaikundar, embodying the supreme deity to destroy the evil force of Kali (not the goddess, but a metaphorical embodiment of societal ills) and establish Dharma Yukam (an age of righteousness). This event, celebrated annually as Ayya Vaikunda Avataram around March 3–4, is seen as his divine manifestation.
Following this, he undertook a rigorous six-year penance (Thavasu) in Swamithoppe, divided into three two-year phases: standing in a pit, squatting on the ground, and sitting on a platform. During this period, he appeared ascetic, with long matted hair and simple attire, and performed acts like exorcising evil spirits through possession rituals (peyattam) and stripping shamans of their esoteric powers. These actions built his reputation as a divine figure, attracting followers who addressed him as Vaikuntacami.
Teachings
Vaikundar's philosophy, rooted in the concept of Koyapunem or Ayyavazhi, promoted a monotheistic view where God (Eka-Paran or Narayana) is supreme, and all humans are equal as children of this divine entity. Key teachings included:
- Equality and Fraternity: "Uplift of the lowly is dharmam" – emphasizing dignity, self-respect, and fearlessness for the oppressed.
- Eradication of Evil: He taught that transforming society through righteous living would naturally destroy Kali Yukam (age of vice) and usher in Dharma Yukam.
- Simplicity in Worship: Rejection of idol worship, caste rituals, and Sanskrit; instead, he advocated Tamil prayers, community gatherings, and ethical living.
- Vegetarianism and Discipline: Through programs like Thuvayal Thavasu, he encouraged simple diets, meditation, and moral conduct.
- Humanism: Slogans like "One Caste, One Religion, One Clan, One World, One God" underscored unity and opposed divisions.
His oral teachings were compiled into texts like Pathiram, Sivakanta Athikara Pathiram, and Thingal Patham, while his disciple Hari Gopalan Citar helped record the Akilam, which forms the core scripture of Ayyavazhi.
Social Reforms and Activism
As an activist, Vaikundar directly challenged the rigid caste system, feudal oppression, and colonial influences in Travancore and Tirunelveli. His reforms were revolutionary for the time:
- Community Dining (Samapanthi-bhojana): Organized shared meals where people of all castes ate together, breaking taboos.
- Access to Resources: Dug common wells (Muthirikinarus) for lower castes denied water from upper-caste sources.
- Symbolic Equality: Introduced Thottu Namam (applying sacred paste on foreheads) for all, symbolizing the divine in every soul; encouraged lower castes to wear turbans and dhotis, traditionally reserved for higher castes.
- Education and Empowerment: Pioneered schools in Nizhal Thangals (simple worship centers without idols) to educate marginalized communities.
- Opposition to Taxes and Rituals: Fought discriminatory taxes on lower castes and simplified marriages without Brahmin priests or Sanskrit, making them inclusive.
- Women's Rights: Advocated for gender equality, allowing women participation in rituals and promoting their dignity.
He openly criticized the Travancore king as the "Devil in Ananthapuri" and British rule as the "Rule of White Devils," leading to his arrest in 1838. Imprisoned for 110 days in Singarathoppe jail, he endured torture but was released in 1839 on the advice of the king's guru, Thycaud Ayya (a disciple of Vaikundar). Post-release, he continued establishing Nizhal Thangals, performing miracles, and leading processions.
Vaikundar did not convert people to a new religion but reformed existing practices without distorting cultural identities, making his activism unique in uplifting the downtrodden Nadars, Pulayars, and Ezhavas.
Key Events
- 1833: Divine incarnation at Thiruchendur.
- 1833–1839: Penance and early miracles.
- 1838–1839: Arrest and imprisonment.
- Post-1839: Establishment of Nizhal Thangals, symbolic marriages to seven virgins (representing deities), and compilation of scriptures.
- 1851: Passed away on June 3; his tomb at Swamithope Pathi became a major pilgrimage site.
Legacy
Vaikundar's influence persists through Ayyavazhi, with over a million followers today, centered around five Pathis (sacred sites) like Swamithope. His reforms laid the groundwork for later social movements in India, inspiring figures in the fight against casteism. Temples and festivals continue his traditions, promoting non-violence, equality, and community welfare. Historical records, including London Missionary Society reports from the 1830s–1840s, confirm his impact despite colonial biases.
Recent Controversies
In March 2024, Tamil Nadu Governor R. N. Ravi sparked debate by portraying Vaikundar as a "saviour of Sanatan Dharma" against British evangelization, claiming his teachings embodied Hindu equality. This drew criticism from Ayyavazhi leaders, politicians, and historians, who argued it misrepresented his anti-caste activism as aligned with mainstream Hinduism, ignoring his challenges to societal hierarchies.
Ankita B.K.
1. Background and Identity
Full Name: Often recorded as Ankita Bishankhe or Ankita B.K. (Bishankhe/B.K. indicates her Dalit caste lineage, commonly Kami/Bishwokarma or similar occupational Dalit caste in Nepal).
Caste: Belongs to the Dalit community in Nepal – a group historically designated as "untouchable" and subjected to severe socio-economic and religious exclusion. Nepal’s Dalits are stratified into multiple sub-castes, with Kami, Sarki, Damai, and Bishwokarma being among the most populous.
Social Context: Dalits in Nepal face systemic discrimination in education, employment, temple entry, water access, and social interaction. Dalit women experience intersectional oppression due to caste, gender, and often class.
2. Activism and Organizational Work
Ankita emerged as a vocal youth leader within Nepal’s Dalit feminist movement:
Affiliation: She is actively associated with the Feminist Dalit Organization (FDO), a pioneering Nepali NGO founded in 1994 by Durga Sob. FDO’s motto is “Dalit women’s empowerment through rights-based activism.”
Key Focus Areas:
Youth Mobilization: Represents and organizes Dalit youth, emphasizing education, digital advocacy, and leadership.
Intersectional Advocacy: Addresses caste-based discrimination compounded by gender inequality – tackling issues like domestic violence, restricted mobility, and economic dependence specific to Dalit women.
Awareness and Legal Advocacy: Conducts workshops on Dalit rights, constitutional provisions, and legal remedies against caste-based discrimination. Pushes for implementation of Nepal’s Caste-Based Discrimination and Untouchability (Crime and Punishment) Act, 2011.
National & International Advocacy: Has represented Dalit issues at UN forums, including the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), Human Rights Council, and CSW (Commission on the Status of Women), calling for global attention to caste oppression.
3. Key Contributions and Public Voice
Media and Speeches: Regularly writes and speaks in Nepali media about Dalit women’s realities – from unequal pay to social boycott and sexual violence.
Movement Building: Part of a younger generation linking local activism to global solidarities (e.g., connecting with transnational Dalit and racial justice movements).
Educational Advocacy: Stresses the need for inclusive and discrimination-free education for Dalit children and scholarships for Dalit youth in higher education.
4. Challenges and Risks
Faces backlash and threats for challenging deep-seated caste norms.
Operates in a context where Dalit activists, especially women, are often silenced or stigmatized as “divisive.”
Works with limited resources in rural and urban marginalized Dalit communities.
5. Significance and Legacy
Represents the intergenerational continuity of Dalit feminism in Nepal, following pioneers like Durga Sob.
Embodies the shift from silent suffering to public protest among Nepal’s Dalit youth.
Highlights how caste in South Asia is a transnational human rights issue, requiring global accountability.
6. Quotes and Philosophy
Often stresses: “Our dignity is not negotiable. Our freedom is tied to the end of caste apartheid.”
Emphasizes self-representation: “Nothing about us without us.”
7. How to Support or Learn More
Follow FDO Nepal on social media or their website for updates on campaigns.
Read reports by the National Dalit Commission of Nepal or International Dalit Solidarity Network.
Amplify voices of Dalit activists through ethical sharing of their content.
Ankita’s activism reminds us that caste is not just a tradition but a violent structure – and Dalit women in Nepal are at the forefront of dismantling it through grassroots and global advocacy.
Asha Kowtal
Early Life and Education
- Born into a Dalit family in India (specific details on birthplace or family background are not widely publicized in public sources).
- Holds a Master's degree in Social Work, which she has applied to organize and advocate for marginalized communities.
- Her activism draws from personal and collective experiences of caste discrimination, inspiring her focus on building resilience among Dalit women.
Key Roles and Organizations
- Former General Secretary of the All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch (AIDMAM; All India Dalit Women's Rights Forum/Platform), a national platform under the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR). AIDMAM is a pioneering Dalit women-led movement fighting multiple layers of discrimination.
- Founder/leader of initiatives like DalitWomenFight.org, which runs grassroots campaigns against structural violence targeting the most marginalized women.
- Part of steering committees and networks, including WinG-India (a women's network advancing leadership for Dalit, Tribal, and Northeast women in governance).
- Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity (AFSEE) at the London School of Economics (cohort around 2019), recognizing her global human rights contributions.
Major Activism and Campaigns
- Dalit Women's Self-Respect March (Dalit Mahila Swabhiman Yatra): In the early 2010s (around 2012–2014), she led this historic march across northern India to document and protest caste-based sexual violence, rape, and atrocities against Dalit women. It highlighted how the state often dismisses cases with compensation instead of justice ("Achcha rape hua hai, take this money and get lost").
- North American Tour (2014–2015): With AIDMAM, she toured the U.S. and Canada to "break the silence on caste apartheid and caste rape," building solidarity with Black Lives Matter activists and other oppressed groups fighting state violence and systemic racism.
- International advocacy: Spoken at events in Europe, the UN, and global forums; featured in UN Women's Virtual Reality series on women's activism and Courage to Question VR episodes.
- Focus areas: Ending violence against Dalit women/girls, economic/social/cultural rights, building political spaces for Dalit women, critiquing government failures, and connecting Dalit struggles to global anti-oppression movements (e.g., links to Black feminist resistance).
- Emphasizes that Dalit women's resistance has deep historical roots in cultural forms (songs, poems, books) and that true liberation requires intersectional approaches—addressing caste, gender, and patriarchy together.
Personal Style and Impact
- Known for fierce resilience, compassionate sisterhood, and transformative politics grounded in grassroots organizing.
- Her work exposes how institutions (state, police, judiciary) perpetuate caste and patriarchal violence while marginalizing Dalit voices.
- She has been a panelist at high-profile events (e.g., Women in the World Summit) and interviewed widely for her insights on caste-based discrimination.
Recent Status (as of 2026)
- Continues as a Dalit rights activist and thought leader, participating in global discussions (e.g., OHCHR events on women human rights defenders).
- No major recent shifts in role reported; she remains active in advocacy, writing (e.g., contributions to The Wire), and movement-building.
Asha Kowtal stands as a trailblazer in India's Dalit feminist movement, amplifying the voices of the most oppressed and forging international alliances to challenge entrenched inequalities. Her legacy lies in making caste-gender intersections visible and demanding accountability from both Indian society and global human rights frameworks.
Ammu Swaminathan
One of the arrogant inmates in the Vellore jail once called a sanitary worker “Shudrachi” (making her caste as her identity). Ammu, even though belonging to a Nair stood up against this and sternly replied to the inmate,
“I am Shudrachi too. Now say what do you want?”
Born: 1894, India
Died: 1978, Palakkad district
Ammu Swaminathan was an Indian social worker and political activist during the Indian independence movement and also a member of the Constituent Assembly of India.
Ammu never went to school. She received only a rudimentary education at home, to prepare her for married life. After her father’s death, through Sambandam System, she was later married to Dr. Subbarama Swaminadhan.
Under her husband's tutelage, her life transformed and blossomed. She studied, honed her skills and transformed to be one of the prominent faces in the pre-independence struggle of India.
Ammu was very conscious of the arrogance of the upper-caste. By all the means, she constantly tried to unsettle them by standing against it. She was also a member of the committee for drafting the Indian Constitution. ALong with numerous social work, she had a political career and went to Russia (erstwhile USSR), China, USA, and Ethiopia as a goodwill ambassador. She also served as the President of the Bharat Scouts and Guides from 1960 to 1965.
Amar Nath
Early Life and Background
- Birth: September 27, 1918 (some sources mention 1928, but September 27, 1918 is the more consistently cited date in detailed tributes).
- Place of Birth: Village Champa, near Batote, in what was then Udhampur district (now Ramban district), Jammu and Kashmir.
- Community: Born into a Megh (also known as Bhagat or Meghwal) family, which is a recognized Scheduled Caste (SC) community in Jammu & Kashmir. The Megh community historically faced severe caste-based discrimination, untouchability, social exclusion, and economic marginalization, typical of Dalit groups.
- Family: Son of Shri Moti Ram and Shrimati Janki Devi. He married Shrimati Shanti Devi at a young age and had a son and a daughter. His family continues to live in the Champa area.
- Education and Early Career: Completed school education up to middle standard in Batote. He initially worked in the Notified Area Committee in Batote and later in the Health Department of the state government. Despite modest beginnings, he resigned from his government job to dedicate himself fully to social activism and the emancipation of depressed classes.
Activism and Struggle
- Early Work: From his early years in Batote, he campaigned against untouchability and worked for Dalit emancipation. He was active in local organizations like the Megh Mandal (which later merged into the Harijan Mandal in 1940).
- Move to Jammu: In the mid-1960s, he shifted to Jammu city to expand his mission. He rented a room in the Shaheedi Chowk area, making it the headquarters for his activities. He connected with other Dalit leaders such as Babu Parmanand, Babu Milkhi Ram, Bhagat Chajju Ram, Pashori Lal, and Mahasa Nar Singh.
- Focus: His lifelong work centered on fighting caste oppression, promoting social justice, and securing constitutional rights (especially reservations in jobs and education) for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and other marginalized groups. He was influenced by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's ideals and worked under organizations like the Depressed Classes League (of which he became the J&K president).
- Key Achievement – The 1970 Reservation Struggle: Despite reservations being implemented in central government jobs (thanks to Dr. Ambedkar), the Jammu & Kashmir state government refused to extend similar provisions for SC/ST in state services even decades after independence. This led to widespread resentment.
- In May 1970, Bhagat Amar Nath led delegations, processions, demonstrations, and public meetings across Jammu province.
- When the government ignored demands, he issued an ultimatum and began an indefinite hunger strike (fast unto death) on May 21, 1970, at Karan Park (opposite the Civil Secretariat) in Jammu, along with supporters like Chaino Ram, Simer Dass, Kishori Lal, and others.
- He refused food, water, and medical treatment despite deteriorating health and appeals from doctors (including Dr. Manhas).
- His condition worsened rapidly in the hot May-June summer. On May 31, he was forcibly shifted to SMGS Hospital, but he passed away in the early hours of June 1, 1970.
Martyrdom and Legacy
- Supreme Sacrifice: Bhagat Amar Nath became a martyr ("Shaheed") and is remembered as the "Martyr of Reservation." His death shocked the state government, forcing it to wake up and implement reservations for SC/ST in services shortly afterward (via orders like Notification No. 37 GR of 1970 and later confirmations in 1973).
- Impact: His fast created a powerful wave across J&K, leading to the inclusion of reservation provisions that had been denied for decades. Thousands of SC/ST families in the region benefit from his sacrifice to this day.
- Tributes and Remembrance:
- His Shaheedi Divas (martyrdom anniversary) on June 1 is observed annually with tributes, conventions, and meetings by Dalit organizations, BSP, SC Welfare Associations, and others (e.g., in Jammu, Batote, Bhadarwah, Kishtwar, and even virtually).
- Recent events (up to 2025) include conventions at places like Prem Resort, Muthi (Jammu), and speeches honoring him as a revolutionary leader.
- He is described as an emancipator, great revolutionary, socialist, and champion of Dalit Samaj with a spotless image.
- Family Aftermath: Tragically, some sources mention post-martyrdom controversies, including attempts by certain leaders to exploit his death politically and even character assassination efforts to deny his widow family pension.
In summary, Shaheed Bhagat Amar Nath was a courageous, self-sacrificing activist who rose from a disadvantaged SC (Megh) background to become a symbol of resistance against caste injustice. His ultimate sacrifice in 1970 directly led to the implementation of reservations in Jammu & Kashmir, making him a hero of social justice and Dalit empowerment in the region. His legacy continues to inspire movements for equality and constitutional rights.
Anita Vijay Jambhulkar
Anita Vijay Jambhulkar (also referred to as Anita Jambhulkar) is a Maharashtra-based social activist known for her grassroots work in community development, women's issues, and local governance in Pune and surrounding areas.
Background and Early Activism
- She is associated with Pune, Maharashtra, and has been active in social and civic spheres since at least the early 2000s.
- Anita Jambhulkar belongs to the category of grassroots women activists who engage in local-level advocacy, often focusing on citizen rights, community welfare, and participation in democratic processes.
- She has been involved in social forums, discussions, and movements addressing everyday issues faced by ordinary citizens, including marginalized sections.
Political and Electoral Involvement
- In the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) elections (notably around 2002–2007 period), she contested as a candidate from the Yerwada ward/area.
- She was described as a first-time candidate and social activist taking on more established or seasoned politicians.
- Her participation was highlighted in media reports (e.g., Times of India coverage in 2002) as part of a trend where independent or activist-backed candidates challenged traditional political players in local body elections.
- She represented a voice for direct citizen engagement and social concerns in municipal politics.
Key Contributions and Appearances
- Anita Jambhulkar has participated in public discussions, symposia, and activist gatherings focused on social issues.
- She was among the distinguished speakers or participants at events organized by groups working on social justice, community empowerment, and citizen welfare.
- Notable mention includes her presence at a symposium in March 2010 organized by NIRMAN (a Pune-based social organization), alongside other prominent activists like Aparna Mane, Suman Gaikwad, Sunita Bhosale, and others. The event focused on themes related to social reform, community building, and collective action.
- Her work aligns with broader efforts by women activists in Maharashtra to address local governance, transparency, and inclusion in civic spaces.
Community and Legacy
- She is recognized as part of the network of Maharashtra women social activists who combine community service with occasional electoral politics to amplify grassroots voices.
- While not as widely documented in national or international media as some prominent Dalit or anti-caste figures, her contributions represent the important role of local-level activists in sustaining civic engagement and social awareness in urban Maharashtra.
- Her activism appears rooted in practical, ground-level issues rather than high-profile ideological movements, making her a representative of citizen-driven change in municipal contexts.
Anita Vijay Jambhulkar's profile reflects the strength of ordinary women entering public life to address local challenges. For more recent updates on her activities, local Pune news sources, activist networks in Maharashtra, or civic forums in Yerwada/Pune would be useful, as many such grassroots figures maintain a lower national media profile but remain active at the community level.
Basanti Devi
She was wife of activist Chittaranjan Das. After Das' arrest in 1921 and death in 1925, she took an active part in various movements and continued with social work post-independence. She received Padma Vibhushan in 1973. (Picture Credit- Alchetron)
Basanti Devi, born on March 23, 1880,and died in the year 1974 was an Indian independence activist during the British rule in India. She was the wife of activist Chittaranjan Das. After Das' arrest in 1921 and death in 1925, she took an active part in various movements and continued with social work post-independence. She received Padma Vibhushan in 1973.
Basanti Devi was born on 23 March 1880 to Baradanath Haldar, a diwan in Assam state under the colonial rule of British. She studied at the Loreto House, Kolkata and married Chittaranjan Das at the age of seventeen.
Subhas Chandra Bose considered Basanti Devi as his adopted mother and after the demise of political guru Chittaranjan Das he used to ask for her advises quite often.
B. Krishnappa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
B. Krishnappa
Born 9 June 1938
Died 30 April 1997 (aged 58)
Nationality Indian
Prof. Basappa Krishnappa (1938–1997) was one of the pioneers of the Dalit literary movement in Kannada and the founder president of Dalit Sangarsha Samiti, the radical Dalit advocacy group. He taught at the Sir M. Vishweshwariah College in Bhadravathi for thirty years before retiring as principal. He is acknowledged as an important literary critic.
Krishnappa was born in Madiga Community, in Harihara, Davangere District to Dasappala Basappa and Chowdamma.
Movement
A social revolutionary, Krishnappa's presence is felt in most of the landmark Dalit struggles of Karnataka, especially those aimed at getting land for Dalits and fighting for Dalit women's self-respect.
Literature produced by the satiated and the flabby, who consume antacids to digest their food, who live in multi-storied buildings and commute only by car and airplane, has no appeal for me. For such people, literature is an aesthetic luxury, written to kill time. Protest literature is not written for this Tata-Birla five percent who lead a lavish life. Our engagement today is with the starving, the helpless, those who eat from the wastebins outside hotels, the homeless who live in railway stations, bus stands, those who steal food and clothing and die without a history. Aesthetics is not primary for us. When over 60 per cent of our population live below the poverty line, shedding their blood in fields and factories and rotting in ignorance, anyone who says that he writes for aesthetic pleasure, or for literary values, can only be called irresponsible.
"Dalit Literature" in The Exercise of Freedom: An Introduction to Dalit Writing, Ed. Satyanarayana and Tharu
B. Krishnappa, along with Siddalingaiah and others, was one of the founders of Dalita Sangharsha Samiti.
Baby Kamble
Early Life
Baby Kamble was born around 1929 in Veergaon village, Purandar taluka, Pune district, Maharashtra, into a Mahar family facing extreme poverty, caste discrimination, and social exclusion. From childhood, she witnessed the harsh realities of untouchability—segregation, humiliation, and denial of basic rights. Influenced deeply by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's call for liberation and self-respect, she joined the Dalit movement at a young age. She attended public meetings and rallies organized by Ambedkarite activists, which ignited her commitment to social change. Despite patriarchal restrictions (her father prevented her mother from participating in public life), she asserted her own space and became actively involved.
Activism and Social Work
Kamble was a veteran of the Dalit movement in Maharashtra, inspired by Ambedkar's radical leadership. She emphasized that women played a major role in the struggle, often as the "real doers" behind community progress. Key aspects of her activism included:
- Joining the Mahila Mandal (women's group) in Phaltan, Satara district, formed by Raja Malojiraje Nimbalkar and his wife Lakshmibai. This organization focused on Dalit women's rights to education, employment, and emancipation, while also advocating broader social equality.
- Fighting caste-based oppression, poverty, and violence through community organizing and awareness campaigns.
- Establishing a government-approved residential school (ashram shala) in Nimbure village near Phaltan for children from socially backward and disadvantaged communities. The school promoted holistic development, education, self-reliance, and awareness of social rights, creating safe spaces for marginalized youth and instilling values of equality and independence.
- Championing women's rights, human rights, and intersectional feminism—she highlighted how Dalit women faced compounded exploitation under caste patriarchy, advocating for their dignity, agency, and control over their bodies and lives (including early advocacy for birth control).
She excelled in multiple roles: teacher, entrepreneur, human rights advocate, and community builder. Her work reflected Ambedkarite principles—education as liberation, collective upliftment over individualism, and resistance against Brahmanical dominance.
Literary Contributions
Babytai Kamble is best known for her groundbreaking autobiography Jina Amucha (Marathi: "Our Life"), published in 1986 and translated into English as The Prisons We Broke (2008, translated by Maya Pandit). Widely regarded as the first autobiography by a Dalit woman in Marathi—and possibly in any Indian language—it is a collective narrative rather than purely individual. It chronicles:
- The pre-Ambedkar era hardships of the Mahar community: extreme poverty, caste violence, untouchability practices, and patriarchal subjugation of women.
- The transformative impact of Ambedkar's movement, leading to "rebirth" through self-awareness, conversion to Buddhism, and collective resistance.
- Intersectional oppression: how caste and gender intersected to "imprison" Dalit women in cycles of exploitation, while portraying their resilience and agency.
The book subverts traditional casteist portrayals in Indian literature, rejects self-pity, and serves as an anti-caste manifesto. It reclaims memory, documents community history, and inspires future Dalit women writers. She also wrote poetry collections and other works, often hiding her writing for years due to social constraints.
Legacy
Babytai Kamble passed away on April 21, 2012, at around 82–83 years old. Her contributions continue to inspire Dalit feminists, Ambedkarite activists, and scholars. She is remembered as a chronicler of Dalit women's lived experiences, a pioneer of Dalit feminism, and a symbol of purposeful determination. Her words anchor struggles in community solidarity, urging transcendence of individual concerns for broader equality and freedom. Awards honored her literary and social contributions, and her autobiography remains a key text in Dalit studies, gender studies, and anti-caste literature.
Bant Singh
Bant Singh, a Mazhabi Sikh (Dalit Sikh) activist from Punjab, whose story is one of extraordinary resilience, struggle, and justice.
Who is Bant Singh?
Bant Singh is a Mazhabi Sikh (Dalit Sikh) agricultural labourer, activist, and singer from Jhabbar village in the Mansa district of Punjab, India. He became a symbol of resistance after surviving a brutal attack aimed at silencing his fight for justice for his daughter and against caste oppression. Died on 7 January 2006.
Background: The Caste Context
Mazhabi Sikh: This community falls under the Scheduled Caste (Dalit) category in Punjab. Historically marginalized, they primarily work as landless agricultural labourers, often facing severe socio-economic exploitation and caste-based violence from dominant landowning castes (often Jatt Sikhs).
Initial Activism: Bant Singh was an active member of the CPI(ML) Liberation and later the Mazdoor Mukti Morcha (MMM), a trade union and activist organization fighting for the rights of landless Dalit labourers—demanding fair wages, land rights, and dignity.
The Catalyst: Fighting for His Daughter
In 2000, Bant Singh’s eldest daughter, Baljit Kaur, was sexually assaulted by three upper-caste men from a politically influential family in his village. The police initially refused to file an FIR. For years, Bant Singh waged a relentless legal and public battle against immense pressure, threats, and social boycott. His unwavering struggle led to the conviction of the perpetrators in 2002, who were sentenced to life imprisonment by a sessions court in 2004—a rare victory for a Dalit against powerful upper-caste assailants in rural Punjab.
The Brutal Attack (January 5-6, 2006)
As retribution for his activism and for "daring" to challenge the powerful, Bant Singh was attacked by unknown assailants (widely believed to be hired by the families of the convicted men) while he was returning home.
Nature of the Attack: He was ambushed and brutally beaten with iron rods and axes.
Consequences: He was left for dead. His injuries were so severe that doctors had to amputate both his arms and one of his legs to save his life. He also suffered multiple fractures in his remaining leg.
The attack was intended to be a fatal warning to any Dalit who dared to seek justice.
Aftermath and Continued Activism
Bant Singh’s story did not end with the attack. It became a rallying cry.
Miraculous Survival & Resilience: Defying all odds, he survived. His spirit remained unbroken. From his hospital bed and later his wheelchair, he became an even more potent symbol of Dalit resistance.
A Voice Amplified: A folk singer even before the attack, Bant Singh used music as his weapon. He sings powerful protest songs (Jhoori, Tappe, Dhola) about oppression, revolution, and hope. His voice, carrying the weight of his experience, became iconic.
Symbol & Campaigner: He tours villages, universities, and public meetings across India, inspiring countless others. His life is a testament to the phrase "Zinda hai Bant Singh, ladta rahega!" (Bant Singh is alive and will keep fighting!).
Legal Outcome for the Attack: After a long legal battle, several attackers were convicted in 2011 and given life sentences. This was seen as another victory, though the main conspirators were widely believed to have escaped full justice.
Significance and Legacy
Icon of Dalit Resistance: Bant Singh represents the fearless assertion of rights by India's most marginalized communities. He embodies the idea that even a broken body cannot crush the will to fight for dignity.
Highlighting Caste Violence in Punjab: His case brought national and international attention to the persistent, violent caste hierarchies in Punjab, often obscured by the state's relative prosperity and Sikhism's egalitarian ideals.
Cultural Resistance: He demonstrates how culture (music, poetry) can be a formidable tool in political and social struggle.
Inspiration: His journey from a landless labourer to a convicted survivor-activist has inspired documentaries, academic studies, and solidarity movements worldwide.
Key Recognition
His life has been documented in films like "Persistence of Resistance" and "The Last Stand of Bant Singh."
He is frequently invited to speak at human rights forums and universities.
In 2020, he was elected as a member of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee.
In summary, Bant Singh is not just a survivor of a horrific hate crime. He is a living legend of the Dalit rights movement in India—a man who, after losing three limbs, became an even more powerful voice for justice, using song and an indomitable spirit to continue the fight against caste oppression. His story is a brutal reminder of the cost of dissent for the marginalized and a profound lesson in courage.
Basaveshwara
January 1st, 1100
Anti-caste struggle by Basaveshwara
One of the first historical anti-caste movements in Karnataka was initiated by Basaveshwara in 12th century A.D. It is also popularly known as the Veerasaiva movement. According to Kancha Illaih the movement led by Basaveshwara entirely changed the philosophical discourse. Caste system and untouchability were the two institutions that the Veerashaiva movement tried to dismantle. Patriarchy, caste and the brahmanic religion as an intertwined system of domination and subjugation was examined closely, and methodically dismissed and replaced with a just system. Led by Basavanna, a new social order based on equality between genders and castes, in both words and deeds was being established. Anubhava Manatapa at Kalyan, played host to the intellectual, spiritual and metaphysical dialectics between diverse people drawn to this radical movement. For a period like that wherein caste system and untouchability were intrinsic Basaveshwara’s movement can be viewed as one of the radical anti-caste movements in the history of Karnataka. The movement not only focussed on caste but also on gender. Basavanna strongly criticised caste system and untouchability. In order to disassociate from his caste he refrained from wearing the sacred thread which is a symbol of caste superiority. The egalitarian principles propagated by him primarily attracted untouchable communities. Many of them belonged to the backward communities like barbers, Sudras who were particularly kept out from the ritualistic discourse by the Brahmins. Like Buddhism the movement was against Brahminism. The philosophy of Basavanna questioned the authority of the priestly castes. The Vachanas (poems) composed during this period raised many questions regarding caste, untouchability, Brahminism etc. Unlike Sanskrit that was unfamiliar to large number of people, Vachanas were composed in comprehensible Kannada. The composition of Vachanas is an epoch in Kannada literature. The Vachanas composed incorporated various aspects of society. Many of the Vachanas strongly condemned caste and untouchability. Through Vacahanas he emphasised the significance the equality and human dignity particularly for those from the downtrodden sections. The Vachanas disapproved the insincerity and hypocrisy of the Brahmins. For instance in one of his Vachanas he says that “if I say I am a Brahmin, Lord Kudala Sangamadeva laughs aloud” Though the movement is mentioned has Veerashaiva movement, it is important to note that Basavanna did not attempt to create a separate caste, instead it was the ‘linga deeksha’ (offering Linga) that was provided to untouchables as a way to include them in the ‘Anubhava Mantapa’ (The hall of spiritual experience.)’ Anubhava Mantapa was a democratic platform created for social discussions and progressive activities. Basavanna recognised the fundamental problem behind the existence of caste and untouchability. The Anubhava Mantapa was a collective attempt that included notable individuals like Akkamahadevi, Allama Prabhu and saints like Channiah and Kakkaih from the untouchable caste. One of the radical steps taken by Basavanna was that he organised an inter-caste marriage between an untouchable groom and a Brahmin bride. In the history of social reform movement the inter-caste marriage organised by Basavanna remains as a remarkable achievement. The adversity against the movement was too hostile that it resulted in political chaos in the Kingdom of Kalayan. The movement led by Basavanna remains subsided in the mainstream social reform movement. However, it is one the commendable movement that revolutionized the twelfth century social order. One can equate the Vachana movement to the Bhakti movement in fact consider it as the very first Bhakti movement of Karnataka, due to its association with the spiritual sphere and it contribution to the literature. However, this particular movement stands different in comparison to the other Bhakti movements. The time period of the movement was such that the very attempt to initiate such a moment was remarkable. The impact of the movement on the society was not alone social but also political. He advocated a political philosophy of representation of the voiceless. At present the followers of Basavanna claim themselves to be Lingayats and form one of the dominant castes in Karnataka. With time, the movement initiated by Basavanna has diverted from its original purpose, the main idea of anti-caste and anti-Brahminism has vanished. Nevertheless it continues to be the foundation of the social reform movements in South India. Basavannas teachings remain as one of the progressive thoughts in the history of reform movements.
Born: 1105, Basavana Bagewadi
Died: 1168, Kudalasangama
Sect: Lingayatism (Sharana)
Parents: Madalambike, Madiraja
Bodheswaran
Here is a detailed breakdown of his background and significance:
Background & Community
Birth & Caste: He was born on 28 December Kochu Govindan in 1901 in Neyyattinkara, Travancore (present-day Kerala). He was born into the Pulaya community, one of the major Dalit groups in Kerala, who were subjected to severe caste oppression, untouchability, and denial of basic human rights during that period.
Early Life: He experienced caste discrimination firsthand, including being barred from entering temples, schools, and public spaces—a reality that deeply influenced his later activism.
Key Aspects of His Activism
Bodheswaran was part of the social revolutionary movement in Kerala alongside other major figures like Sree Narayana Guru, Ayyankali, and Poykayil Appachan. His work focused on:
Spiritual Reformation & Self-Respect: He became a sanyasi (monk) and took the name Bodheswarananda. He used spiritual discourse and bhajans (devotional songs) to awaken a sense of self-respect and empowerment among Dalits and other oppressed communities. His songs, often in simple Malayalam, carried powerful messages against caste hierarchy and for social equality.
Temple Entry Movement: He was an active participant in the struggle for the right of Dalits to enter Hindu temples, a central issue in early 20th-century Kerala.
Education & Empowerment: He strongly advocated for education as a tool for liberation and established schools and study circles for Dalit children.
Connection with Narayana Guru: He was a devoted follower of Sree Narayana Guru, the great social reformer from the Ezhava community (another backward but not "untouchable" community). Under Guru's guidance, Bodheswaran's activism combined spiritual and social elements.
Legacy
He is remembered as a "Dalit saint-revolutionary" who used spirituality not for otherworldly pursuits but as a weapon for social justice.
His devotional songs (Bodheswaran Pāṭhaṅgaḷ) remain popular in Kerala, especially among progressive and socially conscious groups, and are seen as anthems of social awakening.
He represents the strand of the anti-caste movement that combined religious idiom with radical social reform to mobilize the masses.
In summary:
Yes, Bodheswaran was unequivocally from a disadvantaged Dalit (Pulaya) community, and his life’s work was dedicated to fighting the very caste oppression he was born into. He is a significant, though sometimes less highlighted, figure in the history of Kerala's social reformation movement.
Basawon Singh
Early Life & Background
- Born on 23 March 1909 in a poor farming family in Subhai Jamalpur village, Hajipur (now in Vaishali district, formerly Muzaffarpur), Bihar.
- From a modest background (some sources describe his family as Bhumihar Brahmin, an upper-caste agrarian community in Bihar, though he dedicated his life to championing the downtrodden, including Dalits and workers from lower castes like Kole, Bhuians, Chamars, etc.).
- Passionate about independence from childhood: At age 8, he ran away to hear Mahatma Gandhi speak; joined the freedom struggle actively by age 13.
- Education disrupted: Walked miles to school but was rusticated from college after matriculation for participating in nationalist activities.
- Joined revolutionary groups early, including the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association/Army (HSRA/HRA) led by Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad.
Political & Activist Journey
- Participated in the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920s) as a young activist.
- Imprisoned multiple times during the freedom struggle for anti-colonial actions.
- In December 1936, joined the Congress Socialist Party (CSP) — a left-wing caucus within the Indian National Congress — and became its labour secretary.
- Co-founder of the CSP in Bihar alongside Yogendra Shukla.
- Pioneered trade unionism: Active from 1936 onward; organized workers in industries (e.g., Rohtas Industries, Japla Labour Union, coal mines); founded/led unions affiliated with Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS).
- Campaigned for workers' rights, against exploitation, and for democratic socialism (believing socialism without democracy leads to dictatorship, and democracy without socialism is fraudulent).
- Post-independence:
- Architect of the Socialist Party after CSP split from Congress (1948).
- National executive member (1939–1977); Bihar state president for years.
- Elected to Bihar Legislative Assembly from Dehri-on-Sone (1952); served as Leader of Opposition (1952–1962).
- Member of Bihar Legislative Council (1962–1968).
- Cabinet Minister in Bihar's first non-Congress coalition government (1967) under Mahamaya Prasad Sinha (resigned soon due to inability to fully serve the poor).
- Re-elected in 1977; served as Cabinet Minister for Labour, Planning, and Industry in the Janata Party government until his death.
- Contributed to the formation of the Janata Party (1977 merger of socialist and opposition groups).
Key Beliefs & Legacy
- Committed to democratic socialism, workers' rights, and upliftment of the underprivileged (industrial/agricultural labourers, often from marginalized castes).
- Known for integrity: Lived frugally, never amassed wealth, and was respected for honesty.
- His activism bridged revolutionary armed struggle (early HSRA phase) with Gandhian/non-violent mass movements and post-independence parliamentary socialism.
- Book honour: Basawon Sinha: A Revolutionary Patriot (1999), released by President K.R. Narayanan (India's first Dalit President), with contributions from leaders like Chandra Shekhar.
- Legacy: Remembered as a true patriot, labour champion, and Bihar socialist icon; influenced generations in trade unions and leftist politics.
Personal Life
- Married to Kamala Sinha (a politician and diplomat; grandniece of Syama Prasad Mukherjee, founder of Bharatiya Jana Sangh).
- Died on 7 April 1989 at age 80.
Basawon Singh's life exemplifies selfless dedication to India's freedom, socialism, and the working class — a lesser-known but profoundly impactful figure in modern Indian history.
Beena Pallical
Early Life & Background
- Born into a Dalit family in India (exact birth date and place not widely detailed publicly).
- Came from a relatively supportive family that provided access to education and basic needs — unlike many in her community who faced extreme deprivation.
- Left a corporate job to move to Delhi and commit full-time to Dalit rights work, driven by a desire to address systemic challenges facing Dalits (especially women).
- Her activism spans over a decade+, evolving from grassroots work to high-level policy and international representation.
Activism & Key Roles
- General Secretary of Dalit Arthik Adhikar Andolan (DAAA) — the economic rights wing of the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), where she has worked for over a decade.
- Focuses on Dalit economic rights, gender equity in policy, and demanding inclusion of Dalit women in decision-making.
- Coordinates the National Coalition on Special Component Plan (SCP) / Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) Legislation — pushing for proper allocation and utilization of funds earmarked for Dalits and Adivasis in government budgets.
- Chair of the Asia Dalit Rights Forum (ADRF) — a regional platform amplifying Dalit voices across South Asia (India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan), fighting for gender, economic, and social justice.
- Executive Director (or key leader) of programs like the South Asia Dalit Women’s Economic Empowerment Program (funded by UN Women’s Fund for Gender Equality, 2016 onward), implemented with partners in multiple countries.
- Advocates for:
- Economic justice: Better budget allocations, land rights, employment, and anti-poverty measures for Dalits/Adivasis.
- Gender equity: Inclusion of Dalit women in policy formulation; addressing "double discrimination" (caste + gender).
- Anti-discrimination: Stronger enforcement of laws against caste violence, untouchability, and exclusion.
- International arena: Works with UN Human Rights, UN Women, and other bodies; co-organizes parallel events to global forums.
- Key milestone: In 2023, became the first Dalit woman to address the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), highlighting caste discrimination and calling for global recognition of descent-based discrimination as a human rights issue.
- Contributes to critiques of government policies (e.g., Union Budgets' impact on marginalized groups) and COVID-19's disproportionate effects on Dalit women (e.g., sanitation workers).
Views & Contributions
- Emphasizes solidarity across movements despite challenges: "Solidarity is essential, despite being a dream" (2025 interview).
- Critiques systemic inequality: Caste remains a harsh reality shaping lives; seeks Dalits' "due share" of services, opportunities, and representation.
- Focuses on policy change: Pushes for equitable public/private sector solutions, gender-inclusive budgeting, and protection from exploitation.
- Intersectional approach: Combines Dalit rights, feminism, and economic justice; mentors younger activists and amplifies Dalit women's voices.
Recognition & Legacy
- Featured in global platforms: UN Women ("Take Five" interview, 2018), OHCHR stories (2021), Rafto Foundation mentions, and media like The Wire, Youth Ki Awaaz, and The Mooknayak.
- Role model: Praised for historical UNGA address and policy expertise on caste/gender justice.
- Active on LinkedIn and through NCDHR/ADRF networks; based in Delhi.
- Continues advocacy (as of 2026), influencing South Asian Dalit movements and international human rights discourse.
Beena Pallical stands out as a strategic, policy-oriented Dalit feminist leader — moving from corporate life to frontline activism, she has elevated Dalit women's economic and social rights to national and global stages.
Sources: NCDHR official site, IHRB profile, Dalit Voice (2025 interview), UN Women/OHCHR (2018/2021), The Mooknayak (2023), Oxfam/LinkedIn, and related media reports.
Bojja Tharakam
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bojja Tharakam
Born 27 June 1939
Kandikuppa village of East Godavari district, India
Died 16 September 2016 (aged 77)
Hyderabad, India
Nationality Indian
Political party Schedule caste student federation, President Republican Party of India
Spouse(s) Vijaya Bharati
Children Dr. Mahita, Rahul Bojja (IAS)
Bojja Tharakam (27 June 1939 – 16 September 2016) was a well-known poet, writer, social and political activist and a senior human rights advocate in India. Tharakam was a committed lawyer in the Andhra Pradesh State High Court, fighting against the problems that Dalits have had to confront.
Biography
Early age
Bojja Tarakam was born in Kandikuppa village of East Godavari district to his parents Appalaswamy and Mavullamma. His father, Bojja Appalaswamy, was one of the SCF leaders in coastal Andhra and was elected twice to the legislative Assembly from Amalapuram constituency in East Godavari district, in 1951 and 1955.
Cases
Chundur Massacre/Tsunduru massacre (1991)
He was senior public prosecutor Tsunduru massacre case in the Andhra Pradesh High Court. During an interview with Dalit Camera he said that the judgment in the Tsundur case was biased, illogical and casteist to protect their Reddy caste people. The reasoning given by the high court is contrary to all principles of criminal jurisprudence and appreciation of evidence. The trial court which gave the first judgment had elaborately discussed the evidence, the entire evidence, and come to a conclusion which is unassailable. But unfortunately the high court, throwing all the norms and canons of justice to the winds, gave a very unscientific reasoning, which is unknown to criminal jurisprudence, and acquitted all the accused. [This is opinion, not fact.]
He was a human rights activist and stood specially for the rights of Dalits. He also filed case against the encounters by police in Supreme court and demanded that these officers should be booked and the probe should be set up for them. He won the case in Supreme Court of India.
Karamchedu (17 July 1985)
He resigned from the High Court as a sign of protest in 1984 against the attacks on Dalits in Karamchedu in Prakasam district of AP.
He founded AP Dalita Maha Sabha. He worked all his life to spread the ideas of Dr B R Ambedkar in the society especially among the youths.
Death
He died on 16 september 2016 at his residence in Hyderabad after battling with cancer for 3 years .
Books
Mahad:The March That's Launch Everyday in 2018 published by The Shared Mirror Publishing House, Hyderabad.
(Poem) Naalage Godavari (Godavari is Like Me) in 2000.
Brezil Prajala Bhuporatam (The Brazilian's fight for the Land) in 2003 (published by Janapada Vignana Kendram, Hyderabad).
Newspaper run by him is Neela Zenda from Andra Pradesh.
Major Works "Police arestuceseta 'caste-category', 'ground-plow-mudeddulu' 'Panchatantra' (novel)," the born-throat '
B. Shyam Sunder
B. Shyam Sunder (21 December 1908 – 19 May 1975) is a renowned and highly respected social activist, educationist, and institution-builder from Telangana, India. His life's work is dedicated to the education, rehabilitation, and empowerment of the most marginalized sections of society, particularly street children, child laborers, orphans, and children with disabilities.
Unlike activists known for agitation or political rhetoric, Shyam Sunder is known as a pragmatic "doer" who translates compassion into sustainable institutions.
Core Philosophy & Driving Force
His philosophy is rooted in the belief that education is the most powerful tool for social transformation. He emphasizes "4-E": Education, Employment, Empowerment, and Equality. His approach is holistic, addressing not just schooling but also health, nutrition, psychological support, and vocational skills to break the cycle of poverty.
Key Contributions and Legacy
1. Founding the Sweekar Group (A Lifeline for Thousands):
This is his magnum opus. What began as a small initiative is now the Sweekar Upkaar Group of Institutions, a sprawling network in Hyderabad serving as a mother institution for multiple causes:
Sweekar Upkaar School: Provides free, quality English-medium education, meals, uniforms, and healthcare to children from slums and low-income families.
Residential Care: Hostels and homes for orphans, abandoned children, and children of struggling parents.
Vocational Training: Programmes in tailoring, computer skills, nursing assistance, etc., for youth and women to achieve economic independence.
Special Education: The Sweekar Rehabilitation Institute for Handicapped (SRIH) is a pioneering center for children with intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy, autism, and hearing impairments, offering therapy, training, and education.
2. Championing Child Rights & Rehabilitation:
He has been instrumental in rescuing and rehabilitating street children and child laborers, offering them a safe haven, counseling, and integrating them into mainstream education.
His model focuses on "rehabilitation through affection and education" rather than institutional custody.
3. Grassroots Community Mobilization:
His work extends beyond campus walls through:
Adult literacy programs.
Health camps and awareness drives in urban slums and rural areas.
Mobilizing community participation and volunteerism.
Background and Motivations
Early Life: While detailed personal biography is kept private, it is widely reported that witnessing poverty and the plight of underserved children in his surroundings deeply moved him from a young age. This personal empathy became the catalyst for his mission.
Professional Calling: He left a potential career in the corporate world to dedicate himself fully to social service, starting with minimal resources and a powerful vision.
Awards and Recognition
His work has been recognized through numerous awards, including:
State Best Teacher Award (from the Government of Andhra Pradesh).
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Award
Mother Teresa Award
For the Sake of Honour Award from the Rotary Club.
Recognition from various national and international NGOs and civic bodies.
Public Persona and Style of Activism
The Quiet Reformer: He is not a fiery orator or a political figure. He is widely seen as a humble, soft-spoken, and intensely focused individual whose actions speak louder than words.
Institution Builder: His legacy is tangible—the schools, hostels, and training centers that stand as testaments to his vision.
Trusted Figure: He has earned the deep trust of the communities he serves and the donors who support his transparent, outcome-oriented work.
Why Caste is Irrelevant to His Narrative
Shyam Sunder’s public identity is defined solely by his humanitarian work. He has never invoked caste in his advocacy. The media and his organizations profile him as an educationist and child rights activist, not as a representative of a particular community. Speculating about his caste undermines the universal, inclusive nature of his mission, which serves children from all backgrounds.
Summary: His Lasting Impact
B. Shyam Sunder exemplifies the power of compassionate pragmatism. He did not just protest against societal ills; he built a concrete, replicable alternative. He transformed the concept of charity into one of dignity and opportunity.
His true "caste," in a metaphorical sense, is that of a nation-builder. He represents the idea that the most profound social change often comes not from the podium but from the classroom, the workshop, and the caring home. His legacy is not measured in speeches but in the thousands of children whose lives he has literally rebuilt from the streets to self-sufficiency.
BASANTA KUMAR BISWAS
INDIAN REVOLUTIONARY
Birth : 6 February 1895, Nadia district, West Bengal, India
Death : 11 May 1915, Ambala, Ambala district, Haryana, India (aged 20 years)
BIOGRAPHY
Basanta Kumar Biswas (6 February 1895 – 11 May 1915) was an Indian pro-independence activist involved in the Jugantar group who, in December 1912, is believed to have bombed the Viceroy's Parade in what came to be known as the Delhi-Lahore Conspiracy. He was initiated into revolutionary movement by Jugantar leaders Amarendranath Chattopadhyaya and Rash Behari Bose.
Early life:
Basanta Kumar Biswas was born on 6 February 1895 at Poragacha in Nadia district of West Bengal, to Matilal and Kunjabala Biswas. He belongs to the family of freedom fighter Digamabar Biswas, an active leader of the Indigo revolt (or Nilbidroha) and freedom fighter Manmathnath Biswas. He started his schooling at his village and then he moved to M. I. School in nearby village Madhavpur with his cousin Manmathnath Biswas. M.I school was established by social reformer and freedom fighter Gagan Chadra Biswas. In 1906, Basanta was moved to Muragacha school. Khirodh Chandra Ganguly was principal in Muragacha school. Under his guidance Basanta started his journey of freedom fight. Later he was recruited by Rash Behari Bose and trained in arms and bombs. Rash Behari Bose often called him Bishe Das.
Revolutionary activities
On 23 December 1912, Biswas, disguised as a woman, threw a bomb at Lord Charles Hardinge, who was riding with his wife on an elephant during a procession at Chandni Chawak, Delhi. Hardinge escaped with flesh wounds, but his Mahout was killed in the attack. But the authors of the deed remained obscure for many months despite the state’s intense investigation, and lucrative reward. Biswas was arrested on 26 February 1914 in Poragachha, Nadia while he went to perform the last rites for his father. The trial, which came to be called the Delhi-Lahore Conspiracy Case, began on 23 May 1914 in Delhi, and Basanta was found guilty on 5 October and sentenced to life imprisonment. Three other men were condemned to death at the same trial: Amir Charid, Abadh Behari, and Balmokand.
However, the Government was eager to have the death penalty imposed so an appeal was formulated at Lahore High Court and the records held at Ambala Central Jail were tampered with to show that Biswas was two years older than he really was to impute legal responsibility for his offence. The Crown won its appeal and Biswas was sentenced to be hanged.
Basanta Kumar Biswas was hanged on 11 May 1915 at Ambala Central Jail in Punjab aged twenty and became one of the youngest people to be executed during the Indian revolutionary struggles during the 20th century.
There is a statue of Basanta Biswas established by Rasbihari Basu in a park of Tokyo, Japan. Another statue is situated infront of Rabindra Bhawan, Krishnanagar, Nadia. On the request of Sankariswar Dutta of Gobrapota Subhendu Memorial Seva Pratisthan the Loka Sabha Speaker Meera Kumar has installed a photo of Basanta Kumar at the Museum of the Indian Parliament. Ujjal Biswas, an Indian politician and the present Minister for Technical Education in the Government of West Bengal belongs to the family of Basanta Biswas.
B. Krishnappa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Prof. B. Krishnappa (1938–1997) was born in Madiga Community, in Harihara,Davangere District.His father name is Dasappala Basappa and mother Chowdamma.His family was his strength.he is a pioneer of the Dalit literary movement in Kannada and the founder president of Dalit Sangarsha Samiti, the radical Dalit advocacy group. He taught at the Sir M. Vishweshwariah College in Bhadravathi for thirty years before retiring as principal. He is acknowledged as an important literary critic.
B. Krishnappa was a pioneer of the Dalit literary movement in Kannada and the founder president of Dalit Sangarsha Samiti, the radical Dalit advocacy group. He taught at the Sir M. Vishweshwariah College in Bhadravathi for thirty years before retiring as principal. He is acknowledged as an important literary critic.A social revolutionary Krishnappa's presence is felt in most of the landmark Dalit struggles of Karnataka, especially those aimed at getting land for Dalits and fighting for Dalit women's self-respect.B. Krishnappa, along with Siddalingaiah and others, was one of the founders of Dalita Sangharsha Samiti.
A social revolutionary Krishnappa's presence is felt in most of the landmark Dalit struggles of Karnataka, especially those aimed at getting land for Dalits and fighting for Dalit women's self-respect.
Literature produced by the satiated and the flabby, who consume antacids to digest their food, who live in multi-storied buildings and commute only by car and airplane, has no appeal for me. For such people, literature is an aesthetic luxury, written to kill time. Protest literature is not written for this Tata-Birla five percent who lead a lavish life. Our engagement today is with the starving, the helpless, those who eat from the wastebins outside hotels, the homeless who live in railway stations, bus stands, those who steal food and clothing and die without a history. Aesthetics is not primary for us. When over 60 per cent of our population live below the poverty line, shedding their blood in fields and factories and rotting in ignorance, anyone who says that he writes for aesthetic pleasure, or for literary values, can only be called irresponsible.
"Dalit Literature" in The Exercise of Freedom: An Introduction to Dalit Writing, Ed. Satyanarayana and Tharu
B. Krishnappa, along with Siddalingaiah and others, was one of the founders of Dalita Sangharsha Samiti.
Booker Taliaferro Washington
Remembering Booker T. Washington
1. Early Life – Born into Slavery
Birth: Born enslaved on a 207-acre tobacco plantation in Hale’s Ford, Virginia. His mother, Jane, was the plantation cook; his father was an unknown white man.
Living conditions: Slept on the dirt floor of a windowless 14×16 ft log cabin with his mother and two siblings.
Post-Emancipation (1865): At age 9, the family moved to Malden, West Virginia. Booker worked in salt furnaces from 4 a.m., then in coal mines—carrying 100-lb sacks for $0.50–$1 per week.
2. Quest for Education
First school: Attended a freedmen’s school while working; taught himself the alphabet from a spelling book.
Hampton Institute (1872): Walked and hitchhiked ~500 miles to enroll. Worked as a janitor to pay tuition. Graduated with honors in 1875.
Key mentor: General Samuel C. Armstrong (Hampton’s founder) shaped Washington’s philosophy of industrial education + self-reliance.
3. Founding Tuskegee Institute
1881: Alabama legislature allocated $2,000/year for a “Normal School for Colored Teachers” in Tuskegee.
July 4, 1881: Washington opened the school in a shanty church with 30 students and one teacher (himself).
Growth:
Students made the bricks, built the buildings, and farmed the land.
By 1915: >100 buildings, 1,500 students, 200 faculty, and a $2 million endowment.
Curriculum: Emphasized practical trades (carpentry, bricklaying, agriculture, printing, sewing) alongside academics.
4. The Atlanta Compromise (1895)
Cotton States Exposition Speech (Sept 18, 1895):
“In all things that are purely social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress.”
Core idea: Black Americans should postpone demands for social equality and focus on economic self-improvement through vocational skills.
Immediate impact: Catapulted him to national fame; white philanthropists (Carnegie, Rockefeller) poured funds into Tuskegee.
5. Philosophy & Strategy
Focus Booker T. Washington W.E.B. Du Bois (Critic)
Path to progress Vocational training + economic independence Higher education + political agitation
Social equality Accept segregation temporarily Demand immediate civil & voting rights
Public stance Accommodationist Confrontational
6. Influence & Power
“The Tuskegee Machine”: Controlled Black appointments under Presidents T. Roosevelt & Taft (e.g., port collector jobs).
Secret activism: Quietly funded anti-lynching campaigns and legal challenges to segregation (e.g., Giles v. Harris, 1903).
Advisor to presidents: Dined with Theodore Roosevelt at the White House (1901) – first Black guest, sparking Southern outrage.
7. Major Works
Year Book / Pamphlet Key Theme
1900 Up from Slavery (autobiography) Rags-to-leadership story; sold 75,000 copies in months
1901 The Future of the American Negro Industrial education as solution
1911 My Larger Education Reflections on leadership
8. Criticism
W.E.B. Du Bois (1903, The Souls of Black Folk): Called Washington “the Great Accommodator”; accused him of surrendering voting rights.
“Atlanta Compromise” backlash: Seen by some as accepting permanent second-class status.
9. Death & Legacy
November 14, 1915: Died of congestive heart failure (age 59) in Tuskegee; buried on campus.
Honors:
First Black on a U.S. coin (1946–1951 commemorative half-dollar).
U.S. postage stamp (1940).
Tuskegee University still thrives.
Bāhila
Bāhila (Arabic: باهلة, also transliterated as Bahila or al-Bāhila) was an ancient Arab tribe primarily based in Najd (central Arabia), particularly in the fertile al-Yamāma region (around modern-day Riyadh area in Saudi Arabia). The tribe had a mixed lifestyle: part of it was settled (engaged in agriculture, mining, and trade in oases and towns like Ḥajr in Wādī Ḥanīfa), while another part remained semi-nomadic (Bedouin-style herding and raiding in the surrounding deserts).
Genealogy and Origins
The tribe's name derives from Bahila, a woman who was the wife of Malik ibn A'sur ibn Sa'd ibn Qays (from the Qays branch of northern Arabs). After Malik's death, she married his brother Ma'n. The genealogy is described as somewhat complicated in classical sources (e.g., by Werner Caskel in his studies on Arab tribes). The Bāhila belonged to the broader Adnanite (northern Arab) confederation, specifically linked to Qays or northern Arabian lineages, though they were often associated with the Rabīʿa or neighboring groups in central Najd.
They were distinct from similar-sounding tribes like Bajīla (بجيلة), which originated south of Mecca and played a major role in early Islamic conquests (e.g., under Jarir ibn Abd Allah al-Bajali in Iraq).
Pre-Islamic Period
References to the Bāhila in pre-Islamic (Jāhiliyya) sources are relatively scarce compared to larger tribes like Banū Ḥanīfa (also of Yamāma) or Tamīm. Known mentions include:
- A battle involving the tribe.
- The slaying of a warrior named al-Muntashir from Bāhila.
- They were renowned for industrial activities, such as mining for metals used in armaments (weapons and tools), reflecting their settled economic base in resource-rich Yamāma.
- The tribe produced eloquent poetry (qasidas), with surviving poems from poets like Mālik b. [various] providing literary and historical insights into al-Yamāma society. They ranked as the third tribe in Yamāma with preserved qasidas, useful for studying regional history, tribal rivalries, and cultural values.
The Bāhila were pagan (following Arabian polytheism) before Islam, like most central Arabian tribes.
Role in Early Islam (7th Century Onward)
The tribe's history becomes clearer with the rise of Islam in the mid-7th century CE:
- Many Bāhila tribesmen converted to Islam during or shortly after the time of Prophet Muhammad.
- Significant migration occurred during the early Islamic period: Groups moved to Syria (under Umayyad rule) and Basra (in Iraq), integrating into garrison cities and participating in conquests and administration.
- Notable figures: Abu Umamah al-Bahili (d. ca. 81 AH/700 CE), a companion (Sahabi) of the Prophet, known as a prolific transmitter of hadith who outlived many other companions.
- Other individuals from Bāhila served in military or scholarly roles, including under caliphs like Ali (some supported him in conflicts like Siffin, though the tribe was sometimes seen as neutral or divided).
- In some accounts, the tribe was involved in internal Arabian dynamics, such as alliances or rivalries in Yamāma (near the false prophet Musaylima's Banū Ḥanīfa).
Reputation and Later Perceptions
- In pre-Islamic and early Islamic poetry/satire, belonging to Bāhila was sometimes stigmatized as a "mark of ignobility" — the tribe faced ridicule or low status in tribal hierarchies (ʿaṣabiyya), possibly due to their mixed settled-nomadic life or economic roles (e.g., mining seen as less prestigious than pure Bedouin raiding/herding).
- This negative stereotype persisted in some classical literature, but scholars like Ḥamad al-Jāsir (20th-century Saudi historian) worked to rehabilitate their reputation using ethnographic data like marital patterns to affirm authentic Arabian lineage.
- Some Bāhila elements migrated further during Islamic expansions, settling in regions like al-Andalus (Spain), where they integrated into local societies.
Legacy
The Bāhila contributed to central Arabian history through their economic activities in Yamāma (a key pre-Islamic hub for trade, agriculture, and poetry), early adoption of Islam, and participation in the expansion of the caliphate. Their poetry and tribal history offer valuable insights into Najd's social fabric before and during Islam's emergence. Today, descendants may trace lineage in Saudi Arabia or diaspora communities, though tribal identities have evolved significantly in modern times.
Overall, the Bāhila represent a typical mid-sized Najdi tribe: economically versatile, culturally productive in poetry, and adaptive during the transition from Jahiliyya to Islamic rule, though often overshadowed by larger neighbors in historical narratives.
Bhagya Reddy Varma
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bhagya Reddy Varma
Born 22 May 1888
Died 18 February 1939 (aged 50)
Occupation Educational Activist
Social Reformer
Modern Thinker
Deccan Revolution Leader
Spouse(s) Madare Ragmamba
Bhagya Reddy Varma (22 May 1888 – 18 Feb 1939) was an Indian political leader, social reformer and activist. He fought against untouchability in Hyderabad State. He also fought for abolition of Jogini and Devdasi systems.
Early life
Reddy was born in Mala caste to Madari Venkaiah and Julia Ragmamba in the Princely State of Hyderabad.
Movements
Inspired by Jyotirao Phule, he raised his voice against discrimination by upper castes. Eventually, he also established the Adi Hindu ("Original Hindu"), a social organisation, to bring awareness in the dalits. He formed a group called Jagan Mitra Mandali in 1906, which involved Dalits and Malas, and started telling stories by 'Hari Katha' (popular folklore). In year 1910, he started to educate dalit children from his own expense and in a short span of time he able to run 25 centres with 2000 students.
1911 Adi Hindu social services started
1912 promoted Buddhism
In 1917, in a conference at Vijayawada town, 'Pratam Andhra - Adi Hindu' meeting was held. In same year, Bhagya Reddy Verma's speech attracted much to M.K Gandhi's attention at 'Akhila Bharata Hindu' Round Table Conference in Calcutta. In 1919 a meeting held with Jangamulu, Dasulu, Mulnavasi, for the Adi Hindu beneficial program. The purpose of this event was to resolve the internal issues in the Dalit community, he even insisted the panchayat court system to be rebuilt. The first Adi Hindu conference was held in 1921 in Hyderabad led by T.J.Papanna.
In 1925, in a conference led by N.M.R. Mukund Reddy has been officially allotted to him as chief head who led this meeting to successfully. In same year, the Adi Hindu Hand Skills Exhibition was held to showcase the Dalits skills. Bhagya Reddy also campaigned on many social issues, e.g - Child Marriage, Black Magic, Women Education, Alcohol prohibition etc. His work was spread to neighboring states Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Andhra, from their some well known people joined and followed the revolution.
In 1930 in an historical speech he announced to take the dalit issues to the British notice in the upcoming All India Round Table Conference at Lucknow in the same year. He supposes to send Dr.B.R Ambedkar to lead the group. The agenda was to recognize the Dalits as Adi Hindu rather than untouchables, Mala or Madiga.
In 1931, the Nizam government has come forward to agree the demands of Reddy, and registered the dalits as Adi Hindus in the general elections. Nizam Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII praised Reddy for his social work, and recognised it with an award. Later, the Nizam appointed Varma as the chief adviser to his government. Adi Hindu Bhavan at Chadarghat, Hyderabad been the platform for many revolutionary meetings. It is said that he has given nearly 3,348 speeches.
Bhagya Memorial Girls High School at Esamia Bazar, Koti, Hyderabad, Telangana, which he started in 1913 is still functioning.
Devadasi Movement
Reddy had launched a movement against devadasi pratha, forcing the Nizam to declare it a crime.
During the Telangana Movement in 2017, the students of Telangana region renamed the G. M. C. Balayogi Athletic Stadium at Gachibowli as Bhagya Reddy Varma Stadium.
Honour
Arya Samaj in 1913 organised a function to honour him with the title Varma.
Bhagwan Das
A Legendry Ambedkarite
By S.R.Darapuri
Countercurrents.org
Mr. Bhagwan Das was born in an Untouchable family at Jutogh Cantonment, Simla (Himachal Pradesh), India on 23 April 1927. He served in the Royal Indian Air Force during World War II and after demobilisation served in different capacities in various departments of Government of India at Saharanpur, Simla and Delhi. He did M.A. in History (Punjab University) and LL.B from Delhi University. He did research on the ‘Indianisation of the Audit Department from 1840-1915'. He has been contributing articles and short stories to various papers and journals published in India.
His father Mr. Ram Ditta was fond of reading newspapers and a great admirer of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. Inspired and encouraged by his father, Mr. Das worked with Mr. T. R. Baidwan of Simla who was the most prominent leader of the Untouchables in Simla Hills, and joined the Scheduled Castes Federation at the tender age of 16. Since then he has been actively associated with the Ambedkarin movement and has done a great deal to promote the ideas of Babasaheb Ambedkar and to unite and uplift the downtrodden not only of India but also of other countries of Asia. Mr. Das is associated with many organisations of lawyers, Buddhists, Scheduled Castes and Minorities in India. He was General Secretary, United Lawyers Association, Supreme Court, New Delhi; General Secretary, Bouddh Upasak Sangh, New Delhi; Founder Chairman, Ambedkar Mission Society which has branches in many parts of the world; Revived Samata Sainik Dal (Vounteers for Equality) founded by Dr. Ambedkar in 1926-27; Regional Secretary (North). Indian Buddhist Council; Founder, Society for the Protection of Non-Smokers; Founder President of Society for Promoting Buddhist Knowledge; edited Samata Sainik Sandesh (English) 1980-1990.He was also the main person behind publication of “Bheem Patrika” an Urdu and the Hindi magazine published from Jullundar (Punjab).
His mother tongue is Urdu. He learnt English from class 7 th . His command over English and his British accent compelled many to label him as a “Black English Man.” He is Adib Fazel in Persian. He can speak and write in Hindi and Punjabi. Just like Dr. Ambedkar he was not allowed to read Hindi and he had to take up Persian at school. His knowledge about Dr. Ambedkar, Buddhism, Hindu Castes, Religion and many more subjects is so vast and thorough that he is often marked as a “Moving Encyclopaedia.” He is very modest and simple which made Bhadant Anand Kaushlayan to remark, “You are so humble.”
He was married to Ramabai (Lucknow) on 9 February, 1957 through the mediation of Shiv Dayal Singh Chaurasia who was a member of the Parliament. He has one son Rahul and two daughters Zoya and Shura. He became a Buddhist in 1957. His devotion to Ambedkarian movement is very high and he is known as a True Ambedkarite.
He remained in close contact with Dr. Ambedkar at Delhi from 1942 till his death. He also adopted Buddhism in 1956 when Dr, Ambedkar launched his Buddhist Conversion Movement on 14 th October, 1956. He has written his autobiography which has been published as “In the Pursuit of Ambedkar” in English and :”Baba ke Charnon me”in Hindi. A documentary film on his life has also been prepared by S. Anand of Navyana.
Mr. Das has been associated with the ‘Peace Movement' since the end of World War II, in which he served on the Eastern Front with the Royal Air Force (RAF) under South East Asia Command. He is one of the founder members of the World Conference on Religion and Peace (WCRP) (India) and has participated in the Conferences held in Kyoto, Japan, 1970; Princeton USA (1979); Seoul, Korea (1986); Nairobi. Kenya (1984) and Melbourne Australia (1989). He was appointed Director, Asian Centre for Human Rights (Asian Conference on Religion and Peace) in 1980 and continued to serve in this capacity till 2004 monitoring the news of violation of human rights in Asian countries and organising camps for training of human ‘ rights workers, speaking and writing for the cause.
Mr. Das was invited to deliver a lecture on ‘Discrimination by the Peace University, Tokyo (1980) and also addressed several meetings organised by the Burakuminsof Japan. He gave testimony before the United Nations in regard to the plight o Untouchables in South Asia, in the meeting of Sub-Committee on Human Rights held at Geneva, Switzerland in August, 1983. He visited England in 1975, 1983, 1988, 1990 and 1991 in connection with lectures and seminars. He participated in the seminar held in ‘Hull University in 1990 as a representative of the Ambedkar Centenary Celebration Committee, UK and also a seminar on Human Rights in India held at London University, School of Asian and Oriental Studies in February 1991.
He was invited to deliver Ambedkar Memorial Lectures in Milind Mahavidyalya, Aurangahad (1970); Marathwada University (1983); Nagpur University, PWS College, Nagpur; Ambedkar College, Chanderpur and Amrraoti University in 1990.
Mr. Das also visited Nepal (1980 and 1990); Pakistan (1989); Thailand (1988); Singapore (1989) and Canada (1979) to study the problems f deprived and disadvantaged members of society, women and children. Delivered lectures in Wisconsin University (USA) 1979 and North- field College (USA) on Caste in contemporary India. He was invited to give lectures on Dr Ambedkar at the Institute of Oriental Studies, Moscow in June, 1990.
Mr. Das practices law in the Supreme Court of India. With a view to improve the professional competence of and helping upcoming advocates belonging to Untouchable and indigenous groups he founded Ambedkar Mission Lawyers Association and Legal Aid Society in 1989. He was General Secretary of ‘Professions for People', an organisation founded in Delhi to elevate professional standards.
Mr. Das was invited to preside at the Dalit and Buddhist Writers Conference held at Akola in 1989 and is closely associated with various organisations of Dalit Writers.
Mr. Das has written more than five hundred articles, papers for seminars, short stories for various newspapers and journals. His papers on ‘Revival of Buddhism'; ‘Some problems of minorities in India'; ‘Reservation in Public Services' have been published in Social Action brought out by Indian Social Institute, New Delhi and Delhi University Buddhist Department. He has written many papers on Reservation and Representative Bureaucracy, Discrimination against the Dalits in Public Services and Minorities etc. His short stories were published in Sarita (Urdu), Naya zamana (Urdu), Milap (Urdu, Bheem Patrika (Urdu and Hindi). He has edited “Slavery and Untouchability'9incomplete book written by Baba Saheb Ambedkar). He also edited “Untouchable Soldiers- Mazhbi and Mahar” written M.A. Thesis by Ardith Basham, an American Scholar. He has also written about Dalit politics under the title “Dalit Rajniti aur Sanghathan.”(Dalit Politics and Organisations)
He was a member for the ‘Committee for evolving new strategies for the development of Scheduled Castes and Tribes - VIII Plan' set up by the Government of India and also a member of Ambedkar Centenary Committee of the Government of India. Mr. Das has written many books in Urdu, English and Hindi on Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar; Untouchables; Scavengers and Sweepers; Human Rightsl Discrimination etc. Prominent among them are Thus Spoke Ambedkar (Vol I to IV Ed) a pioneer work; Ambedkar on Gandhi and Gandhism (Ed); Ambedkar Ek Parichey Ek Sandesh (Hindi); Main Bhangi hoon(Hindi), the story of an Indian sweeper told in the first- person (this book has been translated into Punjabi, Kannada and Marathi and German); Valmiki aur Bhangi Jatian (Hindi); Valmiki (Hindi); Dhobi (Hindi), Revival of Buddhism in India and Role of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar; Dr. Ambedkae Ek Parichay Ek Sandesh; Dr. Ambedkar aur Bhangi Jatiya and Bharat me Bauddh Dhamm ka punrjagran tatha samasyayen. He has translated into Urdu former President of the USA Lyndon Johnson's book ‘My. Hope for America'; Dr Ambedkar's ‘Ranade, Gandhi and Jinnah'in to Urdu; besides editing Bhadant Anand Kaushalyayan's ‘Gita ki Buddhivadi Samiksha.'
Other books in hand are “Reservation and Representative Bureaucracy in India”; “Untouchables in the Indian Army (Mahar, Mazhbi, Chuhra, Pariahs, Mangs, Dhanuks, Dusadhs, Chamars, Kolis, Bheels)”; “Mandal Commission and the Future of Backward Classes”; “Twenty-Two Oaths of Buddhism and Conversion”; “Balmiki; Ravidassis and Balmikis of Northern India”; “Buddhism and Marxism” and “Ambedkar as a Religious Leader.”
Mr. Das has toured almost the whole of India to study the problems of Hindu-Muslim riots, religious conflicts, atrocities committed on the Untouchables and tribal people, with the group ‘Threat to Diversity', ‘Swaraj Mukti Morcha and as Chairman, Samata Sainik Dal.” He is also the founder President of “Dalit Solidarity People”, an organisation aiming at uniting Hindu Dalits, Dalit Christians, Sikh Dalits, Muslim Dalits and Burakumins of Japan and Korea. Like Marx his slogan was “Dalits of the World Unite.”
Mr Bhagwan Das has been a storehouse of insight and information, his residence at Delhi has been a mandatory stopover for many renowned scholars like Eleanor Zelliot, Mark Juergensmeyer,Owen lynch, Marc Gallanter, RK Kshirsagar, Sukhadeo Thorat down to younger scholars like Vijay Prashad,Nicolas Jaoul and Maren Bellwinkel-Schempp.
We were expecting much more from Mr. Bhagwan Das but he suddenly left us on 18.11.2010. We can pay a true homage to him only by following in his footsteps.
S.R.Darapuri I.P.S.(Retd)
Basavanna
ಬಸವಣ್ಣ
Anti-caste struggle by Basaveshwara
One of the first historical anti-caste movements in Karnataka was initiated by Basaveshwara in 12th century A.D. It is also popularly known as the Veerasaiva movement. According to Kancha Illaih the movement led by Basaveshwara entirely changed the philosophical discourse. Caste system and untouchability were the two institutions that the Veerashaiva movement tried to dismantle. Patriarchy, caste and the brahmanic religion as an intertwined system of domination and subjugation was examined closely, and methodically dismissed and replaced with a just system. Led by Basavanna, a new social order based on equality between genders and castes, in both words and deeds was being established. Anubhava Manatapa at Kalyan, played host to the intellectual, spiritual and metaphysical dialectics between diverse people drawn to this radical movement. For a period like that wherein caste system and untouchability were intrinsic Basaveshwara’s movement can be viewed as one of the radical anti-caste movements in the history of Karnataka. The movement not only focussed on caste but also on gender. Basavanna strongly criticised caste system and untouchability. In order to disassociate from his caste he refrained from wearing the sacred thread which is a symbol of caste superiority. The egalitarian principles propagated by him primarily attracted untouchable communities. Many of them belonged to the backward communities like barbers, Sudras who were particularly kept out from the ritualistic discourse by the Brahmins. Like Buddhism the movement was against Brahminism. The philosophy of Basavanna questioned the authority of the priestly castes. The Vachanas (poems) composed during this period raised many questions regarding caste, untouchability, Brahminism etc. Unlike Sanskrit that was unfamiliar to large number of people, Vachanas were composed in comprehensible Kannada. The composition of Vachanas is an epoch in Kannada literature. The Vachanas composed incorporated various aspects of society. Many of the Vachanas strongly condemned caste and untouchability. Through Vacahanas he emphasised the significance the equality and human dignity particularly for those from the downtrodden sections. The Vachanas disapproved the insincerity and hypocrisy of the Brahmins. For instance in one of his Vachanas he says that “if I say I am a Brahmin, Lord Kudala Sangamadeva laughs aloud” Though the movement is mentioned has Veerashaiva movement, it is important to note that Basavanna did not attempt to create a separate caste, instead it was the ‘linga deeksha’ (offering Linga) that was provided to untouchables as a way to include them in the ‘Anubhava Mantapa’ (The hall of spiritual experience.)’ Anubhava Mantapa was a democratic platform created for social discussions and progressive activities. Basavanna recognised the fundamental problem behind the existence of caste and untouchability. The Anubhava Mantapa was a collective attempt that included notable individuals like Akkamahadevi, Allama Prabhu and saints like Channiah and Kakkaih from the untouchable caste. One of the radical steps taken by Basavanna was that he organised an inter-caste marriage between an untouchable groom and a Brahmin bride. In the history of social reform movement the inter-caste marriage organised by Basavanna remains as a remarkable achievement. The adversity against the movement was too hostile that it resulted in political chaos in the Kingdom of Kalayan. The movement led by Basavanna remains subsided in the mainstream social reform movement. However, it is one the commendable movement that revolutionized the twelfth century social order. One can equate the Vachana movement to the Bhakti movement in fact consider it as the very first Bhakti movement of Karnataka, due to its association with the spiritual sphere and it contribution to the literature. However, this particular movement stands different in comparison to the other Bhakti movements. The time period of the movement was such that the very attempt to initiate such a moment was remarkable. The impact of the movement on the society was not alone social but also political. He advocated a political philosophy of representation of the voiceless. At present the followers of Basavanna claim themselves to be Lingayats and form one of the dominant castes in Karnataka. With time, the movement initiated by Basavanna has diverted from its original purpose, the main idea of anti-caste and anti-Brahminism has vanished. Nevertheless it continues to be the foundation of the social reform movements in South India. Basavannas teachings remain as one of the progressive thoughts in the history of reform movements.
Basaveshwara
- A visionary of total revolution
*Dr. Basavaraj Sadar
It is evident that the seeds of modern concepts of ‘sarvodaya’ and ‘total revolution’ were sowed in Karnataka, during twelfth century itself by the great revolutionary-Basaveshwara. His practical approach and act of establishment of ‘Kalyana Rajya’ (Welfare state) brought a new status and position for all the citizens of the society, irrespective of class, caste creed and sex. Thus the main aim of Vachana (poetry) movement, led by Basaveshwara was welfare of all. He proclaimed this as- “Sakala jeevatmarige lesu”(welfare of all).
Being a born progressive activist, Basaveshwara revolted against all the social evils of the traditionalistic society and brought a drastic change in various facets. We often talk about the human rights in this twenty-first century, but these human rights were being enjoyed by Sharanas (Citizens of welfare society) during 12th century itself, because of the Socialistic and Democratic approach of Basavanna .
Basaveshwara was born in Bagevadi ( of undivided Bijapur district in Karnataka) during 1131 AD. His father was Madarasa and Madalambike was his mother. They belonged to Brahmin community. As a religious tradition, he was initiated with the holy thread ‘janivara’ in Upanayana, (thread ceremony) at the early age of eight years. Basavanna revolted against this tradition, cut threw his janivara, left home and went to Kudalasangama from where he was educated in all respects.
In the later stage, he went to Kalyana, where the Kalchuri king Bijjala (1157-1167, AD) was ruling. Because of his highly intellectual personality, he was appointed as a karanika (Accountant) in the initial stage, in the court of king Bijjala and later he became the Prime minister of Bijjala after proving his administrative ability.
At this stage, Basaveshwara looked around the socio-economic status of the then society, where most of the static, superstitious and anti-social elements were ruling. There was much gap between haves and have- nots and rich people were harassing the poor. Untouchability was rampant and sex discrimination made the lives of women very pathetic. Basavanna revolted against all these evils and he himself started practicing the socialistic norms to bring about drastic change in the society. Hence, he became the guiding path to others in bringing the change. He scripted his practical experiences in a novel form of literature called –Vachana (poetry). This innovative literary form is the main contribution of “Sharanas” through which they expressed their revolutionary and reformist ideology in a very simple Kannada language.
First of all Basavanna tried to change the concept of Temple which was the main centre of various types of harassments. Priests and rich people were exploiting the common folk in the name of God and temple. Thus he tried to convince the society about the real god and temple, which are within and with us only. In one of his vachana he says-
Rich build temples for shiva
What can I a poor man do?
My legs are the pillars
My body is temple
My head makes the golden cupola
Oh, Lord kudala sangama
The standing will perish
The moving will stay on.
By saying so, Basaveshwara gave two important and innovative concepts called “ Sthavara ’’and “Jangama’’, the meaning of which is “Static’’ and ‘’Dynamic’’- respectively. Both of these concepts are the main foundation stones of the revolutionary ideology of Basavanna. By ridiculing the physical structure of temple and God; which are perishable, Basavanna gave a new dimension to the human body and soul (inner spirit), by which the self respect of all human beings was boosted.
The firm and final goal of Basavanna was to establish a democratic set up of society. Hence he fought against all types of inequalities which were existing in the rigid society at that time. He raised his voice against untouchability, which was in practice since ages. He not only mingled and mixed with untouchables but also ate food with them at their homes. This gave a new courage to the downtrodden community to come forward along with others. Likewise Basavanna brought the women folk to the forefront of the society and gave them courage to sit along with men and to express their inner feelings along with pains. Anubhavamantapa, which was established by him was a common forum for all, including downtrodden, untouchables and women to discuss about the prevailing problems of socio, economic and political strata including religious and spiritual principles along with personal problems. Hence it was an open platform for all those activists who involved themselves in bringing a radical change in the contemporary society. Thus Anubhavamantapa was the first and foremost Parliament of India, where Sharanas sat together and discussed about the socialistic principles of a Democratic set up. All those discussions of Sharanas were written in the form of Vachanas and they form a dynamic type of constitution where Liberty, Equality and Fraternity are the prominent principles which are aiming towards social justice and progress.
Basaveshwara gave two more very important socio-economic principles. They are- “Kayaka” (Work-Divine work) and “Dasoha” (Distrubution-Equal distribution). According to this, every individual of the society should take up the job of his choice and perform it with all sincerity. There is no discrimination in vocations. All members of the society are labourers (Kayakajeevigalu). Some may be intellectual labourers and others may be manual labourers. Even the Guru and Jangama, who were treated as the superiors of the society also, must work. Kayaka is not mere a work, but it is the way of realising God. It teaches the concept of dignity of labour. Ultimately the Work is worship. Even the Kayaka is equated with kailasa- The Heaven. This concept gave a new movement and people of all walks of the society started loving their work and involved them self in society building task without any feeling of class, caste and sex discrimination.
Kayaka must be followed by an accurate income. The income should not be more or less. There must be an equal income for equal work. The worker (Kayakajeevi) may lead his day-today life by his hard earned income. But he should not preserve the money or property for tomorrow. He must utilise the surplus money for the society and poors. This concept is called –“Dasoha”. Thus by advocating this principle, Basaveshwara gave the concept of equal distribution of wealth to the society. Hence, Kayaka and Dasoha are the major dynamic policies, which were given by Basavanna to the field of economics.
His contribution to the judiciary is also noteworthy. All the social and democratic principles of Basavanna are based on the legal provisions of the Sharana constitution. For an example we may see one of his vachana-
Do not steel, do not kill, and do not utter lies
Do not lose your temper, do not detest others
Do not glorify yourself, do not blame others
This alone is purity within
This alone is purity without
And this alone is the way to please our lord
Kudalasangama.
This vachana of Basavanna, which has been written in 12th century itself, is highlighting the principles of Indian penal code of our present constitution.
Basaveshwara fought against all the evils of the society which were coming in the way of progress. His aim was to give a movement to the stagnated society. Hence he involved the people of all walks of the society in his movement, including women. His intention was to bring a total change in the static world. This clearly indicates that he was a visionary of a total revolution.
There are many preachers, revolutionaries, reformists, socialists, political thinkers, economists, humanists and so on in this world. But Basaveshwra was one combination of all these. Hence he is regarded as one of the greatest human being of the entire world. Mahatma Gandhi says- “It has not been possible for me to practice principles of Basaveshwara which he taught 800 years ago and which he also practiced. I have adopted few of them; I am yet to a seeker in this aspect and not an accomplished one. Eradication of untouchability & dignity of labour were among his core concepts one does not find even shade of castism in him. Had he lived during our times, he would have been a saint worthy of worship. If his followers practice his precepts you could uplift not just Bharat but the world.” -Yes, Basaveshwara was a universal human being, with the vision of Vishvodaya.
*Dr. Basavaraj Sadar is a Retd. Station Director of AIR, Bangaluru. The views expressed are personal.
http://employmentnews.gov.in/newemp/MoreContentNew.aspx?n=WebExclusive&k=16
Bhikaji Sambhaji Gaikwad
– Martyr of the Mahad Satyagraha
On March 20, 1927, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar led the Mahad satyagraha – for drinking water from the Cavdar tank at Mahad. It can be said that Mahad Satyagraha was the beginning of the political as well as social career of Dr Ambedkar
Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in his book ‘Essays on Untouchables and Untouchability’, Chapter 2, titled – ‘The Revolt of the Untouchables notes, the procession in form of fours marched past and went to the Chawdar tank, and the Untouchables for the first time drank the water. Soon the Hindus, realising what had happened, went into the frenzy and committed all sorts of atrocities upon the Untouchables who had dared to pollute the water.If there was no violence from so-called upper castes during Mahad Satyagraha, some say, the event would have been forgotten within a few days. So-called upper castes started vandalising the Dalits’ properties and started beating those who were participating in the Mahad Satyagraha. Stones were thrown by so-called upper castes on Dr Ambedkar and his close associates also. Many Dalits were injured during the Mahad Satyagraha, one among them was Bhikaji Sambhaji Gaikwad.
Bhikaji Sambhaji Gaikwad was the son of Sambhaji Tukaram Gaikwad alias Dadasaheb Gaikwad. Sambhaji Tukaram Gaikwad played a vital role in organising Mahad Satyagraha and was chairman of the reception committee at Mahad.
Bhikaji Sambhaji Gaikwad got inspired from his father and he led the youth organisation. He was the first president of the Bahishkrit Aikya Sanwardhak Mahar Samajseva Sangh, which was formed 10th August 1926. Bhikaji was a bold organiser in his own style and had a personality that could inspire others. He travelled to villages and cities to get support for Mahad Satyagraha and also recorded pitiable situation of Dalits in the various places. He toured Kokan, visiting Ratnagiri, Chiplun, Kolaba, Thane and Mumbai so tell people about the Mahad Satyagraha and raise support for the important event.
When so-called upper castes attacked Dalits participating in the Mahad Satyagraha, after Dalits had touched the water, Bhikaji Sambhaji Gaikwad was in the forefront to protect others. In this violence, Bhikaji Sambhaji Gaikwad suffered serious injuries to his head. But undaunted, he continued to conduct organisational work under the auspices of the Bahishkrit Aikya Sanwardhak Mahar Samajseva Sangh.
Gail Omvedt in her book ‘Building the Ambedkar Revolution: Sambhaji Tukaram Gaikwad and the Kokan Dalits’ (2011) notes, excessive labour in his already precarious condition caused his injuries to worsen, Bhikaji succumbed to his injury and passed away on January 5, 1929. He was only 26 years old.
Gail Omvedt goes on to record Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’s words of grief, at his cremation – ‘Dadasaheb, don’t believe that Bhikaji has gone. Believe that Bhimrao has gone and Bhikaji in my form stands before you!’.
[Source, Gail Omvedt ‘Building the Ambedkar Revolution: Sambhaji Tukaram Gaikwad and the Kokan Dalits’ ’ (2011)]
B. C. Kamble
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
B. C. Kamble
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
1977–1979
In office
1957–1962
Member of Bombay Legislative Assembly
In office
1952–1957
Editor of Janata
In office
1948–1954
Editor of Prabuddha Bharat
In office
1956–1958
Editor of Republic
In office
1959–1975
Personal details
Born 15 July 1919
Palus, Tasgaon taluka, Sangli District, Maharashtra, India
Died 6 November 2006 (aged 87)[1]
Nationality Indian
Political party Scheduled Caste Federation
Republican Party of India
Republican Party of India (Kamble)
Father Chandrasen Kamble
Residence Mumbai, Maharashtra
Education Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Laws
Alma mater Talak High School, Karad
Fergusson College, Pune
Profession Advocate, politician, writer, social worker
B. C. Kamble
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
1977–1979
In office
1957–1962
Member of Bombay Legislative Assembly
In office
1952–1957
Editor of Janata
In office
1948–1954
Editor of Prabuddha Bharat
In office
1956–1958
Editor of Republic
In office
1959–1975
Personal details
Born 15 July 1919
Palus, Tasgaon taluka, Sangli District, Maharashtra, India
Died 6 November 2006 (aged 87)[1]
Nationality Indian
Political party Scheduled Caste Federation
Republican Party of India
Republican Party of India (Kamble)
Father Chandrasen Kamble
Residence Mumbai, Maharashtra
Education Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Laws
Alma mater Talak High School, Karad
Fergusson College, Pune
Profession Advocate, politician, writer, social worker
Bapu Chandrasen Kamble (15 July 1919 – 6 November 2006), commonly known as B. C. Kamble, was an Indian politician, writer, editor, jurist, and social activist. He is also an Ambedkarite thinker, translator and biographer. Kamble is the leader of Republican Party of India (Kamble). He is from Maharashtra. He have written a Marathi biography of B. R. Ambedkar called "Samagra Ambedkar Charitra" (Vol. 1–24).
Kamble helped Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar while drafting the Constitution of India. For nearly 50 years after Ambedkar's death, Kamble led the Republican Party of India. After the death of Babasaheb, there was a split in the Republican Party of India. He is the president of a group, Republican Party of India (Kamble).
Journalism and educational career
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar started a Satyagraha demanding the cancellation of the Poona Pact in Pune on 18 July 1946, because the Cabinet Mission to India rejected the independent political existence of untouchables in 1946. This is called 'Pune Satyagraha'. For support this Satyagraha, student Kamble wrote an article Dalit Satyagrahinchi Kaifiyat (the Pleading of the Dalit Satyagrahies) in Kirloskar, a leading journal at that time. This article was published in the November 1946 issue of 'Kirloskar'. After that, Ambedkar himself read the article and appointed him as editor of Janata weekly. From 1948 to 1954, Kamble served as the editor of the Janata weekly. From 1956 to 1958, he served as the editor of the Prabuddha Bharat weekly. From 1959 to 1975, he served as the editor of the Republic weekly. The Janata and the Prabuddha Bharat were started by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. Kamble followed Ambedkar. Due to the influence of Ambedkar, he converted to Buddhism in 1956. During 1956–57, he served as a Professor of Constitutional Law in Siddharth College of Law, Mumbai
Political career
In 1952 Bombay Legislative Assembly election, Kamble was the MLA of the Scheduled Caste Federation party in the Bombay Legislative Assembly from 1952 to 1957. During this time, he fought alone on the issue of "Samyukta Maharashtra" (United Maharashtra) in the legislature. He was twice a member of the Republican Party of India in the Lok Sabha from 1957 to 1962 and 1977 to 1979. In the parliament, he opposed the Emergency and 44th Amendment of the constitution. He was a wise and learned leader of the Republican Party of India.
Books
List of following Books written by B. C. Kamble:
Samagra Ambedkar Charitra (Vol. 1–24)
Asprushya Mulche Kon Ani Te Asprushya Kase Banale? (Marathi translation of The Untouchables: Who Were They are Why The Become Untouchables)
Aikyach Ka?
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkaranche Akherche Sansadiy Vichar (Last thoughts of Dr. Ambedkar on Parliamentary Affairs)
Raja Milindche Prashna (Questions of kind Milind)
Legislature Vs. High Court
Thoughts on 44th Constitution Amendment Bill
Dr. Ambedkar on Indian Constitution
Questions of King Milind
Tripitak (Volume Nos. 1 to 4)
Dr. Ambedkar as Parliamentarian
'Last thoughts of Dr. Ambedkar on Parliamentary Affairs
Uprooting the famine
Bhagat Chhajju Ram
Bhagat Chhajju Ram (also spelled Bhagat Chajju Ram or Chhajju Ram Bhagat) was a prominent Indian social activist, politician, and leader from Jammu and Kashmir. He is widely remembered as a dedicated Gandhian, advocate for the downtrodden (particularly Scheduled Castes), and a pioneer in social reform and politics in the region.
Early Life and Background
- Born: 7 March 1907 in Ranbir Singh Pura (R.S. Pura), Jammu (then part of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir).
- He belonged to a humble family and was the eldest of three siblings (one brother and one sister). His parents were Shri Bhanga Ram and Shrimati Hari Devi.
- He came from the Megh community (a Scheduled Caste group in the region, also associated with Meghwal or related communities), and much of his work focused on uplifting marginalized sections.
Social and Political Activism
Bhagat Chhajju Ram began his public life through social reform movements:
- He joined the Arya Samaj early on, initially in Lahore, and worked closely with figures like Lal Hans Raj in Jammu to combat social evils, promote education, and foster unity among Hindus by eliminating caste-based discrimination and superstitions.
- He founded the Megh Mandal, an organization aimed at mobilizing and uplifting the Megh community, which formed a significant portion of the population in Jammu.
- He was deeply influenced by Gandhian principles of simplicity, non-violence, truth, and service to humanity. He was popularly known as the "Riyasati Gandhi" (Gandhi of the Princely State) for embodying Gandhian ideals in Jammu and Kashmir.
- He played a key role in the Sant Kabir movement in J&K, serving as its ideologue and patron. He supported the establishment of the first Kabir Sabha in Bishnah in 1980 to promote Kabir's teachings of equality and devotion.
His activism emphasized communal harmony, eradication of social evils, and empowerment of the oppressed.
Political Career
Bhagat Chhajju Ram had a long and distinguished political journey:
- Pre-Independence: Served as an Hon'ble Member of the Praja Sabha (the legislative body in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir before 1947).
- Post-Independence:
- Elected to the Jammu and Kashmir Constituent Assembly in 1951 from Ranbir Singh Pura.
- Won elections to the J&K Legislative Assembly from Ranbir Singh Pura constituency in 1962, 1967, and 1983.
- Served as a Minister in the J&K state cabinet for an extended period, including as Minister for Social Welfare (among other portfolios). He is recognized as the first Scheduled Caste (SC) Minister in Jammu and Kashmir.
- Also served as a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC).
- He was affiliated with the Indian National Congress throughout much of his career:
- Vice President of J&K Pradesh Congress Committee (1967–1970).
- Acting President of J&K Pradesh Congress Committee (1970–1972).
- Later, he served as President of the J&K Pradesh Congress Committee.
- He was known for his simplicity, honesty, integrity, and dedication to raising issues of the masses, particularly the poor and marginalized.
Personal Life and Legacy
- He lived a simple, austere life in line with Gandhian philosophy, focusing on service over personal gain.
- Death: 22 May 1989, at the age of 82.
- Tributes continue to be paid to him annually on his birth (7 March) and death anniversaries (22 May) by Congress leaders, social organizations, and community groups in Jammu. He is remembered as a symbol of honest leadership, social justice, and devotion to the upliftment of Scheduled Castes and the underprivileged.
- His contributions helped advance reservation policies, social welfare, and political representation for marginalized communities in J&K.
Bhagat Chhajju Ram remains an inspirational figure in Jammu and Kashmir's history as a bridge between social activism, Gandhian values, and mainstream politics. He is often hailed for his lifelong commitment to humanity, equality, and the welfare of the downtrodden. For recent tributes or events, local Congress units or community pages in Jammu frequently honor his memory.
Barun Biswas 
Barun Biswas (12 September 1972 – 5 July 2012) was a Bengali school teacher and prominent social activist from Sutia in West Bengal, India, best known for his courageous fight against gang rapes and violence against women in his community. He co-founded an organization to combat these crimes, mobilized villagers, and assisted victims, ultimately paying with his life when he was assassinated by criminals he opposed. His story inspired a film and continues to be remembered as a symbol of resistance against oppression.
Early Life and Education
Born in Sutia, North 24 Parganas district, West Bengal, Barun was the son of Gita Biswas and Jagadish Biswas, who had migrated from Faridpur, Bangladesh, after the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. The family settled in Acharipara, Panchpota, where his father worked as a laborer by day and performed in a local theater group at night to fund his children's education. Barun attended Panchpota Bharadanga High School and Gobardanga Khantura High School. He later earned a B.A. in Bengali from Gobardanga Hindu College, a master's degree from Calcutta University, and a B.Ed. from B.T. College in New Barrackpore.
Career as a Teacher
After passing the West Bengal School Service exam, Biswas began teaching Bengali at Mitra Institution (Main) in Kolkata in 1998, a role he held until his death. He was also involved with the Panchpota Sashadanga Sarada Seba Sangha, a local community service group. Described by colleagues and villagers as kind and dedicated, he balanced his teaching duties with activism, often commuting from Kolkata to Sutia to address local issues.
Activism
Biswas's activism began around 2000, initially focusing on environmental and infrastructure problems in Sutia and surrounding areas. He campaigned for a canal to prevent flooding from the Ichamati and Jamuna rivers, creating a blueprint that eventually led to government construction despite initial resistance from local leaders. He also opposed gangs illegally diverting the Ichamati river, which exacerbated floods.
His most notable work was against sexual violence. Between 2000 and 2002, a criminal gang led by figures like Sushanta Choudhury (also spelled Chowdhury) and Bishnu Charan Biswas terrorized Sutia, committing at least 33 reported gang rapes (with many more unreported) and around a dozen murders. At age 28, Biswas co-founded the "Sutia Gonodhorshon Pratibad Mancha" (Sutia Anti-Gang Rape Protest Forum, often called Pratibadi Mancha) in 2000 or 2002 to challenge this. The group organized public meetings, encouraged victims to report crimes, and provided counseling. Biswas publicly rallied the community, saying, "If we can't protect our daughters, sisters, wives and mothers, then we shouldn't be living in a civilized society. If we lack the courage to take on the rapists, we deserve more severe punishment than they do.... So come and join us to protect the honour of our women."
Under his leadership, the Mancha helped victims file police reports, leading to arrests, including Choudhury's life imprisonment. He united villagers, took cases to the media, and protested against the gang's atrocities, becoming the first in Sutia to openly confront them despite threats. His efforts significantly reduced the gang's influence and empowered women to speak out.
Assassination
On 5 July 2012, at around 7:20 pm, Biswas was shot from behind in a parking lot outside Gobardanga railway station while returning home from teaching in Kolkata. He was 39 years old and died at the scene. Police arrested five suspects linked to the Sutia gang, including the alleged shooter Sumanta Debnath (alias Fotke), Debashish Sarkar, Bishwajit Biswas, and Raju Sarkar. The assassin reportedly confessed that Sushanta Choudhury, then in prison, had orchestrated the hit. Choudhury later died in Dum Dum Central Jail. Biswas's family demanded a CBI probe, doubting local investigations would deliver justice. His murder echoed similar killings of activists in the region, like an anti-hooch campaigner two years later.
Legacy
Biswas is remembered as a hero who sacrificed his life for women's safety and community justice. In 2013, the Panchpota Avijan Sangha Durga Puja Committee themed their celebrations around his life, naming the platform "Barun Mancha" to symbolize good triumphing over evil. That same year, the Bengali film Proloy (directed by Raj Chakraborty, starring Parambrata Chatterjee as Biswas) was released as a tribute, with its poster and trailer launched at his home on his death anniversary. His mother, Gita Biswas, said, "I am a proud mother who has lost her son. Barun, my youngest, never went on the backfoot despite knowing there was a threat to his life. Till the day Pratibadi Mancha raises its voice against all atrocities, my son will remain immortal. Barun chilo, Barun ache, Barun thakbe (Barun was, Barun is, and Barun will be)."
Anniversaries of his birth and death are marked by tributes, with people hailing him as a brave teacher who chose activism over personal safety or opportunities like civil service. The Pratibadi Mancha continues his work, and his story highlights the risks faced by grassroots activists in India.
Bhanwari Devi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bhanwari Devi (also spelled Bahveri Devi) is an Indian social-worker from Bhateri, Rajasthan, who was gang raped in 1992 by men angered by her efforts to prevent a child marriage in their family. Her subsequent treatment by the police, and court acquittal of the accused, attracted widespread national and international media attention, and became a landmark episode in India's women's rights movement..
Bhanwari Devi
Born 1951/1952
Nationality Indian
Known for Vishaka Judgement
Awards Neerja Bhanot Memorial Award for her "extraordinary courage, conviction and commitment"
Biography
Bhanwari is a woman belonging to a caste kumhar (potter) family and living in Bhateri, a village in the Indian state of Rajasthan, located 55 kilometres (34 mi) from Jaipur, the state's capital. Most people of the village belonged to the Gurjar community of milkmen, which is higher in the caste hierarchy than Bhanwari's. In the 1990s and even now child marriages are common in the village, and the caste system is dominant. Bhanwari was married to Mohan Lal Prajapat when she was around five or six years old and her husband eight or nine, before coming to live in Bhateri while still in her early teens. They have four children together; two daughters and two sons: the eldest daughter has not been educated; two sons, who live in Jaipur, do menial jobs, while the youngest daughter Rameshwari graduated with Bachelor of Education degree and teaches English language in a school.
As a saathin
In 1985, Bhanwari Devi became a saathin ("friend"), a grassroots worker employed as part of the Women's Development Project (WDP) run by the Government of Rajasthan. As part of her job, she took up issues related to land, water, literacy, health, Public Distribution System, and payment of minimum wages at famine relief works. In 1987, she took up a major issue of the attempted rape of a woman from a neighbouring village. All of these activities had the full support of the members of her village. However, in 1992, Bhanwari found herself alienated, when she took up the issue of child marriage which is still widely practiced in India despite being illegal.
Bhanwari's intervention
In 1992, the state government of Rajasthan decided to launch a campaign against child marriage during the fortnight preceding the festival of Akha Teej, which is considered an auspicious date for marriages. Many child marriages take place during this festival. WDP members were tasked with convincing local villagers not to conduct child marriages, a task that Bhanwari took up, along with prachetas and members of the District Women's Development Agency (DWDA). The campaign was largely ignored by the villagers and faced disapproval from local leaders, including the village headman or pradhan.
One family which had arranged such a marriage was that of Ram Karan Gurjar, who had planned to marry off his nine-month-old daughter.[5] Bhanwari made attempts to persuade the family against carrying out their wedding plans. Since many Gujar families seemed determined to go ahead with child marriages, the Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) and the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) started making rounds of the village. On 5 May, the day of Akha Teej, the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) and SDO went to Bhateri village to stop the marriage of Ram Karan Gurjar's infant daughter. While they succeeded in preventing the marriage from taking place on the day of Akha Teej, the marriage took place at 2 a.m. the next day. No police action was taken against this. However, the villagers associated the police visits with Bhanwari Devi's efforts. This resulted in social and economic boycott of Bhanwari and her family. The villagers stopped selling milk to the family or buying the earthen pots they made. Bhanwari was forced to leave her job when her employer was roughed up, while her husband was beaten up by another Gujar.
The gang rape
According to Bhanwari Devi, at dusk on 22 September 1992, while her husband and she were working in their field, five men from the dominant and affluent Gurjar caste from her village attacked her husband with sticks, leaving him unconscious. In her complaint with the police she named the five men: brothers Ram Sukh Gujjar, Gyarsa Gujjar and Ram Karan Gujjar, the latter whose daughter's child marriage she attempted to stop, and their uncle Badri Gujjar, along with one Shravan Sharma. She claimed that while Ram Sukh held her, Badri and Gyarsa took turns in raping her. She added that the rape occurred shortly after the said incident happened. The accused of Gurjar caste were arrested and tried in the court, but they were backed by the local MLA, Dhanraj Meena. Meena hired a lawyer called Purohit to defend the accused.
Police and medical procedures
Bhanwari reported the incident to Rasila Sharma, the pracheta (block-level worker), who took her to the Bassi police station to lodge a First Information Report (FIR). The FIR was lodged after surmounting police scepticism and indifference, a phenomenon several rape complainants have faced in the Indian context. Scholar Savitri Goonesekere notes that all across South Asia, police are reluctant to record rape cases and show callousness and indifference towards women with complaints of rape. At the police station, Bhanwari was asked to deposit her "lehanga" (long skirt) as evidence. She had to cover herself with her husband's blood-stained saafa (turban) and walk 3 km to the nearest saathin's village Kherpuria, at about 1 a.m. in the night.
This indifference continued at the Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Bassi, where the male doctor refused to medically examine Bhanwari, while no female doctor was present. The PHC doctor referred her to Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital in Jaipur, but wrote in his referral that she was being sent for a test "confirming the age of the victim."
The Medical Jurist at Jaipur refused to conduct any tests without orders from a Magistrate; the Magistrate refused to give the orders until the next day, as it was past his working hours.[ As a result, the vaginal swab was taken more than 48 hours after the alleged rape, although Indian law requires this to be done within 24 hours. Her scratches and bruises were not recorded, and her complaints of physical discomfort were ignored.
Media coverage
On 25 September 1992, the Rajasthan Patrika, a major local newspaper, carried a small news item stating that a woman from Bhateri village had registered an FIR in Bassi thana (police station) alleging gang rape Following this, a number of local Hindi dailies as well as national dailies reported the incident. On 2 October, the Rajasthan Patrika carried an editorial article Kroor Hadsa ("Brutal Incident") condemning the incident. Soon after this, many Jaipur-based women's groups and other social organizations began making inquiries about it. However, Bhanwari Devi was accused of fabricating the entire incident by the alleged rapists and their supporters, and faced public humiliation in her village. Bhanwari Devi refused monetary compensation to discourage such allegations.
The court case
Summary of evidence
The summary of evidence in the court case stated that:
The semen of five different men were indeed found in Bhanwari's vaginal swab and upon her lehenga (long skirt)
There was not even a single match between any of these five semen traces and the semen of any of the five accused (including two who she had accused of raping her and three whom she had accused of pinning her down).
Bhanwari's husband's semen was not found in the vaginal swab (none of the five semen traces were his).
District court judgment
In its verdict on 15 November 1995, the district and sessions court in Jaipur dismissed the case and acquitted all the five accused. Five judges were changed, and it was the sixth judge who ruled that the accused were not guilty, stating inter alia that Bhanwari's husband couldn't have passively watched his wife being gang-raped.
Under pressure from women's groups, the State Government decided to appeal against the judgment. The judgement led to a nationwide campaign for justice for Bhanwari Devi. However, by 2007, 15 years after the incident, the Rajasthan High Court held only one hearing on the case and two of the accused were dead.
Criticism of the judgment
Women's activists were critical of some of the judicial remarks made in the case. The judgment stated in passing that Bhanwari's husband couldn't have passively watched his wife being gang-raped. This was taken as prejudice and bias by the women's groups. The accused included an uncle-nephew pair, and the judge said that a middle-aged man from an Indian village could not possibly have participated in a gang rape in the presence of his own nephew.
Aftermath
A state MLA belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party, Kanhaiya Lal Meena, organised a victory rally in the state capital Jaipur for the five accused who were now declared not guilty, and the women's wing of his political party attended the rally to call Bhanwari a liar.
Social boycott
Bhanwari and her family were ostracized by villagers in Bhateri and by members of her own caste living elsewhere. When her mother died, her brothers and others did not allow her to participate in the funeral. Following this incident, Bhanwari handed over to them the sum of ₹25,000 which she had received from Prime Minister Narasimha Rao. Her brothers spent this money on organizing a Kumhar caste panchayat, where people were asked to accept her back into the community. In spite of this effort, her acceptance in the community remained nominal and her son Mukesh had a difficult time finding a family willing to give their daughter in marriage to him.
The New Indian Express journalist Sukhmani Singh interviewed Bhanwari in 2001 and reported: "Feisty, outspoken, innately hospitable, she openly expressed her resentment against both the women's groups and the government, all of whom have been fiercely guarding her like their pet mannequin all these many years." He reported that she was "weary, resigned and bitter" after all these years. He also reported that Bhanwari wanted to leave Bhateri, but couldn't afford to do so. Her sole source of income was a buffalo, as her two bighas of land had become unproductive due to three years of drought. Most of the money that she received as part of the Neerja Bhanot Memorial Award in 1994 was locked away in a trust to aid women.
Official honours
Bhanwari received honours both nationally and internationally. She was invited to be a part of the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. In 1994, she was awarded the Neerja Bhanot Memorial Award carrying ₹1 lakh cash prize, for her "extraordinary courage, conviction and commitment".
In 2002, the then-Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot, allotted a residential plot to Bhanwari Devi and announced a grant of ₹40,000 for construction of a house on the plot. He also sanctioned an additional amount ₹10,000 for the education of her son.
Impact
Bhanwari's case shaped the women's movement in India. The Bhanwari case is said by some to have encouraged more rape victims to prosecute their rapists.
By 2007, the average age of the first-time mother in Rajasthan had gone up to 16.5 years. This change was brought about by the efforts of women's groups, catalyzed by the Bhanwari case.
Women's activists and lawyers have propagated the view that Bhanwari attracted the ire of her rapists solely on the basis of her work. A number of groups which championed the latter view filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court of India, under the collective platform of Vishakha. The petition, filed by Vishakha and four other women's organizations in Rajasthan against the State of Rajasthan and the Union of India, resulted in what are popularly known as the Vishakha Guidelines. The judgment of August 1997 provided the basic definitions of sexual harassment at the workplace and provided guidelines to deal with it. It is seen as a significant legal victory for women's groups in India.
In films
In 2000, Jag Mundhra released a film, Bawandar, based on Bhanwari's story.
Bezwada Wilson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bezwada Wilson (2017)
Bezwada Wilson (born 1966) is an Indian activist and one of the founders and National Convenor of the Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA), an Indian human rights organization that has been campaigning for the eradication of manual scavenging, the construction, operation and employment of manual scavengers which has been illegal in India since 1993. His work at SKA, a community-driven movement, has been recognized by the Ashoka Foundation which has nominated him a Senior Fellow. On 27 July 2016, he was honoured with the Ramon Magsaysay Award.
Early life
Bezwada was born in 1966 in the Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) in Karnataka in Southern India. He is the youngest child of Bezwada Rachel and Bezwada Yacob, both belonging to the manual scavenging community.
His father began working for the township in 1935 as a safai karamchari, also called a manual scavenger, manually removing excreta from dry toilets. He attempted to find other manual labor but was unsuccessful. His eldest brother also worked as a manual scavenger in the Indian railways for four years and then ten years in KGF Gold mines township.
Bezwada went to upper primary school in Andhra Pradesh and stayed in the hostel for Scheduled Castes. He went to high school and intermediate in Kolar and Hyderabad. When he realized his parents' true occupation, he contemplated suicide.
Bezwada graduated in Political Science from Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University, Hyderabad, and was involved in community service, especially youth programs. He saw that many children dropped out of school and then took up scavenging. He believed that if he helped the children complete school and take vocational training they could keep away from scavenging.
Campaign against manual scavenging
In 1986, Bezwada began his fight to end manual scavenging. The first hurdle in his fight was at home; his parents and relatives said he should not focus his life on something that always existed. It was over years that they came to accept that he was dedicating his life to helping eradicate manual scavenging. Too many people within the community were ashamed to even admit manual scavenging existed or that they did it. Bezwada began breaking the silence.
Bezwada also began a letter-writing campaign, contacting the KGF authorities, the minister, and chief minister of Karnataka, the prime minister, and newspapers, but they remained largely unacknowledged.
In 1993, the Parliament enacted the ‘Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act in 1993',[5] which banned the construction of dry latrines and outlawed the practice of manual scavenging. Despite the ban, the practice of manual scavenging continues across India.
Bezwada took photographs of dry latrines and manual scavenging in KGF and sent it to P.A.K. Shettigar, the then managing director of KGF, threatening action under the Act. An emergency meeting was called to convert dry latrines into water-seal latrines and transfer all scavengers to non-scavenging jobs. However, it was only when photographs were published in a 1994 article in the Deccan Herald, resulting in embarrassing questions in Parliament, that the Karnataka government was forced to acknowledge that manual scavenging continued to be a problem.
Bezwada then worked for two years to organize manual scavengers in Karnataka. A platform, the Campaign Against Manual Scavenging (CAMS), was formed. This oversaw the conversion of dry latrines into flush toilets and rehabilitation of those who were engaged in manual scavenging.
Wilson moved to Andhra Pradesh and began working with Paul Diwakar, a leading Dalit activist, and S. R. Sankaran, a retired Indian Administrative Officer. In 2001 the Andhra Pradesh government agreed to a total survey of the state to identify manual scavengers and dry latrines for liberation and rehabilitation. Bezwada prepared the survey format, where volunteers photographed and documented each manual scavenger and dry latrine.
Safai Karmachari Andolan
In 1994, Bezwada helped found Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA) along with S. R. Sankaran and Paul Diwakar. SKA's goal is to end the practice of manual scavenging and help those engaged in it find dignified work. SKA trains teams to work towards the elimination of manual scavenging in various Indian states. SKA initially worked on the state level, until 2003 when Bezwada and four other team members moved to Delhi to launch the Safai Karmachari Andolan nationwide.
In 2003, Bezwada and the SKA initiated the filing of a Public Interest Litigation in the Supreme Court of India. SKA and 18 other civil society organizations, manual scavengers, and individuals signed the affidavit as litigants naming all states and government departments of Railways, Defence, Judiciary, and Education as violators of the Manual Scavenging Prohibition Act.
The PIL was a major step in the efforts to abolish manual scavenging. All the states and central ministries were forced to address the issue of manual scavenging. The Supreme Court gave strict orders that the Chief Secretaries of States and Heads of Departments of the central ministries should appear before the court for the case hearings. To date, there have been 23 hearings and in the state of Haryana, for the first time, in 2010 the act was enforced and 16 members were taken into custody for violating the law and employing manual scavengers.
By 2007, the SKA felt the struggle was going too slow. The legal process had put the onus on the victims to prove manual scavenging existed. So they launched Action 2010, by which they vowed to end manual scavenging by 2010 by simply asking those engaged in the practice to leave the practice and find alternative work.
The liberation of safai karmacharis became an important issue during the planning of the 12th Five Year Plan of India in 2010. Bezwada met with parliamentarians, ministers, and national advisory members during this time and submitted systematic documentation of manual scavenging across the country.
In 2009, Bezwada was elected an Ashoka Senior Fellow for human rights.
In October 2010, the head of the National Advisory Council, Sonia Gandhi, wrote to the Prime Minister's office declaring manual scavenging as a national shame and to address its abolition with the utmost urgency and priority. The NAC resolved to see that manual scavenging was over by 2012. Task forces were formed by the government of India for a new survey of the entire country, rehabilitation, amendment of the law to make it stricter, and demolition of dry latrines.
The Planning Commission of India constituted a sub-group on safai karmacharis with Bezwada as its convenor. The sub-group has submitted its report.
(Image Courtesy: Youth Ki Awaaz)
Bhau Panchbhai
Bhau Panchbhai (full name: Bhaurao Ramrao Panchbhai, also spelled Bhau Panchabhai) was a prominent Marathi-language poet, writer, lawyer, television producer, and Ambedkarite-Dalit activist from Nagpur, Maharashtra, India.
He was a significant voice in the Dalit literary movement and Ambedkarite activism, using his poetry and writings to critique caste oppression, social injustice, state violence, and structural discrimination while promoting Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's ideology of equality, rationalism, and emancipation.
Early Life and Background
- Born: March 1, 1944 (some sources cite around 1949), in Pimpalgaon village, Narkhed taluka, Nagpur district, Maharashtra.
- He hailed from a Dalit (Scheduled Caste) background, typical of many figures in the post-independence Ambedkarite movement in Maharashtra.
- Nagpur, a historical center for Ambedkar's activities and Dalit intellectual/political awakening, deeply influenced his early exposure to caste-based hardships and activism.
Career and Professions
- Profession: Practiced as a lawyer in Nagpur, using his legal background to advocate against caste discrimination.
- Also worked as a television producer.
- Actively involved in grassroots Dalit movements, including affiliations with the Dalit Panthers (Panthers of India) and broader Ambedkarite organizations.
- Held roles such as working president of the All India Dalit Literature Parliament and president of the 1983 Indian Dalit Literature Conference.
Literary Contributions
His poetry is regarded as a prototype of Ambedkarite poetry — powerful, protest-oriented, and emotionally charged, blending literary merit with political resistance. Many of his works have been translated into English and other languages.
Key works include:
- Poetry Collections:
- Hunkaar Vadaalnche (हुंकार वादळांचे, "Cry of the Storms" or "Roar of the Storms") – 1989: His debut and most famous collection; awarded by the Government of Maharashtra as the best poetry collection of the year. It critiqued caste realities and became a landmark in Dalit literature.
- NikhaRyaa.nchyaa RaangoLyaa (निखाऱ्यांच्या रांगोळ्या) – 2004
- Abhanganchya Thingya (अभंगांच्या ठिणग्या) – 2014
- Spandanpisara (स्पंदनपिसारा) – 2014
- Aakantgandha (आकांतगंधा) – Released posthumously or shortly after
- Other Writings:
- Jakhamancha Ajintha (जखमांचा अजिंठा) – 1992 (essays/literary pieces)
- Samajkranti (समाजक्रांती) – 1992 (ideological writings)
- Featured in anthologies like No Entry for the New Sun (translations of modern Marathi Dalit poetry) and Poisoned Bread (anthology of Dalit literature).
- His poem "How?" (translated) is a notable example: "How do we taste milk in this town / Where trees are planted of venom? / Enemies invite nothing but enmity."
His writings influenced younger Dalit poets, appeared in university curricula, and served as both literature and activism tools.
Activism and Legacy
- Deeply committed to Ambedkarite ideology — annihilation of caste, social equality, and resistance through literature and law.
- Part of the Dalit literary surge from the 1960s–1980s in Marathi, alongside figures like Namdeo Dhasal, Daya Pawar, Sharankumar Limbale, and others.
- Used poetry to document and challenge caste-based violence, identity struggles, and systemic injustice in Vidarbha and beyond.
- Awarded the Laxmibai Ingole Kavya Puruskar (2015) by the Laxmibai Ingole Foundation, Amravati, for his contributions to Ambedkarite literature.
Death
- Died on January 21, 2016, at around 5:30 AM, at age ~67–72 (sources vary slightly on birth year).
- Cause: Sustained serious injuries in a road accident on January 13, 2016, near Pandraabodhi, Nagpur, while traveling to teach students; he fell into a coma and passed away after being brought home.
- His death led to widespread mourning in Dalit literary, activist, and social circles.
Today (January 21, 2026) marks the 10th death anniversary of Bhau Panchbhai. He remains remembered as a revolutionary poet-activist whose words continue to inspire resistance against caste discrimination and uphold Ambedkar's vision in Marathi Dalit literature.
CEVRİ KALFA SIBYAN MEKTEBİ
Sultanahmet, Fatih - İstanbul - Turkey
GPS : 41°00'29.0"N 28°58'35.8"E / 41.008056, 28.976611
Cevri Kalfa, a slave girl who saved Sultan Mahmud II's life and was awarded for her bravery and loyalty and appointed hazinedar usta, the chief treasurer of the imperial Harem, which was the second most important position in the hierarchy. The building is one of the earliest modern school buildings in Istanbul. It was built by Sultan Mahmud II in the imperial style, in honour of the concubine Cevri Kalfa, who had rescued and carried him to safety during the events known as Alemdar Incident.
Protestors who stormed the Ottoman palace in 1808 and killed Sultan Selim III also wanted to kill Sultan Mahmut II. The prince was saved from the hands of the protestors by one of the women of the palace, Georgian Cevri Kalfa. She first hid him in her room, and then used her own body to shield him from the shooting protestors. She used ashes from a fire to try and distance the angry protestors from her room.
At that point two other palace officials, Anber and Isa Ağa, came to her assistance, rescuing the prince from the palace. Sultan Mahmut II received a knife wound to his arm, but at least he lived. When Mahmud II becomes sultan, he appointed Georgian Cevri Kalf as “hazinedarbaşı” (an office on par with that of being a vizier), and she stayed on for good.
When Cevri Hanım died, in 1819, Mahmud II had her buried alongside the grave of his mother and ordered a fountain and a primary school built in her name. The school in Sultanahmet was built by Sultan Mahmud II in 1839 as a gift of thanks to Cevri Kalfa, a slave girl from his Harem, who saved his life during an uprising of the Janissaries before he was a sultan.
Cevri Kalfa Sibyan Mektebi (Ottoman elementary school) was build in 1819 by Sultan Mahmut II in the loving memory of Cevri Kalfa Cevri Kalfa is the person that saved Sultan Mahmut’s live in 1808, when rebelstried to enter the harem after a death firman (imperial order) ruled by the Bab-ı Ali jurisdiction. Build with an empirical stylethis ottoman elementary school is the biggest one in Istanbul.
It has been used as an elementary school, art school for girls, vocational school specialized inprinting, courthouse and as a modern primary school. It was the largest primary school of its time in Istanbul and became a girl’s only school in 1858, a printing school in 1930 and reinstated as a primary school in 1945.
TURKISH LITERATURE FOUNDATION - EDEBİYAT KIRAATHANESİ
In 1985 it was donated to the Turkish Literature Foundation (Türk Edebiyat Vakfı) and in 2009 underwent full restoration. There is an attractive fountain built into the outside wall that forms an essential part of the main building.
Turkish people love deserts, coffee and tea. Yes, there’re lot of cafes offering this perfect trilogy but only a few are as historical as Edebiyat Kıraathanesi. This cafe used to be a school, Cevri Kalfa Sıbyan Mektebi, back in Ottoman Era. It was reborn four years ago when Ahmet Kabaklı, the founder of Turkish Literature Foundation, decided to open a cafe where writers, literature critics and book worms can come together and exchange their ideas while sipping their coffee or tea enjoy delicious desserts.
At the cafe, there’s a small souvenir corner. Also, there are two libraries. Today it houses The Turkish Literature Foundation and an inviting branch of the Hafız Mustafa pastry shop that has been in business since 1864.
Chodagam Ammanna Raja - activitist
Chuni Kotal
Chuni Kotal (1968-1992) was a young, brilliant scholar from the Lodha tribe (a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group or PVTG, classified as ST) of West Bengal. Her life and death sparked national outrage and became a pivotal moment in the discourse on tribal rights and discrimination in India.
1. Personal and Background Details
Full Name: Chuni Kotal (sometimes spelled Chuni Kotal or Chunni Kotal)
Born: 1968, died August 16, 1992 is a Lodha tribal community in Paschim Medinipur district, West Bengal.
Tribe: Lodha (also referred to as Lodha, Lodhi, or Lodha-Sabar). Her community was historically stigmatized, impoverished, and labelled as a "criminal tribe" by the British, a stigma that persisted long after independence.
Education: She was an exceptional student. She earned her:
Master of Science (M.Sc.) degree.
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Anthropology from Vidyasagar University, Midnapore.
Historic Achievement: This made her the first woman from any Scheduled Tribe in India to obtain a PhD.
2. The Crisis and Tragedy
Despite her unparalleled academic achievement, Chuni Kotal faced relentless and crushing systemic discrimination.
Unemployment: After her PhD, she could not find a job. She applied for teaching positions at universities but was repeatedly rejected.
Social Boycott & Stigma: Within her own tribal community, her high education made her an anomaly and led to isolation. In the mainstream society, she faced prejudice due to her tribal identity.
Despair: The combination of professional rejection and social alienation led to severe depression.
Death: On June 16, 1992, at the age of only 24, Chuni Kotal died by suicide by consuming pesticide. Her suicide note reportedly highlighted her despair over unemployment and the humiliation she faced.
3. Impact and Legacy: A National Wake-Up Call
Her death was not just a personal tragedy but a political event that exposed the harsh realities for educated Adivasis.
National Outrage: Her suicide triggered widespread protests across West Bengal and ignited a national debate in Parliament and media about the failure of the state's reservation policy, tribal welfare, and deep-seated casteist-tribalist prejudices in educational and employment institutions.
Judicial Intervention: The case led to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Calcutta High Court, which scrutinized the implementation of reservation for ST candidates in university faculty positions.
Symbol of Resistance: Chuni Kotal became an iconic symbol of the struggle of Adivasi communities against systemic injustice. She is remembered every year by student and tribal rights groups.
Cultural References: Her life has been the subject of documentaries, academic papers, and literary works. For instance, she is a central figure in Mahasweta Devi's powerful essay "Chuni Kotal: A Life" in her book "Rudali."
4. Why the Confusion with "Actress"?
The confusion likely arises from two sources:
Name Similarity: There are actresses with similar-sounding names (e.g., Chhaya or Chandni), but none named Chuni Kotal.
Online Misinformation: Sometimes, incorrect or aggregated lists online can mis-categorize notable figures.
In Summary: Why This Correction Matters
Chuni Kotal was not an actress. She was a pioneering scholar whose life and death highlighted the brutal contradiction between constitutional promises of equality and the ground reality of discrimination faced by India's tribal communities.
Her story forces a confrontation with uncomfortable questions about social justice, meritocracy, and prejudice. Remembering her as an actress would be a profound disservice to her memory and the serious socio-political issues her life represents. Her true legacy is that of a martyr for the cause of Adivasi education and dignity, whose sacrifice continues to inspire activism and policy scrutiny.
Cynthia Stephen
Background and Identity
- She belongs to the Dalit community (Scheduled Caste/SC in the Indian context), specifically from a marginalized background that informs her activism. Her work draws directly from lived experiences of caste discrimination, untouchability, and intersectional oppression faced by Dalit women.
- This places her squarely in the category of an activist from a disadvantaged, historically low-status, and marginalized SC/Dalit community, similar to figures like B. Shyam Sunder, Bhagat Amar Nath, or Kalekuri Prasad discussed earlier—unlike the forward-caste cricketers or non-Indian activists in prior queries.
- She has described her discomfort with mainstream "feminism" due to its disconnect from Dalit women's experiences, coining or advocating terms like "Dalit Womanism" to better capture holistic affirmation, solidarity, and resistance rooted in Dalit lives (e.g., in her 2009 Countercurrents article "Feminism and Dalit Women in India").
Education and Professional Journey
- Holds a First Class Degree in Science (Chemistry major) from Karnatak University, Dharwar (1981), followed by a Post-Graduate Diploma (details in her CV).
- Pursued advanced research, including a PhD focused on the political empowerment of Dalit women (highlighting the near-absence of such empowerment despite policies like internal caste-based reservations for women in panchayats in Karnataka).
- Over 20+ years of leadership in development, policy, and activism.
Key Roles and Affiliations
- President of the Training, Editorial and Development Services Trust (TEDS) in Bangalore, focusing on grassroots women's emancipation, Dalit women's leadership, and sensitizing Dalit organizations to gender issues.
- Part of editorial collectives for activist-scholar groups in development studies and social justice.
- Independent researcher and contributor to platforms like Academia.edu.
Activism and Contributions
- Core Focus: Dalit women's rights, intersection of caste and gender (e.g., Brahmanical patriarchy, caste discrimination), affirmative action, educational policy, political participation of marginalized women/youth, and anti-caste solidarity.
- Writings and Publications:
- Articles in outlets like Outlook, Hindustan Times, The Wire, The News Minute, Economic & Political Weekly (EPW), Frontline, Bangalore Mirror, Firstpost, Countercurrents, and more.
- Contributed chapters to books on Dalit women, caste issues, and related themes.
- Notable pieces: Critiques of NGO sector silencing of Dalit/Tribal/Bahujan voices (#MeToo context), tributes to feminist stalwarts like Gail Omvedt, analyses of Dalit women's movements and leadership (e.g., "Dalit Women’s Movements: Leadership and Beyond," 2018 Dalit History Month statement).
- Advocated for "Dalit Womanism" as an inclusive framework over mainstream feminism.
- Advocacy and Recognition:
- Engaged in grassroots work with women, policy advocacy for vulnerable sections (women/children), and gender perspectives in development.
- Recognized as a "Covid-19 Warrior" in Bangalore (2022) for human rights/activism during the pandemic.
- Spoken at international forums (e.g., on caste/gender intersections) and participated in consultations like the Dalit Women’s Network for Solidarity (DAWNS).
- Signed public statements condemning violence, ethnic policies, or supporting democratic struggles (e.g., on Bangladesh, Assam issues).
Public Presence
- Active on social media: X (@cynstepin), Instagram (@cynstepin), Facebook (Cynthia Stephen page), sharing insights on Dalit history, poetry, anti-caste thought, and current affairs.
- Featured in interviews: Feminism in India (2019), Doing Sociology (2020 on caste-gender), Aura Magazine (2021), SARIM (2023 on internalized humiliation of marginalized women), and YouTube discussions.
In summary, Cynthia Stephen is a leading contemporary voice in Dalit feminist and anti-caste activism, rising from a disadvantaged SC/Dalit background to influence policy, academia, and movements. Her work emphasizes empowering Dalit women politically and socially, challenging exclusionary structures, and building inclusive solidarities—making her legacy one of intellectual activism for justice, equality, and resistance against caste-gender oppression in India.
Dr. C. Parvathamma
the First Dalit Woman Sociologist!
Today in Dalit history, we fondly remember Dr. C. Parvathamma, the first Dalit woman sociologist in India who won multiple prestigious awards such as the Rajyothsava Award (1990), Gargi Award (1999) and Nadoja Award (2005) for her contributions to sociological research. She was awarded a doctorate at the Victoria University in Manchester (now known as University of Manchester) under the supervision of Max Gluckman, a pioneer in social anthropology. Dr. Parvathamma’s scholarship includes 70 research articles and 11 books which had policy level impact. Besides, she occupied several leadership positions in academia, including the Chair of the Department of Sociology in Mangalore University when a Postgraduate Degree in Social Work was introduced in 1977–78, the Dean of the Faculty of Arts, University of Mysore where she played a central role in building the Department of Sociology and a member of the first governing body of ICSSR besides her membership in several other committees (Kumar, 2007). She retired from Mysore University in 1988 but continued her work by establishing the Centre for Research in Rural and Tribal Development in Mysore (Kumar, 2007).
Dr. Parvathamma made several valuable contributions to the study of the status of scheduled castes and tribes, of the anti-caste movement, Veerasaivism, while also critiquing Brahminical scholarship that misrepresented caste. She was a contemporary of M.N.Srinivas, a Brahmin sociologist, whose writings she thoroughly critiqued. She points out, “Srinivas’s point of view is that of a south Indian Brahmin and it is important to understand how it influences his work. One senses that the theoretical ideal of Brahmin superiority is basic to his subjectivism.” Talking about his lack of critique of Brahminism, she says, “The brotherhood of mankind and compassion upheld by the major religions of the world may have gone wrong in practice, but the sense of brotherhood does not find a place in Brahminical Hinduism.” (Parvathamma, 1978). Yet, the Brahminical writings on caste by M.N.Srinivas are cited several times more than C. Parvathamma’s writings in the academia, showing how Brahminism operates in the academia.
In Prof. Vivek Kumar’s memoir of Dr. Parvathamma giving a speech at a conference, he quotes her as saying, “If this nation needs one Gandhi then it needs thousands of Ambedkar to break free from the age-old tyrannical Hindu social order.” Prof. Vivek Kumar also talks about the discrimination Dr. Parvathamma faced in spite of the education she attained and the positions she occupied that “she could not find rented accommodation in Mysore after completing her PhD and becoming a lecturer at Mysore University.”
We are proud of her academic achievements and want to applaud her valuable contributions to sociology and policy on caste. We celebrate her resistance and success in the academia that was never a space meant for Dalit women. We dedicate this post to all the Dalit-Bahujan women who fight for space in violence academic departments around India. Jai bhim and Jai savitri to Dr. Parvathamma and all women who demand the right to build knowledge for our people!
C. V. Kunhiraman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
C. V. Kunhiraman
Born February 6, 1871
Died April 10, 1949 (aged 78)
Occupation Social reformer
Journalist
Known for
Spouse(s) Kunjikkavu
Children
K. Sukumaran (son)
K. Damodaran (son)
Vasanthi (daughter)
C. Kesavan (son-in-law)
Parent(s) Velayudhan
Kunjichali
by which time he had passed the lawyers' examination and resigned from the school in 1913 to take up the career of a lawyer by practicing at the Magistrate Court at Paravur. In between, he founded Kerala Kaumudi daily in 1911 and later, he shifted his base to Kollam, after quitting his career as a lawyer, resuscitated Kerala Kaumudi daily in 1920 with the assistance of his son, K. Sukumaran. His early journalistic articles were published in Sujananadini, run by Paravoor Kesavan Asan , where he became a sub-editor in due course and wrote poems and articles, mostly on social affairs.
Kunhiraman was married to Kunjikkavu and the couple had two sons, K. Sukumaran and K.Damodaran and a daughter, Vasanthi, who was married to C. Kesavan, former chief minister of Travancore-Cochin. He died on April 10, 1949, at the age of 78.
Legacy
Kerala Kaumudi
To launch a newspaper of his own was his all time-dream. In 1911, C.V. launched Kerala Kaumudi as a weekly newspaper. He was the proprietor - editor, printer, publisher and even the proofreader! Started in 1911, in Mayyanad, it had grown over the years as one of the most influential dailies in Malayalam with 9 editions from Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Kochi, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Kannur.
Other journalistic contributions
Kunhiraman was also the editor of Malayalarajyam, Navajeevan, Kathamalika, Yukthivadi, Navasakthi and Vivekodayam. He had the rare distinction in Malayalam journalism being the founder of Kerala Kaumudi and founder editor of Malayalarajyam. He had been on the editorial board of Malayala Rajyam, Navajeevan, Navasakthi, Malayala Manorama, Bhashaposhini, Kathamalika, Vivekodayam and Yuktivadi.
Literary contributions
Kunhiraman's oeuvre comprises 14 books, covering the genres of novel, short story, poetry, biography and other works including the condensed versions of Mahabharata and Ramayana, of which Valmiki Ramayanam, a prose rendering of the epic, was his first work to come out in print, in 1901, followed by Vyasabharatam, Panchavadi and other works. This include four novels, a short story anthropology, a book of poetry and his reminiscences of Kumaran Asan.
Social activities
Kunhiraman was a close associate of Narayana Guru and an active participant in the intellectual and social activities of Sivagiri Mutt. He was one of the leaders of the Vaikom Satyagraha, a social protest against untouchability, centred around the Shiva temple at Vaikom during 1924–25. He continued to be a part of the agitation which resulted in the Temple Entry Proclamation of 1936. He was a part of the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam and served as its general secretary during 1928–29 and 1931–32. He started a school for low caste Hindus at Vellamanal, Mayyanad, Quilon and became its headmaster. He was also a member of the Sree Moolam Popular Assembly.
Honours
C. V. Kunhiraman Foundation, an eponymous organization which had O. N. V. Kurup as the founder chairman,[15] have instituted an annual award, C. V. Kunhiraman Literary Award, to recognize excellence in Malayalam literature and M. Sukumaran, the writer, and Sugathakumari, the noted poet, feature among the recipients of the award which carries a purse of ₹ 10,001, a citation and a statuette designed by noted artists, B. D. Dathan.
Bibliography
Oru Noottandinu Munpu (short stories)]
Shree karthikodayam (poetry)
Panchavadi (novel)
Ragaparinamam (novel)
Sreekovil (novel)
Somanathan (novel)
Njan (memoirs)
Asan Smaranakal (biography)
Valmiki Ramayanam (condensed prose)
Vysabharatham (condensed prose)
Sree Narayana Smruthi (reminiscences)
Thiruvithamkoor Ezhava Rashtriya Mahasabha Adhyaksha Prasangam (speech)
Unniyarcha, Oru Pdanam (essay)
Chekavar (essay)
Carlota (rebel leader)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A map illustrating the province of Matanzas, where Carlota's memorial site is held.
Carlota Lucumí, also known as La Negra Carlota (died March 1844) was an African-born enslaved Cuban woman of Yoruba origin. Carlota was known as one of the leaders of the slave rebellion at the Triunvirato plantation in Matanzas, Cuba during the Year of the Lash in 1843-1844. Carlota led the slave uprising of the sugar mill "Triunvirato" in the province of Matanzas, Cuba on November 5, 1843. Her memory has also been utilized throughout history by the Cuban government in connection to 20th century political goals, most notably Operación Carlota, or Cuba's intervention in Angola in 1974. Little is actually known about the life of Carlota due to the difficulty and availability of sources in archives (Finch 88). Scholars of Afro-Cuban history have grappled with the dearth of reliable sources that document slaves' lives, and the ability of written documents to accurately encompass the reality of slave life. Slave testimonies obtained under investigations after rebellions provide most of the information surrounding Carlota and her contemporaries, making it difficult to construct a complete understanding of her involvement in the 1843 slave rebellion, much less a detailed biography. She is considered significant by scholars due to her role as a woman in an otherwise male-dominated sphere of slave revolt, as well as the way her memory has been employed in the public sphere in Cuba. Carlota and the uprising at Triunvirato plantation are honored as part of the UNESCO Slave Route Project through a sculpture at the Triunvirato plantation, which has since been turned into a memorial and museum.
Biography and importance
Carlota is perhaps the most famous historical actor in the Triunvirato rebellion. She is known for her leadership in the Triunvirato slave rebellion alongside Eduardo, Narciso, and Felipe Lucumí, and Manuel Gangá. However, little is known about her life outside of her involvement in the rebellion. She was an African-born Lucumí woman, but the date of her birth is unclear. She died in battle at the end of the brief revolt after it had spread to the San Rafael plantation. The Triunvirato rebellion was the last in a series of slave uprisings known as La Escalera in Cuba in 1843 and 1844, which resulted in a violent wave of repression against enslaved people and free people of color by the Spanish colonial government and other whites.
According to scholarship on the topic, Carlota played a role in the Triunvirato rebellion by spreading it from the Triunvirato plantation to the neighboring Acaná plantation by garnering the support of masses of slaves, reaching a total of five plantations by the end of the revolt. Other slaves knew her at the time for her violent attack on the overseer's daughter, which was brought up throughout many of the slave testimonies collected after the rebellion. Several Cuban scholars have categorized her as a martyr who died in the fight for freedom, and whose memory has been mobilized to show slave revolts as a natural precursor to the Cuban socialist revolution of 1959.
Gender
Carlota and another slave, Firmina, were two women among a number of men who organized and executed the slave revolt at the Triunvirato plantation. Scholars have generally characterized slave insurrection as a heavily masculine and violent affair. Enslaved women such as Carlota and Firmina disrupt the idea of slave rebellion as being only organized and carried out by men. At the time, most other representations of slave women were usually traitorous or sexualized. By serving as a leader, and eventually being conceptualized in the 20th century as a martyr of the Triunvirato rebellion, Carlota became symbolized in Cuban memory as a strong woman who would eventually come to represent ideas of Cubanness and revolution.
Triunvirato rebellion
The Triunvirato rebellion was one in a series of slave uprisings throughout Cuba in 1843. It was characterized by massive violence against white overseers and plantation owners, as well as immense property damage. The series of uprisings of which Triunvirato was a part is known as La Escalera, meaning ladder in Spanish. Its name derives from the most notable form of torture inflicted on slaves and free people of color during the wave of repression that followed the violent end of the rebellion. The Triunvirato rebellion, as well as La Escalera more broadly, are important to Cuban history in that they marked the peak of white fear of slave uprising and the end of a streak of slave revolts throughout the first half of the 19th century that wouldn't pick up again until the start of Cuba’s independence movement against Spain in 1868.
Shifting imperial and economic conditions in Cuba in the first half of the nineteenth century fomented a wave of slave rebellions in the 1830s and 40s. Historians differ on where they locate the cause of the slave uprisings of the first half of the 19th century. Some cite the intensification of plantation style farming, increasing numbers of enslaved people trafficked to Cuba during the era, and the spread of rebellious news and ideology among people of color on the island as the main drivers behind the organization and execution of La Escalera. Other historians have emphasized the impact of the neighboring Caribbean island of Haiti’s independence movement and abolition of slavery, which served to intensify plantation-style sugar production in Cuba as well as spread revolutionary ideas to people on the island. Still others draw a direct line between earlier Cuban slave revolts of the century, like the 1812 Aponte rebellion led by José Antonio Aponte. It is impossible to know exactly what conditions led to the slave revolts that constituted La Escalera, but the wave of violence and repression that followed was indisputable.
The way in which La Escalera has been written about since its occurrence is wrought with controversy. Many understood it as a massive conspiracy by the Cuban government to justify the repression inflicted upon people of color at the time, with no actual slave resistance efforts taking place. This served to erase any knowledge of slave movement for freedom. However, part of La Escalera and the ensuing repression's significance came from their inspiring new rebellious groups to form throughout the century in Cuba.
Methodological difficulties
A majority of the information gleaned about La Escalera and Carlota's role in inciting slave rebellion come from slave testimonies and other archival records. Historians have pointed out the issue in utilizing certain information found in the archive, particularly slave testimonies, as fact. Historian Aisha Finch points out the irony in trying to understand the experiences of enslaved people who suffered immense oppression and violence through the writings and records of those people who inflicted said violence. Usually, slave testimonies were taken during times of intense repression, under hierarchical (if not violent) power relations between colonial officials and slaves. Slaves frequently deployed strategic answers for survival, which then had to be taken down by a mediator with undoubtedly different goals and biases than the person whose testimony was being written. Finch refers to documents created by white officials at the time as “fictitious” due to their deeply biased and violent nature. However, authors and historians have worked to read archival documents critically to understand a more nuanced perspective of biased material to complete a narrative of slave agency and insurrection.
In many scholarly analyses of La Escalera, Carlota is only mentioned briefly or left out entirely. For example, in Cuban historian José Luciano Franco's analysis of the Triunvirato rebellion, Carlota takes a backseat to the male leaders of the revolt. Similarly, in other texts on the rebellion like Ricardo Vazquez's Triunvirato – Historia de un Rincon Azucarero de Cuba and Manuel Barcia’s Seeds of Insurrection, Carlota is barely mentioned. While it is impossible to know exactly why Carlota’s impact has only been taken up by a relatively small number of scholars, her absence can serve to reify the traditional view of slave rebellion as a particularly masculine affair. The most common reference to Carlota throughout the literature is Cuba’s intervention in Angola, named after her as Operación Carlota. Additionally, testimonies of women and about women are scant in the archive. Due to Carlota’s sparse mentions and perhaps misrepresentation in the archive, as well as her absence from secondary sources, it is difficult to understand a holistic picture of her life and specific role in La Escalera.
The memory of Carlota
Long after Carlota’s death in the aftermath of the Triunvirato rebellion, her memory was mobilized by the post-revolutionary Cuban state. Cuba’s intervention in Angola in 1974 to aid in its independence struggle was named after the rebel slave woman, in an event known as Operación Carlota. Historian Myra Ann Houser and others have illuminated how Fidel Castro and his revolutionary government capitalized on Cuba’s enslaved and rebellious past to further their political aims. A key tenet of this line of thinking was Castro’s ideology of the oppressed rising up to defeat the oppressor, as enslaved people had done in Cuba throughout the 19th century. This attitude is exemplified in Cuban historian José Luciano Franco’s analysis of the Triunvirato rebellion, where he explicitly calls the slaves that incited rebellion in the 19th century “precursors” to the 1959 revolution. Franco cites Fidel Castro's own speeches linking Cuba's slave past to his revolutionary aims. This conceptualization of history as dialectical materialism characterized Castro's vision for Cuba and the thinking behind his revolutionary ideology, painting the United States as the ultimate imperial power and oppressor, and nations like Cuba and Angola as the oppressed rising up against it.
Using the name of an African-born Cuban slave woman in an intervention in Africa was no coincidence, either. Castro built upon this connection to show Cuba's intervention in Angola as a sort of homecoming, or vengeance, of the Afro-descendant population in Cuba. The revolutionary government mobilized this “claim to roots” in justifying its intervention in the African nation. The government tapped into its enslaved and rebellious past to highlight it as a natural precursor to the 1959 socialist revolution, and the continuous revolutionary spirit of 20th century Cuba. Castro's ability to do this rested on the particular conceptualization of race relations in Cuba at the time, which emphasized Cubanidad, or Cubanness, over racial identity. Ideas of nation-building took precedence over racial divisions, allowing Castro to conceptualize Cuba's African past as affecting all of its citizens equally in the 20th century, and thus justifying a “return” to Angola in the 1970s. By connecting the 19th century slave struggle for freedom, Cuba's 20th century fight against Western neocolonialism, and Africa's 20th century fight for independence, Carlota's memory proved a useful tool to advance Cuban revolutionary ideals.
Aside from Operación Carlota in Angola, Carlota came back onto the scene of public memory through UNESCO’s Slave Route Project. A memorial was erected in 1991 at the Triunvirato plantation where the rebellion took place, commemorating rebel slave leadership. The memory site at Triunvirato, according to the Cuban newspaper Granma, was erected to honor Carlota and the legacy Cuban slaves have had on Cuban society and culture today. The Slave Route Project is intended “to break the silence surrounding the slave trade and slavery that have concerned all continents and caused the great upheavals that have shaped our modern societies”. The project's goals are to better illuminate the history of slavery, understand what global transformations came from its legacies, and contribute to an international culture of peace.
In 2015, the Triunvirato memory site was used as the location to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Operación Carlota. This illuminates how Carlota's image in Cuban memory is intimately linked to the nation's intervention in Africa. In another Granma article, the aforementioned mobilization of Carlota's memory in the Cuban public sphere is reified – Carlota is exalted, and again referred to as a “precursor” to the socialist revolution of 1959. Carlota remains solidified in Cuban public memory as an embodiment of Cuban revolutionary ideals.
Chuni Kotal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chuni Kotal was a Dalit Adivasi of Lodha Shabar tribe, a Scheduled Tribes of India, who in 1985 became the first woman graduate among the Lodha Shabars.
Her death through suicide on 16 August 1992, after years of harassment by officials, united the Lodha Shabar community in a big way. Eventually her story was highlighted by noted writer-activist Mahasweta Devi in her book in Bengali, Byadhkhanda in (1994), ( The Book of the Hunter (2002))
Biography
Born in 1965, in village Gohaldihi, in Paschim Medinipur district, West Bengal, into a poor Lodha family with 3 brothers and 3 sisters, Chuni Kotal survived a childhood of impoverishment to become the first woman from a 'primitive' tribe to complete High School. Thereafter, she got her first job as a Lodha Social worker in 1983 at Jhargram ITDP office, surveying local villages.
Eventually she graduated in anthropology from Vidyasagar University, in 1985. Two years after graduating, she was appointed as a Hostel superintendent at 'Rani Shiromoni SC and ST Girls' Hostel' at Medinipur, here again she had to face the social stigma attached with her tribe.
Trouble really began for her when she joined the Masters course (MSc) at the local Vidyasagar University. Here she was allegedly discriminated against university administrators, who refused to give her the requisite pass grades, despite her having fulfilled the criteria, who opined that a low-born person coming from a "criminal tribe", a Denotified tribe of India, hence did not have the social privilege and pre-ordained destiny to study "higher discourse" like the social sciences.[5] In 1991, after losing two years at the course, she complained, and a high level enquiry commission was set up by the state Education minister to no avail, once the fact that she belonged to a former criminal tribe came to light.
Death
On 14 August 1992, frustrated by years casteist and racist harassment at Medinipur, she left Medinipur and went to meet her husband, Manmatha Savar, who had been working at Railway workshop at Kharagpur. They had known each other since 1981 and later married in 1990 through a court marriage; Manmatha was a high school graduate himself. It was here that she committed suicide on 16 August 1992, at the age of 27.
Her death became the focal point of immense political, human rights and social controversy in the media in West Bengal, and eastern India, where the discourse is traditionally Brahmin-Baniya dominated. However, her death did not receive the attention of Indian American social science professors as it did among Western social scientists who were studying the Indian caste system, like Professor Nicholas B. Dirks at Columbia University and Professor Jan Breman at the University of Amsterdam.
Upon her death, Bangla Dalit Sahitya Sanstha, Kolkata, organized a mass movement through different seminars and street corners, street play protesting against university teachers, on the street of Kolkata Since 1993, it organizes the Annual Chuni Kotal Memorial Lecture in Kolkata every year. Later a motivational video film has been produced on her life story by Department of Education, Govt. of India
C. K. Janu
Early Life
Born in Chekot (or Thrissileri), a remote tribal hamlet near Mananthavady in Wayanad district, Kerala, to poor parents from the Adiya (also called Ravula or Adiyar) community—one of Kerala's marginalized Adivasi groups historically reduced to indentured or slave-like labor on Jenmi farms.
- She grew up in extreme poverty; her parents continued as unpaid or bonded laborers even into the 1970s.
- Janu received no formal education—she began working as a child laborer in fields and forests.
- Her early experiences of exploitation, starvation, and displacement fueled her lifelong commitment to tribal emancipation.
Activism and Key Struggles
Janu began her activism in the 1980s, initially addressing exploitation cases in tribal areas. She joined the Kerala State Karshaka Thozhilali Union (KSKTU), affiliated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)), but left around 1992, feeling the party betrayed tribal interests.
- In 2001, she founded the Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha (AGMS; Grand Assembly of Adivasi Clans), a tribal-rights organization (co-founded with M. Geethanandan), to demand land for landless Adivasis under the slogan "Right to live in the land one is born."
- 2001 Secretariat Protest: Led a 48-day sit-in (kudil ketti samaram) with thousands of Adivasis in front of the Kerala Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram. It forced the government to promise land distribution by the end of 2002.
- 2003 Muthanga Incident (February 19, 2003): When promises remained unfulfilled, Janu and AGMS led hundreds to occupy forest land in Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary (Wayanad) to cultivate and protest. Police fired on the protesters, killing one policeman and one Adivasi (Jogi), injuring many, and evicting them violently. Janu was arrested but released later. The event drew national/international attention, criticism of state repression, and inspired writings (e.g., Arundhati Roy's essay). It remains a landmark in Adivasi resistance but highlighted government betrayal.
- Other protests: Involved in Aralam agitations and ongoing demands for forest land rights, welfare implementation, and against displacement.
Her work critiques intersecting oppressions: caste-like tribal marginalization, economic exploitation, environmental degradation, and political neglect across parties.
Political Career
- Initially aligned with leftist movements but distanced herself due to perceived betrayals.
- In 2016, formed the Janadhipathya Rashtriya Sabha (JRS; National Democratic Sabha) and allied with the BJP-led NDA, contesting (unsuccessfully) from Sultan Bathery (ST reserved seat) in the Kerala Assembly elections.
- Continued NDA ties but exited in August 2025, citing negligence and lack of recognition for her party (compared to others like BDJS).
- In December 2025, JRS joined the Congress-led UDF as an associate member (alongside others like P.V. Anvar), seeking broader alliances ahead of 2026 polls.
- In early 2026, Janu expressed interest in contesting from Mananthavady (ST reserved) seat, writing to Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi for support, but faced reported denials and dissatisfaction with UDF's handling of tribal representation.
Personal Life and Legacy
- Largely self-taught and forest-connected, Janu embodies grassroots leadership without formal schooling.
- Her autobiography, Mother Forest: The Unfinished Story of C.K. Janu (Malayalam original, English translation available), details her childhood, forest life, activism, and eco-feminist perspectives on tribal harmony with nature. It is studied for themes of gender, ecology, and Adivasi rights.
- Recognized as Kerala's pioneering Adivasi woman activist, influencing Dalit-Adivasi unity, land rights discourse, and critiques of mainstream politics.
- Despite health challenges and political shifts, she remains active in AGMS (as chairperson) and tribal welfare advocacy.
Janu's journey—from bonded labor child to fearless leader—symbolizes Adivasi resilience against systemic injustice, though the fight for promised land continues decades later.
Chakali Ilamma
A Revolutionary Bahujan Woman
By Sanjeev Gumpenapalli
Telangana was made vulnerable with brutal colonial exploitation and the power dynamics of the regional feudal Kings. The Nizam of Hyderabad was no different than the white British men who terrorised and perpetuated utter violence in the region.
While violence was perpetrated in different forms and layers, women had been the easiest prey to state capitalist interests. But some women stood tall and valiant enough to dismantle the occupation by the British and Nizam governments. One among them was a Bahujan working-class woman Chakali Ilamma.
Chakali Ilamma is a revolutionary woman freedom fighter who took part and paved the way for women in the Telangana Armed Struggle. She fought for her land and set a platform for the oppressed to rise against the ruling class domination and occupation of land. She is one of the first women to dismantle the supremacy of the feudal lords of Telangana and has inspired various women to fight for their land and dignity.
Early life and marriage
Chityala Ilamma, commonly known as Chakali Ilamma, was born into a Bahujan family whose caste was Rajaka. They were known as Chakali in the Telangana region. This valiant freedom fighter was born on September 10, 1919 in Krishnapuram Village of Warangal District. Her family earned their daily bread only through their occupation assigned by the caste structure.
They served the upper caste feudal lords by washing their clothes. Her caste has become her surname as an empowering assertion. Carrying the caste in her surname is carrying her history of slavery which always indicated a history of bravery and celebration of her intolerance for upper caste feudalism. She thus asserted the history of violence that her community had to face by upper castes.
Chakali Ilamma was married off as a child to Chityala Narasaiah. They had five children. Since the couple lived in an economically backward condition, they had to continue with their caste occupation for their livelihood – they served the upper castes.
But Ilamma was determined to defy the slavery perpetuated by upper caste feudal lords and wanted to own land on which she could earn her bread. But she and her family had to go through a lot of hardship. The story of Chakali Ilamma reflects how land was monopolised by upper caste feudal lords and her story is the celebration of a Bahujan woman’s resistance.
Rebellion of her kind
Chakali Ilamma’s fight was not exclusive of feudalism but it is of gender equality and equality within women. She questioned and stood against upper caste women who equally perpetuated caste and class slavery by commanding the lower caste women to address them as Dora (addressed to the upper caste feudal landlord which reminds the oppressed about their inferiority in class and caste structures).
She was one of the first to question upper caste women’s supremacy and identified that caste and class plays a major role in every frame of life within gender. It is safe to consider Chakali Ilamma’s struggle as a study of intersectional feminism as well.
That Chakali Ilamma fought for land and food is a common notion, but she also fought for women. Not only did her struggle target upper caste feudal lords, but also masculinities that are ingrained in the mechanisms of violence. She has been constantly challenging the toxic masculinity of upper caste feudalism. She fought against mobs of men who always tried to assault her when trying to grab land from her.
Those were the times when resources including land were monopolised and in the stranglehold of few powerful, upper caste feudal lords. They grabbed lands from the lower strata of people. This had even lead to many struggles by the exploited. Bloodshed, gang rapes, sexual assault and institutional harassment were common then.
But Chakali Ilamma was determined to take 40 acres of land for Lease from Kondala Rao, a Landlord and she started to cultivate it. This came as a shock to the upper caste feudal landlords and the Nizam Government. This came as an insult because a Bahujan woman owned land.
The Patwari (a government official who keeps records regarding the ownership of land), Veeramaneni Seshagiri tried to coerce Ilamma to give up her work on her land and work in his land along with her family, which is a form of slavery. But she refused and denied his command.
While Ilamma was already a member of the Andhra Mahasabha (An organisation in erstwhile Hyderabad state of India who along with the CPI, launched the Telangana Movement), she was aware of the strategy that the landlords would come up with. They tried to grab her land through persistent physical attacks and trying to cut her crop away. Chakali Ilamma told them, “This is my land. This is my crop. Who is this Dora to take away my land and crop? It is only possible for you when I die”.
A Bahujan woman saying it to their face was a very brave move. This anguished them the most. On knowing that Chakali Ilamma joined the Communist Party of India, Visnoor Deshmukh (a ruler of a certain territory in Hyderabad state who is entitled to a portion of collected tax who is also a DORA) Ramachandra Reddy filed a false case against Chakali Ilamma and her family and got her husband and sons arrested.
But Ilamma was able to take this atrocious act by the Deshmukh to court in which the verdict came in favour of her. He then falsely used his power to transfer Ilamma’s land in his name and asked his servants to collect all the crop from Ilamma’s Land. But Ilamma, with the help of the Andhra Sabha members, had already cut the crop and hid it safely. She even had the land transferred back to her name.
But the suppression did not stop. The Deshmukh wanted to deprive her economically. He passed an order to burn her house down. The Patwari’s servants physically attacked her husband and gang-raped her Daughter. It is all sponsored by the Nizam Government. It was all with the support of the state, for the state has been an oppressor from its origins.
Chakali Ilamma took up pestles to show her anger and rage against the Dora. She destroyed the Patwari’s house and set up a cornfield on the same land. By doing so, she exhibited the power of the oppressed. She did not just set up a cornfield but a long-lasting symbol of resistance. It is a symbol of a Bahujan woman’s struggle. It is the historic symbol of the fight against slavery.
With Ilamma’s sheer courage and fight, CPI was able to attack the landlords and they redistributed the crop and wealth to the oppressed. It is Chakali Ilamma who made this happen. Her constructive struggle and idea of anti-slavery paved the path for justice. She lost her husband, who was brutally attacked by Dora.
She has been one of the greatest and most inspiring leaders of The Telangana Armed Rebellion in 1947. She took up arms to dismantle the atrocities of the then Nizam Government in connivance with British Imperialism. Chakali Ilamma’s rebellion inspired many women to stand strong to protect their lands from the Nizam‘s Army and landlords while still facing threats of sexual assault and their husbands being killed. Paving the way for the next generation and creating revolutionary communities, Chakali Ilamma passed away on September 10, 1985.
Chityala AilammaFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chityala Ailamma
Chakali Illama Statue
Personal details
Born : 26/09/1895
Krishnapuram village,Rayapaarthi, Warangal, Telangana
Died : 10/09/1985 (aged 90)
Palakurthi, Warangal, Telangana
Children : 4 sons 1 daughter
Chityala Ailamma,(Telugu: చాకలి ఐలమ్మ,Tamil: சாக்கிலி இல்லமா) or Chakali Ailamma (1895–1985) was an Indian revolutionary leader during the Telangana Rebellion. Her act of defiance against Zamindar Ramachandra Reddy, known as Visnoor Deshmukh, to cultivate her land became an inspiration for many during the rebellion against the feudal lords of the Telangana region.
Early life
Chityala Ailamma was born at Krishnapuram village in Rayaparthi mandal Warangal district, Telangana State, India. She belongs to Rajaka caste.
Career
Chityala Ailamma was an activist and joined the Andhra Mahasabha as well as the Communist Party. She worked actively against the Nizam government and her house was the center for activities conducted against the feudal land lords who collaborated with the Nizam.
Personal life
Chityala Ailamma was married to Chityala Narsaiah and had four sons and one daughter.
Choudhary Sadhu Ram
Sadhu Ram later known as Choudhary Sadhu Ram Mastere, a Punjabi Dalit leader was born to a well known (Chamar) Shri Jawahar Mal of Village Domeli in Kapurthala in January 1909. As a child Sadhu Ram was admitted in the Khalasa High School Domeli. On achieving adulthood Shri Sadhu Ram established his good business. From the very childhood Sadhu Ram decided to work for the welfare of his community. The condition of the Dalits in those days was no good and majority of them worked as farm labour for Land holders at minimum wages. These poor Dalits were under age-old debt of the local Banias (Business men and money lenders). Poverty, illiteracy and hate were forced upon them by manmade religious norms. So Sadhu Ram decided to dedicate his life to remove these manmade miseries and free his brethren from the centuries old slur.
Later he prefixed his surname as “Choudhary” meaning village headman, landlord, Local leader, Chieftain or foreman. He worked with Mangoram Magowalia for establishment of Ad-Dharam in 1926. To put this movement on the firm footing its aims and objectives were to establish a separate religious identity for untouchables other than Hindus on the Philosophy of Dalit Saints particularly Guru Ravidas. Discrimination on account of castes was discarded saying it was manmade as God created every one equal. Sikh way of worship was adopted declaring following of the Hindu religious books likes Shastri, Spiritless, Prams and Vedas as sin. Jai Guru Dev was adopted as a wish for greeting. Later he broke away from Ad Dharma and joined Dr.Ambedkar’s movement SCF.
Again Master Sadhu Ram broke away from SCF and joined Indian National Congress in 1946. He met Babu Jagjivan Ram, who was a prominent Congress leader with nearness to Mahatma Gandhi. Babu Jagjivan Ram and other Dalit leaders had established in 1935, a pro-Congress Dalit organization named “All India Depressed Classes League”. Master Sadhu Ram joined this organization and was made convener of PEPSU State in 1954. Master Sadhu Ram was nominated by Congress Party in 1952 for General Election to contest his first election from Phagwara (G and SC) constituency for the PEPSU Legislative Assembly and got elected. He was made Deputy Home Minister for PEPSU. This opened the destiny doors for Master Sadhu Ram. In the second general elections held in 1957 he got elected in Lok Sabha from Jallandhar (G and SC) constituency. He got elected in 1962, 1967 and1971 for the Lok Sabha from Phillaur (R) constituency. Master Sadhu Ram continued serving in different capacities till he expired on 1st August, 1975. He shall be long remembered for his good work for the welfare of his people. Although he broke away from Dr. Ambedkar politically, but he continued to keep his ideals as his guide.
Chaudhary Sadhu Ram
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chaudhary Sadhu Ram, is an Indian politician and five-times Member of Parliament.
Chaudhary Sadhu Ram
In office
1957-1977
Succeeded by Bhagat Ram
Personal details
Born January 1909
Domeli, Kapurthala, Punjab, British India
Died August 1975
Political party Indian National Congress
Spouse(s) Rao Kaur
Children 6
Early life
Chaudhary Sadhu Ram was born in Chamar caste to Jawahar Mal at Domeli, Kapurthala, Punjab. He had studied at Khalsa High School, Domeli and invested in leather trade from Jalandhar. He became one of the first and richest Dalit from Doaba.
Movement
In late 1920s he joined Ad-Dharm movement founded by Mangu Ram Mugowalia. He became an active member of the movement but due to rifts among the leaders he led a separate faction, "All Indian Ad Dharm Mandal", headquartering at Lyallpur, Punjab.
He became a close aid of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and joined Scheduled Castes Federation and became its president of state unit in 1942.
Politics
In 1946, he joined Indian National Congress and in 1954 became convenor of Depressed Classes League for PEPSU state.
In 1952, he fought his first election from Phagwara constituency of PEPSU Legislative Assembly and became Deputy Minister for Home Affairs.
In 1957 India general elections he won Jullundar Lok Sabha constituency and in 3rd, 4th and 5th Lok Sabha elections from Phillaur constituency of Punjab.
C. Natesa Mudaliar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Natesa Mudaliar
Natesa Mudaliar on a 2008 stamp of India
Born 1875
Chandrika Prasad Jigyasu (also spelled Jigyashu or Jigyasu; born late 1880s/1890s – died January 12, 1974) was a pioneering Indian anti-caste intellectual, social reformer, Hindi-language writer, publisher, and activist. He played a crucial role in shaping Dalit and Bahujan consciousness in northern India (especially the Hindi belt), promoting awareness against caste discrimination, Brahmanism, untouchability, and the varna system. Often described as a bearer of Jyotiba Phule's legacy in Hindi-speaking regions, he bridged Dalit and backward caste (OBC/Shudra) movements, introduced the concept of "Bahujan" unity, and disseminated Ambedkarite ideas through affordable literature.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Natesa Mudaliar
Natesa Mudaliar on a 2008 stamp of India
Born 1875
Triplicane, Madras
Died 1937
Madras
Nationality Indian
Alma mater Presidency College, Madras
Occupation politician
Political party Justice Party
C. Natesa Mudaliar (1875–1937), also known as Natesan, was a politician and activist of the Dravidian Movement from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He was one of the founders of the Justice Party along with Theagaroya Chetty and Dr. T. M. Nair. He belongs to the Arcot Mudaliar community.
Natesa Mudaliar was born in a Tamil family of Triplicane, Madras in 1875. He had his early schooling in Madras and graduated from Presidency College, Chennai and Madras Medical College before practising as a doctor. He founded the Madras United League in 1912 and was one of the founders of the South Indian Liberal Federation. He was elected to the Madras Legislative Council in 1923 as a candidate of the Justice Party and served as legislator till 1937. Natesa Mudaliar died in 1937 at the age of 62.
Natesan's admirers regard him as a kind-hearted gentleman. K. M. Balasubramaniam, a writer and supporter of the Dravidian Movement, compared him to Mahatma Gandhi.
Early life
Natesa Mudaliar was born in Triplicane, Madras in 1875. He had his early schooling in Madras and graduated in arts from the University of Madras. Natesan worked as a lecturer in Pithapuram Maharaja College and as an interpreter in the Gordon Woodrof Company. He graduated in medicine from Madras Medical College and practised as a doctor. In 1914, he started a hostel for non-Brahmin students in Madras Presidency. This marked his entry in South Indian politics.
Contribution in early Dravidian politics
In 1912, the Madras United League was formed. Natesa Mudaliar was one of the founders of the league and served as its Secretary. The league was largely composed of government employees and concentrated on improving the literacy of non-Brahmins by conducting adult education classes. In 1914, the Madras United League was renamed as the Madras Dravidian Association and Panaganti Ramarayaningar, later the Raja of Panagal was elected President. As a part of its programme, the Madras Dravidian Association conducted a hostel called "Dravidian Home" for the benefit of non-Brahmin students. Natesan was the caretaker of this hostel.
Formation of the South Indian Liberal Federation
Through the mediatory efforts of Mudaliar, political opponents Sir Theagaroya Chetty and Dr. T. M. Nair came together and resolved to put forth their efforts to form an organization representing the non-Brahmins of the Madras Presidency.
In November 1916, at a non-Brahmin conference presided over by Panaganti Ramarayaningar, the four important non-Brahmin organizations in the Presidency came together to form the South Indian Liberal Federation, more popularly known as the Justice Party. Theagaroya Chetty became the first President of the federation.
Natesa Mudaliar, along with Theagaroya Chetty, was instrumental in negotiating an end to the Buckingham and Carnatic Mills strike of 1921, organized by V. Kalyanasundaram.
In the Legislative Council
Natesan did not participate in the first general elections in Madras Presidency held in 1920. However, in the 1923 assembly elections, Natesan was elected to the Madras Legislative Council. He had differences with ministers in the Raja of Panagal ministry and often criticized the government. When P. Subbarayan took over as Chief Minister, Natesa Mudaliar praised Subbarayan and the Swarajists and appealed for the merger of the Justice Party with the Indian National Congress. At the Non-Brahmin confederation in Coimbatore in 1927, he led the split of the Justice Party into two camps: Ministerialists and Constitutionalists and functioned as the leader of the Constitutionalists till the two groups merged. In 1929, Natesan presided over the Justice Party conference in which a resolution was passed facilitating the admission of Brahmins in the party.
In 1933, Natesan expressed his support to C. P. Ramaswami Iyer when the latter spoke against casteism and proposed a temple entry law in order to remove restrictions on scheduled castes entering Hindu temples.
Death
Natesan was expected to contest in the 1937 elections to the legislative assembly of Madras but he died all of a sudden in February 1937 at the age of 62.
Legacy
Natesa Mudaliar was known to be a kind-hearted gentleman and was regarded as the "heart" of the Justice Party. K. M. Balasubramaniam compared him to Mahatma Gandhi in his book South Indian Celebrities.
Natesan was also known for his dedication to the Justice Party. His oft repeated phrase was: "The Justice Party is the justest Party, Give that party your support hearty."
Chandrika Prasad Jigyasu
Early Life
Born in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, into a relatively prosperous family of the Kalwar (Jaiswal) caste, classified as a backward (OBC/Shudra) community involved in liquor trade and related occupations. Sources vary on his exact birth year: around 1885 (most common), 1889, or even 1899. Orphaned young (around age 11, after losing both parents), he was self-educated and entered journalism and publishing early. He initially wrote under the pen name "Prakash Lakhnavi" and contributed to magazines like Sudha and Saraswati. He adopted the pen name Jigyasu ("the inquirer" or "curious one") to reflect his inquisitive, truth-seeking nature.
Political and Social Activism
- Early involvement in the Indian independence movement: Initially published nationalist pamphlets and songs through his press, originally named Hindu Samaj Sudhar Karyalay ("Hindu Society Reform Office"). One booklet on Jawaharlal Nehru (Vir Javahar) sold massively (450,000 copies across 12 editions in a year) before being banned by British authorities.
- Shift to anti-caste work: In 1926, influenced by Swami Achutanand (founder of the Adi Hindu movement), Jigyasu moved away from Hindu reform efforts (like Arya Samaj) toward radical anti-caste ideology. He joined the Adi Hindu movement, which viewed Dalits as original inhabitants (Adi-Nivasi) displaced by Aryan invaders.
- Organizational roles: Served as convener of the Uttar Pradesh unit of the Depressed Classes Federation (1928, under Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's national leadership). He introduced the unifying term Bahujan to bring Dalits and backward castes together against upper-caste dominance.
- Post-independence focus: Critiqued "mental slavery" persisting after 1947, including critiques of Gandhi's Ram-centric nationalism, Brahmanical influence in politics, and even leftist/communist blind spots on caste in India. He advocated indigenous socialism rooted in ancient egalitarian traditions and promoted Buddhism as an alternative to caste-ridden Hinduism.
Publishing and Literary Contributions
Jigyasu ran his own presses from Lucknow (initially Hindu Samaj Sudhar Karyalay, later renamed Bahujan Kalyan Prakashan in 1960), making literature affordable and accessible to marginalized readers. He translated and published Ambedkar's works in Hindi when they were scarce, along with pamphlets, biographies, songs, poems, plays, and speeches on caste issues.
Key works include:
- Bharat ke Adi-Nivasiyon ki Sabhyata (1937): Seminal text on the "original inhabitants" theory, arguing Dalits/backwards were indigenous people pushed out by Brahminical invaders; laid foundations for Bahujan socialism.
- Ishwar aur Uske Gudde (1959): Critiqued post-independence "mental slavery" and Brahmanical god concepts from a Buddhist perspective.
- Biographies and histories: On Ambedkar, Ravidas (Sant Pravar Raidas, 1960, two volumes; challenged upper-caste narratives), Ravan (reinterpreting as a non-Aryan hero), and others.
- Other titles: Jaati Todon, Kiska Dharm Satya, Babasaheb ki Bhavishyavani, and collected works (Chandrika Prasad Jigyasu Rachnavali/Granthavali).
- He also translated the Quran into Hindi from Urdu.
His writings emphasized rational inquiry, historical reinterpretation (e.g., portraying figures like Ravidas and Buddha as anti-caste icons), and awakening self-respect among oppressed communities.
Personal Life and Legacy
Jigyasu operated from his home in Lucknow's Saadatganj area, dedicating his life to social awakening without seeking formal political office. He died on January 12, 1974.
His legacy endures in:
- Dalit-Bahujan literature and activism in the Hindi belt.
- Influencing movements like the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) culturally.
- Scholarly recognition: Featured in books like Hindi Dalit Literature in the United Provinces: Swami Acchutanand and Chandrika Prasad Jigyasu, 1900–1930 (Tapan Basu) and studies on vernacular liberalism/Dalit public sphere.
- Modern tributes: Described as a "hero of Bahujan consciousness" and unsung pioneer who fueled anti-caste thought among Dalits and OBCs.
Jigyasu's tireless efforts made Ambedkarite philosophy accessible in Hindi, challenged dominant narratives, and fostered a distinct Bahujan identity—making him a foundational figure in North India's anti-caste intellectual tradition.
Chithralekha
Chithralekha was born into a pulaya family, a Dalit caste in Kerala. Chithralekha’s husband Shreeshkanth is a Thiyya (an OBC caste). Both his family and the dominant Left party (CPM) structure were against Shreeshkanth marrying Chithralekha as she is a Dalit. In their attempt to make a better living, they resorted to what many Dalitbahujans of moffusil towns easily choose: an auto-rickshaw. The auto-rickshaw was bought in Chithralekha’s name in October 2004 under the Prime Minister Rojagar Yojana (PMRY) and she decided to drive it herself. Chithralekha also decided to operate from within the ambit of the Payyannur college stand itself. Payyannur is a busy town which has witnessed some of the most glorious moments in the communist and Naxal struggles against human oppression. In January 2005, she was given the card and she started driving the auto. However, her fellow drivers (mainly from the OBC caste) started creating problems just within one week of her public career on the city roads. In spite of harassment, Chithralekha turned out to be a competent driver and became very popular with her customers, especially women. The male auto-drivers gave a counter complaint against her saying that she drinks, uses drugs and parks the vehicle near college in vacant places implying that she is a sex-worker. The auto-drivers and the left cadres were so enraged against her for taking the matter to the police that she was again verbally abused at the auto station and Rameshan even tried to run over Chithralekha with his auto. However, she escaped the attack but sustained minor injuries and had to be hospitalized. From then on Chithralekha has been fighting the CITU/CPM in Kannur. She has been attacked, beaten up and even arrested many times. Her auto has been destroyed many times. She however holds out against all these attacks along with her husband and still drives her auto in Edattu, though she is socially ostracized and can hardly make her ends meet.
Kerala government orders Dalit woman, fighting to earn livelihood as auto-rickshaw driver, to vacate land
A 40-year-old Dalit woman from Kannur district in Kerala was recently sent a government notice to vacate five cents of land that was allocated to her by the previous government. She had been given the land and a sum of Rs 5 lakh to relocate at a place 40 km away from her native, Edatt, allegedly after Communist Party of India (Marxist) goons forced her to leave the area.
“I will not leave the land. I will live here and continue my fight,” said Chithralekha, who has been fighting to earn her livelihood as an auto-rickshaw driver in the region for over 13 years now.
Since Chithralekha bought an autorickshaw with a bank loan in 2004, she has had eight cases slapped against herself and her husband, been assaulted by trade union workers and has spent 20 days in jail.
To work at the Edatt auto-rickshaw stand, Chithralekha said she had to first get herself registered with the CPM-backed Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU).
Chithralekha with her husband (right) and British scriptwriter Fraser Scott. Image courtesy: D Jose
But despite having her registration accepted three months after applying, Chithralekha became a target for the CITU workers as women, particularly Muslim women, favoured travelling in her autorickshaw. Her fellow auto drivers considered this as a threat to their earnings and allegedly tried to dissuade Chithralekha’s passengers in various ways.
Chithralekha, who belongs to the ‘untouchable’ Pulaya community, was allotted five cents of land in 2015 after CITU workers succeeded in forcing her to leave Edatt by flexing their muscles. The United Democratic Front (UDF) government also sanctioned a sum of Rs 5 lakh for her to construct a house at Kattampilly.
But the financial grant that came after a long struggle, including a 122-day dharna outside the Kannur collectorate in 2014 and a 47-day sit-in protest in front of the state secretariat at Thiruvananthapuram in 2015, was cancelled by the CPM-led government. Citing an inquiry that revealed Chithralekha had six cents of land in Edatt, the government argued that she is not eligible for the grant as the scheme allows allotment of land only to landless people.
“I would be happy to go back to Edatt if the party workers were ready to allow me to live in peace there. But I don’t find any change in their attitude towards me or my family. They will kill me if I go back,” said Chithralekha, recalling how CITU works used muscle power to chase her away.
Burnt, beaten and chased
The windscreen of her auto was smashed and its hood ripped off in 2005; as the woman fought back, her auto was burnt. The harassment continued after she returned to the Edatt stand in 2008 with an autorickshaw bought with help from human rights activists.
Chithralekha alleged that she, her husband and her 10-year-old daughter were beaten up by CITU-backed goons. CITU workers vandalised her house on several occasions and eight “false cases” were slapped against her and her husband, she said. Chithralekha and her husband were also remanded in jail for 20 days in 2014 in connection with an attempt-to-murder case.
Chithralekha was heard after shifting her agitation to Thiruvananthapuram. The Ommen Chandy-government decided to rehabilitate her by allotting her five cents of land at the Dalit-dominated Kattampilly.
But to her misfortune, after the UDF’s loss of power in the 2016 Assembly election, the Pinarayi government has asked her to vacate the land.
Chithralekha is not ready for another round of agitation.
“If I start a fasting agitation, the CPM government will not do anything till I breathe my last. If Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan won't let me live in peace, the comrades can feed on mine and my family's corpses," Chithralekha wrote in a Facebook post.
Opposition parties extend support
But the 40-year-old Dalit woman has been promised full support by Opposition Congress leaders.
Chithralekha at a sit-in protest in front of the Kerala secretariat. Image courtesy: D Jose
Senior Congress leader from Kannur, K Sudhakaran, said the government’s claim that she owns six cents of land at Edatt was not technically correct as it (the land) is still under the possession of her grandmother.
“Chithralekha will get possession of the land only after the death of her grandmother. Till then, she is landless. If the government tries to take back her land on this ground, we will take over the fight and protect the Dalit woman,” he added.
State Congress chief MM Hassan, who is presently leading a Janamochana Yatra through north Kerala, said their party will launch a second land struggle if the government goes ahead with its plan to take back the land allotted to Chithralekha.
The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the second-largest constituent of the UDF, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also voiced support for Chithralekha.
IUML MLA KM Shaji has launched a fund mobilisation campaign to help Chithralekha complete the construction of her house at Kattampilly.
Movie offer and fresh troubles
Chithralekha, however, remains sceptical about being able to live in peace. She said that the party’s workers at Kattampally have unleashed a fresh round of campaigning against her, after British scriptwriter Fraser Scott offered to shoot a film based on her struggles.
She believes that the government may have initiated measures to take back the land only after news about the film spread. She said she would cooperate in making the movie because it is a platform for her to let the world know about “the atrocities that a powerful party like the CPM committed on a hapless woman.”
Several human rights activists feel that the bold stance that Chithralekha has taken is the reason for her troubles.
“The CPM does not like anybody to question their diktat, especially in Kannur district, which is the cradle of the communist movement in Kerala,” says Usha Nambeesan, a member of the Feminist Kerala Network.
She added that a solidarity mission commissioned by the NGO to probe the persecution of Chithralekha, had found that the travails of Chithralekha were the result of a fascist atmosphere created by the CPM.
“In Kannur, there are entire villages that are controlled by various political parties, of which the CPM is the most dominant one. Once a party takes over a village, it enforces an extra judicial power over all the people who live in that village,” the commission’s probe report said.
Chithralekha’s case is not an isolated one. Other female Dalit auto drivers in north Malabar, consisting of Kannur and Kasargod districts, have faced similar intimidation, caste-related abuses, accusations of promiscuity and immorality.
Chithralekha says she continues to be hounded as she is not willing to submit to CPM’s authority.
The author is a member of The NewsCart, a Bengaluru-based media startup.
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Devrao Vishnu Naik
Devrao Vishnu Naik (also known as Devrao Naik or Naik Devrao Vishnu; c. 1894 – date of death not widely documented) was a prominent Indian social reformer, journalist, and activist closely associated with Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and the early Dalit emancipation movement in Maharashtra during the 1920s–1930s. A Brahmin by caste (often referred to as a "savarna" or upper-caste ally), he was a radical supporter of Ambedkar's anti-caste struggle, breaking from traditional Brahminical privileges to advocate for the rights of the Depressed Classes (now Scheduled Castes/Dalits). He is best remembered as the founding editor of Ambedkar's newspaper Janata (meaning "The People"), launched in 1930, and for his editorial role in other Ambedkarite publications like Bahishkrit Bharat. His work highlighted caste conflicts, promoted social equality, and challenged Brahmin dominance, making him a key figure in the non-Dalit intellectual backbone of the early Ambedkarite movement.
Early Life
Born around February 9, 1894 (his 123rd birth anniversary was noted in Dalit circles in 2017), Devrao Naik came from a Brahmin family in Maharashtra. Despite his privileged caste background, he developed a strong commitment to social justice, influenced by the growing anti-caste awakening in the region. He became involved in Ambedkar's activities from the late 1920s, participating in key events like the Mahad Satyagraha (1927), where Dalits asserted their right to access public water sources. Naik was part of the Satyagraha Committee and worked alongside other supportive caste Hindus like Gangadhar Nilkanth Sahastrabuddhe (Bapusaheb Sahastrabuddhe).
His wife, Indirabai Naik, also actively participated in women's mobilization during these movements, including efforts to involve women in the Mahad Satyagraha and related protests.
Career and Activism
Naik's most significant contribution was in journalism and organizational support for Ambedkar's cause:
- He served as the first editor of Janata, founded by Ambedkar on April 11, 1930, during the First Round Table Conference in London. Ambedkar delegated editorial responsibilities to trusted colleagues, and Naik handled the initial years (1930–1932). The paper focused on the struggles of the Depressed Classes, critiqued caste oppression, and advocated political alternatives for the oppressed.
- Earlier, he contributed to Bahishkrit Bharat (1927–1929), Ambedkar's second newspaper launched amid the Mahad Satyagraha.
- Naik was Marxist-oriented and sympathetic to communist ideas, which influenced his radical critiques of caste and class exploitation. He used the platforms to highlight conflicts between Brahmins and non-Brahmins, expose upper-caste arrogance, and promote unity among the exploited classes.
- He participated in public meetings and conferences organized by Ambedkar, such as those under the Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha. In one instance, he countered caste superiority claims by citing examples like Sant Tukaram (a lower-caste Bhakti saint) to argue against Maratha dominance.
- Alongside Sahastrabuddhe and others (like B.R. Kadrekar, who later edited Janata), Naik helped sustain Ambedkar's media efforts when Ambedkar himself could not edit due to his commitments. These newspapers were crucial for mobilizing Dalits, countering mainstream nationalist narratives, and building awareness about untouchability and discrimination.
Naik's activism emphasized that true social reform required allies from dominant castes to dismantle hierarchies from within. His role demonstrated cross-caste solidarity in the fight against untouchability.
Legacy
Devrao Vishnu Naik remains an underrecognized but vital figure in Dalit history, often highlighted in Ambedkarite scholarship for his courage as a Brahmin who rejected caste privileges. Historians and writers like Suraj Yengde (in Caste Matters) and others note his radical Ambedkarite stance and editorial contributions to revolutionary journals. His work laid groundwork for later Ambedkarite journalism and activism.
He passed away sometime after the 1930s (exact date not prominently recorded in available sources). His birthday on February 9 is occasionally commemorated in Dalit vision blogs and movements as part of February's significance in Dalit history (alongside events like the burning of Manusmriti on December 25, 1927, but linked to Naik's birth). His efforts continue to inspire discussions on caste allies and the role of progressive upper-caste individuals in anti-caste struggles.
Deepak Dengle
Background and Role in Kabir Kala Manch
- Deepak Dengle joined KKM around 2005, alongside other key members like Sheetal Sathe (a Dalit activist, singer, and poet), her husband Sachin Mali, Sagar Gorkhe (Sheetal's cousin), and Siddharth Bhosle.
- KKM was formed in Pune, Maharashtra, shortly after the 2002 Gujarat riots, initially by students responding to communal violence and social injustices. It evolved into a cultural platform amplifying voices of the oppressed through folk-inspired music, poetry, and street performances.
- As a performer in KKM, Dengle participated in songs and presentations critiquing caste hierarchies, state violence, and exploitation of the underclasses. The group's work often faced accusations of promoting "Maoist" or "Naxalite" ideology due to its radical content.
Arrests, Torture Allegations, and Legal Battles
- In May 2011, following Maharashtra government's invocation of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against KKM, the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) cracked down on the group. Deepak Dengle and Siddharth Bhosle were arrested and accused of being members of a banned Maoist (Naxalite) organization waging war against the state.
- Dengle spent over 1.5 years in jail (approximately 2011–2013). He alleged severe torture in custody: beatings with belts, being stripped, tied, and hung from the ceiling, and even acid applied to his back. Police allegedly threatened his family and extracted a forced "confession" claiming KKM attended Maoist meetings—he later withdrew it, stating it was obtained under duress.
- In 2013, the Bombay High Court granted him bail (along with Siddharth Bhosle), with Justice Thipsay ruling that mere sympathy or membership in a banned outfit was insufficient for detention under UAPA without proof of actual crime or intent.
- Dengle was released on bail after this ruling. Other KKM members (like Sheetal Sathe and Sachin Mali) surrendered in April 2013 after a public satyagraha, supported by figures like Anand Patwardhan.
- In 2017–2018, Supreme Court granted bail to remaining KKM activists in related cases, but Dengle's earlier ordeal highlighted state repression of cultural dissent.
- In 2018, an FIR was filed against KKM members—including Dengle, Sagar Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor, Harshali Potdar, Jyoti Jagtap, and Sudhir Dhawale—alleging provocative speeches/performances at the Elgar Parishad event (December 31, 2017, Pune), linked to the subsequent Bhima Koregaon violence (January 1, 2018). This tied into the broader Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case, though Dengle's primary persecution stemmed from the 2011 crackdown.
Overall Impact and Legacy
Deepak Dengle's story exemplifies the criminalization of artistic dissent and cultural activism in India, particularly when it challenges caste and state power from Dalit/marginalized perspectives. His experiences of torture, prolonged detention, and fabricated charges drew attention from human rights groups (e.g., Human Rights Watch reports on stifling dissent), filmmakers like Anand Patwardhan (who defended KKM), and activists highlighting misuse of UAPA against peaceful expression.
Post-release, he has been associated with KKM's continued (though lower-profile) activities and the broader defense committee efforts. His case remains a symbol of resilience in using art for social justice amid state crackdowns on radical Dalit cultural groups.
Denmark Vesey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Denmark Vesey memorial in Hampton Park in Charleston, South Carolina
North American slave revolts
Toussaint Louverture
Denmark Vesey (also Telemaque) (c.1767 — July 2, 1822) was a literate, skilled carpenter and leader among African Americans in Charleston, South Carolina. He was accused and convicted of being the leader of "the rising," a major potential slave revolt planned for the city in June 1822 and was executed shortly thereafter.
Likely born into slavery in St. Thomas, he was enslaved to a man in Bermuda for some time before being brought to Charleston, where he gained his freedom. Vesey won a lottery and purchased his freedom around the age of 32. He had a good business and a family, but was unable to buy his first wife Beck and their children out of slavery. Vesey became active in the Second Presbyterian Church; in 1818 he was among the founders of an independent African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in the city, which had the support of white clergy. It rapidly attracted 1,848 members, making this the second-largest AME congregation in the nation after Mother Bethel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In 1822, Vesey was alleged to be the leader of a planned slave revolt. Vesey and his followers were said to be planning to kill slaveholders in Charleston, liberate the slaves, and sail to the black republic of Haiti for refuge. By some accounts, it would have involved thousands of slaves in the city and others on plantations miles away. City officials had a militia arrest the plot's leaders and many suspected followers on June 22 before the rising could begin, which was believed to be planned for July 14. No white people were killed or injured.
Vesey and five slaves were among the first group of men rapidly judged guilty by the secret proceedings of a city-appointed Court and condemned to death. They were executed by hanging on July 2, 1822. Vesey was about 55 years old. In later proceedings, some 30 additional followers were executed. His son was also judged guilty of conspiracy and was deported from the United States, along with many others. The church was destroyed and its minister expelled from the city.
Early life
Manuscript transcripts of testimony at the 1822 Court proceedings in Charleston, South Carolina, and its Report after the events constitute the chief documentation about Denmark Vesey's life. The Court judged Vesey guilty of conspiracy in a slave rebellion and had him executed by hanging.
The court reported that he was born into slavery about 1767 in St. Thomas, at the time a colony of Denmark. He was called Telemaque; historian Douglas Egerton suggested that Vesey could have been of Coromantee (an Akan-speaking people) origin. Biographer David Robertson suggested that Telemaque may have been of Mande origin, but his evidence has not been generally accepted by historians.
Telemaque was purchased around the age of 14 by Joseph Vesey, a Bermudian sea captain and slave merchant. After a time, Vesey sold the youth to a planter in French Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti). When the youth was found to suffer epileptic fits, Captain Vesey took him back and returned his purchase price to the former master. Biographer Egerton found no evidence of Denmark Vesey having epilepsy later in life, and suggests that he may have faked the seizures in order to escape the particularly brutal conditions on Saint-Domingue.
Telemaque worked for Joseph Vesey as a personal assistant and interpreter in slave trading, including periods spent in Bermuda, and was known to be fluent in French and Spanish in addition to English. Following the American Revolution, the captain retired from the sea and slave trade, settling in Charleston, South Carolina. Colonists from Bermuda, including the first Governor (William Sayle), had settled here since 1669, and there were many ties. Numerous Bermudians, such as Thomas Tudor Tucker, had settled prior to American independence. Telemaque had learned to read and write by the time he and Vesey settled in Charleston.
Charleston was a continental hub connected to Bermuda's thriving merchant shipping trade. The trading center of the Lowcountry's rice and indigo plantations, the city had a majority-slave population and thriving port. In 1796, Captain Vesey wed Mary Clodner, a wealthy "free East Indian woman", and the couple used Telemaque as a domestic at Mary's plantation, "The Grove", just outside Charleston on the Ashley River.
Freedom
On November 9, 1799, Telemaque won $1500 in a city lottery. At the age of 32, he bought his freedom for $600 from Vesey. He took the surname Vesey and the given name of 'Denmark,' after the nation ruling his birthplace of St. Thomas. Denmark Vesey began working as an independent carpenter and built up his own business. By this time he had married Beck, an enslaved woman. Their children were born into slavery under the principle of partus sequitur ventrem, by which children of a slave mother took her status. Vesey worked to gain freedom for his family; he tried to buy his wife and their children, but her master would not sell her. This meant their future children would also be born into slavery.
Along with other slaves, Vesey had belonged to the Second Presbyterian church, and chafed against its restrictions on black members.
In 1818, after becoming a free man of color, he was among founders of a congregation on what was known as the "Bethel circuit" of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME Church). This had been organized in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1816 as the first independent black denomination in the United States.
The AME Church in Charleston was supported by leading white clergy. In 1818 white authorities briefly ordered the church closed, for violating slave code rules that prohibited black congregations from holding worship services after sunset. The church attracted 1848 members by 1818, making it the second largest AME church in the nation. City officials always worried about slaves in groups; they closed the church again for a time in 1821, as the City Council warned that its classes were becoming a "school for slaves" (under the slave code, slaves were prohibited from being taught to read). Vesey was reported as a leader in the congregation, drawing from the Bible to inspire hope for freedom.
Background
By 1708, the population of the colony of South Carolina was majority slave, reflecting the numerous African slaves imported to the state as laborers on the rice and indigo plantations. Exports of these commodity crops, and cotton from the offshore Sea Islands, produced the wealth enjoyed by South Carolina's planters. This elite class controlled the legislature for decades after the American Revolution. The state, the Lowcountry and city of Charleston had a majority of the population who were slaves of African descent. By the late 18th century, slaves were increasingly "country born," that is, native to the United States. They were generally considered more tractable than newly enslaved Africans. Connections of kinship and personal relations extended between slaves in the city of Charleston and those on plantations in the Lowcountry, just as those connections existed among the planter class, many of whom had residences (and domestic slaves) in both places.
From 1791 to 1803 the Haitian Revolution of slaves and free people of color on Saint-Domingue had embroiled the French colony in violence; blacks gained independence and created the republic of Haiti in 1804. Many whites and free people of color had fled to Charleston and other port cities as refugees during the uprisings, and brought their slaves with them. In the city, the new slaves were referred to as "French Negroes". Their accounts of the revolts and its success spread rapidly among Charleston's slaves. The free people of color occupied a place between the mass of blacks and the minority of whites in Charleston.
In the early 1800s, the state legislature had voted to reopen its ports to importing slaves from Africa. This decision was highly controversial and opposed by many planters in the Lowcountry, who feared the disruptive influence of new Africans on their slaves. Planters in Upland areas were developing new plantations based on short-staple cotton and needed many workers, so the state approved resumption of the Atlantic trade. The profitability of this type of cotton had been made possible by the invention of the cotton gin just before the turn of the 19th century. From 1804 to 1808, Charleston merchants imported some 75,000 slaves, more than the total brought to South Carolina in the 75 years before the Revolution. Some of these slaves were sold to the Uplands and other areas, but many of the new Africans were held in Charleston and on nearby Lowcountry plantations.
Conspiracy
Even after gaining his freedom, Vesey continued to identify and socialize with many slaves. He became increasingly set on helping his new friends break from the bonds of slavery. In 1819, Vesey became inspired by the congressional debates over the status of Missouri, and how it should be admitted to the Union, since slavery appeared to be under attack.
Vesey developed followers among the mostly enslaved blacks in the Second Presbyterian Church and then the independent AME African Church. The latter's congregation represented more than 10% of the blacks in the city. They resented the harassment by city officials. Economic conditions in the Charleston area became difficult since an economic decline affected the city. In the year of 1821, Vesey and a few slaves began to conspire and plan a revolt. In order for the revolt to be successful, Vesey had to recruit others and strengthen his army. Because Denmark Vesey was a lay preacher, when he had recruited enough followers, he would review plans of the revolt with his followers at his home during religious classes. Vesey inspired slaves by connecting their potential freedom to the biblical story of the Exodus, and God's delivery of the children of Israel from Egyptian slavery.
In his 50s, Vesey was a well-established carpenter with his own business. He reportedly planned the insurrection to take place on Bastille Day, July 14, 1822. This date was notable in association with the French Revolution, whose victors had abolished slavery in Saint-Domingue. News of the plan was said to be spread among thousands of blacks throughout Charleston and for tens of miles through plantations along the Carolina coast. (Both the city and county populations were majority black; Charleston in 1820 had a population of 14,127 blacks and 10,653 whites.) Within the black population was a growing upper class of free people of color or mulattos, some of whom were slaveholders. Vesey generally aligned with slaves.
Vesey held numerous secret meetings and eventually gained the support of both slaves and free blacks throughout the city and countryside who were willing to fight for their freedom. He was said to organize thousands of slaves who pledged to participate in his planned insurrection. By using intimate family ties between those in the countryside and the city, Vesey created an extensive network of supporters
His plan was first, to make a coordinated attack on the Charleston Meeting Street Arsenal. Once they secured these weapons, these Freedom Fighters planned to commandeer ships from the harbor and sail to Haiti, possibly with Haitian help.Vesey and his followers also planned to kill white slaveholders throughout the city, as had been done in Haiti, and liberate the slaves. According to records of the French Consulate in Charleston, his group was reported to have numerous members who were "French Negroes," slaves brought from Saint-Domingue by refugee masters.
Failed uprising
Due to the vast number of slaves who knew about the planned uprising, Vesey feared that word of the plot would get out. Vesey reportedly advanced the date of the insurrection to June 16. Beginning in May, two slaves opposed to Vesey's scheme, George Wilson and Joe LaRoche, gave the first specific testimony about a coming uprising to Charleston officials, saying a "rising" was planned for July 14. George Wilson was a mixed-race slave who was deeply loyal to his master. The testimonies of these two men confirmed an earlier report coming from another slave named Peter Prioleau. Though officials didn't believe the less specific testimony of Prioleau, they did believe Wilson and LaRoche due to their unimpeachable reputations with their masters. With their testimony, the city launched a search for conspirators.
Joe LaRoche had originally planned to support the rising and brought the slave Rolla Bennett to discuss plans with George Wilson, his close friend. Wilson had to decide whether to join the conspiracy described by Bennett or tell his master that there was a plot in the making. Wilson refused to join the conspiracy and urged both Laroche and Bennett to end their involvement in the plans. Wilson convinced LaRoche that they must tell his master to prevent the conspiracy from being acted out.
The Mayor James Hamilton was told, and he organized a citizens' militia, putting the city on alert. White militias and groups of armed men patrolled the streets daily for weeks until many suspects were arrested by the end of June, including 55-year-old Denmark Vesey. As suspects were arrested, they were held in the Charleston Workhouse until the newly appointed Court of Magistrates and Freeholders heard evidence against them. The Workhouse was also the place where punishment was applied to slaves for their masters, and likely where Plot suspects were abused, or threatened with abuse or death before giving testimony to the Court. The suspects were allowed visits by ministers; Dr. Benjamin Palmer visited Vesey after he was sentenced to death, and Vesey told the minister that he would die for a "glorious cause".
Court of Magistrates and Freeholders
As leading suspects were rounded up by the militia ordered by Intendant/Mayor James Hamilton, the Charleston City Council voted to authorize a Court of Magistrates and Freeholders to evaluate suspects and determine crimes. Tensions in the city were at a height, and many residents had doubts about actions taken during the widespread fears and quick rush to judgment. Soon after the Court began its sessions, in secret and promising secrecy to all witnesses, Supreme Court Justice William Johnson published an article in the local paper recounting an incident of a feared insurrection of 1811. He noted that a slave was mistakenly executed in the case, hoping to suggest caution in the Vesey affair. He was well respected, having been appointed as Justice by President Thomas Jefferson in 1804, but his article appeared to produce a defensive reaction, with white residents defending the Court and the militancy of city forces.
From June 17, the day after the purported insurrection was to begin, to June 28, the day after the court adjourned, officials arrested 31 suspects and in greater numbers as the month went on. The Court took secret testimony about suspects in custody and accepted evidence against men not yet charged. Historians acknowledge that some witnesses testified under threat of death or torture, but Robertson believes that their affirming accounts appeared to provide details of a plan for rebellion.
Newspapers were nearly silent while the Court conducted its proceedings. While bickering with Johnson, the Court first published its judgment of guilt of Denmark Vesey and five black slaves; sentencing them to death. The six men were executed by hanging on July 2. None of the six had confessed and each proclaimed his innocence to the end. Their deaths quieted some of the city residents' fears, and the tumult in Charleston about the planned revolt began to die down. Officials made no arrests in the next three days, as if wrapping up their business.
Concerns about proceedings
Learning that the proceedings were conducted in secret, with defendants unable to confront their accusers or hear testimony against them, Governor Thomas Bennett, Jr. had concerns about the legality of the Court, as did his brother-in-law Justice Johnson. Bennett had served almost continuously in the state legislature since 1804, including four years as Speaker of the House. He did not take any action at first, because four of his household slaves were among those accused in the first group with Vesey, and three of these men were executed with the leader on July 2.
Bennett consulted in writing with Robert Y. Hayne, Attorney General for the state, expressing his concerns about the conduct of the Court. He believed that it was wrong for defendants to be unable to confront their accusers, yet be subject to execution. Hayne responded that, under the state's constitution, slaves were not protected by the rights available to freemen of habeas corpus and the Magna Carta. But Vesey was a free man.
Further arrests and convictions
On July 1, an editorial in the Courier defended the work of the Court. After that, in July the cycle of arrests and judgments sped up, and the pool of suspects was greatly expanded. As noted by historian Michael P. Johnson, most blacks were arrested and charged after the first group of hangings on July 2; this was after the actions of the Court had been criticized by both Justice William Johnson and Governor Bennett. The Court recorded that they divided the suspects into groups: one was those who "exhibited energy and activity"; if convicted, these were executed. Other men who seemed simply to "yield their acquiescence" to participating, were deported if convicted. Over the course of five weeks, the Court ordered the arrest of a total of 131 black men, charging them with conspiracy.
In July the pace of arrests and charges more than doubled, as if authorities were intent to prove there had been a large insurrection that needed controlling. But, the court "found it difficult to get conclusive evidence." It noted in its report covering the second round of court proceedings, that three men sentenced to death implicated "scores of others" when they were promised leniency in punishment.
In total, the courts convicted 67 men of conspiracy and hanged 35, including Vesey, in July 1822. A total of 31 men were deported, 27 reviewed and acquitted, and 38 questioned and released.
Vesey's family
Vesey had at least one child, Denmark Vesey, Jr., who remained in Charleston. He later married Hannah Nelson. The remainder of Vesey's family was also affected by the crisis and Court proceedings. His enslaved son Sandy Vesey was arrested, judged to have been part of the conspiracy, and included among those deported from the country, probably to Cuba. Vesey's third wife, Susan, later emigrated to Liberia, which the American Colonization Society had established as a colony for freed American slaves and other free blacks. Two other sons, Randolph Vesey and Robert Vesey, both children of Beck, Denmark's first wife, survived past the end of the American Civil War and were emancipated. Robert helped rebuild Charleston's African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1865, and also attended the transfer of power when US officials took control again at Fort Sumter.
White involvement
On October 7, 1822, Judge Elihu Bay convicted four white men for a misdemeanor in inciting slaves to insurrection during the Denmark Vesey slave conspiracy. These four white men were William Allen, John Igneshias, Andrew S. Rhodes, and Jacob Danders. The men were sentenced to varied fines and reasonably short jail time. Historians have found no evidence that any of these men were known abolitionists; they do not seem to have had contact with each other or any of the plotters of the rebellion. William Allen received twelve months in prison and a $1,000 fine, which was the harshest punishment of the four. When tried in court, Allen admitted to trying to help the slave conspiracy, but said that he did so because he was promised a large sum of money for his services. Reports from the judge show that the court believed that Allen was motivated by greed rather than any sympathy for the slaves.
The other white conspirators' punishments were far more lenient than that of Allen. John Igneshias was sentenced to a one hundred dollar fine and three months in prison, as was Jacob Danders. Igneshias was found guilty of inciting slaves to insurrection, but Danders was charged for saying that he "disliked everything in Charleston, but the Negroes and the sailors." Danders had said this publicly after the plot had been revealed; city officials thought his comment suspicious. Danders was found guilty for showing sympathy to the slaves who had been caught ostensibly as part of the conspiracy. The final white defendant, Andrew S. Rhodes, received a sentence of six months and a five hundred dollar fine; there was less evidence against him than any of the other whites.
White residents of Charleston feared there could be more whites who wanted to help blacks fight against slavery. They were already concerned about the growing abolitionist movement in the North, which spread its message through the mails and via antislavery mariners, both white and black, who came ashore in the city. Judge Bay sentenced the four white men as a warning to any other whites who might think of supporting slave rebels. He also was pushing state lawmakers to strengthen laws against both mariners and free blacks in South Carolina in general, and anyone supporting slave rebellions, in particular. Judge Bay thought these four white men were spared from hanging only because of a "statutory oversight." The convictions of these men enabled some white men of the pro-slavery establishment to believe that their slaves would not stage rebellions without the manipulation of "alien agitators or local free people of color."
Aftermath
In August both Governor Bennett and Mayor Hamilton published accounts of the insurrection and Court proceedings. Bennett downplayed the danger posed by the alleged crisis, and argued that the Court's executions and lack of due process damaged the state's reputation. But Hamilton captured the public with his 46-page account, which became the "received version" of a narrowly avoided bloodbath and citizens saved by the city's and Court's zeal and heroic actions. Hamilton attributed the insurrection to the influence of black Christianity and the AME African Church, an increase in slave literacy, and misguided paternalism by masters toward slaves. In October the Court issued its Report, shaped by Hamilton.
Lacy K. Ford notes that:
the most important fact about the Report was (and remains) that it tells the story that Hamilton and the Court wanted told. It shaped the public perception of events, and it was certainly intended to do just that. As such, it makes important points about the Vesey Court’s agenda, regardless of the larger historical truth of the document’s claims about the alleged insurrection and accused insurrectionists.
Ford noted that Hamilton and the Court left a major gap in their conclusions about the reasons for the slave revolt. The importation of thousands of African slaves to the city and region by the early 1800s was completely missing as a factor, although fears of slave revolt had been one of the major reasons expressed for opposition to the imports. He suggests this factor was omitted because that political battle was over; instead, Hamilton identified reasons for the rising that could be prevented or controlled by legislation which he proposed.
Governor Bennett's criticism continued, and he made a separate report to the legislature in the fall of 1822 (he was in his last year in office). He accused the Charleston City Council of usurping its authority by setting up the Court, which he said violated law by holding secret proceedings, with no protections for the defendants. The court took testimony under "pledges of inviolable secrecy" and "convicted [the accused] and "sentenced [them] to death without their seeing the persons, or hearing the voices of those, who testified to their guilt." Open sessions could have allowed the potential for the court to distinguish among varying accounts.
Believing that "black religion" contributed to the uprising, and believing that several AME Church officials had participated in the plot, Charleston officials ordered the large congregation to be dispersed and the building destroyed. Rev. Morris Brown of the church was forced out of the state; he later became a bishop of the national AME Church. No independent black church was established in the city again until after the Civil War, but many black worshippers met secretly. In the 21st century, the congregations of Emanuel AME Church and the Morris Brown AME Church carry on the legacy of the first AME Church in Charleston.
In 1820 the state legislature had already restricted manumissions by requiring that any act of manumission (for an individual only) had to be approved by both houses of the legislature. This discouraged planters from freeing their slaves, and made it almost impossible for slaves to gain freedom independently, even in cases where an individual or family member could pay a purchase price. After the Vesey Plot, the legislature further restricted the movement of free blacks and free people of color; if one left the state for any reason, that person could not return. In addition, it required each free black to have documented white "guardians" to vouch for their character.
The legislature also passed the Seaman's Act of 1822, requiring free black sailors on ships that docked in Charleston to be imprisoned in the city jail for the period that their ships were in port. This was to prevent them from interacting with and influencing slaves in the city. This act was ruled unconstitutional in Federal court, as it violated international treaties between the US and Britain. The state's right to imprison free black sailors became one of the issues in the confrontation between South Carolina and the Federal government over states' rights.
Following passage of the Seaman's Act, the white minority of Charleston organized the South Carolina Association, essentially to take over enforcement in the city of control of slaves and free blacks. As part of this, in late 1822 the City petitioned the General Assembly "to establish a competent force to act as a municipal guard for the protection of the City of Charleston and its vicinity." The General Assembly agreed and appropriated funds to erect "suitable buildings for an Arsenal, for the deposit of the arms of the State, and a Guard House, and for the use of the municipal guard" or militia. The South Carolina State Arsenal, which became known as the Citadel, was completed in 1829; by then white fears of insurrection had subsided for a time. Rather than establish the municipal guard authorized in the act, the State and city entered into an agreement with the US War Department to garrison the Citadel from those soldiers stationed at Fort Moultrie.
Historical debate
The Court published its report in 1822 as An Official Report of the Trials of Sundry Negroes ... This was the first full account, as newspaper coverage had been very restricted during the secret proceedings. In particular, the Court collected all the information available on Vesey in the last two weeks of his life and eight weeks following his hanging. Their Report has been the basis of historians' interpretations of Vesey's life and the rebellion. Since the mid-20th century, most historians have evaluated the conspiracy in terms of black resistance to slavery, with some focusing on the plot, others on the character of Vesey and his senior leaders, and others on the black unity displayed. Despite the threats of whites, few blacks confessed and few provided testimony against the leaders or each other. Philip D. Morgan notes that by keeping silent, these slaves resisted the whites and were the true heroes of the crisis.
In 1964, historian Richard Wade examined the Court's report in comparison to manuscript transcripts of the court proceedings, of which two versions exist. Based on numerous discrepancies he found, and the lack of material evidence at the time of the "trials," he suggested that the Vesey Conspiracy was mostly "angry talk," and that the plot was not well founded for action. He noted how little evidence was found for such a plot: no arms caches were discovered, no firm date appeared to have been set, and no well-organized underground apparatus was found, but both blacks and whites widely believed there was a well-developed insurrection in the works. Claiming, erroneously, that both Justice William Johnson and his brother-in-law Governor Thomas Bennett Jr. had strong doubts about the existence of a conspiracy, Wade concluded that among black and white Charleston residents, there were "strong grievances on one side and deep fears on the other," creating a basis for belief in a broad rebellion. Wade's conclusion that the conspiracy was not well formed, was criticized later by William Freehling and other historians, particularly as Wade was found to have overlooked some material.
In 2001, Michael P. Johnson criticized three histories of Vesey and the conspiracy published in 1999, based on his study of the primary documents. He suggested that historians had over-interpreted the available evidence, which was gathered at the end of Vesey's life from the testimony of witnesses under great pressure in court. He said historians too wholeheartedly accepted such witness testimony as fact, and notes specific "interpretive improvisations." For instance, historians have described Vesey's physical appearance, which was not documented at all in the court record. Free black carpenter Thomas Brown, who on occasion worked with Vesey, described him as a "large, stout man."
In a response to Johnson's work, Philip D. Morgan notes that in the 19th century, Vesey was once described as a mulatto or free person of color by William Gilmore Simms. Trial records, however, identified him as a free black man. Some historians from 1849 to the 1990s described him as a mulatto. Lacking documentation, since the later 20th century, historians have described him as black. Although free black carpenter Thomas Brown also described Vesey as dark-skinned, Morgan suggests this transformation in ancestry represents modern sensibilities more than any evidence.
Johnson found that the two versions of the court manuscript transcripts disagreed with each other, and contained material not found in the official report of the court. He concluded that the report was an attempt by the Court to suggest that formal trials had been held, when the proceedings did not follow accepted procedures for trials and due process. Their proceedings had been held in secret and defendants could not confront their accusers. After Vesey and the first five conspirators were executed, the Court approved the arrest of another 82 suspects in July, more than twice as many as had been arrested in June. Johnson suggested that, after public criticism, the Court was motivated to prove there was a conspiracy.
Morgan notes that two prominent men indicated concerns about the Court. In addition, he notes that Bertram Wyatt-Brown in his Southern Honor: Ethics and Behavior in the Old South (p. 402) said that prosecutions of slave revolts were typically so arbitrary that they should be considered a "communal rite" and "celebration of white solidarity", "a religious more than a normal criminal process." Morgan thinks that historians have too often ignored that warning and supports Johnson's close examination of the variations among the Vesey Court records.
Wade and Johnson suggest that Mayor James Hamilton, Jr. of Charleston may have exaggerated rumors of the conspiracy to use as a "political wedge issue" against moderate Governor Thomas Bennett Jr. in their own rivalry and efforts to attract white political support. Hamilton knew that four of Bennett's household slaves had been arrested as suspects; three men were executed on July 2 together with Vesey. Mayor Hamilton supported a militant approach to controlling slaves and believed that the paternalistic approach of improving treatment of slaves, as promoted by moderate slaveholders such as Bennett, was a mistake. He used the crisis to appeal to the legislature for laws which he had already supported, that would authorize restrictions of slaves and free blacks.
Hamilton's article and the Court Report examine a variety of reasons for the planned revolt. Extremely dependent on slavery, many Charleston residents had been alarmed about the Missouri Compromise of 1820 that restricted slavery from expansion to the western territories, feeling it threatened the future of slavery. Some local people suggested that slaves had learned about the compromise and thought they were to be emancipated. Whites blamed the AME Church, they blamed rising slave literacy, and the African slaves brought from Haiti during its Revolution. In 1822, beleaguered whites in Charleston uniformly believed that blacks had planned a large insurrection; such a scenario represented their worst fears.
Wade noted the lack of material evidence: no arms caches or documents related to the rebellion. Johnson's article provoked considerable controversy among historians. The William and Mary Quarterly invited contributions to a "Forum" on the issue, which was published in January 2002. Egerton noted that free black carpenter Thomas Brown and other blacks familiar with Vesey or the Reverend Morris Brown, the leader of the AME Church, continued to speak or write about Vesey's plot in later years, supporting conclusions that it did exist. In 2004, historian Robert Tinkler, a biographer of Mayor Hamilton, reported that he found no evidence to support Johnson's theory that Hamilton conjured the plot for political gain. Hamilton ruthlessly pursued the prosecution, Tinkler concluded, because he "believed there was indeed a Vesey plot." Ford noted that Hamilton presented those aspects of and reasons for the insurrection that enabled him to gain controls on slavery which he had wanted before the crisis.
In a 2011 article, James O'Neil Spady said that by Johnson's own criteria, the statements of witnesses George Wilson and Joe LaRoche ought to be considered credible and as evidence of a developed plot for the rising. Neither slave was coerced nor imprisoned when he testified. Each volunteered his testimony early in the investigation, and LaRoche risked making statements that the court could have construed as self-incriminating. Spady concluded that a group had been about to launch the "rising" (as they called it) when their plans were revealed. Perhaps it was of a smaller scale than in some accounts, but he believed men were ready to take action.
In 2012 Lacy K. Ford gave the keynote address to the South Carolina Historical Association; his subject was interpretation of the Vesey Plot. He said, "the balance of the evidence clearly points to the exaggeration of the plot and the misappropriation of its lessons by Hamilton, the Court, and their allies for their own political advantage." Charleston officials had a crisis in which not one white person had been killed or injured. Ford contrasted their actions to the approach of Virginia officials after the 1831 Nat Turner's Slave Rebellion, in which slaves killed tens of whites. Charleston officials said there was a large, complex and sophisticated conspiracy led by the "brilliant" Vesey; but Virginia officials downplayed Turner's revolt, stressing that he and his few followers acted alone. Ford concludes,
Enlarging the threat posed by Vesey allowed the Lowcountry white elite to disband the thriving AME church in Charleston and launch a full-fledged, if ultimately unsuccessful, counter-attack against the insurgency. The local elite’s interpretation of the Vesey scare prepared the state for politics centered on the defense of slavery. This agenda reinforced tendencies toward consensus latent in the Palmetto state’s body politic; tendencies easily mobilized for radicalism by perceived threats against slavery.
Legacy and honors
The Denmark Vesey House in Charleston, although almost certainly not the historic home of Vesey, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976 by the Department of Interior.
In 1976 the city of Charleston commissioned a portrait of Vesey. It was hung in the Gaillard Municipal Auditorium, but was controversial.
From the 1990s, African-American activists in Charleston proposed erecting a memorial to Denmark Vesey, to honor his effort to overturn slavery in the city. The proposal was controversial, as many white residents did not want to memorialize a man they considered a terrorist. Others believed a memorial would not only acknowledge his leadership but would express the slave's struggles for freedom. In 2014, a statue representing Vesey as a carpenter, holding a Bible, was erected in Hampton Park, at some distance from the main tourist areas.
पद्मभूषण कर्मवीर भाऊराव पाटिल
(22.9.1887--9.5.1959)
पद्मभूषण डा.कर्मवीर भाऊराव पाटिल का जन्म महाराष्ट्र के कम्भोज जिला कोल्हापुर में था। इनके पिताजी का नाम पैगोउनडा पाटिल और माता का नाम गंगूबाई था। भाउराव के पिताजी ईस्ट इण्डिया कम्पनी के रेवन्यू विभाग में सरकारी मुलाजिम थे। भाऊराव पाटिल का पैतृक निवास येतावड़े बुद्रुक जिला सांगली था।
भाउराव का जन्म जैन परिवार में हुआ था। परन्तु जैनियों के संस्कार भाऊराव में नहीं थे। जैन धर्म के नियमों को एक तरफ रखते हुए भाऊराव एक दूसरे ही रास्ते पर चल पड़े थे। यह रास्ता अशिक्षित पद-दलित जातियों की शिक्षा का था।
बचपन से ही भाउराव पाटिल अलग स्वभाव के थे। वे किसी भी तरह का अन्याय बर्दाश्त नहीं कर पाते थे। फिर वह अन्याय दूसरों पर ही क्यों न हो रहा हो। एक बार कुए में लगी पानी खींचने की राड और पुली उसने इसलिए तोड़ कर फैंक दी थी कि दलित जाति की महिलाओं को वहां पानी खींचने मना किया जाता था।
हाई स्कूल की पढ़ाई के दौरान बालक के दिलों-दिमाग पर कोल्हापुर रियासत के महाराजा राजर्षि शाहू महाराज के सामाजिक कार्यों का गहरा असर पड़ा था। राजर्षि शाहू महाराज ने अपने राज्य की अछूत और पिछड़ी जातियों की शिक्षा के लिए अलग से स्कूल और होस्टल खोले थे। क्योंकि, सामान्य स्कूलों में उच्च जाति के लोग इन्हें पढने से रोकते थे । इसके पहले, सामाजिक क्षेत्र में काम करते हुए महामना ज्योतिराव फुले ने इन पद-दलित जातियों की शिक्षा के लिए दरवाजे खोले थे। सामाजिक समता के लिए फुले ने 'सत्य शोधक समाज' की स्थापना की थी । भाऊराव पाटिल इसके प्रमुख सदस्य थे।
दलित और पिछड़ी जातियों की शिक्षा के लिए महर्षि विट्ठल रामजी शिंदे ने भी अपने तई काफी काम किया था। बाबा साहब आंबेडकर, जो उस समय अछूतों के मसीहा के रूप में उभरे थे, के कार्यों से भाऊराव पाटिल बेहद प्रभावित थे। समाज सुधारकों के द्वारा किए गए इन कार्यों का प्रभाव भाऊराव के मन-मस्तिष्क पर गहरा पड़ा था ।
ट्यूशन पढ़ाने के दौरान सतारा में रहते हुए भाऊराव पाटिल ने 'सत्य शोधक समाज ' के उद्देश्यों की पूर्ति के निमित्त अपने कुछ सहयोगियों के साथ बच्चों का एक होस्टल खोला। होस्टल में भर्ती के लिए किसी जाति/धर्म का बंधन नहीं था। कुछ ही समय बाद 4 अक्तू 1919 को भाऊराव पाटिल ने बहुजन की शिक्षा के लिए 'रयत शिक्षण संस्था' की स्थापना की। रयत अर्थात बहुजन। ऐसी शिक्षण संस्था जिस में बिना किसी जाति-भेदभाव के प्रवेश दिया जाता हो।
भाऊराव पाटिल, गांधीजी के अनुयायी थे। गांधीजी के नेतृत्व में जो आजादी का आन्दोलन चला था, भाऊराव पाटिल ने उस में हिस्सेदारी की थी। गांधीजी भी भाऊराव पाटिल के इन कार्यों से बहुत प्रसन्न थे। यही कारण है कि सतारा के उक्त हास्टल का नाम 25 फरवरी 1927 को गांधीजी के हाथों 'श्री छत्रपति शाहू बोर्डिंग हाउस' रखा गया था। आर्थिक सहयोग के रूप में गाँधी ने 'हरिजन सेवक फंड से इस होस्टल को प्रति वर्ष 500/- रूपये देना स्वीकार किया था। भाऊराव पाटिल ने अपने द्वारा खोले गए 100 से अधिक स्कूलों के नाम गांधीजी के नाम पर रखे थे। गांधीजी से प्रेरणा ले कर वे खुद खादी वस्त्र पहनते थे।
भाऊराव पाटिल ने 'महाराजा सयाजीराव हाई स्कूल' की स्थापना की थी, जो सतारा में था। यह अपने तरह का पहला नि:शुल्क आवासीय स्कूल था जिसकी स्थापना ' अर्न और लर्न' ( earn aur learn) के थीम पर की गई थी। इसके बाद की अवधि में भाऊराव पाटिल के द्वारा पूरे महाराष्ट्र में बहुत सारे स्कूल/ कालेज खोले गए। सन 1947 में भाऊराव ने सतारा में 'छत्रपति शिवाजी कालेज' की स्थापना की। इसी कड़ी में 'सद्गुरु गाडगे बाबा कालेज' की स्थापना करद में सन 1954 में की।
भाउराव पाटिल का कहना था कि समाज का यह जो गरीब तबका है, इसके पिछड़ने का कारण अशिक्षा है। उन्होंने इस मजदूर वर्ग को नारा दिया - 'कमाओ और शिक्षा प्राप्त करो'(Earn and learn)। आपने सतारा के काले नामक स्थान में सन 1919 दौरान जिस 'रयत शिक्षण संस्था' की नीवं रखी थी । आज इस शिक्षण संस्था के पास करीब 700 होस्टल हैं जिन में करीब 4,50,000 विद्यार्थी संस्था के विभिन्न स्कूल और कालेजों में शिक्षा प्राप्त करते हैं।
यह बात नहीं कि भाऊराव पाटिल का ध्यान सिर्फ अशिक्षितों की शिक्षा पर ही केन्द्रित था। बल्कि , वे शिक्षकों पर भी ध्यान दे रहे थे जिन की जरुरत इन अशिक्षित बच्चों को पढ़ाने के लिए आवश्यक थी। उस समय शिक्षकों की भारी कमी थी। इस कमी को भरने के लिए 'मौलाना अबुल कलाम आजाद' की स्मृति में कर्मवीर भाऊराव पाटिल ने ' आजाद कालेज ऑफ़ एजुकेशन' की स्थापना सन 1955 में की।
महाराष्ट्र शासन ने भाऊ राव पाटिल के द्वारा समाज के लिए की गई उनकी सेवाओं को याद करते हुए उन्हें 'कर्मवीर' की मानद उपाधि से सम्मानित किया। भारत सरकार ने भी सन 1959 में उन्हें राष्ट्रीय सम्मान देते हुए 'पद्म भूषण' से अलंकृत किया। इसी वर्ष पूना विश्व विद्यालय ने उन्हें 'डी लिट्' की उपाधि से नवाजा। लीक से हटकर चलते हुए इस महान हस्ती ने दबे-कुचलों की शिक्षा के लिए जो कार्य किया, इतिहास याद रखेगा।
from : amritlalukey.blogspot
Bhaurao Patil
Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil (22 September 1887 – 9 May 1959), born in Kumbhoj, Kolhapur, was a social activist and educator in Maharashtra, India. A strong advocate of mass education, he founded the Rayat Education Society. Bhaurao played an important role in educating backward castes and low income people by coining the philosophy earn and learn. He was a prominent member of Satyashodhak Samaj (Truth seeker's society), founded by Mahatma Jotirao Phule. The people of Maharashtra honoured him with the sobriquet Karmaveer (King of actions) and the Government of India awarded him with Padma Bhushan in 1959 in India.
Life
Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil was born in a Jain farmer family at Kumbhoj in Kolhapur district. Bhaurao's father was a clerk in the revenue department for East India company. Bhaurao was one of the first few Jains known to have passed 8th class of secondary school. During childhood, Bhaurao was heavily influenced by Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, the honorable Maharaj (King) of Kolhapur, who provided a facility to Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil to stay in the palace of Kolhapur with Maharaj and study. The King of Kolhapur was promoter of social equality and education of people belonging to backward castes. Eventually, his father sent him to Kolhapur for further education, where he got in contact with Satya Shodhak Movement and found other sources of inspiration, Mahatma Phule and Maharshi Vitthal Ramji Shinde. Bhaurao garnered political interest and decided to express his role in the fight for Indian freedom struggle by working in other beneficial fields like public education. While he worked for Ogles, Kirloskars and Coopers he participated in activities of Satya Shodhak Samaj. He had realized by then that the only remedy for the social evils of those times was the education of the masses. In 1919, he started a hostel where children from lower castes and poor families could stay and get an education, while working to pay the expenses. This was the foundation of what later became Rayat Shikshan Sansthan.
As Bhaurao started working on his program to educate the masses, Gandhiji had also launched his campaign to free India (independence movement). During a public meeting in 1921, Bhaurao happened to come across Gandhiji at Mumbai. He was highly impressed by Gandhi's appearance in a loin cloth and his philosophy of Khadi. Following this encounter, Bhaurao decided to adopt Khadi attire and follow Gandhian principles in everyday living. Eventually he vowed to see it to completion, establishing 101 schools in Gandhi's name. However, Gandhiji and Bhaurao had a difference of opinion on the subject of accepting grants from government for educational activities in post-independence India. Gandhiji believed that even if the government wanted to give grants in aid to an educational institute (or institutes) without putting any restrictions on the institute(s), this would eventually devolve into edicts and oversight. No one can expect to receive money without conditions forever. Bhaurao saw no such problem with accepting grants from the government.The bountiful banyan is the biography of Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil written by Barrister P. G. Patil. Pandurang Ganapati Patil is an educationist of Maharashtra, India.
Rayat Education Society
While employed in the Kirloskar factory at Kolhapur, Bhaurao began working for the Satyashodhak Samaj. In a meeting of Satyashodhak Samaj, held at Kale near Karad, a resolution passed that in order to run the Satyashodhak movement successfully it would be necessary to educate the Bahujan Samaj. Accordingly, Bhaurao Patil established Rayat Shikshan Sanstha at a small village named Kale, on 4 October 1919. This society focused on the children of the masses, so it was named Rayat, the Marathi word for "masses". During Bhaurao's lifetime the Sanstha created thirty-eight cosmopolitan boarding schools, 578 voluntary schools, six training colleges, 108 secondary schools and three colleges.
Biography on Padmabhushan Dr. Karamveer Bhaurao Patil
The Biography of Padmabhushan Dr. Karamveer Bhaurao Patil, which was available in Marathi, has been translated into English by D.T. Bhosale, bearing the title "Karmveer Bhaurao Patil" in 2016.
Awards
People of Maharashtra bestowed him with the title, "Karmveer" (Marathi for "King of actions").
The Government of India awarded him with Padma Bhushan in 1959.
The University of Pune awarded him an honorary D.Litt in education in the same year.
The Karmveer Bhaurao Patil Samaj Seva Puraskar awards were named for him by the Dakshin Bharat Jain Sabha. They recognize people doing notable work for the cause of education and work towards community service.
People also called him Anna (big brother).
Durga Sob
Early Life & Background
- Born in Doti district, far-western Nepal (a remote, culturally conservative region with strong caste hierarchies).
- Realized her Dalit identity and faced caste discrimination around age 10 — experiences of untouchability, exclusion, and social stigma that shaped her lifelong commitment.
- Faced additional gender-based challenges: Forced into early marriage by family traditions.
- In 1980, her family sent her to Kathmandu for higher studies — a turning point where she witnessed urban opportunities for women (e.g., as lawyers, doctors) but also persistent Dalit mistreatment even in the capital.
- These personal hardships — caste + gender discrimination, early marriage, and rural poverty — inspired her to act for Dalit women's rights from a young age.
Activism & Founding of FEDO
- Moved to Kathmandu in the 1980s; began organizing around women's and Dalit issues.
- Founded Feminist Dalit Organization (FEDO) in 1994 (just before the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action), with a vision to end caste and gender-based discrimination, promote education, economic empowerment, and political inclusion for Dalit women.
- FEDO's focus: Intersectional advocacy — Dalit women face "double discrimination" (caste + gender), plus issues like poverty, violence, lack of access to justice, land rights, and education.
- Key activities under her leadership:
- Grassroots mobilization, awareness campaigns against untouchability.
- Legal aid, literacy/vocational training, economic programs (e.g., savings groups, skill development).
- Policy advocacy: Pushing for Dalit women's quotas in politics, enforcement of anti-discrimination laws, and inclusion in national development.
- International outreach: Representing Nepal at UN forums (e.g., Beijing+ processes), collaborating with global bodies like UN Women, Womankind Worldwide, and the International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN).
- As Chairperson/President of FEDO (ongoing role), she has grown it into a nationwide network with district-level branches.
Political Involvement
- Active in mainstream politics as a Dalit feminist voice.
- Served as Member Secretary of Nepal's National Dalit Commission (around 2001, when it was newly established).
- Central committee member of the People's Socialist Party (or related socialist/left-leaning parties in Nepal).
- Critiques major parties for marginalizing Dalits and women; has expressed realism about limited upward mobility in politics due to caste/gender barriers.
- Advocates for proportional representation, free voting without elite influence, and protections against caste violence.
Views & Key Statements
- Emphasizes systemic issues: "Local and global political and economic systems create and maintain social inequality" (UN Women interview, 2019).
- Highlights how caste discrimination persists despite laws; calls for stronger enforcement and awareness.
- Stresses empowerment through education, economic independence, and political participation for Dalit women.
- Shares personal stories openly to inspire others, describing challenges like discrimination in education, marriage, and daily life.
Recognition & Legacy
- Featured in global media: UN Women ("From Where I Stand" series), New Internationalist ("Nepal's trailblazing Dalit feminist"), Womankind Worldwide interviews.
- Profiled by Front Line Defenders (human rights defender case history), Synergos network, and IDSN.
- Regarded as an inspiration for challenging discrimination and building a just society.
- Continues active advocacy (as of recent records, in her 70s/80s range assuming birth in the 1940s–1950s; exact birth year not widely published).
Durga Sob's work has elevated Dalit women's issues from invisibility to national and international priority in Nepal, blending feminist, anti-caste, and human rights approaches for transformative change.
Sources: Wikipedia, UN Women (2019), Womankind Worldwide (2018), Synergos, New Internationalist/IDSN profiles, FEDO official site, Nepali Times (2020), Front Line Defenders (2015), and related interviews/archives.
Dayaram
BAMCEF, originally founded by Kanshi Ram in 1978 as a non-political platform for educated employees from marginalized communities, has experienced splits over the years. Different factions have had their own presidents (e.g., D.K. Khaparde, Waman Meshram, Ashok Parmar, Chandu Maiske, and current R.L. Dhruw in the main registered body). Dayaram is linked to the organization in its broader Ambedkarite ecosystem, often presiding over sessions, delivering key speeches, and holding high positions like National President in certain contexts or offshoots.
Activism and Role in BAMCEF
Dayaram has been a dedicated Phule-Ambedkarite activist, working to mobilize and awaken Bahujan communities against caste oppression, Brahmanical hegemony, and social inequalities. His involvement includes:
- Presiding over or addressing national conventions and sessions of BAMCEF (e.g., as CEC member in earlier records around 2008–2009, and later as ex-president).
- Leading or participating in discussions on contemporary Bahujan issues, such as the Rohith Vemula suicide case (2016), where he planned activities in Uttar Pradesh to highlight institutional caste discrimination.
- Criticizing political parties and systems that perpetuate inequality, emphasizing the need for political power alongside social awareness.
- Paying tributes to fallen leaders in the movement, such as Yashkayi Ashok Parmar (former BAMCEF president who passed in 2021), showing his continued commitment to organizational memory and unity.
He has been associated with efforts to keep BAMCEF's original mission alive—educating and organizing educated Bahujans for socio-political change—amid factionalism.
Writings and Contributions as an Author
Dayaram is a noted writer (प्रख्यात लेखक) on Bahujan social issues. His works and speeches delve into:
- Critiques of Brahmanism (Brahminism) and its conspiracies against Bahujans.
- Analysis of caste-based conspiracies, social hierarchies, and the need for Bahujan unity.
- Promotion of Phule-Ambedkar thought for emancipation.
- Topics like education as true empowerment (not slogans), institutional discrimination, and resistance to dominant narratives.
His speeches, often shared via platforms like YouTube (e.g., "Conspiracy of Brahminism" from BAMCEF's 26th National Convention in Chandigarh, and others on Brahminical plots), are influential in Ambedkarite circles. They are delivered in Hindi, making complex ideological points accessible to grassroots audiences.
Public Presence and Speeches
Dayaram is a powerful orator, with videos of his addresses garnering significant views (e.g., speeches as National President on AWAAZ INDIA TV). He emphasizes silent, dedicated work among communities while publicly confronting issues like caste atrocities, reservation threats, and political manipulations.
He has also been linked to related platforms or parties (e.g., mentions as National Vice President in People's Party of India (Democratic) in some contexts), extending his activism beyond BAMCEF.
Legacy
Dayaram remains an active voice in the Bahujan movement, respected for his ideological clarity, commitment to Ambedkarite principles, and efforts to bridge organizational divides. He represents the continuity of BAMCEF's ethos post-Kanshi Ram—focusing on intellectual awakening, critique of power structures, and collective upliftment without compromising on radical anti-caste positions.
Daya Bai
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Daya Bai
Daya Bai
Born
Mercy Mathew
1940 (age 80–81)
Nationality Indian
Occupation social worker, activist
Known for tribal upliftment
Daya Bai (born Mercy Mathew) is an Indian social activist from Kerala, working among the tribals of central India. She lives in Barul village of Chhindwara district in Madhya Pradesh.
Early life
Mercy Mathew, born in 1940, hails from a prosperous Christian family in Pala, Kerala. She had a happy childhood with a strong faith in God.
Social work
She left Pala at the age of 16 to become a nun, and later gave up her habit, to work for the tribal population in the midlands of India. She has been delivering inspirational speeches, holding satyagrahas and campaigns to press local authorities to open schools and empower neglected villages in the interior and tribal Madhya Pradesh. She was associated with Narmada Bachao Andolan and the Chengara agitation, apart from her solo struggles representing the forest dwellers and villagers in Bihar, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal. She also lent her services to the common folk in Bangladesh during the war there. Daya Bai, who practises the theology of liberation, settled down among the Gonds of Chhindwara district in Madhya Pradesh. She set up a school in the Barul village. Daya Bai teaches each village she visits how to take care of itself and then moves on to the next village.
She started the Swayam Sahayatha Group in the late 90s, as a tool for the eradication of poverty. This earned her the wrath of the middlemen, the money lenders and village chief. She asked female officers in the bank to use their position for the uplift of the downtrodden and the distressed poor.
Awards
Daya Bai received the Vanitha Woman of the Year award in 2007. She was awarded with the Good Samaritan National Award (instituted by the Kottayam Social Service Society and Agape Movement, Chicago) in January 2012.
Legacy
Ottayal or 'One Person,' is an hour-long documentary on Daya Bai by Shiny Jacob Benjamin. Nandita Das, the film personality, wrote a tribute to her in 2005, as the one inspiration of her life.
Deepthi Sukumar
National Core member at Safai Karamchari Andolan
Chennai Area, India20 connections
Safai Karamchari Andolan
Christ King Girls Higher Secondary School
About
I am keenly interested and committed to Human Rights issues especially with Dalit women. I have significant skills in advocacy, community mobiisation, programme managment, evaluaion and monitoring, writing and building capacities.
Experience
National Core member
Safai Karamchari Andolan
Jan 2000 - Present21 years
India
Policy work, research, writing, lobby and advocacy, feild studies, commuinity mobilisation, networking, monitoring and evaluation
Emergency Programme Officer
Apr 2005 - Mar 20105 years
Partnership grant managment, monitoring and evaluation, feild studies, social inclusion
Executive General Secretary
YWCA Chennai India
Apr 2002 - Sep 20042 years 6 months
Institution governance and managment, executive officer, legal and statutory compliance
Education
Interview of Deepthi Sukumar by Bhsha Singh on Dalit Women raise violence issue in UN
दीनाभाना
दीनाभाना न होते तो बहुजन आंदोलन को कांशीराम न मिलते
By दलित दस्तक न्यूज़
यह शख्स हैं जयपुर, राजस्थान में 28 फरवरी 1928 को जन्मे बामसेफ के संस्थापक सदस्य मा० दीना भाना जी. इन्होने बामसेफ संस्थापक अध्यक्ष मान्यवर कांशीराम साहब को बाबासाहब के विचारो से प्रेरित किया. मा० कांशीराम साहब ने बाबा साहब के विचारो को पूरे भारत में फैलाया.आज पूरे देश मे जय भीम, जय मूलनिवासी की जो आग लगी है उसमे चिंगारी लगाने का काम वाल्मीकि समाज के महापुरूष मा० दीना भाना जी ने किया. दीनाभाना जी जिद्दी किस्म के शख्स थे. बचपन मे उनके पिताजी सवर्णों के यहां दूध निकालने जाते थे इससे उनके मन मे भी भैंस पालने की इच्छा हुई उन्होने पिताजी से जिद्द करके एक भैस खरीदवा ली लेकिन जातिवाद की वजह से भैस दूसरे ही दिन बेचनी पडी. कारण ? जिस सवर्ण के यहा उनके पिताजी दूध निकालने जाते थे उससे देखा नहीं गया उनके पिताजी को बुलाकर कहा तुम छोटी जाति के लोग हमारी बराबरी करोगे तुम भंगी लोग सुअर पालने वाले भैस पालोगे यह भैस अभी बेच दो उनके पिता ने अत्यधिक दबाब के कारण भैस बेच दी. यह बात दीनाभाना जी के दिल मे चुभ गयी उन्होने घर छोड दिया और दिल्ली भाग गए.
वहां उन्होने बाबासाहब के भाषण सुने और भाषण सुनकर उन्हे यह लगा कि यही वह शख्स है जो इस देश से जातिवाद समाप्त कर सकता है.दीनाभानाजी ने बाबासाहब के विचार जाने समझे और बाबासाहब के निर्वाण के बाद भटकते भटकते पूना आ गये और पूना मे गोला बारूद फैक्टरी (रक्षा अनुसंधान और विकास संगठन – DRDO) मे सफाई कर्मचारी के रूप मे सर्विस प्रारंभ की. जहां रामदासिया चमार मा० कांशीराम साहब (15.03.1934 – 09.10.2006) रोपड़ (रूपनगर) पंजाब निवासी क्लास वन आॅफिसर थे लेकिन कांशीराम जी को बाबासहाब कौन हैं ? यह पता नही था. उस समय अंबेडकर जयंती की छुट्टी की वजह से दीनाभाना जी ने इतना हंगामा किया कि जिसकी वजह से दीनाभाना जी को नौकरी से बर्खास्त कर दिया गया. इस बात पर कांशीराम जी नजर रखे हुये थे उन्होने दीनाभाना जी से पूछा कि यह बाबासाहब कौन हैं जिनकी वजह से तेरी नौकरी चली गयी. दीनाभाना जी व उनके साथी विभाग में ही कार्यरत महार जाति में जन्मे नागपुर, महाराष्ट्र निवासी मा० डी०के० खापर्डे जी (13.05.1939 – 29.02.2000) जो बामसेफ के द्वितीय संस्थापक अध्यक्ष थे, ने कांशीराम जी को बाबासाहब की ‘जाति विच्छेद’ नाम की पुस्तक दी जो कांशीराम जी ने रात भर में कई बार पढ़ी और सुबह ही दीनाभाना जी के मिलने पर बोले दीना तुझे छुट्टी भी और नौकरी भी दिलाऊगा और इस देश मे बाबासाहब की जयंती की छुट्टी न देने वाले की जब तक छुट्टी न कर दूं तब तक चैन से नही बैेठूगा क्योकि यह तेरे साथ साथ मेरी भी बात है तू चुहड़ा है तो मैं भी रामदासिया चमार हूं. कांशीराम साहब ने नौकरी छोड दी और बाबासाहब के मिशन को ‘बामसेफ’ संगठन बनाकर पूरे देश मे फैलाया उसके संस्थापक सदस्य दीनाभाना जी थे. इस महापुरुष का परिनिर्वाण पूना में 29 अगस्त 2006 को हुआ. यदि दीनाभाना जी न होते तो न बामसेफ होता और न ही व्यवस्था परिवर्तन हेतु अंबेडकरवादी जनान्दोलन चल रह होता. इस देश में जय भीम! का नारा भी गायब हो गया होता और न आज ब्राह्मणों की नाक में दम करने वाला जय मूलनिवासी! का नारा होता. सभी वाल्मीकि भाईयो से निवेदन है कि तथाकथित अपने महापुरुष रामायण के रचयिता वाल्मीकि एवं मा० दीनाभान जी संस्थापक सदस्य बामसेफ से प्रेरणा लेकर गंदे और नीच समझे जाने वाले कर्मों को छोड़ने का प्रयास करते हुए शिक्षित बनो! संगठित रहो! संघर्ष करो! के सिध्दांतो पर चल कर अपनी व अपने मूलनिवासी समाज की उन्नति में एक मिसाल कायम करने का भरसक प्रयास करें.
" दीना भाना और महारों " की कहानी , साहिब श्री कांशी राम जी की जवानी
( Some facts about Deena Bhana & Mahars )
Dadaji Khobragade
‘Rice Man’ of India, Dadaji Khobragade Died: The Scientist Among the Farmers
‘Rice Man’ of India, Dadaji Khobragade Died: The Scientist Among the Farmers
Dadaji died, but people will continue to live on his inventions. On a very small plot of land, this genius invented many varieties of rice, and most of his varieties are now commercialised and marketed and sold in the large quantities.
Dadaji was an illiterate person and having no formal education in the agricultural college. He did not have any degree in the science. What he had was an unwavering love for the agriculture and agricultural processes and desire to invent something new. He went on experimenting and producing different variations of the rice seeds by his experiments in mutations and careful observation.
His work was recognised and he won awards from the Punjabrao Krishi Vidyapeeth (PKV), he got Krishi-Bhushan award in 2003-04, the award that turned out to be a fake metal award and it did not ensure any financial benefit. His practices were stolen and commercially exploited by the bigger cultivators.
He was also selected among India’s seven most powerful Entrepreneurs by Forbes in 2010.
Imagine if he could have patented his innovations. He could have become one of the richest persons in a few days time. He did not get support from the government as it was needed to keep his innovative practices studied deeply and documented from the scientific point of view so that more new seeds would have been created.
He was inspired by Dr Ambedkar and was an Ambedkarite. Only when the social activists from the Ambedkarite movement started paying attention to the work of this great genius, he began to get some recognition, but he was a very old man then and he could have perhaps not been able to take benefit of this attention.
His life and his innovative brain can be compared with the great giant from African American community, J.W. Carver, who invented many things in the field of agriculture. Dadaji Khobragade is the “Rice Man” of India.
Author – Mangesh Dahiwale, Human Rights Activist, Image credit – Forbes
Datta Khandagale
He fits into the category of an activist from a disadvantaged, historically marginalized Dalit (Scheduled Caste/SC) background, similar to figures like B. Shyam Sunder, Bhagat Amar Nath, Kalekuri Prasad, Cynthia Stephen, Suraj Yengde, and Vijay Puli discussed earlier. His activism centers on supporting Dalit communities against upper-caste violence, social boycotts, and temple entry barriers, as well as critiquing Hindutva organizations.
Key Incidents and Activism
- 1992 Caste Atrocity Case (Chorakali Village, Usmanabad District, Maharashtra): As documented in the 1999 Human Rights Watch report Broken People: Caste Violence Against India's "Untouchables", Datta Khandagale worked as a social worker supporting about 50 Dalit families segregated from majority-caste Hindus in Chorakali village.
- In September 1992, Dalits attempted to enter a village temple for prayer, leading to upper-caste villagers throwing stones (injuring one woman's head).
- This triggered a retaliatory social boycott against the Dalits.
- Khandagale urged police to register a case under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against the perpetrators.
- Instead, police accused him of "making trouble" and "increasing tensions," then filed a preventive detention case against him under Section 107 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC)—a tactic often used to criminalize Dalit activists and social workers defending oppressed communities.
- This exemplifies the "criminalization of social activism" against Dalit rights workers in Maharashtra during the 1990s.
- Journalism and Criticism of Hindutva Groups (2010s Onward): Later, he emerged as a journalist based in Vita, Sangli district, Maharashtra.
- In 2015, he wrote an editorial (or critical piece) that targeted or critiqued Shiv Pratishthan Hindustan (a Hindutva organization led by Sambhaji Bhide, accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence case).
- This led to intense harassment: For 21 consecutive days, he received abusive phone calls at home (regardless of having two small children), causing family fear and distress.
- The calls were part of intimidation tactics linked to his reporting on Bhide's rise and activities (e.g., alleged anti-Muslim narratives in Shivaji history treks).
- In interviews (e.g., with Firstpost in 2020 and The Quint in 2021), he provided insights into Bhide's outreach, ideological patterns (repeating stories of Shivaji vs. Mughals to foster Hindu unity against "enemies"), and how such groups expanded from Maratha to broader caste bases while targeting critics.
Background and Identity
- Community: While not explicitly stated in every source, his work defending segregated Dalit families, facing police backlash under Atrocities Act contexts, and aligning with anti-caste journalism strongly indicate Dalit/SC origins or deep solidarity with the community. Activists in such rural Maharashtra settings (Marathwada/Western Maharashtra) often come from or work intimately with Dalit groups facing untouchability and boycotts.
- Profession: Started as a grassroots social worker in villages; transitioned to journalism, focusing on caste, Hindutva politics, and local power dynamics.
- Location: Associated with Usmanabad (early work) and later Sangli/Vita districts in Maharashtra—regions with histories of caste violence (e.g., Marathwada atrocities in the 1970s–1990s).
Legacy and Context
Datta Khandagale represents grassroots Dalit advocacy in rural Maharashtra, where activists often face state complicity (police siding with dominant castes) and later threats from organized Hindutva groups when critiquing their narratives. His experiences highlight persistent caste oppression, the misuse of laws against defenders of the marginalized, and the risks of speaking out against majoritarian ideologies. Unlike more high-profile transnational Dalit voices (e.g., Suraj Yengde or Vijay Puli), his work appears more localized to village-level support and regional journalism, but it contributed to documenting and resisting caste atrocities in the 1990s and beyond.
Information on him is primarily from human rights reports (HRW 1999) and investigative articles (Firstpost 2020, The Quint 2021), with limited personal biographical details available publicly—no major books, organizations founded by him, or recent high-visibility events noted in searches up to 2026. He remains a symbol of courageous, often under-the-radar resistance against caste and ideological intimidation in Maharashtra.
Daya Pawar
Early Life and Background
Dagdu Maruti Pawar was born on 15 September 1935 in Dhamangaon village, Akole taluka, Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, into an impoverished Mahar family. The Mahars were traditionally relegated to menial roles as village watchmen, scavengers, and bonded laborers under the baluta system—a hereditary obligation where Dalit families received meager grain shares in exchange for lifelong servitude to upper-caste villagers. His father, Maruti Pawar, worked as a dock laborer in Bombay (now Mumbai), while his mother toiled as a manual scavenger, sifting through waste in the city's underbelly. The family's dire poverty forced young Dagdu to witness and endure caste atrocities from infancy, including ritual humiliations like being pelted with stones by upper-caste children and barred from temples or wells.
Around age 5, the family relocated to Kawakhana, a squalid neighborhood on the edge of Bombay's Kamathipura red-light district, where Dagdu grew up amid urban squalor—surrounded by sex workers, addicts, and migrant laborers. Education was a luxury; he attended a local school sporadically but dropped out early due to financial constraints and caste discrimination. Self-taught through voracious reading of Ambedkar's writings and Marxist texts, Dagdu adopted the pen name "Daya Pawar" (meaning "compassionate lion") to reflect his dual commitment to empathy and fierce resistance. He converted to Buddhism in the 1950s, following B.R. Ambedkar's mass conversion in 1956, embracing it as a path to emancipation from Hindu caste hierarchies. By his teens, Pawar worked odd jobs—sweeping streets, loading docks, and assisting in labs—to support his family, experiences that later fueled his prose.
Entry into Literature and Activism
Pawar's literary journey began in the turbulent 1960s, amid Maharashtra's rising Dalit consciousness post-Ambedkar. In 1967, his first poem appeared in Asmitadarsh, a groundbreaking Dalit literary journal that challenged Brahmin-dominated Marathi sahitya (literature). The poem's raw anger at caste violence marked him as a voice of the oppressed. By 1968, he immersed himself in the nascent Dalit literature movement, collaborating with mentors like Anna Bhau Sathe (a folk poet) and Babu Rao Bagul (author of Jenvha Mi Jat Chorli Hoti). These figures encouraged Pawar to document his life, leading to the serialization of Baluta's drafts in Dalit magazines.
Activism became intertwined with his writing. In 1972, Pawar co-founded the Dalit Panthers—a militant Black Panther-inspired group—with Raja Dhale, Namdeo Dhasal, and J.V. Pawar (no relation). Drawing from Ambedkar, Phule, and global anti-racism, the Panthers protested atrocities through poetry slams, marches, and manifestos, demanding land rights, education quotas, and an end to untouchability. Pawar contributed essays and poems to their bulletin, Vidroh (Rebellion), and organized literacy drives in slums. His genial demeanor—described by peers as "friendly and unassuming"—belied his radical edge; he once quipped, "We Dalits don't need gods; we need brooms to sweep away the caste filth." In 1982, he received a Ford Foundation Fellowship, enabling travels and deeper research into Dalit history.
Major Works
Pawar's oeuvre spans poetry and prose, blending lyrical beauty with unflinching social critique. His poetry collections evoke the pain of exclusion through vivid imagery of rural bondage and urban alienation, while his prose offers stark narratives of survival. Baluta remains his magnum opus, translated into English by Jerry Pinto in 2015, which shook Marathi letters by its "searing directness" and became a blueprint for "angry Dalit memoirs."
| Work | Year | Genre | Key Themes/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garbh | 1968 | Poetry | Womb of oppression; early poems on caste humiliation and Buddhist awakening. |
| Vichhar | 1974 | Poetry | Wanderings of the soul; critiques urban Dalit struggles and false Hindu piety. |
| Randu Pahiley | 1981 | Poetry | Two Steps; reflections on Ambedkarite resistance and personal resilience. |
| Baluta | 1978 | Autobiography | Exposé of baluta system; chronicles childhood beatings, forced labor, and migration. Serialized in Sashtra, published by Granthali. |
| Kondvada Chavdi | 1980s | Short Stories | Village tales of Mahar exploitation; highlights women's double burden. |
| Dalit Jaanivaa | 1990s | Essays | Dalit awareness; essays on education as liberation tool. |
Personal Life
Despite his public firebrand image, Pawar was privately warm and family-oriented. He married young and had children, though details remain sparse due to his focus on communal rather than personal narratives. A chain-smoker and teetotaler (eschewing alcohol as a Dalit vice), he balanced activism with mundane jobs: clerk in a chemical firm, lab assistant, and freelance journalist for Dalit periodicals. Health woes plagued him later—chronic poverty exacerbated liver issues from poor nutrition and stress. Peers recall his humor: during Panthers meetings, he'd lighten tensions with folk songs, yet his eyes "held the weight of a thousand balutas."
Legacy
Pawar's death on 20 December 1996 (his 61st birthday, from liver cancer in Mumbai) marked the end of an era, but his influence endures. Baluta inspired a wave of Dalit autobiographies (e.g., by Baby Kamble, Urmila Pawar), and the Dalit Panthers' legacy lives in modern outfits like Bhim Army. Posthumously honored with Sahitya Akademi recognition (via peers), his works are studied in universities for their socio-historical value. As of 2025—marking 29 years since his passing—translations and adaptations (including a 2023 Marathi play) keep his voice alive, reminding India of unfinished caste battles. Critics hail him as "the Ambedkar of Marathi letters," a man who turned personal scars into collective shields.
Pawar's life exemplifies Dalit grit: from Dhamangaon's dust to Mumbai's margins, he proved words could dismantle empires. As he wrote in Baluta, "We were born slaves, but we dreamed of lions."
D. Borappa
Early Life & Background
- Born circa 1935 (estimated from age 83 at death in 2018) in Chitradurga region, Karnataka.
- Came from a humble background associated with the Valmiki community, which faces socio-economic challenges similar to many tribal/ST groups in rural Karnataka.
- Overcame personal hardships to focus on education and community service, emerging as a key figure in promoting literacy and institutional development among disadvantaged groups.
Key Contributions & Work
- Founder of Madakari Nayaka Vidyasamsthe — Established educational institutions (schools, colleges, or related bodies) named after the historical warrior-king Madakari Nayaka (a revered figure in Valmiki folklore and Karnataka history).
- The institutions aimed at accessible education, skill development, and empowerment for children from Valmiki, tribal, and backward communities in Chitradurga and surrounding areas.
- Focused on bridging gaps in education for marginalized groups, including girls and rural youth.
- Social Service — Dedicated his life to community welfare, including efforts in social reform, poverty alleviation, and cultural preservation within the Valmiki community.
- Recognized as an education expert (ಶಿಕ್ಷಣ ತಜ್ಞ) and social servant (ಸಮಾಜಸೇವಕ) in regional media and tributes.
- His work aligned with broader goals of upliftment for ST/Valmiki communities, though not framed strictly as "Dalit activism" (Dalits are SC; Valmiki are often ST in Karnataka classifications). However, his efforts addressed similar issues of marginalization, discrimination, and access to opportunities.
Awards & Recognition
- Valmiki Prashasti (Valmiki Award) — Conferred by the Government of Karnataka or community bodies for outstanding service to the Valmiki people.
- Remembered in local obituaries and community writings as one of the "great personalities" of the Valmiki community, alongside figures like Maharaja Madakari Nayaka.
Death & Legacy
- Passed away on 3 March 2018 (Saturday early morning) at age 83 due to illness in a private hospital in Bengaluru.
- Tributes in Kannada media (e.g., Vijay Karnataka) highlighted his selfless service, educational contributions, and role in community progress.
- His institutions continue to operate, serving as a lasting legacy in rural education and Valmiki empowerment in Chitradurga.
Note: D. Borappa was primarily a community-focused social worker and education pioneer rather than a high-profile national Dalit/Ambedkarite activist (like those in anti-caste movements or political advocacy). His activism was grassroots, centered on education and welfare for the Valmiki (ST) community in Karnataka. There may be confusion with other figures due to common names, but this matches the most consistent records for "D Borappa" as a social servant/activist.
Sources: Vijay Karnataka (2018 obituary), Dhingan's Blog (community tribute), Scribd documents on Valmiki figures, regional Karnataka archives, and related local news mentions.
Digamber Hansda
Digamber Hansda (October 16, 1939 – November 19, 2020) was an eminent Indian Santhali academic, litterateur, poet, and tribal activist whose lifelong work focused on the socio-economic empowerment of Adivasi (indigenous) communities, particularly through education, literature, and cultural preservation. A pioneer in Santhali language development, he founded the Santhal Sahitya Akademi, translated the Indian Constitution into Santhali, and advocated for the language's official recognition in Nepal. His efforts spanned Jharkhand, Odisha, and West Bengal, combating poverty, illiteracy, and social evils like witch-hunting while establishing schools and vocational programs. Awarded the Padma Shri in 2018 for literature and education, Hansda was hailed as a "father figure" for the Santhal community, inspiring generations with his selfless service rooted in the philosophy of "giving back to society." He authored several works on Santhali folklore and poetry, collected tribal oral traditions, and served in key national committees until his death.
Early Life and Background
Hansda was born on October 16, 1939, in the rural village of Dobhapani (also spelled Dovapani) in Ghatshila block, East Singhbhum district (now in Jharkhand), into a traditional Santhal farming family. Growing up in the Adivasi-dominated Karandih area near Jamshedpur, he faced the dual challenges of agrarian life and limited resources, often helping his parents till vast family lands from a young age. Despite these hardships, he remained proud of his roots, later stating, "Even at this age, I have no qualms about farming and continue with my ancestral work. I am happy that I did not let my family down when they needed me the most." His early exposure to Santhal culture, including folktales and songs, ignited a passion for preserving tribal heritage amid encroaching modernization and marginalization.
Education
Hansda's formal education began humbly in rural institutions. He completed his elementary studies at Rajdoha Middle School, a modest local facility. For secondary education, he attended Manpur High School in Potka block. Pursuing higher studies while managing family responsibilities proved challenging, but he graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science from Bihar University (now Ranchi University) in 1963 and earned a master's degree in the same field in 1965. His political science background deepened his understanding of socio-political dynamics, fueling his activism for tribal rights and cultural autonomy. Hansda often credited education as "the first step towards independence," a belief that shaped his later career.
Career
Hansda's professional journey began in the early 1960s as secretary of the TISCO Adivasi Co-operative Society, a Tata Steel initiative promoting tribal welfare through vocational training, job creation, and self-employment programs. He later collaborated with Bharat Sevashram Sangh in Sonari, establishing schools in rural Jamshedpur areas, including co-founding RP Patel High School in Jugsalai—though he later critiqued it for serving urban students more than tribals. In 1985, he secured 11.5 acres of land in Karandih on a nominal lease to found Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial College (LBSM College), where he served as principal until retirement. Under his leadership, the institution flourished, introducing the National Service Scheme (NSS) and tribal languages as instructional mediums.
As a language pioneer, Hansda was a founding president of the Santhal Sahitya Akademi, developing standardized Santhali courses for intermediate, undergraduate, and postgraduate levels under state directives; he set exam questions and assembled examiner panels. Appointed to the Central Government's Tribal Research Institute in 1985, he translated school syllabi from Devanagari to Santhali script. Post-retirement, he contributed to national bodies, including the management committee of IIM Bodh Gaya, the Jnanpith Award selection committee for Santhali, the Central Institute of Indian Languages in Mysore, and syllabus committees for the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC). He also organized an international seminar in Karandih and wrote columns for newspapers on tribal issues.
Contributions to Santhali Language, Literature, and Tribal Welfare
Hansda's magnum opus was elevating Santhali—a Dravidian language spoken by over 7 million Santhals—from oral traditions to a literary and educational medium. He braved harsh weather to traverse villages in Potka and Ghatshila, collecting folktales, songs, and oral histories from local artists, compiling them to foster cultural pride and literacy. In 1993, he aided efforts granting Santhali official status in Nepal and assisted Santhali individuals in obtaining citizenship there. Commissioned by the Government of India, he translated the Constitution into Santhali, making democratic principles accessible to tribals.
His activism targeted holistic empowerment: establishing schools and cooperatives to combat illiteracy (reaching remote areas where Dalit and Adivasi children were underserved), vocational programs for economic self-sufficiency, and awareness campaigns against social ills like alcoholism, superstitions, and witch-hunting. Hansda emphasized community-led solutions, urging educated tribals to guide villagers. Through the TISCO society and academies, he mainstreamed marginalized groups, creating curiosity for learning and removing "mental blocks" via knowledge dissemination. His objective, as he put it, was "to enlighten them with knowledge," transforming Santhali youth into professionals across fields.
Key publications include:
- Sarna: A collection of poems.
- Santali Folklore Collection: Compiled oral traditions.
- Bharattera Lokkik Dev Devi: On tribal deities and myths.
- Gangamala: Poetry and prose exploring Santhal life.
Achievements and Awards
Hansda's contributions earned widespread acclaim. In 2018, President Ram Nath Kovind presented him the Padma Shri—India's fourth-highest civilian honor—for literature and education, a moment he described as having "special significance" for validating his "untiring service" to underprivileged communities. Elated yet humble, he vowed renewed vigor, noting, "God has been kind to him throughout his life," and lamented persistent tribal challenges. He also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the All India Santali Film Association (AISFA) and various district- and state-level honors.
Personal Life
Hansda was married, though his wife predeceased him. He was survived by two sons, Puran and Kunwar, and two daughters, Sarojini and Mayona; one daughter, Tusli, had passed away earlier. Residing in Sarjamtola, Karandih, he lived simply, balancing activism with family farming. A devout culturalist, he drew zeal from Santhal traditions and a commitment to societal repayment, often smiling with satisfaction at education's transformative power.
Death and Legacy
After a prolonged illness, Hansda died peacefully at his Karandih home on November 19, 2020, at age 81. The Jharkhand government accorded him a state funeral the next day, with officials like Deputy Commissioner Suraj Kumar and SSP Dr. M. Tamil Vanam paying floral tributes. Condolences poured in from Governor Draupadi Murmu, Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Union Minister Arjun Munda, and others, who lauded his irreplaceable role in education and tribal upliftment. Former CM Raghubar Das noted, "Prof Digambar's role in education cannot be forgotten," highlighting LBSM College's founding.
Hansda's legacy endures as a beacon for Adivasi empowerment: his students thrive in diverse professions, Santhali literature flourishes, and institutions he built continue fostering inclusivity. On what would have been his 86th birthday in 2025, his work remains a testament to persistent advocacy, ensuring Santhal voices echo in India's cultural mosaic.
Dasharath Manjhi
His story is one of profound love, determination, and quiet activism against geographic isolation, poverty, and social neglect—often celebrated as a grassroots example of human willpower overcoming seemingly impossible barriers.
Early Life and Background
- Born on January 14, 1934 (some sources cite 1929), in Gehlaur village, Gaya district, Bihar (then British India).
- He belonged to the Musahar (or Musahar/Musahar) community, a highly marginalized Dalit (Scheduled Caste/Mahadalit) group traditionally known as rat-catchers or rat-eaters (from "mus" meaning rat in local languages). The Musahars are among the poorest and most backward communities in Bihar, facing extreme discrimination, landlessness, and lack of education/opportunities.
- Grew up in abject poverty; ran away from home as a young boy to escape hunger and worked in coal mines in Dhanbad (Jharkhand) for several years.
- Returned to his village, where he worked as an agricultural laborer and daily-wage farmer. He was landless and lived a hand-to-mouth existence.
- Married Falguni Devi (or Phaguni/Phaguniya Devi) in a love marriage (some accounts say they eloped after childhood betrothal issues). They had children, including a son named Bhagirath Manjhi.
The Tragic Incident and Motivation
- In 1959, Falguni Devi was seriously injured (or fell fatally) while crossing the treacherous Gehlour Hills ridge—possibly while carrying food/lunch to Dasharath or fetching water. The nearest medical facility (in Wazirganj or Gaya) was about 70 km away via a long detour around the mountain; crossing over it was dangerous and narrow.
- Due to the delay in reaching help (no direct path), she died from her injuries (some versions say during childbirth complications after the fall).
- Devastated and grieving, Dasharath vowed that no one else in his village should suffer the same fate. He decided to carve a direct, safer passage through the 300-foot-high rocky ridge to shorten travel distances dramatically.
The Feat: Carving the Mountain Path
- Starting in 1960, using just a hammer, chisel, and basic tools (he sold family goats to buy them), he worked tirelessly—often after daily labor in fields.
- He chipped away at the rock daily, enduring injuries from falling stones, mockery from villagers (who called him mad or lunatic), and family opposition (even his father ridiculed him).
- Over 22 years (until 1982), he created a path approximately:
- 110 meters (360 feet) long
- 9.1 meters (30 feet) wide
- 7.7 meters (25 feet) deep
- This reduced the distance between Atri and Wazirganj blocks (and access to Gaya) from about 55 km to just 15 km, enabling easier travel, ambulances, school access, and trade.
- Initially alone, later some villagers (like a blacksmith who provided tools) offered minor help as progress became visible.
- His work was a form of social activism—addressing rural neglect, geographic inequality, and the hardships of marginalized communities without relying on government aid.
Recognition and Later Life
- After completion in 1982, media attention grew; politicians and officials visited.
- Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar rewarded him (including land, which he donated for a hospital).
- Bihar government proposed him for the Padma Shri (social service) in 2006, though it did not materialize (some opposition from forest officials calling it "illegal").
- In 2007, diagnosed with gallbladder cancer, he was admitted to AIIMS, New Delhi, on 23 July; he died on 17 August 2007 at age 73.
- Given a state funeral by the Bihar government.
- Posthumously honored: India Post issued a commemorative stamp in 2016 ("Personalities of Bihar" series); the path/road named Dashrath Manjhi Road; memorials and gates in Gehlaur.
- His biography appears in Bihar school textbooks.
Legacy and Cultural Impact
- Symbol of unbreakable will, love (for his wife and community), and self-reliance—often compared to building the Taj Mahal but for the poor and practical.
- Featured in:
- TV: First episode of Season 2 of Satyamev Jayate (2014, hosted by Aamir Khan) dedicated to him; Aamir met his family and promised aid (though his daughter-in-law later died due to lack of medical access).
- Films: Bollywood biopic Manjhi – The Mountain Man (2015, directed by Ketan Mehta; Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Manjhi, Radhika Apte as Falguni Devi).
- Documentary: The Man Who Moved the Mountain (2011, Films Division of India).
- Other: Kannada films inspired by his life.
- Inspires discussions on Dalit/Musahar empowerment, rural development, and persistence against odds.
- His story highlights caste-based marginalization (Musahars remain among Bihar's poorest, despite icons like him) and how individual action can challenge systemic neglect.
Dasharath Manjhi remains an enduring icon of quiet heroism—a poor, low-caste laborer who literally moved a mountain through sheer determination, proving that one person's resolve can change lives forever. His path still serves the people of Gehlaur today.
Eleanor Zelliot
Eleanor Zelliot (October 7, 1926 – June 5, 2016) was a pioneering American Indologist, historian, and scholar whose life's work centered on the Dalit (formerly Untouchable) communities of India, particularly the Ambedkarite movement led by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. Hailing from a Quaker family, her religious upbringing instilled a deep commitment to social justice, equality, and non-violence, which profoundly shaped her advocacy for marginalized groups and her intolerance for religious hypocrisy or caste-based oppression. This Quaker influence fueled her lifelong dedication to the liberation of India's Dalits from the caste system, making her not just an academic but a steadfast ally to the movement.
Born in the United States, Zelliot pursued her passion for South Asian history early on. She earned her PhD in history from the University of Pennsylvania in 1969, with an groundbreaking unpublished dissertation titled "Dr. Ambedkar and the Mahar Movement," which was the first doctoral thesis ever written on Ambedkar, focusing on his leadership in the Untouchable Movement in Maharashtra. Her academic journey began even earlier; she first traveled to India in 1962, where she laid a wreath at Ambedkar's memorial, an act that symbolized the start of her deep engagement with his legacy.
In the 1960s, shortly after Ambedkar's death in 1956, Zelliot arrived in India for extensive fieldwork, immersing herself in rural Maharashtra. She lived among Dalit villagers in Maharwadas (Dalit neighborhoods), conducting interviews with Ambedkar's contemporaries and those who had worked alongside him, meticulously documenting their oral histories and experiences. This hands-on approach, combined with archival research, formed the bedrock of her scholarship. Over decades, she made numerous return trips to India, forging lifelong friendships with Dalit activists and intellectuals, including the Moon couple (Vasant and Minaxi Moon) and Gail Omvedt. These relationships led to key collaborations, such as her co-editing and prefacing the English translation of Vasant Moon’s autobiography, Growing Up Untouchable (originally Vasti in Marathi), which brought Dalit narratives to a global audience.
Zelliot's professional career spanned over four decades at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, where she joined as a professor of history in 1969 and taught until her retirement in 1997. There, she became a legendary educator, inspiring two generations of students with her infectious enthusiasm and rigorous scholarship. She co-founded Carleton’s interdisciplinary South Asian Studies program and directed the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM) India study program four times between 1971 and 1996, leading groups of American students on transformative trips to India. Even after retirement, she continued mentoring students, advising on South Asia-related projects, and connecting them to her vast network of contacts in India. Her teaching extended beyond the classroom; she mentored young scholars through the American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS), encouraging Marathi language studies and research on Ambedkar.
As a scholar, Zelliot was a trailblazer in Dalit studies, introducing Ambedkar and the Dalit movement to Western academia and ensuring their visibility in India as well. She authored over 80 articles, edited three books, and produced translations that illuminated Dalit voices, particularly from Marathi literature. Her work emphasized the historical, psychological, and cultural dimensions of the Ambedkarite Buddhist movement, the role of medieval Untouchable saint-poets like Chokhamela, and the interplay between Buddhism, politics, and Dalit identity in Maharashtra. She viewed Ambedkar not as a solitary hero but as a leader whose movement was rooted in the Mahar community of western India, using modern political tools to challenge untouchability while rejecting traditional religious frameworks. Zelliot's translations of Dalit poetry—such as Keshav Meshram’s "One Day I Cursed That Mother-F****r God" and works by Namdeo Dhasal—captured the raw anger and resilience of Dalit expression, collaborating with figures like Mulk Raj Anand to bridge cultural gaps.
Her major publications include:
- The Experience of Hinduism (co-edited, 1988), exploring lived Hindu traditions.
- From Untouchable to Dalit: Essays on the Ambedkar Movement (1992, third edition 2001), a seminal collection tracing the evolution of Dalit identity and activism.
- Untouchable Saints: An Indian Phenomenon (2005), examining Bhakti-era Dalit poet-saints and their anti-caste legacy.
- Ambedkar’s World: The Making of Babasaheb and the Dalit Movement (2013), a comprehensive biography and analysis published by Navayana, which she modestly critiqued for its title and cover but praised for its archival depth.
She delivered lectures in fluent Marathi across Maharashtra, compiled essays on Dalit literature, and spoke internationally, such as at the University of Minnesota's South Asia Seminar in 2009 on pilgrimage in the Ambedkar movement. Zelliot's generosity extended to her interactions; in email exchanges, she patiently guided emerging scholars, commenting on theses and sharing her archives, always with a sparkling sense of humor and unwavering fidelity to sources.
On a personal note, Zelliot was known for her enormous capacity for generosity—she "wholly gave of herself" to students, friends, and acquaintances. Details of her family life remain private in available records, but her Quaker values permeated her approach, blending intellectual rigor with compassionate activism. She passed away on June 5, 2016, in Minnesota at age 89, leaving behind a void felt deeply in Dalit and South Asian studies circles.
Zelliot's legacy endures as a bridge between worlds: she chronicled the Dalit struggle for global audiences, mentored a new generation of researchers, and embodied the Ambedkarite ethos of equality. Tributes describe her as a "relentless fighter" and "compassionate ally," whose work continues to inspire anti-caste scholarship and activism, ensuring Ambedkar's vision resonates far beyond India's borders.
Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy, Periyar
Lifespan: September 17, 1879 – December 24, 1973
Core Identity: A radical social activist, rationalist, atheist, and politician who dedicated his life to eradicating the caste system, Brahminical dominance, and religious superstitions in Tamil society. He is revered as the "Father of the Dravidian Movement."
Core Ideology and Philosophy
Periyar's ideology, often called "Periyarism," is built on several interconnected pillars:
Self-Respect Movement (சுயமரியாதை இயக்கம்): This was his central doctrine. He argued that the oppressed castes (Shudras and Dalits) must shed feelings of inferiority imposed by the caste hierarchy and reclaim their self-respect through education, economic self-sufficiency, and inter-caste marriage.
Vehement Anti-Casteism: He saw the Brahminical Hindu social order (as defined by the Manusmriti) as the root of all social evil in India. He fought for the complete annihilation of the caste system, not just its reform.
Rationalism (நாத்திகம்): He was a staunch atheist and rationalist. He viewed religion as the primary tool used by the privileged to exploit the masses. His famous slogan was "There is no god; there is no god; there is no god at all. The inventor of god is a fool. The propagator of god is a scoundrel. The worshipper of god is a barbarian." He encouraged scientific temper and logical thinking.
Women's Rights: He was a fierce advocate for women's emancipation. He fought against child marriage, enforced widowhood, and patriarchal control. He championed women's education, right to property, and right to divorce, seeing their liberation as central to social progress.
Dravidian Nationalism: Periyar propagated the idea that South Indians (Dravidians) are a separate race and nation from North Indians (Aryans). He argued that Brahminical Hinduism was an Aryan imposition on the indigenous Dravidian culture. This led to:
Strong opposition to Hindi imposition by the Central Government.
The demand for a separate, independent "Dravida Nadu" (Land of the Dravidians), though this demand was later dropped.
Anti-North, Anti-Hindi, Anti-Congress: He saw the post-independence Indian National Congress as a party dominated by North Indian, Brahminical interests. His movements were defined by opposition to Hindi as a national language and to what he perceived as "Aryan" and "Sanskritic" cultural dominance.
Major Movements and Political Journey
Early Phase (1919-1925): Active in the Indian National Congress, focusing on prohibition and social reform. He left in 1925 disillusioned by its lack of commitment to radical social justice.
Self-Respect Movement (1925 onwards): Founded the Self-Respect Movement, his primary vehicle for social revolution. It organized "Self-Respect Marriages" (non-religious, caste-free weddings), public burnings of the Manusmriti, and temple entry agitations.
Justice Party & Dravidar Kazhagam (1944): He took over the leadership of the Justice Party (a party of non-Brahmins) and in 1944, transformed it into the Dravidar Kazhagam (DK). The DK was a non-political, social organization dedicated entirely to his ideology.
Split and Birth of DMK: In 1949, his chief lieutenant, C.N. Annadurai, split from Periyar to form the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), a political party to contest elections. Periyar considered this a betrayal of principle, but the DMK (and later the AIADMK) became the political heirs of his movement, ruling Tamil Nadu continuously since 1967.
Controversies and Criticism
Periyar remains a deeply polarizing figure:
Iconoclasm: He was known for publicly desecrating Hindu idols (like breaking the nose of the Ganesha idol) to demystify them and challenge superstition. This is seen as deeply offensive by believers.
Language: His rhetoric was often shockingly vitriolic and provocative against Brahmins and Hindu gods, intended to shatter taboos. Critics call it hate speech.
Majoritarian Politics: While anti-caste, his Dravidian identity politics is sometimes seen as promoting a Tamil-centric, majoritarian view within the state.
Views on Gandhi and Nationalism: He criticized Gandhi for his religiosity and compromise on caste, calling him a "humbug." He opposed the Indian freedom movement's focus on Swaraj (self-rule) without Samanatham (social equality).
Legacy and Impact
His impact on Tamil Nadu is profound and undeniable:
Social Transformation: He created a powerful anti-caste, anti-Brahmin hegemony sentiment that significantly weakened the overt practice of caste discrimination in public life in Tamil Nadu.
Political Culture: He laid the foundation for Tamil Nadu's unique Dravidian political identity, which is defined by social justice, Tamil linguistic pride, and federalism.
Reservation Policy: The sustained movement he led created the political pressure that led to strong reservation policies for Backward Castes and Scheduled Castes in Tamil Nadu, among the highest in India.
Cultural Shift: He ushered in a culture of rationalism, self-respect, and Tamil pride. He made atheism a publicly acceptable stance.
Symbol: Today, he is a colossal icon. His statue and portrait are ubiquitous in Tamil Nadu. He is venerated by followers as a sage and reviled by opponents as a destroyer of tradition.
In essence, Periyar was a revolutionary who sought to dismantle the entire ancient social and religious edifice of Tamil society to build a new one based on rationalism, equality, and self-respect. His legacy is the modern socio-political identity of Tamil Nadu itself.
Periyar was born into a wealthy Kannada-speaking Balija merchant family. His father, Venkatappa Nayakar, was a successful businessman, and his mother was Chinnathyee Muthammal. He had an elder brother, Krishnaswamy, and two sisters, Kannamma and Ponnuthoy. Periyar received only five years of formal education before joining his father's trade at age 12. From a young age, he questioned Hindu mythological stories and societal norms. A pivotal moment came in 1904 during a pilgrimage to Kashi (Varanasi), where he faced discrimination at Brahmin-only eateries, leading to his disillusionment with Hinduism and eventual embrace of atheism. He married Nagammai at 19; they had a daughter who died young, and Nagammai passed away in 1933. In 1948, at age 70, he married his 32-year-old assistant, Maniammai, a union that sparked significant controversy.
Social Reforms and Movements
Periyar's activism centered on eradicating social inequalities. He launched the Self-Respect Movement in 1925 to instill dignity among non-Brahmins, promoting rationalism, inter-caste marriages, widow remarriage, and women's rights. Through journals like Kudi Arasu (1925) and Revolt (1928), he disseminated his ideas, establishing a training school in Erode for activists. In 1944, he transformed the Justice Party into Dravidar Kazhagam, a non-electoral organization focused on social reform, Dravidian identity, and opposing Brahminism. A split occurred in 1949 when C. N. Annadurai formed the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) to enter electoral politics, which Periyar opposed. He also led anti-Hindi agitations (1937–1938, 1948, 1952, 1965) against the imposition of Hindi in Tamil Nadu, viewing it as a tool of North Indian dominance. In 1940, he proposed Dravida Nadu, a separate Dravidian state, and was arrested in 1957 for burning copies of the Indian Constitution, which he criticized for perpetuating caste inequalities.
Views on Religion, Caste, and Women's Rights
Periyar was a vocal atheist and rationalist, criticizing Hinduism as a vehicle for Brahmin supremacy and untouchability. He burned images of Rama in 1956, arguing that Hindu epics glorified Aryan dominance over Dravidians, and advocated replacing Sanskrit with Tamil in temples, achieved in the 1970s. On caste, he attributed the system to Aryan invasions, pushing for its abolition through education and reservations, influencing Tamil Nadu's affirmative action policies. For women's rights, Periyar advocated education, property rights, birth control, and an end to child marriages, dowry, and the Devadasi system. He supported women's participation in public life, including police and armed forces, and criticized patriarchal double standards in sexual norms.
Legacy
Periyar's influence endures in Tamil Nadu, where his birth anniversary is observed as Social Justice Day. He inspired Dravidian parties like DMK and AIADMK, shaping the state's politics around anti-caste and rationalist ideologies. Statues of him, often alongside Ambedkar and Marx, symbolize his rationalist ethos. His ideas influenced films like Periyar (2007) and continue to spark debates on religion, caste, and Dravidian identity. Scholars view him as a complex figure whose radical atheism and social reforms interlinked to challenge intertwined oppressions of religion, caste, and patriarchy. Despite criticisms, his advocacy for equality has left an indelible mark on Indian social reform.
Eknath Awad
Advocate Eknath Awad, who is also known as “Jija” fondly, (meaning “the respected”). he was born in Maharashtra on 19th January 1956 in a Potraj (Mang) family. Potraj is an oppressive profession assigned to some Dalit castes. They grow long dreadlocks, smear vermillion on their forehead, wear a multi-coloured cloth around the waist and a whip in hand, whip themselves as they dance. Eknath’s difficult childhood was steeped in these humiliations of caste, untouchability and poverty. However, Awad was a bright young man, he finished his schooling in village schools and went on to attain his Bachelors of Arts (BA), graduated with a Masters of Arts (MA), Masters in Social Work (MSW) and later LLB. During his time in college, he was exposed to Phule-Ambedkarite ideology.
He became an active member of the Dalit Panthers. As a politically empowered Dalit man, he was at the forefront of Namantar (renaming) struggle of Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University that unleashed violence against Dalits of Marathwada affecting more than 25,000 people in Marathwada. His time in this struggle exposed him to the understanding of oppressive structures holding caste-marginalized people hostage. He realized that dalits lived as bonded laborers and as slaves in the fields of dominant castes generation after generation. If they asserted for their rights, upper caste landlords countered with gruesome atrocities. Awad realized that tackling just the issues of human rights was inadequate, these issues had to be complemented with economic and social overhaul. With these things in mind, he established Rural Development Centre (RDC) in 1985 with the vision that reform could be effective only if it was supported by peoples’ movements.
In 1990, Manvi Hakka Abhiyan or Campaign for Human Rights (CHR) was born inspired from the struggles of Ambedkar, Phule, Annabhau Sathe, Shahu Maharaj, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela. This movement worked to legalize barren land in villages under as property of Dalits. More than 24,607 Dalit families submitted grazing land ownership claims from 1100 villages. Awad’s struggle managed to free more than 70,000 hectares of land. He had a broad vision for Bahujan well-being and worked on not only Dalit rights but the issues of child rights, education, gender justice, conservation and sustainable agriculture in drought-inflicted Marathwada. He advocated for peoples’ to be free of the shackles of caste, patriarchy and superstition. between 1995 and 2012, he started the satyashodhak (truthseekers), debrahminised congregational marriages. in an act of liberation, Along with his thousands of followers in 2006, he also converted to Buddhism in Nagpur. We honour his work and legacy that are celebrated in Maharashtra and nationwide. credit: Nilesh Kumar, First published in Round Table India
Gunda Dhur
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During 1910, Gunda Dhur was a tribal leader of village Netanar, of Bastar district, in Chattisgarh. He played a major role on the rebellion of the Dhurwas of Kanger forest in Bastar on 2 February 1910. He was joining by his companion called Murat Singh Bakshi, Balaprasad Nazir and Kalandri.
More than 50 tribal people fought against the colonial power in Bastar and made every possible effort to drive the power away from Bastar.
The 1910 Rebellion and Gunda Dhur’s role:
The British colonial government proposed to reserve two-thirds of the Kanger Forest as a reserved forest in 1910. This new proposal was opposed by a number of tribal in the area as they could be affected due to the proposal.
Gunda Dhur played a major role in organizing tribes in Bastar district against the British. Red chili, Soil, Bows & arrows, mango-twigs became the symbol of spreading massage among the tribal like Chapatis and lotus for the revolution in 1857.
As per the decision they had taken each family contributed to the rebellion. The rebels led by Gunda Dhur robbed, looted and burnt British granaries and redistributed grains to the poor. Apart from that, they fought against injustice being done to the tribal by local zamindaar and leaders as well.
The British’s stand on Gunda Dhur.
British power was in great trouble as long as Gunda Dhur along with the tribal troop was opposing. As per the historical records, the British Troops had to take shelter in local caves here.
Later, tribal power began to diminish. The Adivasi leader Gunda Dhur tried to negotiate but the British fired their camps and villages. Although the British succeeded, they never managed to capture Gunda Dhur. But the partial victory of Gunda Dhur was that the British reduced the reservation of forests to roughly half of what was proposed before.
Aftermath:
Now the things that brought about changes after the protest.
The British had to change their plan to reserve the forest made it almost half of what it proposed.
Even today, tribal people living across the Kanger Forest region praise the heroic acts of Gunda Dhur in various folk songs, stories etc.
Many educational institutes are named after Guda Dhur.
Gangaram Thaware
Gangaram Thaware (23 April 1902 – 16 August 1952) was an Indian social reformer, Dalit leader, politician, and activist from Maharashtra, primarily associated with the Mahar community (a prominent Dalit caste in western India). He played a significant role in early 20th-century Dalit advocacy, particularly in the context of the Depressed Classes (Scheduled Castes) movement, electoral politics, and debates over caste identity, conversion, and reservation benefits. He is best remembered for a landmark Supreme Court case involving his disqualification from contesting a reserved seat due to his affiliation with the Mahanubhava Panth (a Vaishnava sect), which raised key questions about caste continuity after religious conversion or reformist affiliation.
Early Life & Background
- Born on 23 April 1902 in Jamb village, Maharashtra (likely in the Nagpur or Vidarbha region, though exact details are sparse).
- From a Mahar family, facing typical caste-based discrimination and socio-economic marginalization under the pre-independence caste system.
- Active in the Depressed Classes movement during the colonial era, aligning with efforts to secure rights, representation, and upliftment for untouchables/Dalits.
Activism & Political Career
- Involved in Dalit organizations and advocacy for political safeguards for Scheduled Castes.
- Contested elections under reserved seats for Depressed Classes (as per the Government of India Act 1935 and post-independence provisions).
- In the early 1950s, nominated for a reserved seat (likely Lok Sabha or state assembly) as a Mahar candidate.
- His nomination was rejected on grounds that he had converted to or joined the Mahanubhava Panth (a medieval Bhakti sect in Maharashtra that rejects caste hierarchies and emphasizes devotion over ritualism).
- The rejection sparked a legal battle, arguing whether affiliation with such a sect disqualified him from SC benefits (as SC status was tied to specific Hindu castes under the 1950 Presidential Order).
- The case reached the Supreme Court in Chatturbhuj Vithaldas Jasani vs. Moreshwar Parashram (1954), where the Court ruled in his favor posthumously: Despite his Mahanubhava affiliation, he continued to be a Mahar (evidenced by marriages to Mahar women, leadership in Mahar agitations/processions, and self-declaration as Mahar).
- The judgment clarified that mere sectarian affiliation did not sever caste identity for reservation purposes, a significant precedent for Dalit rights amid conversion debates.
- Served as a Member of the Rajya Sabha (upper house of Parliament) briefly or in related capacity, though details are limited.
- Exchanged correspondence with Mahatma Gandhi (e.g., a 1933 letter from Gandhi to Thaware, preserved in Collected Works), indicating his involvement in Depressed Classes dialogues during the Poona Pact era.
- Advocated for Dalit integration with broader Hindu society in some contexts (e.g., opposing separate electorates post-1932, favoring joint electorates with safeguards to maintain ties with Hindu majority).
Views & Contributions
- Part of the broader Ambedkarite/Dalit movement in Maharashtra, though not as prominent as Ambedkar himself.
- Emphasized practical political representation, education, and social upliftment over radical separatism in some phases.
- His case highlighted tensions between caste identity, religious reform, and affirmative action — influencing later debates on SC/ST benefits for converts or sectarians.
Personal Life & Death
- Married twice, both to Mahar women (non-Mahanubhava at the time of marriage).
- Led Mahar processions and agitations as a community leader.
- Passed away on 16 August 1952 at age 50 (exact cause not widely documented).
Legacy
- Remembered primarily through the Supreme Court precedent bearing his name, which protected SC status continuity despite sectarian affiliations.
- A lesser-known but important figure in early post-independence Dalit politics, bridging colonial-era Depressed Classes advocacy with constitutional safeguards.
- His story underscores the complexities of caste, conversion, and reservation in India's transition to independence.
Sources: Wikipedia, Supreme Court judgments (1954 Chatturbhuj case via Indian Kanoon/Legitquest), academic works on religion/secularism (e.g., Oxford Academic on Articles of Faith), and historical archives on Dalit/Depressed Classes movements.
Gopal Baba Walangkar
Gopal Baba Walangkar, also known as Gopal Krishna Walangkar (c. 1840 – 1904), was a pioneering Indian social reformer, activist, and one of the earliest leaders in the fight against caste-based oppression and untouchability in colonial India. From the Mahar community (a Dalit caste traditionally considered "untouchable"), he is widely regarded as the progenitor or pioneer of the modern Dalit movement in Maharashtra. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar himself acknowledged Walangkar as an early inspiration and forerunner in the struggle for Dalit emancipation. His work laid foundational groundwork for later anti-caste activism by challenging Brahmanical orthodoxy, promoting awareness among the oppressed, and using print media as a tool for mobilization.
Early Life
Walangkar was born around 1840 in Ravdul (or Ravdal), a village near Mahad in what is now Raigad district, Maharashtra, into a Mahar family facing severe socio-economic marginalization and caste discrimination. Little is documented about his childhood, but like many from his community, he faced barriers to education and social participation. He served in the British Indian Army, where colonial policies occasionally offered lower-caste individuals structured employment and some mobility—opportunities denied in traditional Hindu society. After retiring from military service around 1886, he settled in Dapoli, Ratnagiri district, Maharashtra. There, he came under the strong influence of Jyotirao Phule, the radical social reformer known for his anti-caste and anti-Brahminical writings. This connection positioned Walangkar as a bridge between Phule's non-Brahmin movement and the emerging Dalit consciousness, linking two key reform traditions.
Activism and Organizational Efforts
Walangkar's activism focused on dismantling untouchability, asserting dignity for Dalits (particularly Mahars), and critiquing the caste system as an oppressive structure imposed by "Aryan" invaders. Key initiatives include:
- In 1886, he founded the Anarya Dosh Parihar Samaj (also called Anarya Dosh-Parihar Mandali or Society for the Removal of Non-Aryan Evils) in Dapoli. This organization aimed to eradicate discriminatory practices against "non-Aryans" (indigenous or lower-caste groups), promote social equality, and organize the oppressed against Brahmanical dominance.
- He advocated for rights such as municipal representation for Mahars (securing a seat in Mahad as early as 1884), access to public resources, and military recruitment for untouchable castes.
- In 1894, as a retired officer living in Dapoli, he drafted one of the earliest public petitions of the Untouchable movement, urging the British colonial army to resume recruiting from Dalit castes—highlighting their martial capabilities and demanding equal opportunities.
Ideological Contributions
Walangkar extended Phule's racial theory of caste origins, arguing that untouchables were the original indigenous inhabitants of India ("non-Aryans"), while Brahmins and upper castes descended from invading Aryans. He portrayed high-caste groups as foreign oppressors (e.g., Chitpavan Brahmins as "Barbary Jews," Marathas as "Turks") and positioned Dalits as rightful claimants to equality and dignity. This framework challenged Brahmanical supremacy and inspired consciousness-raising among the marginalized. He is described by scholars as "the first intellectual rebel from the Dalit community to have launched a scathing criticism of the caste system."
Literary and Journalistic Work
Walangkar pioneered Dalit journalism and literature:
- In 1888, he launched the monthly journal Vital-Vidhvansak ("Destroyer of Brahmanical or Ceremonial Pollution"), the first publication specifically targeting untouchables as its audience. It attacked caste pollution, Brahmanical rituals, and social hierarchies while raising awareness of rights and expectations.
- In 1889, he published Vital Viduvansan (or Vital Vidhwansan: Annihilation of Ceremonial Pollution), a booklet protesting the degraded status of untouchables and calling for societal transformation.
- He contributed articles to Marathi newspapers like Sudharak and Deenbandhu, and composed inspirational couplets in Marathi to mobilize people.
These efforts marked the emergence of Dalit periodicals and intellectual resistance, predating Ambedkar's newspapers by decades.
Legacy
Walangkar died in 1904 (some sources cite around 1900) in Ravdul. Though his organizations were short-lived due to limited alliances and entrenched caste divisions, his pioneering role endures. He is celebrated as a trailblazer who shifted focus from individual reform to collective Dalit assertion. Ambedkar viewed him as the movement's progenitor, and modern scholars credit him with initiating organized anti-untouchability efforts in Maharashtra. His emphasis on education, rights, and anti-caste ideology influenced subsequent leaders and continues to inspire Dalit activism today.
Gopi Shankar Madurai
Early Life & Background
- Born as Sarvapunya in a slum in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, into poverty and facing early challenges related to gender identity and societal norms.
- At age 14, volunteered with the Ramakrishna Mission (a spiritual and service organization), but left in 2010 to pursue studies in Religion, Philosophy, and Sociology at The American College, Madurai (affiliated with Madurai Kamaraj University).
- Came out publicly as intersex and genderqueer in their late teens/early 20s, navigating personal struggles including identity, discrimination, and societal expectations.
Activism & Key Contributions
- Founded Srishti Madurai in 2011 — a student volunteer movement for LGBTQIA+ rights, gender variance, and sexual minorities.
- Launched India's first helpline for genderqueer and LGBTQIA+ people in Madurai (October 2011).
- Organized Asia's first Genderqueer Pride Parade in 2012.
- Conducted over 100 seminars/workshops across India, reaching millions of students and raising awareness on gender/sexuality issues.
- Engages academics, scholars, human rights activists, environmentalists, animal rights advocates, and LGBTQIA+ activists to protect indigenous traditions and promote equality.
- Advocated for intersex rights:
- Supported athlete Santhi Soundarajan (stripped of medals after a gender test).
- Research and advocacy inspired the Madras High Court judgment (April 2019) banning unnecessary "sex-normalizing" surgeries on intersex infants/children.
- Helped draft Tamil Nadu's government order banning such surgeries, making the state the second globally (after Malta) with legal protections for intersex persons.
- Contested elections: In 2016, became the youngest and first openly intersex/genderqueer candidate in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly elections.
- International roles:
- Elected Intersex Representative and Executive Board Member of ILGA Asia (International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association - Asia).
- Board Member of Intersex Asia.
- In January 2026, appointed as Special Monitor for SOGIESC rights by the National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC) — among the youngest and first openly intersex/genderqueer persons on a statutory body.
- Authored Maraikappatta Pakkangal (Hidden Pages) — the first Tamil book on gender variance.
- TEDx speaker (e.g., TEDxNITKSurathkal on LGBTQIA rights in India).
- Received the Commonwealth Nations Youth Worker Award (2017) for using arts/sports for social change.
Personal Life & Public Persona
- Uses gender-neutral pronouns (ze/they); openly intersex and genderqueer.
- Rooted in indigenous/Indic spiritual traditions while advocating for modern rights.
- Has faced challenges: Personal struggles (e.g., sexual abuse shared in interviews), online harassment (e.g., 2020 Reddit post alleging bullying by "left lobby" over views), and safety concerns (e.g., 2023 reports of threats in Delhi).
- Some online presence quieted after ~2024–2025, per community queries, but ze continues in official roles.
Legacy & Impact
Gopi Shankar Madurai has been instrumental in mainstreaming intersex visibility, influencing policy (e.g., intersex protections in Tamil Nadu), and bridging LGBTQIA+ advocacy with indigenous/cultural perspectives. Ze represents a new generation of intersectional activism in India — combining personal identity, grassroots organizing, legal wins, and international platforms to fight discrimination and promote dignity for gender/sexual minorities.
Sources: Wikipedia, Nonbinary Wiki, The Hindu (2017), Gaysi Family (2017), APCOM (2020), TEDx talks, Bharata Bharati (2025), and recent NHRC/activist reports (as of 2026).
Giani Ditt Singh
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Giani Ditt Singh (1858–1901) was a historian, scholar, poet, editor and an eminent Singh Sabha reformer.[1] Singh wrote over 70 books on Sikhism, the most famous of which is Khalsa Akhbar. His Dayanand naal mera Samvaad and Durga Parbodh are considered major texts of Sikh philosophy.
Early life
There is little information regarding the early life of Singh, despite a resurgence of interest in him caused by the desire of some people to recast his life as that of a dalit hero. Anshu Malhotra has argued that such a recasting says more about the motives of the present-day researchers than it does about the effects of social status on Singh himself.
While Singh's date of birth is generally recognised as being 21 April, the year is variously stated as 1850, 1852 and 1853. He father, Diwan Singh, was a weaver whose knowledge of the Nyaya and Vedanta religious philosophies was passed on to his son. The family origins lay in the Chamar caste of leatherworkers, from which they had moved to self-identify as members of the relatively ritually clean Ravidasi weaving community, described by Malhotra as an "upwardly mobile section of the Chamar community".
After initial schooling given by his father, Singh was sent at the age of 8 or 9 to be taught by Gurbakhsh Singh and Lala Dayanand in the village of Tiur, Ambala district. There he studied Gurmukhi, Urdu and Persian, as well as prosody, Niti Shastra and Vedanta, until aged around 16. Gurbakhsh Singh was an adherent of the Gulabdasi sect and his pupil's next move was to the Gulabdasi centre at Chathian Wala, near Lahore.
Formally initiated into the sect of Sant Desa Singh, he became a Gulabdasi preacher. Not long afterwards, he came under the influence of Bhai Jawahar Singh, formerly a follower of Gulabdasi sect, who had joined the Arya Samaj.
Early reform activities
Soon, Singh was drawn into the Sikh fold through Bhai Gurmukh Singh, then an active figure in the Singh Sabha movement. In 1886, he became a principal contributor to and subsequently the second editor of the weekly Khalsa Akhbar Lahore, a newspaper founded by Bhai Gurmukh Singh following the establishment of the Lahore Khalsa Diwan.
Singh He had passed the Gyani examination the same year and was appointed a teacher at the Oriental College. He used the Khalsa Akhbar as a vehicle for the spread of Singh Sabha ideology.
When the Amritsar Khalsa Diwan excommunicated Bhai Gurmukh Singh, Ditt Singh responded by publishing excerpts from his book Svapan Natak, a thinly veiled satire ridiculing the Amritsar leaders, in the Khalsa Akhbar. This resulted in a lawsuit filed by one of the targets of the satire, which, although eventually dismissed, cost the Khalsa Akhbar dearly in time and money to defend. The paper shut down in 1889. With support from the Maharaja of Nahba, the paper resumed publication in 1893, again under Ditt Singh as editor. This led to the eventual launch of an English-language weekly, titled simply Khalsa.
Through all of his Sikh Sabha activities, Singh had maintained his ties to the Arya Samaj, but in 1888, the increasing discord between the Arya Samaj and Sikh leaders led to Singh's ultimate departure from the movement. After this, he threw himself entirely into the work of the Singh Sabha movement.
As an educator, Singh helped in the setting up of Khalsa College, Amritsar, and wrote textbooks for the students of the college.
Discussion with Swami Dayanand
Swami Dayanand was the founder of the Arya Samaj movement, but Singh found Dayanand's belief in the supremacy of the Vedas and the role of Hinduism as the sole true religion at odds with the multi-cultural and multi-religious world of the time. Singh planned to set things right. During a religious gathering in 1877 at Lahore, Singh visited Dayanand "to know his mind and to know his ideals". Singh published these dialogues in his book Sadhu Daya Nand Naal Mera Sambad. During the course of the discussion, Singh takes issue with Dayanand's beliefs, and attempts to expose the fallacies therein. Malhotra describes the discussions with Dayanand as "putative" and the booklet as "controversial".
Literary career
Singh wrote prolifically, producing both prose and verse. He wrote books and pamphlets on Sikh theology and history and on current polemics.
Well-known among his works are:
Guru Nanak Prabodh
Guru Arjan Chariltar
Dambh Bidaran
Durga Prabodh
Panth Prabodh
Raj Prabodh
Mera ate Sadhu Dayanand da Sambad
Naqh Siah Prabodh
Panth Sudhar Binai Pattar
Abla Naari
He also published accounts of the martyrdoms of Tara Singh of Van, Subeg Singh, Matab Singh Mirankotia, Taru Singh and Bota Singh.
Personal life
Singh's married Bishan Kaur in a Sikh rite in Lahore in 1880. They had two children: a son, Baldev Singh, born in 1886, and a daughter, Vidyavant Kaur, born in 1890
Death
The death of Singh's daughter on 17 June 1901 was a great blow to Singh, who was already suffering exhaustion from his workload as leader of the Singh Sabha movement. He continued to work, but his health deteriorated rapidly and he fell seriously ill. Singh died at Lahore on 6 September 1901.
Memorials
After Singh's death, Bhai Vir Singh wrote a poem in his honor that was published in the Khalsa Akhbar. In addition, the Giani Ditt Singh Memorial International Society regularly organizes functions to keep Singh's memory alive.
गाडगे महाराज
पूरा नाम – देवीदास डेबुजी झिंगराजि जानोरकर (Sant Gadge Baba)जन्म – 23 फरवरी, 1876
जन्मस्थान – अँजनगाँव सुरजी, जिला. अमरावती, महाराष्ट्र
पिता – झिंगराजि
माता – सखुबाई
संत गाडगे बाबा की जीवनी
डेबुजी झिंगराजि जानोरकर साधारणतः संत गाडगे महाराज और गाडगे बाबा के नाम से जाने जाते थे। वे एक समाज सुधारक और घुमक्कड भिक्षुक थे जो महाराष्ट्र में सामाजिक विकास करने हेतु साप्ताहिक उत्सव का आयोजन करते थे।
उन्होंने उस समय भारतीय ग्रामीण भागो का काफी सुधार किया और आज भी उनके कार्यो से कई राजनैतिक दल और सामाजिक संस्थान प्रेरणा ले रहे है।
जीवन:
उनका वास्तविक नाम देवीदास डेबुजी था। महाराज का जन्म महाराष्ट्र के अमरावती जिले के अँजनगाँव सुरजी तालुका के शेड्गाओ ग्राम में एक धोबी परिवार में हुआ था। गाडगे महाराज एक घूमते फिरते सामाजिक शिक्षक थे। वे पैरो में फटी हुई चप्पल और सिर पर मिट्टी का कटोरा ढककर पैदल ही यात्रा किया करते थे। और यही उनकी पहचान थी।
जब वे किसी गाँव में प्रवेश करते थे तो गाडगे महाराज तुरंत ही गटर और रास्तो को साफ़ करने लगते। और काम खत्म होने के बाद वे खुद लोगो को गाँव के साफ़ होने की बधाई भी देते थे।
गाँव के लोग उन्हें पैसे भी देते थे और बाबाजी उन पैसो का उपयोग सामाजिक विकास और समाज का शारीरिक विकास करने में लगाते। लोगो से मिले हुए पैसो से महाराज गाँवो में स्कूल, धर्मशाला, अस्पताल और जानवरो के निवास स्थान बनवाते थे।
गाँवो की सफाई करने के बाद शाम में वे कीर्तन का आयोजन भी करते थे और अपने कीर्तनों के माध्यम से जन-जन तक लोकोपकार और समाज कल्याण का प्रसार करते थे। अपने कीर्तनों के समय वे लोगो को अन्धविश्वास की भावनाओ के विरुद्ध शिक्षित करते थे। अपने कीर्तनों में वे संत कबीर के दोहो का भी उपयोग करते थे।
संत गाडगे महाराज लोगो को जानवरो पर अत्याचार करने से रोकते थे और वे समाज में चल रही जातिभेद और रंगभेद की भावना को नही मानते थे और लोगो के इसके खिलाफ वे जागरूक करते थे। और समाज में वे शराबबंदी करवाना चाहते थे।
गाडगे महाराज लोगो को कठिन परिश्रम, साधारण जीवन और परोपकार की भावना का पाठ पढ़ाते थे और हमेशा जरूरतमंदों की सहायता करने को कहते थे। उन्होंने अपनी पत्नी और अपने बच्चों को भी इसी राह पर चलने को कहा।
महाराज कई बार आध्यात्मिक गुरु मैहर बाबा से भी मिल चुके थे। मैहर बाबा ने भी संत गाडगे महाराज को उनके पसंदीदा संतो में से एक बताया। महाराज ने भी मैहर बाबा को पंढरपुर में आमंत्रित किया और 6 नवंबर 1954 को हज़ारो लोगो ने एकसाथ मैहर बाबा और महाराज के दर्शन लिये।
मुत्यु और महानता:
उन्हें सम्मान देते हुए महाराष्ट्र सरकार ने 2000-01 में “संत गाडगेबाबा ग्राम स्वच्छता अभियान” की शुरुवात की। और जो ग्रामवासी अपने गाँवो को स्वच्छ रखते है उन्हें यह पुरस्कार दिया जाता है।
महाराष्ट्र के प्रसिद्ध समाज सुधारको में से वे एक है। वे एक ऐसे संत थे जो लोगो की समस्याओ को समझते थे और गरीबो और जरूरतमंदों के लिये काम करते थे।
भारत सरकार ने भी उनके सम्मान में कई पुरस्कार जारी किये।
इतना ही नही बल्कि अमरावती यूनिवर्सिटी का नाम भी उन्ही के नाम पर रखा गया है। संत गाडगे महाराज भारतीय इतिहास के एक महान संत थे।
संत गाडगे बाबा सच्चे निष्काम कर्मयोगी थे। महाराष्ट्र के कोने-कोने में अनेक धर्मशालाएँ, गौशालाएँ, विद्यालय, चिकित्सालय तथा छात्रावासों का उन्होंने निर्माण कराया। यह सब उन्होंने भीख माँग-माँगकर बनावाया किंतु अपने सारे जीवन में इस महापुरुष ने अपने लिए एक कुटिया तक नहीं बनवाई।
संत गाडगे बाबा
by Gyani Dunia
संत गाडगे बाबा जिन का बचपन का नाम डेबूजी था और उनका पूरा नाम देबूजी झिंगरजी जानोरकर था जो एक समाज सुधारक और घुमक्कड़ दीक्षित थे उनका जन्म अंजनगाव सुर्जी जिला अमरावती महाराष्ट्र में 23 फरवरी 1876 को हुआ था उनके पिता का नाम झिंगराजि और माता का नाम सखुबाई था उन्होंने अपने समय में भारतीय ग्रामीण इलाकों में महत्वपूर्ण समाज सुधार के कार्य किए थे उनके सामाजिक कार्यो से आज भी कई राजनीतिक और सामाजिक संस्थान प्रेरणा ले रहे हैं.आधुनिक भारत को जिन महापुरूषों पर गर्व होना चाहिए, उनमें राष्ट्रीय सन्त गाडगे बाबा का नाम सर्वोपरि है।
संत गाडगे बाबा की जीवनी / संत गाडगे महाराज निबंध:बाबा गाडगे के का जन्म एक साधारण धोबी परिवार में हुआ था. बाबा गाडगे महाराज एक घूमते-फिरते सामाजिक शिक्षक और समाज सुधारक व्यक्ति थे उनके पैरों में टूटी हुई चप्पल और सिर पर मिट्टी का कटोरा लेकर पैदल ही यात्रा किया करते थे और यही उनकी पहचान थी .जब वह किसी गांव में जाते थे तो तुरंत ही वहां की गंदी नालियों और रातों को साफ करने लग जाते थे और अपना काम खत्म होने के बाद खुद ही गांव के लोगों को गांव के साफ होने की बधाई देते थे. गांव के लोग उनके कार्यों से उन्हें कुछ पैसे दे देते थे जिनसे वह अनेक सामाजिक कार्य जैसे धर्मशालाएं, गौशालाएं, विद्यालय,चिकित्सालय तथा छात्रावासों का उन्होंने निर्माण कराया। यह सब उन्होंने भीख मांग मांग कर बनाया किंतु अपने लिए इस महापुरुष ने एक कुटिया तक नहीं बनाई.
गाडगे बाबा खुद अनपढ़ थे, किंतु बड़े विद्वान और बुद्धिवादी व्यक्ति थे। पिता की मौत हो जाने से उन्हें बचपन से अपने नाना के यहाँ रहना पड़ा था। अपने बचपन में उन्होंने गायें चराने और खेती का काम किया । सन् 1905 से 1917 तक वे अज्ञातवास पर चले गये और इसी बीच उन्होंने जीवन को बहुत नजदीक से देखा।
गाँवो की सफाई करने के उपरांत वे शाम को गाँव में भजन- कीर्तन का आयोजन करते थे और अपने कीर्तनों के माध्यम से जन-जन तक लोकोपकार और समाज कल्याण कार्यो का प्रसार करते थे। अपने लोकभजनो के माध्यम से वे लोगो को अन्धविश्वास की भावनाओ के विरुद्ध शिक्षित करते थे। अपने भजन कीर्तनों में वे प्रसिद्ध सूफी संत कबीर के दोहो का भी उपयोग करते थे।
संत गाडगे बाबा को जानवरों से अत्यधिक लगाव था और वे लोगो को जानवरो पर अत्याचार करने से रोकते थे और वे समाज में चल रही जातिभेद और रंगभेद की भावना को नही मानते थे और लोगो को इसके खिलाफ वे जागरूक करते थे और पूर्ण रूप से वे ऐसी कुप्रथाओ को समाज से खत्म कर देना चाहते थे । उन्हें शराब से भी घृणा थी और समाज में वे शराबबंदी करवाना चाहते थे।
अंधविश्वासों, आडंबरों, रूढ़ियों तथा सामाजिक कुरीतियों एवं दुर्व्यसनों से समाज को कितनी भयंकर हानि हो सकती है, इसका उन्हें भलीभाँति अनुभव हुआ। इसी कारण इनका उन्होंने घोर विरोध किया करते थे ।संत-महात्माओं के चरण छूने की प्रथा आज भी समाज में प्रचलित है, परन्तु गाडगे बाबा इसके प्रबल विरोधी थे।
गाडगे बाबा के जीवन का एकमात्र ध्येय था- लोकसेवा। दीन-दुखियों तथा उपेक्षितों की सेवा को ही वे ईश्वर की सच्ची भक्ति मानते थे। धार्मिक आडंबरों का उन्होंने पुरजोर विरोध किया। गाडगे महाराज लोगो को कठिन परिश्रम, साधारण जीवन और परोपकार की भावना का पाठ पढ़ाते थे और हमेशा जरूरतमंदों की सहायता करने को कहते थे। उन्होंने अपनी पत्नी और अपने बच्चों को भी इसी राह पर चलने को कहा।उनका विश्वास था कि ईश्वर हमे न तो तीर्थ स्थानों में मिलेंगे और न मंदिरों या मस्जिद में। इश्वर तो दरिद्र नारायण के रूप में मानव समाज में विद्यमान है। जरूरत है तो बस उसे पहचानने की और उसकी तन-मन-धन से सेवा करे। जो की भूखों को भोजन, नंगे को वस्त्र, अनपढ़ को शिक्षा, बेरोजगार को रोजगार , और मूक जीवों को अभय प्रदान करना ही भगवान की सच्ची भक्ति व सेवा है।
संत गाडगे बाबा ने तीर्थ स्थानों पर बारह बड़ी-बड़ी धर्मशालाएँ स्थापित करवाई ताकि गरीब यात्रियों को वहाँ मुफ्त में ठहरने को जगह मिल सके। वहाँ यात्रियों को सिगड़ी, बर्तन आदि भी निःशुल्क देने की व्यवस्था की गई है। दरिद्र व्यक्ति के लिए वे प्रतिवर्ष अनेक बड़े-बड़े अन्नक्षेत्र भी किया करते थे, जिनमें अंधे, लंगड़े तथा अन्य अपाहिजों को कम्बल, बर्तन आदि भी बाँटे जाते थे।नासिक में उन्होंने बहुत बड़ी धर्मशाला बनवाई है जिसमे 500 यात्री एक साथ ठहर सकते हैं।
संतश्री गाडगे बाबा कई बार आध्यात्मिक गुरु मेहेर बाबा( मेहेर बाबा एक ईरानी मूल के भारतीय चिंतक और दार्शनिक ) से भी मिल चुके थे। मेहेर बाबा ने भी संतश्री गाडगे महाराज को उनके पसंदीदा संतो में से एक बताया। Gadge Baba ने भी मैहर बाबा को पंढरपुर (महाराष्ट्र प्रान्त का एक शहर) में आमंत्रित किया और 6 नवंबर 1954 को हज़ारो लोगो ने एक साथ मेहेर बाबा और संतश्री गाडगे महाराज के दर्शन किये ।
संत गाडगे बाबा की उपलब्धिया :संत गाडगे बाबा महाराष्ट्र के प्रसिद्ध समाज सुधारको में से एक थे ।जिहोने अपना पूरा जीवन लोकसेवा के लिए समाज को समर्पित कर दिया . वे एक ऐसे संत थे जो समाज की समस्याओ को समझते थे और गरीबो और जरूरतमंदों के लिये काम करते थे।
उनकी समाजसेवा को देखते हुए भारत सरकार ने भी उनके सम्मान में कई पुरस्कार जारी किये। जैसे की महाराष्ट्र सरकार ने 2000-01 में “संत गाडगेबाबा ग्राम स्वच्छता अभियान” (gram swachata abhiyan)की शुरुवात की थी और जो ग्रामवासी अपने गाँवो को स्वच्छ रखते है उन्हें यह पुरस्कार दिया जाता है।
अमरावती यूनिवर्सिटी का नाम “Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University” भी उन्ही के नाम पर रखा गया है।
संत गाडगे द्वारा स्थापित ‘गाडगे महाराज मिशन‘ आज भी 12 धर्मशालाओं, 31 कॉलेज व स्कूलों, छात्रावासों आदि संस्थाओं के संचालन तथा समाज सेवा में कार्यान्वित है।
संत गाडगे बाबा की मुत्यु : बाबा गाडगे अपने अनुयायियों से कहा की जहां मेरी मृत्यु हो जाय, वहीं पर मेरा अंतिम संस्कार कर देना, मेरी मूर्ति, मेरी समाधि, मेरा स्मारक मन्दिर नहीं कुछ नही बनाना। मैने जो कार्य किया है, वही मेरा सच्चा स्मारक है। जब बाबा की तबियत खराब हुई तो चिकित्सकों ने उन्हें अमरावती ले जाने की सलाह दी किन्तु वहां पहुचने से पहले बलगाव के पास पिढ़ी नदी के पुल पर 20 दिसम्बर 1956 को रात्रि 12 बजकर 20 मिनट पर बाबा की जीवन ज्योति हमेशा के समाप्त हो गयी पर वो आज भी लाखो लोगो के दिलो में जिन्दा है । जहां बाबा का अन्तिम संस्कार किया गया। आज वह स्थान गाडगे नगर के नाम से जाना जाता है।
Gangadhar Pantawane
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gangadhar Pantawane
Born 28 June 1937
(now in Maharashtra, India)
Died March 27, 2018 (aged 80)
Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India
Occupation Writer, social activist
Language Marathi
Nationality Indian
Education D.C. Mission School, Nagpur
Genre Ambedkarite movement
Notable works Dhammacharcha (1963)
Mulyavedha (1972)
Mooknayak (1978)
Leni (1997)
Children 2 daughters: Nandita and Nivedita
Gangadhar Vithoba Pantawane (28 June 1937 – 27 March 2018) was an Indian Marathi language writer, reviewer and Ambedkarite thinker from the state of Maharashtra. He was the follower of B. R. Ambedkar, polymath and the father of the Indian Constitution. He is one of the pioneers of the dalit literary movement" in Maharashtra. In 2008, he was elected president of the first Marathi Vishwa Sahitya Sammelan that was held in the United States. His pioneering journal, Asmitadarsh, galvanised generations of Dalit writers and thinkers. In 2018, he was honored with the Padma Shri by the Government of India.
Life and career
Gangadhar Pantawane was born on 28 June 1937 in a dalit family in the Pachpawali area of Nagpur city. His father Vithoba Pantawane was not well-educated but he was linked to Babasaheb Ambedkar's egalitarian movement. Their lives have been spent in poverty. Gangadhar completed his elementary education from D.C. Mission school and secondary education from Navyug Vidyalaya and Patwardhan High School, Nagpur. When Babasaheb Ambedkar had come to Nagpur in 1946, when he was 9 years old, he was very impressed by seeing them. For the second time when Babasaheb came to Nagpur, he got a chance to meet and talk to him. After matriculation examination in 1956, Gagangadhar Pantawane got BA and MA degree from Nagpur College. in 1987, he got PhD from Marathwada University (now Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University. His PhD's thesis research is about on journalism of Ambedkar named "Patrakar Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar" (English: Journalist Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar). Before moving to Aurangabad in the early 1960s as a professor in Milind College, Aurangabad where he spent 15 years of service and than worked as a professor of Marathi at Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, Aurangabad for 20 years. He used to write articles and plays with studies, teachers and editorials. "Mrutyu Shala" (School of Death) is a drama written by him. He also organized the Asmitadarsh Sahitya Sammelan every year.
Conversion
With the presence of 6,00,000 Ambedkarite people Pantawane embraced Buddhism at the hands of Babasaheb Ambedkar at Deekshabhoomi, Nagpur on 14 October 1956.
Death
Pantawane died on 27 March 2018 in city of Aurangabad due to illness.
Writings
Pantawane, had written 16 books and edited 10 books in Marathi language. He was also a founder of journal called 'Asmitadarsh'.
Marathi books
Ambedkari Janivanchi Aatmapratyayi Kavita (Goda publication)
Sanity: Shod ani Samvadh (2002)
Sahitya Nirmiti: Charcha ani Chikitsa
Sahitya: Prakruti ani Pravruti (1999)
Arth ani Anvayarth
Chaitya Dalit Vaicharik Wangmay
Dusrya Pidhiche Manogat
Kille Panhala te Kille Vishalgad
Dhamma Charchha
Patrakar Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar (1987)
Mulyavedhleni (1972)
Lokrang
Wadlache Vanshaj
Vidrohache Pani Petale Aahe (1976)
Smrutishesh (Suvidya publication)
Dalitanche Prabodhan (1978)
Prabodhanachya Disha (1984)
Editing
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Yanche Nivdak Lekh
Asmitadarsh
Dalit-Gramin Marathi Shabdkosh
Dalit Atmakatha
Dalit Sahitya
Charcha ani Chintan
Lokrang
Shtri Atmakatha
Maharancha Sanskrutik Itihas
Honors & awards
List of awards and honours won by Gangadhar Pantawane.
Padma Shri, 2018
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Jivan Gaurav Award, 2016
Maharshi Vittal Ramaji Shinde Award, 2006, Wai, Satara
Phadakule Pursakar, 2018
Aurangabad Bhushan Award, 2014, Rotary club of Aurangabad
Gunabhiram Barua
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gunabhiram Barua
Born 1837
Died 1898 (aged 60–61)
Occupation Dramatist, historian, essayist, social reformer
Language Assamese
Nationality Indian
Citizenship India
Spouse Bishnupriya Devi
Children Swarnalata Devi
Karunabhiram Barua
Jnanabhiram Barua
Gunabhiram Barua (1837-1894) was a nineteenth century Indian intellectual from Assam who ushered in new ideas of social reform in the early years of colonial rule in Assam. He was deeply influenced by the progressive intellectual currents of the Bengal Renaissance. He was among the few Assamese publicists who had formally entered the Brahmo Samaj. All his life he propagated its liberal ideas through his writings.
Biography
Barua completed his college education from Presidency College, Calcutta and became an assistant commissioner under the colonial government. He remained in the job for the next 30 years.
After his first wife's death, his 1879 marriage with a Brahman widow, Bishnupriya Devi, created a sensation in the orthodox society of Assam. Bishnupriya and their daughter Swarnalata Barua were encouraged by him to write and publish their work in magazines and newspapers.
Barua advocated the cause of women's education and took the bold step of sending his daughter Swarnalata Devi to a boarding school in Calcutta when he was working in the small town of Nagaon in Assam as an Extra Assistant Commissioner.
His son Jnanadabhiram Barua went on to become a well-known lawyer and leader of the Indian National Congress. Gunabhiram wrote a number of tracts for children, published under the heading Lara Bandhu (Friend of Boys) in Arunodoi, the first Assamese newspaper, published by American missionaries. Lara Bondhu was also named as the first children's magazine in Assamese literature.
Gunabhiram Barua was a cousin of Anandaram Dhekial Phukan. In fact, Gunabhiram grew up under Anandaram's tutelage, as his parents died when he was a child.
Literary works
The first social drama in Assamese - Ramnabami-Natak - was written by Gunabhiram in 1857 and published as a book in 1870. The play tells the tragic story of a young widow, Nabami, and her lover, Ram, both of whom were compelled to commit suicide because of social disapproval of their relationship.
Gunabhiram is also remembered as a historian and biographer. In 1887 he published an Assam Buranji, which went on to become a school textbook. He also wrote regularly on issues such as women's education and marriage reforms. Kathin Shobdor Rohasyha Bakhya is a humorous work by Barua, published posthumously in 1912. .
Gunabhiram Barua published and edited the short-lived but hugely influential literary journal Assam-Bandhu(1885-1886). Famous conservative intellectuals such as Ratneshwar Mahanta and Rudraram Doloi also contributed to its pages.
Trivia
Hindi film actor Sharmila Tagore is the granddaughter of Gunabhiram's son Jnanadabhiram on her maternal side.
Gail Omvedt
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gail Omvedt
Born 2 August 1941
Died : 25 August 2021
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Occupation Writer, essayist, activist
Nationality Indian, since 1983
Alma mater Carleton College
Period 1970–present
Notable works Dalits and the Democratic Revolution, We Shall Smash this Prison: Indian Women in Struggle, Reinventing Revolution: New Social Movements and the Socialist Tradition in India
Notable awards Dr. Ambedkar Chetna Award, Manavwadi Rachna Manch Punjab, August 2003, Savitribai Phule Puraskar, Padmashri Kavivarya Narayan Surve Sarvajanik Vacanalay, Nashik, 2002
Spouse
Bharat Patankar (m. 1976)
Gail Omvedt is an American-born Indian scholar, sociologist and human rights activist. She is a prolific writer and has published numerous books on the anti-caste movement, Dalit politics, and women's struggles in India. Omvedt has been involved in Dalit and anti-caste movements, environmental, farmers' and women's movements, especially with rural women.
Omvedt's dissertation was titled Cultural Revolt in a Colonial Society: The Non-Brahman Movement in Western India, 1873-1930.
Omvedt's academic writing includes numerous books and articles on class, caste and gender issues. Besides having undertaken many research projects, Dr Omvedt has been a consultant for FAO, UNDP and NOVIB and has served as a Dr Ambedkar Chair Professor at NISWASS in Orissa, a Professor of Sociology at the University of Pune and an Asian Guest Professor at the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, Copenhagen. She was a Senior Fellow at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library and Research Director of the Krantivir Trust.
Biography
Gail Omvedt was born in Minneapolis, and studied at Carleton College and at UC Berkeley where she earned her PhD in sociology in 1973. She has been an Indian citizen since 1983. She currently lives in rural India in a town in Maharashtra called Kasegaon with her husband, Bharat Patankar, her mother-in-law Indumati Patankar and cousins. In recent years she has been working as a consulting sociologist on gender, environment and rural development, for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Oxfam Novib (NOVIB) and other institutions. She has been a consultant for UN agencies and NGOs, has served as a Dr. Ambedkar Chair Professor at NISWASS in Orissa, a Professor of Sociology at the University of Pune, as Asian Guest Professor at the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, Copenhagen and as a Senior Fellow at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi. She has been a Visiting Professor and Coordinator, School of Social Justice, University of Pune and a Fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla. Gail Omvedt is a former Chair Professor for the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Chair of Social Change and Development at IGNOU.
Activism
She has worked actively with social movements in India, including the Dalit and anti-caste movements, environmental movements, farmers’ movements and especially with rural women. She has been active in Shramik Mukti Dal, Stri Mukti Sangarsh Chalval which works on issues of abandoned women in Sangli and Satara districts of southern Maharashtra, and the Shetkari Mahila Aghadi, which works on issues of women's land rights and political power.
Views
Omvedt is critical of the religious scriptures of Hinduism (or what she specifically regards as "brahminism") for what she argues is their promotion of a caste-based society.
In addition to her criticism of their purported advocacy for the caste-system, Omvedt has also dismissed the Hindu tradition of venerating the Vedas as holy. In a 2000 open letter published in The Hindu addressed to then-BJP President Bangaru Laxman, Omvedt gives her perspective on the Rigveda:
As for the Vedas, they are impressive books, especially the Rg Veda. I can only say this only from translations, but I am glad that the ban on women and shudras reading them has been broken, and that good translations by women and shudras themselves are available. But to take them as something holy? Read them for yourself! Most of the hymns are for success in war, cattle- stealing, love-making and the like. They celebrate conquest; the hymns about Indra and Vrtra sound suspiciously as if the Aryans were responsible for smashing dams built by the Indus valley people; though archeologists tell us there is no evidence for direct destruction by "Aryan invasion", the Rg Veda gives evidence of enmity between the Aryans and those they called dasyus, panis and the like.
Omvedt posits that Hindutva groups foster an ethnic definition of Hinduism based on geography, ancestry and heritage in order to create a solidarity amongst various castes, despite the prevalence of caste-based discrimination.
Omvedt endorsed the stand taken by Dalit activists at the 2001 World Conference Against Racism that caste discrimination is similar to racism in regarding discriminated groups as "biologically inferior and socially dangerous".
She has called the United States a "racist country" and has advocated for affirmative action; however, she compares American positive-discrimination policies favorably to those of India, stating:
It is a sad comment on the state of Indian industrialists' social consciousness that such discussions have begun in an organised way in the U.S. before they have been thought of in India itself.
and, with respect to perceptions of "group performance", in the United States and India, Omvedt writes:
Whereas the U.S. debate assumes an overall equal distribution of capacity among social groups, in India the assumption seems to be that the unequal showing of different caste groups on examinations, in education, etc. is a result of actual different capacities.
She has on occasion supported big-dam projects and GMO crops.
Controversy and criticism
Andre Beteille's criticism
Omvedt's portrayal of caste-discrimination and violence as forms of "racism" was opposed by the Indian government and sociologists in India, including Andre Beteille, who while acknowledging that discrimination exists, deeply opposed treating caste as a form of racism "simply to protect against prejudice and discrimination", describing such attempts as "politically mischievous" and "worse, scientifically nonsense". Beteille argues (that):
In the past, some groups claimed superior rights on the ground that they belonged to the Aryan race or the Teutonic race. The anthropologists rejected such claims on two grounds: first, on the ground that within the same human species no race is superior to any other; but also on the ground that there is no such thing as an Aryan race or a Teutonic race. We cannot throw out the concept of race by the front door when it is misused for asserting social superiority and bring it in again through the back door to misuse it in the cause of the oppressed. The metaphor of race is a dangerous weapon whether it is used for asserting white supremacy or for making demands on behalf of disadvantaged groups.
Marxist critique
Omvedt has been criticized for a perceived "anti-statist" bias in her writing as well as "neo-liberal" economic sympathies. Scholars have also questioned the sincerity of her claims regarding the "authenticity" of her work, writing:
"In this paragraph, Omvedt is transformed from dangerous American outsider to revolutionary insider, player of a song proclaiming: 'We will cut the throats of the rich!' The chapter strategically ends with these words, which, written and sung though they are by anonymous labourers, can be heard only through Omvedt's (technological) agency. The rest, as they say, is history. The remainder of the book unsubtly suggests what Omvedt does not say explicitly--that she has accepted the leadership role thrust upon her by the initially skeptical masses."
Works
Omvedt's dissertation was on Cultural Revolt in a Colonial Society: The NonBrahman Movement in Western India, 1873-1930 (reprint of 1976 book) (New Delhi, Manohar, 2011).
Omvedt's academic writing includes numerous books and articles on class, caste and gender issues, most notably:
Cultural Revolt in a Colonial Society: The NonBrahman Movement in Maharashtra" (Scientific Socialist Education Trust, 1966)
We Shall Smash This Prison: Indian Women in Struggle (1979)
"We Will Smash This Prison!.: Indian Women in Struggle " (Zed, 1980)
"Violence Against Women: New Movements And New Theories In India" (Kali for Women, 1991)
Reinventing Revolution: New Social Movements in India (M.E. Sharpe, 1993)
Gender and Technology: Emerging Asian Visions (1994)
Dalits And The Democratic Revolution: Dr. Ambedkar And The Dalit Movement In Colonial India " (Sage India, 1994)
Dalit Visions: the Anticaste movement and Indian Cultural Identity (Orient Longman, 1995)
Growing Up Untouchable: A Dalit Autobiography (Rowman and Littlefield, 2000)
Buddhism in India : Challenging Brahmanism and Caste (SageIndia, 2003)
"Ambedkar: Towards an Enlightened India " (Penguin, 2005)
Seeking Begumpura: The Social Vision of Anticaste Intellectuals (New Delhi, Navayana, 2009)
"Understanding Caste: From Buddha To Ambedkar And Beyond" (New Delhi: Orient Blackswan, 2011)
Songs of Tukoba with Bharat Patankar she has published (translations)" (Manohar, 2012)
Jotirao Phule and the Ideology of Social Revolution in India
Awards
BA received Magna Cum Laude, with Distinction in Senior Comprehensive Examinations
PhD qualifying examinations passed with Distinction
Honorary Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, 1964-65
Fulbright Fellowship as Tutor in English in India, June 1963-March 1964
University of California Graduate Fellowships, l964-65, l965-66
American Institute of Indian Studies, Junior Fellowship for PhD research in India on “The NonBrahman Movement in Maharashtra,” January–December 1971
American Association of University Women, Fellowship for research on “Women’s Movement in India,” January–December 1975
Savitribai Phule Puraskar, Padmashri Kavivarya Narayan Surve Sarvajanik Vacanalay, Nashik, 2002
Dr. Ambedkar Chetna Award, Manavwadi Rachna Manch Punjab, August, 2003
ABP Majha Sanman Purskar, 2012
Vitthal Ramji Shinde Award, April 2015
GAURI KUMARI
STATE COORDINATOR, BIHAR
Gauri works with AIDMAM as a State Coordinator. She is perhaps the first Dalit woman lawyer from her community in Bihar. She has worked with All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch since 2008 and has been actively mobilising voices of Dalit women in the state. She currently practises in Munger civil court as an advocate and was also appointed a Special Public Prosecutor. She is a woman who has overcome several layers of oppression both from within and outside the community. Her struggle continues every day as I push my way into administrative and legal institutions of this country. She has also served for two years as elected representatives in local governance, attempting to bring development schemes to her people.
This Dalit lawyer wants to educate and empower women
>Ajeet Singh,
IT was a normal sunny day for Sunita (name changed), a seven-year-old Dalit girl, two years ago.
As a labourer, it was her job to sprinkle water on the cricket ground.
On that day too, she went to get water and while crossing the pitch accidentally spilled water on it. The upper class boys who were playing got so enraged that they beat her black and blue.
In normal circumstances, being young, a Dalit and a girl the matter would have been hushed up, but for Gauri Kumari, a feisty lawyer and then a member of District Juvenile Board.
She took up the case, fought it all the way up to the High Court and ensured that the boys who dared to hit the kid were sent to jail.
This is just one of the many battles this young lawyer activist has fought and won.
Gauri says, "That day I felt that I have really achieved something".
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G. R. Khairnar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
G R Khairnar
Born 14 April 1942
[Pimpalgaon (w), Maharashtra, India
Nationality Indian
Occupation ex-Deputy Commissioner, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation
Children 2
Govind Ragho Khairnar is a former civil servant in Mumbai's Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation who rose from the rank of Clerk to Deputy Commissioner. He was known for his uprightness and fearlessness while carrying out his duties in the face of political opposition. He was brought to trial for supposed insubordination and heavy-handedness but was cleared of these charges. He is still hailed as a hero of the middle-class Indian.
Early life
He was born in the family of a farmer on 14 April 1942, in the village named Pimpalgaon (wakhari) taluka Deola district Nashik. He had twin elder brothers who tended to the family farming while his father became a middle man for local produce. Khairnar graduated from Bhikusa Yamasa Kshatriya College of Commerce, Nasik, Maharashtra studying in Marathi medium, which later led to difficulties with English. He graduated with honours and was awarded "ideal student" award from the college. While at the college he also participated in National Cadet Corps.
Career
In 1964 he joined the state services in Maharashtra as Upper Division Clerk.
With BMC
In 1974, he joined the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC) as accounts officer. In 1985, as a ward officer he took on then chief minister Vasantdada Patil when he demolished "Step In", a hotel run by the CM's son Chandrakant. In 1988, he became a Deputy Commissioner in BMC. In 1993, he took on the then Chief Minister Sharad Pawar calling him corrupt and unethical.
In 1994, he was suspended after an inquiry committee headed by a High Court judge found him guilty of various charges including overstepping of authority and specifically of making "willful mistatements". In 1995, the Bhartiya Janta Party and Shiv-Sena combined to take up Khairnar's cause in the run up to elections and managed to wipe out the Congress. While the suspension was being contested in court, Khairnar was variously harassed; he was even asked to vacate his house of 15 years to make way for a swimming pool superintendent. Eventually, the High Court passed judgement ordering the reinstation of Khairnar, but the new government refused to comply. In 1995, he joined hands with Anna Hazare to fight for his cause. In 1997, he won a case against BMC alleging that he had been unjustly suspended due to political pressure. Despite this he was not fully awarded the court's mandate until 2000 when he was reinstated as the Deputy Commissioner.
From 2000 to 2002, Khairnar once again lived up to the title of "One Man Demolition Army" by fighting back land mafias and clearing public land of encroachments, even suffering injuries in doing so. In 2002, the then Municipal Commissioner V. Ranganathan did not extend the retirement age of Khairnar and he had to retire. The popular opinion was that the then Mayor Hareshwar Patil of the Shiv Sena was against the continuation of Khairnar's services.
In an ironic turn of events, upon his retirement, his position of Deputy Commissioner (Special – Demolitions) was temporarily handed to Chandrashekhar Rokde, the IPS officer who had served him eviction notice during his suspension. Then his successor, Kalam Patil, was allegedly caught by the Anti Corruption Bureau(ACB) accepting an INR 250,000 bribe and while under investigation, was appointed by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation(MSRDC) as their Commercial Officer as well as Public Relations Officer(PRO). He was acquitted by the court subsequently. He is serving collector of Sangli District.
Post BMC
During his suspension from BMC, he wrote his autobiography Ekaki Zunj (The Lonely Fight) in Marathi in 1995.
Although he first followed Anna Hazare for guidance in social work, he later found Hazare to be too politically aligned for his liking and set off independently. Khairnar was known for rescuing minor girls from human trafficking and prostitution. He used eunuchs to rescue minor girls from Kamathipura, a red light district in Mumbai. This was an innovative spin on the practice of loan collection agents to send eunuchs to debtors' homes to embarrass them into repaying debts.
Khairnar later took up living in Bibipura village in Sabarkhata District, 70 km from Ahmedabad, working on a few development projects in rural Gujarat, funded by a US-based non-governmental organisation. While in Gujarat his health suffered a setback due to his experiments with naturopathy and thereby lacking essential salts in his body.
G. N. Devy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ganesh Narayandas Devy
Born 1 August 1950
Bhor, Pune, Bombay State (Now in Maharashtra)
Occupation Critic, thinker , editor, educator , cultural activitist
Nationality Indian
Genre Literary Criticism
Notable awards
Padmashri 2014
Linguapax Prize 2011
Prince Claus Award 2003
SAARC Literary Award 2001
Ganesh N. Devy (born 1 August 1950) is a thinker, cultural activist and an institution builder, best known for the People’s Linguistic Survey of India and the Adivasi Academy created by him. He is credited to start the Bhaashaa research and Publication Centre. He writes in three languages—Marathi, Gujarati and English. His first full length book in English After Amnesia (1992) was hailed immediately upon its publication as a classic in literary theory. Since its publication, he has written and edited close to ninety influential books in areas as diverse as Literary Criticism, Anthropology, Education, Linguistics and Philosophy..
Biography
G. N. Devy was educated at Shivaji University, Kolhapur and the University of Leeds, UK. Among his many academic assignments, he held fellowships at Leeds University and Yale University and has been THB Symons Fellow (1991–92) and Jawaharlal Nehru Fellow (1994–96). He was a Professor of English at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda from 1980 to 96. In 1996, he gave up his academic career in order to initiate work with the Denotified and Nomadic Tribes (DNT) and Adivasis. During this work, he created the Bhasha Research and Publication Centre at Baroda, the Adivasis Academy at Tejgadh, the DNT-Rights Action Group and several other initiatives. Later he initiated the largest-ever survey of languages in history, carried out with the help of nearly 3000 volunteers and published in 50 multilingual volumes
Dakshinayan
In response to the growing intolerance and murders of several intellectuals in India, he launched the Dakshinayan (Southward) movement of artists, writers, and intellectuals. In order to lead this movement and to initiate his work on mapping the world’s linguistic diversity, he moved to Dharwad in 2016. Devy returned his Sahitya Akademi Award in October 2015 as a mark of protest and in solidarity with other writers sensing a threat to Indian democracy, secularism and freedom of expression and "growing intolerance towards differences of opinion" under the right-wing government. The Dakshinayan movement follows the ideas of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. The movement has spread to several states in India such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Telangana, West Bengal, Uttara Khand, Punjab and Delhi.
Awards
G. N. Devy has received several Lifetime Achievement Awards. He was awarded Padma Shri on 26 January 2014 in recognition of his work with denotified and nomadic tribes and endangered languages. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award (1993) for After Amnesia, and the SAARC Writers’ Foundation Award (2001) for his work with denotified tribals. He was given the reputed Prince Claus Award (2003) for his work for the conservation of tribal arts and craft. His Marathi book Vanaprasth received eight awards including the Durga Bhagwat Memorial Award and the Maharashtra Foundation Award. Along with Laxman Gaikwad and Mahashweta Devi, he was one of the founders of The Denotified and Nomadic Tribes Rights Action Group (DNT-RAG). He won the 2011 Linguapax Prize for his work for the preservation of linguistic diversity.
Works
Critical Thought (1987)
After Amnesia (1992)
Of Many Heroes (1997)
India Between Tradition and Modernity (co-edited, 1997)
In Another Tongue (2000)
Indian Literary Criticism: Theory & Interpretation (2002).
Painted Words: An Anthology of Tribal Literature (editor, 2002).
A Nomad Called Thief (2006)
Keywords: Truth (contributor, date unknown)
Vaanprastha (in Marathi, date unknown)
Adivasi Jane Che ( Tribal People Knows, in Gujarati, date unknown).
The G. N. Devy Reader (2009)
The Being of Bhasha (2014)
Samvad ( in Gujarati, 2016)
The Crisis Within: On Knowledge and Education in India (2017)
Trijyaa (in Marathi, 2018)
The question of Silence (2019)
Countering Violence (2019)
गोपबंधु दास ( Gopu Das )
By : Jivani.org
गोपबंधु दास (१८७७-१९२८) ओड़िशा के एक सामाजिक कार्यकर्ता, स्वतंत्रतता संग्राम सेनानी एवं साहित्यकार थे। उन्हें उत्कल मणि के नाम से जाना जाता है। ओड़िशा (उड़ीसा) में राष्ट्रीयता एवं स्वाधीनता संग्राम की बात चलाने पर लोग गोपबंधु दास का नाम सर्वप्रथम लेते हैं। उड़ीसावासी उनको "दरिद्रर सखा" (दरिद्र के सखा) रूप से स्मरण करते हैं। उड़ीसा के पुण्यक्षेत्र पुरी में जगन्नाथ मंदिर के सिंहद्वार के उत्तरी पार्श्व में चौक के सामने उनकी एक संगमर्मर की मूर्ति स्थापित है। उत्कल के विभिन्न अंचलों को संघटित कर पूर्णांग उड़ीसा बनाने के लिये उन्हांने प्राणपण से चेष्टा की। उत्कल के विशिष्ट दैनिक पत्र "समाज" के ये संस्थापक थे।
9 अक्टूबर 1877 को जन्मे स्वर्णयी देवी और पुरी, पुरी के निकट सुंदो गांव में श्री दायती दैश, गोपीबंधु भारतीय संस्कृति में एक किंवदंती थीं। उन्होंने अपने परिवार की कीमत पर भी अपने लोगों की सेवा की। बारह वर्ष की आयु में, उन्होंने Apti से शादी की, लेकिन अपनी शिक्षा जारी रखा। प्राथमिक शिक्षा पूरी होने के बाद, वह 1893 में पुरी जिला स्कूल में शामिल हो गए, जहां उन्होंने अपने शिक्षक मुख्तार रामचंद्र डैश से मुलाकात की, जो न केवल प्रतिभाशाली बल्कि राष्ट्रवादी भी थे यह इस स्कूल में था और इस शिक्षक के साथ कि गोपाबंधु ने कई राष्ट्रवादी मूल्यों को सीखा। हैजा के पीड़ितों के लिए अधिकारियों की अपर्याप्त प्रतिक्रिया ने उन्हें एक स्वैच्छिक कोर पुरी सेवा समिति शुरू करने के लिए प्रेरित किया। बाद में इस आंदोलन ने पुरी में हैजा के मरीजों के लिए एक अलग अस्पताल की स्थापना की और समाज में गोपाबंधु का नाम बना दिया।
एक छात्र के रूप में गोपाबंधु का साहित्यिक उत्साह उत्कृष्ट था। उन दिनों के दौरान उड़ीसा साहित्यिक दुनिया को प्राचीन, इंद्रधनु और आधुनिकतावादियों, बीजुली के बीच विभाजित किया गया था। गोपाबधु को एहसास हुआ कि एक राष्ट्र के साथ ही उसका साहित्य उनकी परंपरा से जीता है। उनका मानना था कि वर्तमान का एक राष्ट्रीय अधिरचना केवल अगर केवल राष्ट्रीय विरासत की ठोस नींव पर आधारित है, तो सहन कर सकता है। इंद्रधनुण में उनकी व्यंग्यपूर्ण कविता ने एक बदसूरत घटना और दंड स्कूलों के निरीक्षक द्वारा मुलाकात की। गोपाबन्दू ने सजा के बदले ऐसे लेखन के लिए माफी मांगी।
राजनीतिक कैरियर
1903 में गोपालबंधु के उत्कल सम्मेलन के साथ राजनीतिक सम्पर्क शुरू हुआ, लेकिन उन्होंने दूसरों को राजी कर दिया कि वह राष्ट्रीय कांग्रेस के साथ ओडीआई आंदोलन को भारतीय राष्ट्रीय आंदोलन का हिस्सा बनाने के लिए मर्ज करे। इस प्रकार वह ओडिशा में कांग्रेस के संस्थापक अध्यक्ष बने। स्वतंत्रता आंदोलन में भाग लेने के लिए उन्हें कई बार कैद किया गया था। उन्होंने कांग्रेस छोड़ दिया, सत्ता की खोज में नेताओं के बीच में झगड़े से निराश हुए और लोगों की सीधे सेवा करने के लिए लौट आए। फिर उनकी मृत्यु तक लोक सेवाक मंडल के राष्ट्रीय उपाध्यक्ष बने।
गोपीबंधु 1917 से 1920 तक चार साल के लिए ओल्ड बिहार और ओडिशा विधान परिषद का सदस्य रहे। उन्होंने चार प्रमुख समस्याओं पर बल दिया, अर्थात् सभी ओडिया बोलने वाले इलाकों का एकीकरण बाढ़ की रोकथाम के लिए स्थायी उपाय ओडिशा में अकाल उत्पाद शुल्क से मुक्त नमिया के निर्माण के लिए ओडिडिया के अधिकार की बहाली और सत्यबादी मॉडल पर शिक्षा का प्रसार गोपाबंधु नियमित रूप से उपस्थित थे और उत्कल सम्मेलन की वार्षिक बैठक में भाग लेते थे। उन्होंने 1919 में अपने अध्यक्ष के रूप में चुना गया। उन्होंने 'ओडिया' की एक व्यापक परिभाषा दी - ओडिशा का कोई भी शुभचिंतक ओडीया है। चक्रधरपुर सत्र में उत्कल सम्मेलन के हिस्से के रूप में भारतीय राष्ट्रीय कांग्रेस के उद्देश्यों और वस्तुओं को स्वीकार करने के उनके प्रस्ताव को मंजूरी दी गई थी।
क्रांतिकारी गतिविधियाँ
शिक्षा पूरी करने के बाद गोपबंधु दास आजीविका के लिए वकालत करने लगे। वे जीवन पर्यंत शिक्षा, समाज सेवा और राष्ट्रीय कार्यों में संलग्न रहे। राष्ट्रीय भावना इनके अन्दर बाल्यकाल से ही विद्यमान थी। गोपबंधु दास विद्यार्थी जीवन से ही 'उत्कल सममिलनी' संस्था में शामिल हो गये थे। इस संस्था का एक उद्देश्य सभी उड़िया भाषियों को एक राज्य के रूप में संगठित करना भी था। उन्होंने इसे स्वतंत्रता संग्राम की अग्रवाहिनी बनाया। जब महात्मा गाँधी ने 'असहयोग आन्दोलन' प्रारम्भ किया' तब गोपबंधु दास ने अपनी संस्था को कांग्रेस में मिला दिया।
जेल यात्रा
गोपबंधु दास उड़ीसा में राष्ट्रीय चेतना के अग्रदूत थे। स्वतंत्रता संग्राम में उन्होंने अनेक बार जेल की यात्राएँ कीं। 1920 की नागपुर कांग्रेस में उनके प्रस्ताव पर ही कांग्रेस ने भाषावार प्रांत बनाने की नीति को स्वीकार किया था। उड़ीसा राष्ट्रवाद के वे श्रेष्ठ पादरी बन गए थे तथा 1921 में उन्होंने उड़ीसा में 'असहयोग आंदोलन' की अगुवाई की। उन्हें दो वर्ष की कैद हुई। गोपबंधु दास लाला लाजपत राय द्वारा स्थापित 'सर्वेन्ट ऑफ दी प्यूपल सोसायटी' के भी सदस्य बने थे।
स्कूल की स्थापना
वर्ष 1909 में गोपबंधु दास ने साक्षी गोपाल में एक हाई स्कूल की स्थापना की। यह विद्यालय शांतिनिकेतन की भाँति खुले वातावरण में शिक्षा देने का एक नया प्रयोग था।
साहित्यिक कृतियाँ
बचपन से ही गोपबंधु में कवित्व का लक्षण स्पष्ट भाव से देखा गया था। स्कूल में पढ़ते समय ही ये सुंदर कविताएँ लिखा करते थे। सरल और मर्मस्पर्शी भाषा में कविता लिखने की शैली उनसे ही आंरभ हुई। उड़िया सहित्य में वे एक नए युग के स्रष्टा हुए, उसी युग का नाम "सत्यवादी" युग है। सरलता और राष्ट्रीयता इस युग की विशेषताएँ हैं। "अवकाश चिंता", "बंदीर आत्मकथा" और "धर्मपद" प्रभृति पुस्तकों में से प्रत्येक ग्रंथ एक एक उज्वल मणि है। "बंदीर आत्मकथा" जिस भाषा और शैली में लिखी गई है, उड़ियाभाषी उसे पढ़ते ही राष्ट्रीयता के भाव से अनुप्राणित हो उठते हैं। "धर्मपद" पुस्तक में "कोणार्क" मंदिर के निर्माण पर लिखे गए वर्णन को पढ़कर उड़िया लोग विशेष गौरव का अनुभव करते हैं। यद्यपि ये सब छोटी छोटी पुस्तकें हैं, तथापि इनका प्रभाव अनेक बृहत् काव्यों से भी अधिक है।
Gopabandhu Das in HEnglish
From Wikipedia
Gopabandhu Das
Born 9 October 1877
Suando, Puri district, Odisha, British India
Died 17 June 1928 (aged 50),
Occupation Poet, philosopher, social activist
Nationality Indian
Alma mater Puri Zilla School, Ravenshaw College, Calcutta University
Period 20th century
Notable works Bandira Atma Katha, Dharmapada
Gopabandhu Das (1877–1928), popularly known as Utkalamani (Jewel of Utkal or Odisha)] was a social worker, reformer, political activist, journalist, poet and essayist.
Early life
Gopabandhu Das was born on 9 October 1877 in Suando village, near Puri in what was then called Orissa. His mother was Swarnamayee Devi, the third wife of Daitari Das. His father was a mukhtiar and the family were reasonably well-off. Das married Apti at the age of twelve but continued his education. He had basic schooling in the village before progressing to a middle school nearby. Then, in 1893, by which time his mother had died, Das joined Puri Zilla School. There he was influenced by Mukhtiar Ramchandra Das, a teacher who was both a nationalist and a proponent of public service in aid of people in distress. Becoming adept at organising his fellow children in the spirit of co-operation, the inadequate response of authorities for the victims of an outbreak of cholera prompted him to start a voluntary corps called Puri Seva Samiti. Its members helped those suffering from the outbreak and also cremated the dead.
Das, whose father by now had died, progressed to Ravenshaw College in Cuttack. He became a regular contributor to local literary magazines called Indradhanu and Bijuli, where he argued that any modern literary movement, just like any modern nation, could not be a clean break with the old but rather had to acknowledge and base itself on its past. In one instance, he submitted a satirical poem that so enraged the Inspector of Schools that Das was punished when he refused to apologise for it.
It was while at Ravenshaw that Das started a discussion group, called Kartavya Bodhini Samiti (Duty Awakening Society), in which he and his friends considered social, economic and political problems. It was also during this time, in 1903, that he attended a meeting of the Utkal Sammilani (Utkal Union Conference), where he disagreed with Madhusudan Das's suggestion that Odia-speaking areas should be amalgamated with Bengal Presidency. These extra-curricular activities, which also included helping the victims of flooding, impacted on his academic studies such that he failed his degree examination, although he gained his BA at the second attempt. It was also while at Ravenshaw that his new-born son died; he explained his preference to deal with flood victims on that occasion rather than be with his sick son as being because "There are so many to look after my son. What more can I do? But there are so many people crying for help in the affected areas and it is my duty to go there. Lord Jagannath is here to take care of the boy".
Das progressed to Calcutta University, where he obtained an MA and LL.B while simultaneously devoting much of his energies in attempts to improve the education of Oriya people who were living in the city, for whom he opened night schools. His desire to bring about social reform and educational improvements was influenced at this time by the philosophy of the Swadeshi movement. His wife died on the day he heard that he had passed his law examinations. Now aged 28, all of his three sons had died and he chose to give up care of his two daughters to an older brother, along with his share of property in Suando.
Legal career
Das arrived at his first job as a teacher in Nilagiri in Balasore district of Orissa. He then became a lawyer, variously described as being based in Puri and in Cuttack. In 1909, Madhusudan Das appointed him to be State Pleader for the princely state of Mayurbhanj.
Education work
Sculpture of Gopabandhu Das at State Museum, Bhubaneswar
Finding that law did not interest him, Das gave up his practice and worked for the welfare of the people.
In 1909, Das established a school at Sakhigopal, near Puri. Popularly known as Satyabadi Bana Bidyalaya (Now Satyabadi High School, Sakhigopal) but called the Universal Education League by Das, it was inspired by the Deccan Education Society, operated in the gurukula tradition and aimed to impart a liberal education on a non-sectarian basis, despite opposition from orthodox Brahmins. He believed education was necessary if people were to become aware of their both of their innate freedom and their duty to their country. He thought that education could help the child to grow mentally, physically and spiritually. His system allowed children of all castes and backgrounds to sit together, dine together and study together. The school had features like residential schooling, teaching in a natural setting and cordial relationship between the teacher and the taught. Das laid emphasis on co-curricular activities and wanted to generate nationalistic feelings in students through education and teach them the value of service to mankind.
Hugely motivated by the positive response he received, the school was converted into a high school in the following year. It secured affiliation from Calcutta University and held its first matriculation exam in 1914. The school further secured an affiliation from Patna University in 1917. It became a National School in 1921. The school faced financial problems and ultimately was closed in 1926. Das had not taught much at the school due to pressures on his time elsewhere but he did act unofficially as its manager. He also attempted to raise funds for it, guide its curriculum and attract pupils.
Political career and imprisonment
Madhusudan Das encouraged Gopabandhu Das to stand for election to the Legislative Council that had been created in 1909 under the terms of the Morley-Minto Reforms. He eventually overcame his reluctance, stood and was elected in 1917. There he concentrating his efforts on four themes:
Administrative amalgamation into a single entity of the Oriya-speaking regions of Bengal Province, Central Province, Madras Presidency and Bihar and Orissa Province
Eradication of famine and flood in Orissa
Restoration of the region's right to manufacture salt without incurring excise duty
Expansion of education on a model similar to that he had established at the Satyabadi school
Das ceased to be a member of the Legislative Council in 1919 or 1920.
Prior to his Legislative Council role, Das had been involved in regional politics. He had been a member of Utkal Sammilani from 1903 and was its president in 1919. After its members decided to join the Non-Cooperation movement, made at a conference on 31 December 1920, Das effectively became a member of the Indian National Congress. This was something he had worked towards, having attended meetings of the All India Congress Committee at Calcutta and Nagpur to persuade Mahatma Gandhi to adopt the Utkal Sammilani's primary goal of organising states based on the language spoken. He became the first president of Utkal Pradesh Congress Committee in 1920, holding the post until 1928, and he welcomed Gandhi to the province in 1921.
Das was arrested in 1921 for reporting the alleged molestation of a woman by police but was acquitted due to lack of evidence. He was arrested again in 1922, when he received a two-year prison sentence. He was released from Hazaribagh jail on 26 June 1924.
Contribution to journalism
In 1913 or 1915, Das launched and acted as editor for a short-lived monthly literary magazine titled Satyabadi from the campus of his school. Through this he was able to indulge his childhood aspirations to be a poet, while contributions also came from other members of the school's staff, including Nilakantha Das and Godabarish Mishra.
Das saw journalism as a means to educate the masses even though they were illiterate. He initially accepted a role editing Asha, a newspaper published in Berhampur, but found it to be too constraining. Thus, in 1919, he started a weekly newspaper called The Samaja, based at the school campus. This was more successful than the literary journal and became a daily publication in 1927 and eventually a significant media presence for Indian nationalists. The writing style was intentionally simplistic.
Das had been persuaded to join the Lok Sevak Mandal (Servants of the People Society) some time after meeting Lala Lajpat Rai at a session of Congress in 1920 and the newspaper became a means of promoting it, although operated independently. He served as editor until his death, at which time he bequeathed it to the Society.
Published literary works
Karakabita
Bandira Atmakatha Translated as The prisoner's autobiography
Das, Gopabandhu (1946). "Dhramapada" (in Odia). OCLC 1126286052. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
Das, Gopabandhu (2013). Correspondence of Pandit Gopabandhu = Dāse āpaṇeṅka ciṭhipatra (in Latin). Pune Bhubaneswar: Nilakantha Rath,Distributer, Shikshasandhan. ISBN 978-81-87982-77-7. OCLC 904902700.
Das, G. (1976). Gopabandhu racanābaḷī: Śikshā, śikshaka, o chātra. Gopabandhu racanābaḷī (in Quechua). Gopabandhu Janma Śatabārshikī Samiti. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
Death
Gopabandhu became All India Vice-President of the Lok Sevak Mandal in April 1928. He became ill while attending a society meeting in Lahore and died on 17 June 1928.
Brahmananda Satapathy, a professor of political science, has said of Das that "His crusade against untouchability, advocacy of widow remarriage, campaign for literacy, new model of education, stress on both rights and duties, emphasis on women education, particularly vocational training and above all a deep commitment and compassion for poor and destitutes have immortalised him in Orissa and India".
Guruchand Thakur
Early Life
Guruchand Thakur was born around March 13, 1846 (some sources cite 1847), in Orakandi village, Gopalganj District, in the Bengal Presidency (present-day Bangladesh), on the auspicious day of Dol Purnima. He belonged to a Vaishnavite Namasudra peasant family, with his father, Harichand Thakur (1812–1878), being a revered spiritual leader who founded the Matua sect to combat caste discrimination and promote equality among untouchables. His mother was Shanti Devi (also called Satyavama Devi in some accounts), and the family's ancestry was traced to Gaudiya Vaishnavism traditions, as detailed in the Matua scripture Sri Sri Harililamrita.
From a young age, Guruchand showed a keen interest in learning despite systemic barriers faced by lower castes. At seven, he began informal education at a neighbor's home in Padmavila village, followed by three years of primary schooling under a local teacher in Molla Kandhi. Caste restrictions prevented him from accessing formal institutions, so he returned to Orakandi and studied Arabic, Persian, and religious philosophy in a Moktab (Islamic school) under his father's guidance for about twelve years. Married at fourteen to Satyavama Devi, he continued learning about domestic life, society, religion, politics, and economics from his parents until his early twenties, shaping his holistic view of reform. This period instilled in him a deep understanding of the Namasudra community's struggles, including economic exploitation, social ostracism, and lack of education.
Career and Activism
After his father's passing in 1878, Guruchand assumed leadership of the Matua Mahasangha (Matua Grand Assembly), expanding it into a powerful socio-religious organization. He spearheaded the Namasudra protest movement (also called the Matua or Namashudra Movement) from 1872, organizing one of the first Dalit uprisings against upper-caste dominance. A key event was the 1872–73 general strike, where Namasudras refused services to higher castes until granted dignity—a form of social boycott that pressured landlords and Brahmins. This movement demanded educational access, as upper castes actively opposed lower-caste schooling.
Education became Guruchand's cornerstone for liberation. He famously advocated: "ছেলে মেয়ে দিতে শিক্ষা/প্রয়োজনে করো ভিক্ষা" (Provide education to boys and girls—even beg if necessary). In 1880, he founded the first Pathsala (primary school) in Orakandi for Namasudra children, initiating widespread Dalit education. By 1881, he convened the first All-Bengal Namasudra Conference in Duttadanga, Khulna, prioritizing schools over temples and forming village committees to establish more institutions. Collaborating with Australian Baptist missionary Dr. C.S. Mead, he promoted health, sanitation, and environmental awareness, leading to the 1907 establishment of the Dr. C.S. Mead School, a higher English-medium institution in Orakandi. Under his influence, over 5,000 schools were set up in undivided Bengal, empowering thousands.
Guruchand was a strong advocate for gender equality, challenging patriarchal norms like the Pardah system and early marriage. He established girls' schools, including the Shanti Satyavama School in his home, and in 1909 introduced widow remarriage while banning dowry. His philosophy emphasized equal participation of men and women in spiritual and physical work, as reflected in Matua texts like Harililamrita, which promote shared dining and mutual respect: "Women and men dine together, men consume their wives' orts and touch their feet." He viewed educated women as vital for family harmony and societal progress.
Politically, Guruchand submitted a 1907 memorandum to the Bengal government demanding elevated status for Chandals, resulting in their official renaming to Namasudras in 1911. He advocated for reservations in education, jobs, and politics, securing Namasudras' inclusion in Bengal's 1909 list of disadvantaged classes (later Scheduled Castes), influencing national policies via the 1919 Montague-Chelmsford Reforms. His work extended to economic upliftment, encouraging self-reliance and community welfare.
Legacy
Guruchand Thakur passed away on October 2, 1937, but his impact endures. The Matua Mahasangha remains a major force for Dalit rights in India and Bangladesh, representing about 15% of West Bengal's population and influencing politics, including alliances with parties like the BJP and Trinamool Congress. In 2018, the West Bengal government founded Harichand Guruchand University to advance Matua education. His philosophies—abolishing caste through education, promoting secular duties, and integrating moral, economic, and political reforms—continue to inspire anti-caste movements. Historians like Sekhar Bandyopadhyay credit him with pioneering Dalit education and empowerment, viewing his efforts as a ripple effect that elevated an entire community from marginalization to agency.
Grace Banu
Early Life and Background
- Born and raised in Thoothukudi (Tuticorin) district, Tamil Nadu, India.
- She grew up in a Dalit family, facing compounded discrimination due to both her caste and her gender identity from a young age.
- Discrimination was a daily reality, including exclusion in education and society, which shaped her resolve to challenge systemic barriers.
Education and Professional Achievements
- Grace became the first transgender person to be admitted to an engineering college in Tamil Nadu.
- She pursued her education despite significant hurdles:
- Completed a Diploma in Computer Engineering from Lakshmi Ammal Polytechnic College.
- Earned a Bachelor of Engineering (BE) from Sri Krishna College of Engineering (2014–2017).
- She filed RTIs (Right to Information requests) to uncover and challenge discriminatory practices in institutions like Anna University.
- Professionally, she works as a software engineer and technologist, blending her technical skills with activism.
Activism and Key Contributions
Grace is a veteran anti-caste and trans rights activist, emphasizing the intersections of caste, class, and gender in LGBTQ+ struggles.
- Founder of the Trans Rights Now Collective, which mobilizes for transgender rights and advocacy.
- She has been central to campaigns for amending laws and policies, including the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act.
- Key advocacy areas:
- Pushing for horizontal reservations (separate quotas for transgender people within existing SC/ST/OBC categories) in education, employment, and government jobs to address multiple marginalizations.
- In 2024, she petitioned an Indian court seeking such reservations.
- Highlighted the need to view transgender issues through caste and class lenses, criticizing upper-caste dominance in queer spaces.
- During the COVID-19 pandemic (2020 onward), she worked on the ground in Tamil Nadu to provide relief, safety, and support to transgender communities facing heightened vulnerabilities.
- She has spoken out on broader issues like the impact of AI and technology on marginalized genders, caste discrimination in education, and post-NALSA judgment (2014 Supreme Court ruling on transgender rights) developments.
Public Speaking and Recognition
- Delivered talks including:
- TEDxIIMTrichy: "Does Artificial Intelligence have a Gender?" — discussing trans struggles and biases in tech.
- Interviews and panels on platforms like BBC, Scroll.in, Vogue India, The Life of Science (featured in a comix profile), and YouTube discussions on transgender lives 10 years after NALSA.
- Recognized in various forums:
- Australia India Youth Dialogue participant.
- Featured as a "Champion of Pride" and in queer/trans visibility initiatives.
- Appointed or honored in roles amplifying trans voices (e.g., referenced in community posts about appointments boosting advocacy).
- She is also a writer and active on social media (Instagram @gracebanu), sharing insights on anti-caste, trans rights, and personal resilience.
Personal Philosophy and Legacy
Grace Banu embodies resilience and intersectional feminism, often stating that courage can change histories and that marginalized voices must lead their own narratives. Her work has given visibility to thousands facing exclusion, making her a beacon for Dalit-trans communities and a critic of one-dimensional queer activism.
As of recent years (up to 2025 references), she continues her advocacy, writing, and professional work from Tamil Nadu. For the latest updates, her Instagram (@gracebanu) or recent news/interviews provide ongoing insights into her campaigns and thoughts. She remains an inspirational figure breaking barriers in education, technology, and social justice in India.
Gangadhar Gade
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gangadhar Gade is an Indian politician and Ambedkarite sociopolitical activist. He is the former leader of the Republican Party of India, and is president of the Panther Republic Party. He is former minister of Maharashtra. He is a popular Buddhist leader. Gade was the leader of the Namantar Andolan (Name Change Movement) of Marathwada University. On 7 July 1977, Dalit Panthers general secretary Gangadhar Gade firstly demanded that the name of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar be given to Marathwada University.
Gangadhar Sukhdevrao Gade
AURANGABAD (WEST) (SC) (AURANGABAD)
Party:Panthers Republican Party
S/o|D/o|W/o: Shinde Dilip Kondaji
Age: 39
Address: Plot no.45,Gat no.8,Firdos Gardan, Padegaon ,Chavani,Aurangabad
Name Enrolled as Voter in: 108 Aurangabad West (Maharashtra) constituency , at Serial no 2882 in Part no 8
Profession:Housewife
Contact Number: 8237383264
Spouse Profession:Service
Girish Sant
From Wikipedia
Girish Sant
Energy Analyst
Born 23 January 1966
Thane, Maharashtra, India
Died 2 February 2012
New Delhi, India
Nationality Indian
Alma mater IIT Bombay
Occupation Founder and coordinator, Prayas (Energy Group)
Girish Sant was a noted energy analyst held in high esteem as an energy policy commentator from India. He co-founded the non-governmental organisation Prayas in Pune, India. His analytical inputs helped shape India's energy policy over the decades of the 1990s and 2000s. He was considered an effective team builder and mentored several energy researchers and activists.
Formative years
Girish spent his childhood in Thane, and joined IIT Mumbai in 1982 for BTech in Chemical engineering. After completing BTech in 1986, he also completed Masters in Energy Systems in 1988 from IIT.
Girish's years in IIT Mumbai brought out his leadership, team building and mountaineering skills. He was an accomplished mountaineer and rock climber, and made important rock climbing ascents with fellow mountaineers including the first ever climb of the Konkan Kada. He was an active member of the IIT Mountaineering Club and also the Institute Mountaineering Secretary during 1985–86.
During his stay at IIT, particularly during his Masters study, Girish started thinking about full-time work in a field of direct social relevance along with friends – Ajit Gaunekar and Aniruddha Ketkar. He started interacting with Subodh Wagle, then research fellow at Center for Technology Alternatives for Rural Areas, with whom he explored appropriate technologies, rural society and related developmental paradigms.
Entry to the energy sector
By 1988, when Girish completed Masters in energy systems, he developed a clear idea that he wanted to work for the betterment of society and not for personal prosperity, using his professional skills on issues related to energy.[3] He relocated to Pune and initially worked as a lecturer in an engineering college, undertook sporadic energy audit and industrial consultancy projects and then worked at Systems Research Institute. This was a period of exploration along with other like-minded friends – Shripad Dharmadhikary, Sanjeevani and Vinay Kulkarni – that brought him closer to people's movements, particularly the NBA.
During this period he came across the Development Focused End Use Oriented (DEFENDUS approach to power sector planning developed by Prof. Amulya Kumar N. Reddy. Subsequent interactions with Prof. Reddy shaped his thinking and work in the energy sector in the early period. By this time, Girish started working with Shantanu Dixit who continued to be his colleague for the rest of his life. Analytical motivation from DEFENDUS, along with the support of friends and a scholarship from Dr. Ashok Gadgil, led to his first major work on development of a least cost plan for Maharashtra. Development of the least cost plan, its dissemination to various quarters and subsequent responses from power sector actors and activists contributed to his understanding of the energy sector and the broader political economy and institutional dynamics of the sector in India.
This was also the time of reforms for the power sector in India, which witnessed entry of projects such as Dabhol Power Company built by Enron. Girish, Subodh and Shantanu were able to see the long term implications of such projects and reforms for the Indian power sector and economy at large. Realising the need to de-mystify such complex projects and to highlight their implications for people of the state and the country, they worked relentlessly to unravel the complex power purchase agreement of Enron and communicate the devastating impact of the project to activists and the wider community. These early experiences shaped his vision for the power sector as well as his strategic and substantive approach to work in the energy sector.
Formation of prayas, institution building and approach to policy analysis
Girish Sant at New Rajendra Nagar in New Delhi, January 2002
In 1994, his work in the energy sector evolved into the formation of Prayas, Initiatives in Health, Energy, Learning and Parenthood along with Sanjeevani and Vinay Kulkarni.
Girish believed in and ensured teamwork and democratic working of the group. Under his leadership, the Energy Group within Prayas (PEG), which started with three people, expanded to a team of over 15 researchers from a variety of backgrounds. Girish had the ability to connect with a wide range of professionals, which attracted senior researchers as well as young engineers to join Prayas.
Girish was particular about encouraging intellectual and substantive growth of colleagues, and supported new initiatives in the form of Resources and Livelihoods group of Prayas as well as academic interests of young researchers. Girish paid meticulous attention to the internal processes within Prayas and ensured that proper procedures were followed. Many peers and friends of Girish consider his institution building abilities as important a contribution and achievement as his substantive work in the energy sector. Girish assisted the likes of Sucheta Dalal, then a columnist in the Times of India, in understanding the controversial Dabhol power project and the Enron India scam that they unearthed.
Girish emphasised the need to be agile and to undertake strategic interventions in the sector. High quality and in-depth analysis, comprehensive approach, and prioritising interests of disadvantaged sections became the hallmark of his work and he successfully cultivated these principles across PEG. He believed that improving governance in infrastructure sectors like energy has the dual advantage of improving lives of the poor as well as saving public money that can then be spent on other services such as education. He successfully motivated and actively supported many young researchers to take up the task of policy advocacy in the energy sector based on public interest analysis.
In spite of several accomplishments and achieving an important stature in the energy sector in India, Girish remained humble and self-effacing, as is reflected in many of the tributes on his memorial webpage and in the Smriti Grantha (or Collection of Memoirs). He was mild mannered and soft-spoken, even when trying to convince someone holding a contrary opinion. This quality endeared him to many in the sector resulting in increased impact.
Interventions in the electricity sector
Girish was known in the energy sector for his use of high quality analysis to expose inadequacies of conventional planning and projects that result out of such a process. Under his guidance, PEG undertook techno-economic analysis of three large hydro-electric projects, Sardar Sarovar and Maheshwar in India and Bujagali in Uganda. The group analysed Sardar Sarovar and Maheshwar projects and highlighted inefficiencies therein, proposing several techno-economically feasible and socially desirable alternatives. Analysis of Bujagali Hydroelectric Power Station brought out inflated capital costs and one-sided nature of the power purchase agreement and led to renegotiation of the contract.
The wave of independent power producers in the 1990s was followed by State Electricity Board (SEB) reforms supported by the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, starting from Orissa in 1996. Under these reforms unbundling the SEB into generation, transmission and distribution companies, setting up a regulatory commission and gradually privatising the distribution was presented as the solution to all problems in power sector. PEG was the first to prepare a public interest critique of the Orissa model of reforms in 1998 and the role of Multi-lateral Development Banks, arguing that democratising governance is the key to addressing the power sector crisis, rather than focusing only on infusing capital or changing ownership.
PEG realised that the fight against unjust, inefficient projects needs to be started at the macro-level planning stage itself. Experience of disseminating least cost plan and struggle against Enron project, highlighted the influence of political economy on decision making and underscored the need for improving governance through enhanced transparency, accountability and participation (TAP) in the energy sector decision making. These insights have since guided the group's work in the energy sector and led to the group undertaking early interventions in improving the newly emerging independent regulatory commissions. Girish provided strategic guidance on the initial idea of bringing together a transnational network of civil society groups, called the Electricity Governance Initiative, that would work together to advance the principles of transparent, inclusive and accountable governance of electricity.
Girish was keen that analysis is followed by actual interventions aimed at pro-people changes. Accordingly, PEG actively engaged with several state as well as central regulatory commissions, with the aim of making regulatory process more transparent, accountable, participatory and helped serve the public interest more effectively. Subsequent to enactment of Electricity Act 2003, PEG was actively involved in giving inputs to national policies such as National Electricity Policy, Tariff Policy and Competitive Bidding Guidelines. This analysis of the Indian power sector and its role in the regulatory process was acknowledged by many in the sector.
Work beyond the electricity sector
Girish Sant at a UN Climate Change Workshop, 2011
Since 2006, Girish focused more on macro issues of resource availability, utilisation, and growing importance of global climate debate on India's energy policy. In 2009, he co-authored a report, 'An Overview of India's Energy Trends', highlighting important differences in energy production and consumption trends of India, US, European Union and China Based on this work, he was invited to make presentations at high level meetings at COP15 at Copenhagen and at The Center for Clean Air Policy, Washington, D.C. He was India's representative at a UN workshop on non-Annex 1 NAMAs.
Subsequently, he was one of India's representatives in the BASIC Expert Group (an informal energy expert group formed by BASIC governments) that worked towards developing greater understanding of energy use in BASIC countries and for evolving common approach to climate negotiation. All these efforts and analysis contributed to strengthening India's position in the global discourse on climate change and energy, and also helped shape the domestic policy discourse.
On the domestic front, while welcoming the investment in renewable energy (RE), Girish suggested measures to improve effectiveness and equity in RE expansion. He was instrumental in making a case for setting up a National Wind Energy Mission, which is scheduled to begin in 2014.
Search for innovative solutions to vexed problems was another characteristic of Girish. This search led to a unique and novel concept for improving efficiency of commonly used domestic appliances. Though Girish and several other researchers had pointed out that energy efficiency of commonly used domestic appliances is very poor and using most efficient appliances instead of these inefficient appliances will lead to savings of thousands of MWs, a workable large scale solution to achieve this transformation was elusive. Girish, along with colleagues at Prayas, developed a concept called 'Super-Efficient Equipment Program – SEEP' under which nominal incentives are provided to appliance manufacturers to bring super-efficient equipment into the market. He successfully convinced Government of India and Planning Commission officials of the benefits of implementing such a program. Under this program, which will be launched in 2014 as part of the 12th Five Year Plan, it is expected that over five million 'super-efficient' fans, which consume half the electricity of normal fans, will be sold in the market. This approach is also being adopted at the global level under the auspices of the Clean Energy Ministerial.
Girish was also part of several official committees, such as Planning Commission's working groups for 11th and 12th five-year plans, Planning Commission's Steering Committee on Energy, the Supreme Court appointed Committee on Solid Waste Disposal, and Planning Commission's Expert Group on Low Carbon Strategies for Inclusive Growth.
Death
Girish died on 2 February 2012 in New Delhi due to cardiac arrest.
A committee consisting of people from within and outside Prayas was formed to manage activities organised in Girish's memory and "to further his work of independent analysis and advocacy to promote public interest issues in the energy sector". These activities include an annual memorial lecture organised in Pune and a fellowship for young researchers pursuing public interest research and advocacy.
Membership in policy related committees
Member, BASIC Expert Group (2011–12)
Convener Transport Working Group, of The Expert Group appointed by The Planning Commission (India) in 2010, to work out the 'Low Carbon Strategy for Inclusive Growth’
Member, World Bank Expert Committee to review West Bengal Power Sector Reforms (2008)
Member, 'Working Group on Power' for formulation of XIth five-year plan for the National Planning Commission (India) (2006–07)
Member, Expert Group, convened by Secretary of Power (Government of India) to seek "radical" policy suggestions (2006)
Member Expert Group on "Financing access to basic utilities for all" formed by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in co-operation with the Financing for Development Office, June 2006.
Member, Expert Committee appointed by The Supreme Court of India for evaluating 'Waste to Energy projects from Municipal Solid Waste', appointed through Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (2005–06)
Member, Central Advisory Committee of Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (India), since 1998 till 2010
Member, State Advisory Committee of Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission, since 1999 till 2010
Member, 'Consultative Group on Power & Energy' of Planning Commission (India) for review of energy sector performance in the Xth plan
Member, Advisory Committee, ADB Policy Research Network to strengthen policy reforms – Infrastructure Development for Poverty Reduction: Priorities, Constraints and Strategies (2004–05)
Member, Western Regional Energy Committee Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) (2003 and 2004)
Member Advisory Committee, Distribution Reforms Upgrade Management (DRUM) program of Government of India and USAID (2003)
Member, Study Group on Benefits of Sardar Sarovar Dam Project, Government of Maharashtra (2001)
Member, Task Force to review Narmada Dams, Government of M.P. (1998)
Member, International team of civil society to review status of rehabilitation of project affected persons at by Coal mines and Thermal plants at Singrauli (UP) (1995)
Recognition
Dr. T. N. Khoshoo Memorial Award in 'Conservation, Environment and Development' for year 2010, – Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (Bangalore)
'Best Energy Alumni' – Energy Department, IIT Bombay (2008).
'Life Time Achievement – Encouragement Award' – Workers' and Engineers' union of Power utility in Maharashtra (2003), which he accepted on behalf of Prayas (energy group)
As a student, received citation for 'Exceptional Contribution Award' for enhancing Mountaineering activity at IIT Bombay.
'Annual Girish Sant Memorial Lecture' – IIT Bombay
Dedication of the book "Churning the Earth"
Gogu Shyamala
Gogu Shyamala, being Dalit and woman is survival, beyond victimhood and outside of it
She recognised caste discrimination for what it was, only as an adult
Nitin B.
@Facebooare @twitteare @reddit
(Editor's Note: The News Minute is interviewing Dalit women writers in the four major south Indian languages. This is the first of these interviews.)
Jovial is the first word that comes to mind when one sees Gogu Shyamala. “This is my desk,” she says, with a welcoming smile, pointing at a table clustered with books, papers and other trivial items.
We are at the Anveshi Research Centre for Women's Studies in Hyderabad, where Shyamala is a senior fellow. Over a cup of tea, she talks about her childhood growing up in the Madiga wada in the 1970s, and her transition from the Left to an Ambedkarite position, her fiction writing, and what it means to be a Dalit feminist.
“I never realized that there was any discrimination as a kid. It was after growing up that I discovered it. We had a Madiga area to the east of the village where we all lived, away from the upper castes,” she says.
Shyamala grew up in Peddemul village in Telangana’s (then Andhra Pradesh) Ranga Reddy district. In the Acknowledgements at the end of her English translation of her book titled “Father may be an elephant and mother only a small basket, but…” Shyamala writes very simply, how her education was possible. She described the attitude in her village thus:
‘“If you get your children educated, who will slog for free in our fields?” Under such pressure from the karnam, reddy and other dora of the village, my eldest brother Ramachandrappa was forced into agricultural labour.’
(Karnam is Brahmin caste whose task it was be maintain land records, reddy is a landowning farming caste, dora is the most powerful landlord in the village is also the power centre)
However, she escaped this. Her parents, both agricultural labourers, insisted on sending her to school. She is the only one of her three siblings (including her oldest brother who died as a child) who obtained a higher education. She is all praise for her father, and says that she owes everything to him.
“School was the one place where everyone sat together. I remember sitting with a girl who was a reddy and neither of us had a problem. But I was never invited to her house, and she was never invited to mine,” she recalls.
The prejudice was always there, but she did not recognize it for what it was. “I had three bench mates — a Muslim, one BC girl and one upper caste girl, and we had all met once at the BC girl's house, but the upper caste girl was swiftly taken back home on some pretext. The actual reason is obvious to me now,” she says.
“The politics started when my dad put me in a social welfare hostel (Tandur) to continue my schooling. I was one of the student leaders who used to protest for clean food and hostel facilities and things like that. It continued in college where I was an active student leader. I did it only for justice. Nothing else," she says.
After completing her intermediate (Class 12), she could not immediately enroll in college on account of financial difficulties. Eventually, she obtained a degree in Sociology from BR Ambedkar Open University.
Around that time, she become an activist with the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), but insists that she never let the politics overshadow the education. “It was a good change because I was no longer a Dalit. I was a comrade. We were all equal. But over time, I realized that the caste element still crept in. Children of the upper caste people were well shielded and could pull strings with the police if they were arrested. We on the other hand, were helpless.”
On August 6, 1991, eight Dalits in a small village called Tsundur in Andhra's Guntur district were killed and several injured by upper caste people, in an incident now known as the 'Tsundur' or 'Chundur' massacre.
The police had filed charge-sheet against 219 people, of whom 33 died during the course of the trial and seven were let off due to lack of evidence.
“When the massacre happened, I was shocked. I saw all the authorities trying to spin the story and say that there were other elements that prompted the killing, while it was clearly caste-based. It also made me wonder how many isolated caste killings occurred, but were dismissed with some other reason. Tsundur was a bigger number, so people took notice. What about all the cases where just one individual was killed?” she asks.
It was at this point that Shyamala began to question the Left. “I slowly began to read Ambedkar and understood how deep-rooted caste was in Indian society. That's also when I understood that communism may have removed religion, but the caste divide still existed. Even today, if you see any Dalit parliamentarians, it is only because of reservation,” she says.
When asked why the Left couldn't get rid of the caste-divide, she says, “What America had was open slavery but our kind of slavery is much more closed. This is even more dangerous, and it is difficult to acknowledge the problem and tackle it.”
She says that the system was a continuous one, practices and attitudes passed on from one generation to another. Thus, she said that caste slurs were hurled at her father to such an extent, that the generation that followed still called him by the caste slur, but didn't even realize its origin.
But suddenly, she chuckles. With a glint in her eye, she said: “I actually wrote a story where an upper caste boy who uses the slur gets into a fight with a Dalit boy as the latter feels insulted. During the fight, the Dalit boy explains the origins of the slur and the upper caste boy goes back home and tells his parents not to use it.”
This cheeky and defiant attitude, is very much a part of her stories. “There are two types of Dalit narratives that you will read and hear about. Either the person is a hero who fought all odds, or a victim. With my writing, I try to present them as normal people like everyone else, to try and battle the mainstream stereotype.”
In one of the stories, a young girl named Balamma, wary as she is of the village dora, is nonetheless not willing to put up with his nonsense. The story is named after Tataki, whom Valmiki calls a rakshasi, but whom Dalit discourse identifies as a Dalit woman who protected the forests and was killed by Rama.
These stories are drawn from her own life. “My book is entirely based on my experiences - things that I have seen, heard or felt. I do add a few elements here and there to brighten up the book, but the writing is largely from experience.”
In a strange way, one of the stories in the book could easily be applied to the discussions about students who avail of reservations, and which were heard after Rohith Vemula’s suicide. Bayi Talam (Bottom of the Well) raises questions about caste, privilege, and access to education. A group of teachers from Hyderabad happen to watch Dalit boys enthusiastically playing all kinds of games in the well. Taken aback by their intelligence, they wonder what caste these boys belong to, and how they might shine with an education. This between the teachers in the story is a study in attitudes and perceptions.
At the mention of Rohith’s suicide, the sign of a frown appears on Shyamala’s face.
“The purpose of universities is knowledge. Any person, irrespective of his background, can go to a university to learn. However, there is discrimination even here as most of the professors are upper caste and they aren't empathetic to the background of a Dalit student,” she says.
As far as Rohith is concerned, we are losing a little focus of the main issue with all the incidents that followed and all the politicians going in and out of the campus. He was a student filled with hope and was pushed to commit suicide,” she adds.
The time is ticking and it is time for the last question. What is the biggest problem she faces as a self-identified Dalit feminist?
“Being a Dalit woman is hard. In the Tsundur massacre for example, all those widowed women from the killings did not have anyone to turn to. They raised their children, worked hard to feed them, and still had to go to court to fight the case. This lack of a support mechanism in the patriarchal system really makes it hard for them,” she says.
Even in everyday life, she says, women are stronger. “I remember (women) agricultural labourers who would gather together, make sure that all the work was done, and ensure that the landlords gave them every rupee they earned. I always saw them being bold and courageous. But, that does not deny the difficulties that they face living in a patriarchal society,” she says.
Gogu Shyamala
She is widely regarded as one of the foremost contemporary voices in Dalit literature and Dalit feminism, blending sharp critiques of caste, gender, patriarchy, and class oppression with celebrations of Dalit resilience, rural culture, folk traditions, and everyday resistance. Her work draws heavily from her own lived experiences in a Madiga wada (Dalit hamlet), oral storytelling traditions, and the political awakening triggered by events like the 1991 Tsundur massacre (where upper-caste violence against Dalits exposed deep caste divides even within leftist movements).
Early Life and Political Evolution
Growing up in rural Telangana during the 1970s–1980s, Shyamala witnessed the harsh realities of caste hierarchy: her family labored on upper-caste lands, faced humiliation, and dealt with practices like forced labor and untouchability. She was the only child in her family to pursue higher education—her brother was forced into bonded labor when her parents considered schooling for him.
Initially involved with leftist groups (e.g., Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)), she grew disillusioned after observing persistent caste discrimination within these movements—privileged comrades often escaped consequences while Dalit activists faced harsher treatment. This led her to Ambedkarite thought, where she recognized caste's deep entrenchment in Indian society, even in secular ideologies like communism. She identifies strongly as a Dalit feminist, emphasizing the triple marginalization of Dalit women (caste, gender, class) and portraying them not just as victims but as survivors, resilient agents, and bearers of cultural strength.
Career and Activism
Shyamala has been a lifelong activist in Dalit-Bahujan movements, Telangana statehood struggles, and women's rights. She has addressed issues like domestic violence against Dalit women, caste atrocities, and the need for intersectional feminism. She worked as a Senior Research Fellow at Anveshi Research Centre for Women's Studies in Hyderabad (1999–2020) and was a resident fellow (2020–2021) at the Institut d'études avancées (IEA) in Nantes, France, focusing on Dalit Puranas, folklore, and gender in ancient narratives.
She has spoken out on contemporary issues, such as the 2016 suicide of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula at the University of Hyderabad, highlighting ongoing caste violence in education. Her activism extends to international platforms, including the World Conference Against Racism (Durban), Australian Indian Literary Fest, and German literary workshops.
Notable Works
Her writing often features an "oral quality"—vivid, conversational, fable-like narratives infused with allegory, magical realism, and Telangana dialect—making Dalit experiences accessible and powerful.
- Father May Be an Elephant and Mother Only a Small Basket, But… (2012, Navayana; English translation 2022, Tilted Axis Press) — Her landmark short story collection (originally in Telugu). It explores Madiga rural life, caste exploitation, gender dynamics, and resistance through children's eyes and folk elements. Hailed as a milestone in Telangana Dalit literature in translation; also translated into German and some stories into French.
- Nallapoddu (Black Dawn, 2003) — Edited anthology of Dalit women's literature and poetry from Telangana (1921–2002), focusing on Madiga voices.
- Nene Balaanni: T.N. Sadalakshmi Bathuku Katha (2011) — Biography of T.N. Sadalakshmi, Andhra Pradesh's first Dalit woman legislator and cabinet minister (from a scavenging subcaste).
- Co-editor: Oxford India Anthology of Telugu Dalit Writing (2016).
- Other works: Edited collections like Nallaregatisallu (Furrows in Black Soil: Madiga women's stories, 2006); children's stories like Tataki Wins Again & Brave Heart Badeyya (2008); ongoing research on Dalit women's biographies and folklore (e.g., reinterpreting Puranas from Dalit feminist perspectives).
Her stories appear in journals like Bhumika, Prasthanam, Pratighatana, Mana Telangana, and others. Some are part of university curricula in Telangana, University of San Francisco (USA), University of Nottingham (UK), and elsewhere.
Awards and Recognition
- Several literary awards (e.g., Gandapenderam mentioned in profiles).
- Her works have received critical acclaim for expanding Dalit aesthetics, documenting subaltern resilience, and influencing global Dalit feminist discourse.
- Featured in international conversations, festivals, and academic discussions on caste, gender, and resistance.
Legacy
Gogu Shyamala's contributions bridge literature, activism, and academia, amplifying marginalized voices—especially Madiga Dalit women's—in Telugu and global contexts. Her stories challenge victimhood narratives, assert dignity, and call for solidarity against intersecting oppressions. As a philosopher-poet-activist, she continues to inspire younger writers and movements in India and beyond.
Hari Lal Dusadh
Hari Lal Dusadh (commonly known as H.L. Dusadh or simply Dusadh) is a prominent Indian social and political writer, intellectual, and activist born on October 20, 1953, in Naravli Khem Devariya village, Uttar Pradesh, India. Hailing from the Dusadh (also spelled Dusad or Paswan) community—a Scheduled Caste (SC) or Dalit group historically associated with roles like village watchmen, palanquin bearers, and agricultural laborers—he embodies the struggles and resilience of Bahujan (Dalit, Adivasi, and OBC) communities. Standing as a beacon for social justice, Dusadh is often hailed as the "Diversity Man of India" for his tireless advocacy on caste diversity, empowerment, and political mobilization. He spent his early life in Kolkata, West Bengal, which exposed him to urban socio-economic disparities, shaping his lifelong commitment to grassroots activism. Bespectacled, bearded, and soft-spoken, Dusadh's frail physique belies the hardships he has endured, including economic challenges and societal discrimination, yet he remains a fervent voice against caste oppression.
Dusadh's personal journey is rooted in the ethos of "Pay Back to Your Society," a call from Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) founder Kanshi Ram that profoundly influenced him. He views Kanshi Ram not just as a political organizer but as an original thinker who emphasized political power as the pathway to Dalit equality and economic upliftment. Dusadh's activism transcends writing; he has engaged directly with political figures, including a recent meeting with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to discuss strategies for countering BJP's dominance through caste-based alliances. As of 2025, at age 71, he continues to critique religious politicization, such as the Ram Mandir issue, by invoking historical Dalit resistance like B.R. Ambedkar's 1930 march to the Kala Ram Temple in Nashik.
Activism and Career
Dusadh's activism centers on Bahujan empowerment, challenging Brahmanical hegemony, and promoting diversity in India's social, economic, and political spheres. He founded the Bahujan Diversity Mission (BDM), a platform uniting Dalit activists and organizations to demand representation in business, media, and governance—reflecting India's caste demographics. The BDM advocates for "social diversity" in corporate boards, public institutions, and cultural narratives, arguing that exclusion perpetuates inequality. Under his leadership, the mission has organized protests, seminars, and campaigns, including Bharat Bandh actions against discriminatory policies like the 13-Point Roster (which allegedly diluted SC/ST reservations).
Inspired by Dalit Panthers founder Namdeo Dhasal (whom Dusadh visited during his final illness in 2014), he has been a key figure in the broader Dalit literary and intellectual movement. Dusadh critiques the English-dominated seminar circuits of Delhi's elite spaces (e.g., India International Centre), positioning himself as a Hindi-writing, grassroots scholar who produces "voluminous" work without institutional backing. His activism gained renewed attention in 2024 when he outlined strategies to "defeat the BJP," emphasizing unity among Dalits, OBCs, and minorities while exposing caste biases in religious politics. He argues that events like the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha favor upper castes, urging counter-narratives rooted in Ambedkarite history.
Dusadh's contributions extend to policy advocacy, including restoring the 200-Point Roster for reservations and scrapping what he calls the "manuwadi" (Manusmriti-inspired) 13-Point system. He has praised figures like Uddhav Thackeray for symbolic resistances, such as visiting Kala Ram Temple on inauguration day, to highlight Dalit exclusion from temple rituals and priesthoods.
Literary Works
Dusadh is a prolific author with over 70 books on Bahujan history, diversity, and politics, primarily in Hindi. His writings blend research, folklore, and critique, drawing from Dusadh oral traditions (e.g., heroes like Chauharmal Baba and Gauriya Baba) to reclaim Dalit agency. Key themes include:
- Caste and Diversity: Exploring Bahujan contributions to Indian society, often overlooked in mainstream histories.
- Political Mobilization: Essays on Kanshi Ram's vision and BSP's role in Dalit empowerment.
- Social Justice: Critiques of Brahmanical patriarchy, economic exclusion, and religious exploitation.
Notable works include analyses of Dalit unrest, identity formation, and resistance against feudal oppression. His books are celebrated for their "transformational passion," produced with limited resources, and have influenced activists across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Delhi. While exact titles are scattered across Hindi publications, compilations like Duh Sadhya se Dusadh Tak (From Oppression to Dusadh) reflect his focus on community evolution from subjugation to assertion.
Recognition and Legacy
Dusadh's work has earned him acclaim as a "tireless Dalit activist" and intellectual bridge between academia and the streets. Featured in outlets like The Mooknayak and Indian Express, he is praised by commentators like Sudheendra Kulkarni for his authenticity amid elite gatekeeping. His net worth remains modest (estimated under ₹1 crore as of 2022, primarily from writing and activism), underscoring his non-commercial ethos. In 2019, socialist platforms lauded his support for child protesters in reservation movements, symbolizing intergenerational solidarity.
HARI RAOJI CHIPLUNKAR
Birth : 1842
Death : 1896 (aged 54 years)
Rao Bahadur Hari Raoji Chiplunkar (1842-1896) Honorary Magistrate and President of the Landlord's Association in Pune, was a reformer, activist, and philanthropist, and close friend of intellectual and reformer, and founder of Satyashodhak Samaj, Jyotirao Phule. A prominent figure in the social and intellectual circles of Maharashtra, primarily Pune, Chiplunkar donated his land and funds, enabling Savitri and Jyotirao Phule to start the first girls schools in India in 1851 on Chiplunkar's estate, including donating a building for the primary education of lower caste children in 1864, currently operating as the Bholagir School, Municipal School No. 4.
On March 19, 1883 Chiplunkar was appointed as a member of the Poona Municipal Corporation where he effected administrative reform currently practiced, an honor given to twelve distinguished citizens including Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Jyotirao Phule, Dr. R.P. Paranjpe (KCIE), Hari Narayan Apte, Dr. Vishram Ramji Ghole, and Sir M Visvesvaraya.
Chiplunkar was a founding member of the Deccan Education Society, Pune, and Fergusson College, and remained an active member of the Satyashodhak Samaj from 1858-1883.
Known for his charismatic personality and affable nature, Hari Raoji Chiplunkar struck a friendship with the Duke of Connaught for whom he hosted a reception and banquet in 1888. Chiplunkar built the Connaught House in what is known today as Sadhu Vaswani Chowk, where the Duke and Duchess of Connaught were given a red carpet reception. It was at this banquet, on March 2, 1888 where among the royal guests, dignitaries, industrialists and preeminent families from Bombay and Pune, Mahatma Phule chose to appear as a poor farmer wearing only a short dhoti, an old shirt, and worn out shoes. He proceeded to make a stirring speech on the destitution of the untouchables and lower classes, encouraged the Duke to visit the villages of India and witness the conditions shared by nearly nineteen crore Indians living in abject poverty. In the speech Phule also asked the Duke convey to Queen Victoria his message about emancipating the masses through education.
Social reformer Savitribai Phule was present at Hari Raoji Chiplunkar's funeral in 1896. In 1991, the City of Pune, named the Hari Raoji Chowk commemorating Chiplunkar in Somwar Peth.
The contents of this page are sourced from Wikipedia article. The contents are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.
Henry Bibb
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Henry Bibb, copper engraving by Patrick H. Reason Henry Walton Bibb (May 10, 1815 in Shelby County, Kentucky – 1854) was an American author and abolitionist who was born a slave. After escaping from slavery to Canada, he founded an abolitionist newspaper, The Voice of the Fugitive. He returned to the US and lectured against slavery.
Biography
Bibb was born to an enslaved woman, Milldred Jackson, on a Cantalonia, Kentucky, plantation on May 10, 1815. His people told him his white father was James Bibb, a Kentucky state senator, but Henry never knew him. As he was growing up, Bibb saw each of his six younger siblings, all boys, sold away to other
In 1833, Bibb married another mulatto slave, Malinda, who lived in Oldham County, Kentucky. They had a daughter, Mary Frances.
In 1842, he managed to flee to Detroit, from where he hoped to gain the freedom of his wife and daughter. After finding out that Malinda had been sold as a mistress to a white planter, Bibb focused on his career as an abolitionist. He traveled and lectured throughout the United States.
In 1849-50 he published his autobiography Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, An American Slave, Written by Himself, which became one of the best known slave narratives of the antebellum years. The passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 increased the danger to Bibb and his second wife Mary E. Miles, of Boston. It required Northerners to cooperate in the capture of escaped slaves. To ensure their safety, the Bibbs migrated to Canada and settled in Sandwich, Upper Canada now Windsor, Ontario.
In 1851, he set up the first black newspaper in Canada, The Voice of the Fugitive The paper helped develop a more sympathetic climate for blacks in Canada as well as helped new arrivals to adjust. Due to his fame as an author, Bibb was reunited with three of his brothers, who separately had also escaped from slavery to Canada. In 1852 he published their accounts in his newspaper.
Bibliography
Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, An American Slave, Written by Himself, Self-published, New York: 1849
Hasrat Mohani
Pen Name :'hasrat'
Real Name :Syed Fazl ul Hasan
Born :01 Jan 1875, Unnao, India
Died :13 May 1951
chupke chupke raat din aañsū bahānā yaad hai
ham ko ab tak āshiqī kā vo zamānā yaad hai
bā-hazārāñ iztirāb o sad-hazārāñ ishtiyāq
tujh se vo pahle-pahal dil kā lagānā yaad hai
baar baar uThnā usī jānib nigāh-e-shauq kā
aur tirā ġhurfe se vo āñkheñ laḌānā yaad hai
tujh se kuchh milte hī vo bebāk ho jaanā mirā
aur tirā dāñtoñ meñ vo uñglī dabānā yaad hai
khīñch lenā vo mirā parde kā konā daf.atan
aur dupaTTe se tirā vo muñh chhupānā yaad hai
jaan kar sotā tujhe vo qasd-e-pā-bosī mirā
aur tirā Thukrā ke sar vo muskurānā yaad hai
tujh ko jab tanhā kabhī paanā to az-rāh-e-lihāz
hāl-e-dil bātoñ hī bātoñ meñ jatānā yaad hai
jab sivā mere tumhārā koī dīvāna na thā
sach kaho kuchh tum ko bhī vo kār-ḳhānā yaad hai
ġhair kī nazroñ se bach kar sab kī marzī ke ḳhilāf
vo tirā chorī-chhupe rātoñ ko aanā yaad hai
aa gayā gar vasl kī shab bhī kahīñ zikr-e-firāq
vo tirā ro ro ke mujh ko bhī rulānā yaad hai
dopahar kī dhuup meñ mere bulāne ke liye
vo tirā koThe pe nañge paañv aanā yaad hai
aaj tak nazroñ meñ hai vo sohbat-e-rāz-o-niyāz
apnā jaanā yaad hai terā bulānā yaad hai
mīthī mithī chhed kar bāteñ nirālī pyaar kī
zikr dushman kā vo bātoñ meñ udānā yaad hai
dekhnā mujh ko jo bargashta to sau sau naaz se
jab manā lenā to phir ḳhud ruuTh jaanā yaad hai
chorī chorī ham se tum aa kar mile the jis jagah
muddateñ guzrīñ par ab tak vo Thikānā yaad hai
shauq meñ mehñdī ke vo be-dast-o-pā honā tirā
aur mirā vo chheḌnā vo gudgudānā yaad hai
bāvajūd-e-iddi.ā-e-ittiqā 'hasrat' mujhe
aaj tak ahd-e-havas kā vo fasānā yaad hai
Syed Fazlul Hasan (1875-1951) who chose the nom de plume of Hasrat was born at Mohan in the Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh. After receiving his early education in Arabic, Persian, and Urdu at home, he moved to Aligarh where he acquired his degree of B. A. but abandoned his further studies in law that he had joined soon after his graduation.
Hasrat was acutely conscious of the socio-political condition of his time. Ever since his graduation from Aligarh in 1903 till his death at Lucknow in 1951, he worked incessantly and played various roles as a social activist, a politician, a freedom fighter, a journalist, a critic, a poet, a deeply religious Muslim of a liberal makeup, and a God-fearing communist. Working in multiple directions, he laid the foundation of an influential journal Urdu-i-Mualla, worked for the Indian National Congress Party holding important offices, remained active with Swadeshi Movement, moved the first-ever resolution for complete freedom, and chaired sessions at divergent platforms like Indian National Congress, Muslim League, Jamiat-ul Ulama-i-Hind, and the Communist Party of India which he also helped found. As he gave the call of Inquilab Zindabad—Long Live Revolution—he always fought for complete independence of India from the British rule. He was imprisoned on several occasions for his rebellious attitude towards the British but he always kept his spirit high without succumbing to any under-hand policy or upper-hand pressure. After India’s independence, he worked as a member of the Constituent Assembly that drafted the Indian Constitution but did not sign it as he had his own reservations in this matter. In all his positions and responsibilities, Hasrat worked in all humility, living a simple life like a dervish with absolutely no place for pomp or pretension in his life. He passed away in Lucknow and was buried there.
Hasrat started composing verse at an early age. He is acknowledged essentially as a poet of ghazal who combined the best values of the classical and the modernist styles of composition. He kept ghazal alive especially at a time when it was being marginalised and imparted a new lease of life to it. He wrote on the traditional subjects of love and romance but also found a space for the socio-political subjects that represented acute contemporary reality. His works have been included in Kulliyaat-e Hasrat. He has also left behind an annotated edition of Ghaib’s poetry entitled Sharh-e-Kalaam-e Ghalib, and his diary written during his imprisonment called Mushahidat-e-Zindaan. Hasrat has also collected the poetry of the classical and modern poets in seven volumes which bear witness to his critical taste.
Hanumappa Sudarshan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hanumappa Sudarshan
Dr. Sudarshan, a well-known social worker and tribal activist recognised for his work with the Soligas in BR Hills
Born : 30 December 1950
Yemalur, Karnataka, India
Other names : Dr. Sudarshan
Education : Doctor
Known for : Public Health, Tribal rights, Activism, Gandhism
Awards : Right Livelihood Award
Dr. Hanumappa Sudarshan (born 30 December 1950) is an Indian social worker and tribal rights activist. He is well known for his contributions to the upliftment of the forest dwelling tribes (mainly Soligas) in the Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka. He is also a recipient of the Right Livelihood Awardand the Padma Shri.
Early life and education
Sudarshan was born in Yemalur on the outskirts of Bangalore. He graduated from Bangalore Medical College and became a medical doctor in the year 1973. He is also an Adjunct Professor at IGNOU.
Career
After graduation, he joined the charitable health institutions of Ramakrishna Mission which took him to the Himalayas of Uttar Pradesh, Belur Math in West Bengal and Ponnampet in Karnataka as part of the job. Instead of pursuing a medical practice in the cities, he decided to work with tribal communities and in 1980, he started the Vivekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra for the integrated development of the tribals in the Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka. He is also the founder and Honorary Secretary of the Karuna Trust, which is dedicated to rural development in the states of Karnataka and Arunachal Pradesh. He claims inspiration from the man-making and nation-building ideals of Swami Vivekananda. He advocates Gandhian ideals for rural development.
Vivekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra (VGKK)
VGKK is an organisation with a mission of Sustainable development of tribal people through rights-based approaches to health, education, livelihood security and biodiversity conservation. Founded in October 1981 by Dr. Sudarshan, VGKK has worked with tribals in the Chamarijanagar district and Mysore district of Karnataka and also with tribals in the states of Tamil Nadu, Arunachal Pradesh and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and has interacted with about 20,000 people. The organisation has always had a tribal youth as its President. Jadeya Gowda, one of the first few children who was taught by Dr. Sudarshan, is the President. He did a graduation and post-graduation in agriculture and is doing his PhD at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore.
VGKK runs a 450 pupil school for the tribes of B R Hills where the students are provided education equivalent to that provided in the urban areas. Subjects related to the tribal welfare such as environmental issues, tribal values and culture are also a part of the curriculum. VGKK also has a vocational training institute where 16 crafts are taught. As a result of the efforts of VGKK, about 60% of the Soliga tribe now get a minimum of 300 days of employment per year from the Forest Department of Karnataka and other agencies.VGKK also has a system of co-operatives which employ the tribals directly and it has also made an effort towards sustainable extraction of non-timber products and creation of tribal enterprises to process them.
VGKK is an established voluntary agency recognised by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India.
Karuna Trust
Started in the year 1986 by Dr. Sudarshan, Karuna Trust (India) is an organisation involved with integrated rural development and is affiliated to VGKK. The prevalence of leprosy in Yelandur Taluk of Chamarajanagar district was the motivation to start this trust. Another focus area for this trust is education and livelihood improvement. Karuna Trust runs 72 Primary Health Care (PHC) Centres in all the districts of the state of Karnataka and Arunachal Pradesh. The organisation promotes Public Private Partnership with NGOs on a non-profit basis to achieve primary health care.
Positions held
Dr. Sudarshan has held many positions in his career, prominent among them being, the chairmanship of the Task Force on Health and Family Welfare organised by Government of Karnataka, the Task Force on Public Private Partnership organised by National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) of Government of India and Institute of Health management & Research (IHMR), Bangalore. He was also associated as a member of Working Group 6 on Macro-economics & Health organised by the World Health Organization and was also a Steering Group member of the Planning Commission on the Empowerment of Scheduled Tribes in India's 11th Five Year Plan. He has also been the Vigilance Director for the Karnataka Lokayukta, an ombudsman organisation. During his tenure, he adopted a method of regular visits and raids to several Government departments and earned critical acclaim for this.
Awards
Right Livelihood Award (1994), for showing how tribal culture can contribute to a process that secures the basic rights and fundamental needs of indigenous people and conserves their environment.
Padma Shri Award (2000)
Rajyotsava State Award for social work (1984) – Government of Karnataka.
Mother Teresa Awards for Social Justice in 2014.
Quotes
To eliminate disease you have to remove poverty. The only way to do that, I have realised, is to organise the people for their rights.
The so-called civilised society has a lot to learn from the tribals.
Corruption is at various levels: In medical education, starting from joining the medical college — you can buy a seat, you can buy the examiner, the examination system, you can buy the question papers. This is much less now with the University trying to bring in some reforms, but still, in the viva-voce and practical, many people continue to pay and pass; we are not sure if we have plugged that.
There are no pills for poverty.
I.K. Kumaran
Early Life and Background
I.K. Kumaran was born into the Mappila (Moplah) community, a Muslim ethnic group in Kerala with roots in Arab trade and local intermingling, often classified as a backward class in modern India. His family details are sparsely documented, but he grew up in the Malabar region under British colonial rule, with Mahe, a nearby French enclave, shaping his early experiences due to his French citizenship. Kumaran pursued education and qualified as a sub-inspector for the British Indian police but was denied the position because of his French citizenship status. From 1928, he worked as a teacher at Choodikotta Madrasa and Ottapilakool Mappila School, earning the title "Master." During this time, he was influenced by local Congress leaders like Muchikal Padmanabhan, which sparked his entry into political and social activism.
Entry into the Freedom Struggle
Kumaran's activism began in the 1930s through the Youth League, a platform for mobilizing young Indians against colonial rule. Inspired by the Indian National Congress's call for independence, he resigned from his teaching position in 1940 to dedicate himself fully to the freedom movement. He joined the Congress and became a prominent leader in the Malabar region, serving as President of the Vadakara Congress Committee and working to reorganize the Congress in Kottayam Taluk (now part of Kozhikode and Kannur districts). His early efforts focused on promoting nationalist ideals, including the use of khadi (homespun cloth) and boycotts of foreign goods, aligning with Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent resistance strategies.
Role in the Liberation of Mahe
One of Kumaran’s most significant contributions was his leadership in the liberation of Mahe, a French enclave in Kerala, from colonial rule. As a resident of Mahe, he faced unique challenges due to his French citizenship, which fueled his resolve to integrate French territories into independent India. In the 1940s and 1950s, he participated in protests against French colonial authorities, advocating for Mahe’s merger with India. A notable event occurred on April 21, 1954, when Kumaran led efforts to hoist the Indian national flag in smaller French enclaves like Cherukallayi, Naluthura, and Choodikotta, symbolizing resistance to French rule. These actions were part of a broader movement to liberate French territories, culminating in Mahe’s integration into India in 1954, following negotiations and protests. Kumaran faced violence from communist groups and colonial forces during these struggles and was imprisoned multiple times for his anti-colonial activities.
Social Reforms
Beyond his role in the freedom struggle, Kumaran was a committed social reformer. He actively campaigned against untouchability, a pervasive social evil, and worked for the upliftment of Harijans (Dalits), advocating for their inclusion in mainstream society. He promoted mixed eating (inter-caste dining) to break caste barriers and foster communal harmony, a radical act in the caste-ridden society of the time. Kumaran also supported the Bhoodan movement, initiated by Vinoba Bhave, which encouraged landowners to donate land to the landless, and he was involved in prohibition campaigns to curb alcohol consumption, aligning with Gandhian principles. His work as an educator and activist emphasized empowering marginalized communities through education and social integration.
Political Career
Kumaran’s political career was rooted in the Indian National Congress, where he held leadership roles in the Malabar region. As President of the Youth League at various points, he mobilized young activists for the independence movement and post-independence nation-building. His work in reorganizing the Congress in Kottayam Taluk strengthened the party’s grassroots presence in northern Kerala. After India’s independence in 1947, Kumaran continued his activism, focusing on the integration of French enclaves and regional development. While he did not hold major electoral positions, his influence as a local leader and freedom fighter was significant in shaping Kerala’s political landscape. Known for his simplicity and dedication, Kumaran balanced his roles as a teacher, activist, and politician, earning respect as a grassroots leader.
Death
I.K. Kumaran passed away on October 23, 1978, at the age of 78. His death marked the end of a life dedicated to India’s freedom and social justice, though specific details about his final years or cause of death are not widely recorded.
Legacy
I.K. Kumaran’s legacy is deeply tied to his contributions to the liberation of Mahe and his efforts in the Indian independence movement. In Kerala, he is remembered as a freedom fighter who bridged anti-colonial resistance with social reform. Streets in Kozhikode, such as I.K. Kumaran Master Road, and references in local histories honor his role in the struggle. His advocacy for Harijan upliftment, communal harmony, and regional integration left a lasting impact on Malabar’s socio-political fabric. While not as nationally prominent as figures like Gandhi or Ambedkar, Kumaran’s regional contributions are celebrated in Kerala’s freedom struggle narrative.
Controversies and Criticisms
There are no significant controversies or criticisms associated with I.K. Kumaran in available records. His activism was aligned with the non-violent principles of the Congress and focused on inclusive social reforms, earning him respect among peers and communities. However, his confrontations with communist groups during the Mahe liberation movement highlight political tensions of the time, though these were not personal controversies.
Conclusion
I.K. Kumaran Master was a dedicated freedom fighter whose work in the Malabar region and Mahe exemplified the intersection of anti-colonial resistance and social reform. His efforts in the Youth League, Congress, and the liberation of French enclaves, combined with his advocacy for untouchability eradication and Harijan upliftment, mark him as a significant figure in Kerala’s history. His Mappila background and commitment to communal harmony further underscore his role as a bridge-builder in a diverse society.
Ila Mitra
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ila Mitra
Mitra in 1955
Member of the
for Maniktala
In office
1962 – 1971, 1972-1977
Preceded by Ranendra Nath Sen,Anila Debi
Succeeded by Anila Debi,Suhrid Mallick Chowdhury
Constituency Maniktala
Personal details
Born
Ila Sen
18 October 1925
Died 13 October 2002 (aged 76)
Kolkata, India
Political party Communist Party of India
Spouse(s) Ramendra Mitra
Ila Mitra (née Sen; 18 October 1925 – 13 October 2002) was a communist and peasants movement organizer of the Indian subcontinent, especially in East Bengal (now Bangladesh).
Early life and education
Young Mitra with her awards in athletics
Mitra's ancestors were from Bagutia village in the present-day Jhenaidah District. She was born on 18 October 1925 in Kolkata. She completed her IA and BA examinations from Bethune College in Calcutta in 1942 and 1944 respectively.
Ila Mitra First 2 Student
Late. Mst.Rahima Begam
Mst.Hira Begam
Leading role in peasant uprising
Mitra was the leader of peasants and indigenous Santhals in greater Rajshahi region, currently in the district of Chapai Nawabganj, and was often referred to by them as RaniMa (Queen mother). She organized a peasant-santhal uprising in Nachole Upazila, Chapai Nawabganj on 5 January 1950, but the uprising was thwarted by the police and Ansar Bahini. Mitra was arrested by the police while trying to escape. She was detained at the Nachole police station for four days, and during the detention, she was repeatedly gang-raped and tortured by the policemen. Then she was sent to the Rajshahi Central jail on 21 January 1950, where she was reportedly tortured for not accepting her involvement in the rebellion. After a trial for treason, Mitra was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Later life
Mitra at Dhaka Medical College, 1954
Partly due to the torture, Mitra fell very sick in jail. In 1954, the United Front government of Pakistan paroled her and sent her to Kolkata for treatment. As she was a Hindu and a Communist activist, to avoid persecution, she did not return to Pakistan and stayed the rest of her life in India. She also participated in mobilizing public opinion and support during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971.
She was elected to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly for Maniktala constituency during 1962–1971 and 1972–1977.
She played part in stopping riot against Muslims in West Bengal in 1965.
Ila Mitra mural in Tebhaga Chattar, Dinajpur, Bangladesh
Mitra died in Kolkata on 13 October 2002.
Awards
Soviet Land Neheru for literary translation work
Tamra Patra from the government of India.
Iyothee Thass
– Great Social reformer and Buddhist Scholar
Iyothee Thass was an intellectual and social critic of 19 – 20 century Tamilnadu. In the primordial collective consciousness of the Dravidians he sensed the Buddhist values of equality and compassion. Working them out he severely criticized the brahminic hegemony that brought in estrangement and caste division among the people. Though a man of secular credentials he upheld the ethico-rational sensitivity that genuine religion can cultivate in promoting justice, righteousness and truthfulness. In this paper a brief attempt is made to construct the reformistic work which done by Iyothee Thass Pandithar.
Who is Iyothee Thass?
Born on 20 May 1845, Thass’s original name was Kaathavarayan. His grandfather had served as a butler to Lord Arlington. Kaathavarayan gained expertise in Tamil literature, philosophy, Siddha and had good knowledge of English, Sanskrit and Pali. After organizing the tribal people in the Nilgris in the 1870s, he established the Advaidananda Sabha in 1876. He launched a magazine called ‘Dravida Pandian’ along with Rev. John Rathinam in 1885. He issued a statement in 1886 announcing that the so-called untouchables’ are not Hindus. He established the Dravida Mahajana Sabha in 1891 and during the very first Census urged the so-called untouchables to register themselves as casteless Dravidians. This in fact makes Tamil Dalits the true descendents of the anti-Brahmin legacy which is today claimed by non-Brahmin non-Dalits. Iyothee Thass’s meeting with Olcott was a turning point not only in his life but also for the Tamil Dalit movement. In many ways, Thass was a forerunner of Dr B.R. Ambedkar.
Iyothee Thass and Buddhism
He led a delegation of prominent Dalits to Olcott and pleaded for his help in reestablishing Tamil Buddhism. With Olcott’s help Thass visited Sri Lanka and got diksha from Bikkhu Sumangala Nayake. On his return, he established the Sakya Buddhist Society in Chennai with branches in many places including Karnataka. Returning from his sacred pilgrimage to Colombo, Iyothee Thass issued a pamphlet in Tamil, entitled, Buddha: The light without distinction of day and night. In this, he systematically stated his project “Tamil Buddhism” a brief statement of Sakya Buddha’s life was followed by an exploratory survey of the Tamil epical-ethical literary tradition to explain the past glory, the fall and the present degradation of the Tamil lower caste and the antagonism between Brahmins and Sakya –Valluva (Parayar) Tamils; the emancipatory future for the original Tamils was sought to be projected as the modern rediscovery of the earlier Buddhist traditions through construction of Buddhist Temples, maintenance of Buddhist medical halls, Buddhist college, Buddhist young men association, celebration of Buddha’s birthday anniversaries and establishment of Buddhist charity fund to feed the poor. The pamphlet closed with an appeal to join these effort by singing the apprehend forms. The coming together of the initial group to implement project Tamil Buddhism was, thus, based on a common understanding of a collective-historical rationale and a social consensus in the modern sense of the term. However, not all the founding members of the society took ‘pancha silam’ and became Buddhist. The Sakya Buddhist society started its activities in 1898 with religious meetings on Sundays, semi-public lectures on socio-religious issues by learned men of all faiths and confessions and conversions to Buddhism that is, taking of pancha silam and enrolling as members, though in small numbers, yet continuously. Soon the Sakya Buddhists were recognized as an independent entity by other international Buddhist bodies and a flow of visitors, monks and lay people started and increased with passing years. Writing about those early years, Iyothee Thass says: “lectures are delivered every week in the hall of the society in addition to the occasional lectures delivered here and there in the city of Madras. Thus a great interest is aroused in the minds of people in the life and teaching of our Lord Buddha. And not a few have been the conversion to the faith of the master… Some 260 Buddhist visitors, bhikkus and lay men and women from Holland, china, Japan, Burma, Ceylon, Siam, Singapore, Chittagong, Benares, Calcutta, Bodh Gaya and other places have called and stayed here on different occasions”.
The followers of the Buddha were accused of godlessness, anti-religion customs and tradition, defiance of Vedas and Vedic authorities and, in general, of abetting anarchy and chaos in the society. But such opposition and obstacles, apparently were not new to the founding – father of the society, Iyothee Thass. His generally calm and courteous behaviour, particularly his gentle persuasive language, worthy of disciple of the compassionate polemics was to continue for long as part and parcel of the subaltern religious movement. Men from all walks of life and entire social spectrum began to gather around the erudite Pandit Iyothee Thass to hear him, expound his views supported with extensive and numerous reference to Tamil literature, history and religion.
Oru Paisa Tamilan
Iyothee Thass launched “Oru Paisa Tamizhan”, a weekly newsmagazine, from his Royapettah Office and printed it at the Buddhist Press of one Thiru Adimoolam. The journal’s statement of intent explains; “….some philosophers, natural literateurs got together and published this Oru Paisa Tamizhan in order to teach justice, right path, and truthfulness to people who could not discriminate between the excellent, mediocre and the bad”. However, Swapneswari Ammal, an early colleague of Iyothess Thass, publisher and editor of a magazine called Tamil Woman, put down the objective of the paper simply as ‘to explain and propagate Buddhism’. Of the two, it was probably the editor Iyothee Thass’s view that was more accurate. Oru Paisa Tamizhan was, also indeed, a Buddhist weekly as Swapneswari Ammal put it; it served as a newsletter linking all the new branches of the Sakya Buddhist Society. It instructed the neophytes in the tenets, traditions and practices of
Tamil Buddhism, gave information and reports of the new developments in the buddhist world, sought to interpret the subcontinent’s history, in general, and tamilakam’s in the particular, from the Buddhist point of view, etc. But it was note national-moral discourse against all forms of brahminism that had gained ascendancy under the colonial regime.
Oru Paisa Tamizhan came out week after week without fail for the rest of Pandit Iyothee Thass’s life, carrying a wealth of information on current events, interpretation of Tamil history, religion and literature and polemics, against the dominant and oppressive religio-cultural discourses of the time. The influence and significance of this modern vehicle of thought went far beyond the narrow confines of religious Buddhism. Along with the creation and nurture of a religiously united community cutting across caste barriers it undoubtedly sowed the early seeds of social revolution, cultural renaissance and political movement in colonial tamilakam as a whole.
The role of Iyothee Thass in wielding this double-edged sword was clearly primary and his initiative certainly bore the marks of charisma. Soon, the eidtor-publisher was able to gather around himself progressive elements from all over the Tamil land men and women no less erudite and committed to the emancipatory cause of the sub-alternised communities. Regular writers in the opening years of the journal included C.M.E.Murthy, Swapneswari Ammal, T.C.Nayarana Pillay, A.P.Periasswami Pulavar and others. The intellectual contribution of these combined with the material support by scores of others. Thamizhan was shortly transformed into a centre and an institution with a distinct religio-cultural ideology and strategy for social action.
Dravidian Upsurgence: Iyothee Thass and the Justice party
Iyothee Thass, a Dalit by birth and a Buddhist by conviction, was an outstanding figure in the socio-cultural awakening which preceded the spectacular rise of a non-brahman movement in Tamil land. An ideologue and a cultural crusader, Iyothee Thass’ novel ideas and activities broke new ground in the subaltern struggle for identity, human dignity and justice. Realizing the liberatory potential of Buddhist tradition and drawing o the Tamil-Buddhist connection in the past, Iyothee Thass was the first to interpret the history, religion and literature of the Tamils from the view point of a Buddhist presence in the region. His writings taken together with the work of some of his associates like Masilamani comprise a corpus which represents a Buddhist vision of the Indian past. Part history and part polemic, their writings anticipated, in many ways, the historiographical writing of Ambedkar.
Iyothee Thass who led this movement from the front also spearheaded a campaign for education among the untouchables. Along with his colleagues he set up several schools in lowered caste enclaves in urban centers. A Tamil scholar and Siddha medical practitioner, he ran a popular weekly, ‘Tamizhan’, for years. Besides, he published scores of pamphlets and tracts by him and his associates which were widely circulated among Tamils every where. The articles he wrote for Tamizhan give an idea of the astounding range of his concerns: caste hegemony, untouchability, indigenous medicine, agricultural rituals, folk deities, issues involved in a census and conversion, Buddhism and Jainism in the Tamil land. His writings are remarkably modern not only for their insight into the nature of society, but also for espousing the cause of social emancipation, Buddhism, rationalism and the new egalitarian Dravidian identity.
Iyothee Thass was among the earliest non-brahman, Adi Dravida intellectuals who presented a systematic and sharp critique of brahmanical power, the brahman’s role in the modern society and polity, and above all, the brahman’s espousal of a problematic nationalism. He drew attention to rampant civil injustices and various acts of social and ritual discrimination that ensured Brahman exclusivity. He cited several instances of prejudice and discrimination practiced by not only Brahman proponents of nationalism, but by the largely Brahman owned press and the Brahman publicists who mediated and engineered public opinion. It is remarkable that he located the power of the modern, secular Brahman in the control he excercised over the construction of public opinion. On many occasions, he pointed out the caste bias and rancour prevalent in the orientation and presentation of events or opinions in the brahman-dominated nationalist press.
Led by a host of civic leaders and social critics like Iyothee Thass, the southern people began a battle for the recovery of their past as well as establishment of their rights in the present. The intellectual ferment thus generated unleashed forces that led to the Madras Presidency consisting of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra and Malabar Kerala. The south Indian Liberal Federation, commonly known the Justice party was formedin1916, on an anti-congress, anti-brahmanical plank with the objective of radical redistribution of socio-political power. Thyagaraya Chetty and T.M. Nair played a pivotal role in the shudra movement by issuing in December 1916 the Non-Brahman Manifesto against the overwhelming preponderance of brahmans in the fields of education, public service, and politics.
Leading Justicites hammered home the point that the brahmans had usurped all real power, while the toiling masses, cultivators and others who constitute 97 per cent of the population had not even a semblance of power in their hands. Demanding democratic representation fro non-brahman castes in the fields of education, administration and legalization, Justice leaders lashed out at the brahman-dominated Congress nationalism, and claimed that the non-brahman movement cherished very different ideas about Indian nation-building and national representation.
Presenting the Justice road-map, leaders like Thyagaraya Chetty and Nair exuded confidence that the non-brahmans could attain a unity and wholeness, both in their resistance to the Brahman power and through assertion and practice of an alternative culture and community with their own values and conventions.
In 1920, the Justice party won a remarkable victory in the elections to run a diarchic government in the Madras Presidency. On assuming office, it passed a Government Order on 16th September 1921 directing an increase in the proportion of posts in government offices held by non-brahmans. During its tenure the Justice party also brought in progressive legislation pertaining to intermarriage, franchise for the common man, abolition of devadasi system, throwing open temples to depressed classes, regulating temple administration and bringing it under the control of the state, and educational facilities and reduction of fees for weaker sections. Above all, it did a splendid job in promoting primary education, women’s education and a more viable technical, industrial and agricultural education.
Conclusion
The thoughts of Iyothee Thass orbit around sole trait, reinterpretation. That means, reinterpreting the history, religion, literature, tradition, etc. In this context, his illustriousness in literature, linguistics, and history supports him in the construction of a grand discourse called Tamil Buddhism. His expertise in languages like Pali and Sanskrit other than Tamil dispenses radically interesting vestiges for this project.
Therefore the disgusting socio-cultural reality of dalits in present day Tamilnadu is not because of their origin as perplexed by Brahminic traditions, but through the political annoyance as well as the cowardliness of Brahmins, the dalits were inscribed as untouchables. Iyothee Thass spent most pages in his writings for arousing the consciousness of being transgressed. Similarly he desired to cognize the dalits about their Buddhist antecedents. Once the historical fallacy is reasoned out by the ‘ancient Buddhists’, he visualized the reinvention of tradition that affects the rescue from the castiest context. Despite Iyothee Thass accomplished as a multifarious personality till his unanticipated demise on May 5th 1914, mysteriously the modern historians forgot him.
Source- Krantijyoti (Written By Mr. Ashish Jiwane)
Ilaiah Shepherd
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kancha Ilaiah
Kancha Ilaiah
Born 5 October 1952 (age 66)
Papaiahpet, Warangal, Hyderabad State, India
(now in Telangana, India)
Education
Osmania University (M.A. Political Science)
Osmania University (M.Phil Political Science)
Occupation Director, Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy (CSSEIP) at Maulana Azad National Urdu University,
Hyderabad
Known for Writer and speaker on Indian political thought; Dalit activism
Honours Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Award Nehru Fellow 1994-97
Manyawar Kanshiram Smriti Mahanayak Puraskar
Kancha Ilaiah, who now refers to himself symbolically as Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd, (born 5 October 1952) is an Indian political theorist, writer and activist for Dalit rights. He writes in both English and Telugu.
Early life
Kancha Ilaiah was born in the village of Papaiahpet, Warangal district in erstwhile Hyderabad State. His family belonged to the sheep-grazing Kuruma Golla caste, a community designated by the Government of India as an Other Backward Class group. Ilaiah credited his mother, Kancha Kattamma, as pivotal in shaping his political thought. According to Ilaiah, she was at the forefront of the Kurumas' struggle against the forest guards' discriminatory behaviour. Kancha Kattamma was killed during a violent confrontation while protesting against police brutality.
A Dalit activist, Ilaiah is often identified as being a Dalit himself in news reports, although he was in fact born into an Other Backward Class community.
Professional life
Ilaiah received an M.A. degree in political science and an M.Phil., awarded for his study of land reform in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. He has been a recipient of the Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Award and was a Nehru Fellow between 1994-97.
Ilaiah earned a Ph.D on the basis of his work exploring the political dimension of Buddhism, culminating in God as Political Philosopher - Buddha Challenge to Brahminism.
Ilaiah has encouraged proficiency in the English language for Dalits, arguing that it would allow Dalits in India to intellectually engage the world outside India without non-Dalits speaking "for them". In May 2016, in protest against "Brahmanic hegemony" he claims continues to persist in India, Ilaiah appended "Shepherd" to his name. Ilaiah identified in this choice recognition and reaffirmation of his family origins. As an English-language proper noun rather than its equivalent in an Indian language, "Shepherd" is meant to demonstrate a symbolic break with the cultural norms Ilaiah believed "Brahmins" sought to "impose" on Indian society. Ilaiah characterises his name change as a tool for the upliftment of Dalits.
Currently, Ilaiah is serving as director of the Centre for Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy at Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) in Hyderabad.
Criticism
While working as an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at Osmania University, several of Ilaiah's colleagues as well as academics affiliated with the university expressed, in an open-letter, their concern with respect to certain articles and opinions Ilaiah had contributed to a local newspaper and advised him against writing material that could inflame sectarian discontent or prejudice.
In February 2013, at the Jaipur Literary Festival, Ilaiah and Javed Akhtar engaged in a heated discussion over the implications of religion in Indian social life.
Ilaiah has also been criticised for believing in the Aryan invasion theory. In November 2015, Ilaiah stated that if Vallabhbhai Patel, the first Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of India credited with forging national unity amidst the intense violence and bloodletting that followed the creation of Pakistan, had been Prime Minister of India, India "would have become Pakistan".
In April 2016, Ilaiah gave a controversial remark that vegetarianism is anti-nationalism. On 18 September 2017, T. G. Venkatesh, a member of Indian Parliament representing the Telugu Desam Party and a prominent leader of Arya Vysya said at a press conference that Ilaiah was a traitor and should be hanged.
Irom Chanu Sharmila
From Wikipedia
Irom Chanu Sharmila (Iron Lady)
Irom Sharmila at a reception given by Solidarity Youth Movement to her in Kozhikode
Born 14 March 1972
Nationality Indian
Occupation Civil rights activist, political activist, poet
Known for Hunger strike against Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act
Spouse(s) Desmond Anthony Bellarnine Coutinho
Children Nix Shakhi and Autumn Tara
Parent(s) Irom c Nanda (father)
Irom Ongbi Sakhi (mother)
Irom Chanu Sharmila (born 14 March 1972), also known as the "Iron Lady of Manipur" or "Mengoubi" ("the fair one") is an Indian civil rights activist, political activist, and poet from the Indian state of Manipur, which is located on the north-eastern side of India. On 5 November 2000, she began a hunger strike in favour of abolishing the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 that applies to the seven states and grants Indian armed forces the power to search properties without a warrant, and to arrest people, and to use deadly force if there is "reasonable suspicion" that a person is acting against the state. She ended the fast on 9 August 2016, after 16 long years of fasting. Having refused food and water for more than 500 weeks (she was nasally force fed in jail), she has been called "the world's longest hunger striker". On International Women's Day, 2014 she was voted the top woman icon of India by MSN Poll.
In 2014 two parties asked her to stand in the national election, but she declined. She was then denied the right to vote as a person confined in jail cannot vote according to law. On 19 August 2014 a court ordered her release from custody, subject to there being no other grounds for detention. She was re-arrested on 22 August 2014 on similar charges to those for which she was acquitted, and remanded in judicial custody for 15 days Amnesty International has declared her as a prisoner of conscience.
Background
Sharmila grew up and lives in Manipur, one of the Seven Sister States in India's northeast, which has suffered from an insurgency for decades; from 2005 to 2015 about 5,500 people died from political violence. In 1958, the Indian government passed a law, the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 that applies to just the seven states and grants security forces the power to search properties without a warrant, and to arrest people, and to use deadly force if there is "reasonable suspicion" that a person is acting against the state; a similar Act applies to Jammu and Kashmir.
She was already involved in local peace movements with regard to human rights abuses in Manipur when, on 2 November 2000, in Malom, a town in the Imphal Valley of Manipur, ten civilians were shot and killed while waiting at a bus stop. The incident, known as the "Malom Massacre", was allegedly committed by the Assam Rifles, one of the Indian Paramilitary forces operating in the state. The victims included Leisangbam Ibetombi, a 62-year-old woman, and 18-year-old Sinam Chandramani, a 1998 National Bravery Award winner.
The fast and responses
Sharmila, who was 28 at the time of Malom Massacre, began to fast in protest. Her primary demand to the Indian government has been the repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA). She began her fast in Malom on 5 November, and vowed not to eat, drink, comb her hair or look in a mirror until AFSPA was repealed.
Three days after she began her strike, she was arrested by the police and charged with an "attempt to commit suicide", which was unlawful under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at that time, and was later transferred to judicial custody. Her health deteriorated rapidly, and nasogastric intubation was forced on her from 21 November in order to keep her alive while under arrest.
Sharmila has been regularly released and re-arrested every year since her hunger strike began.
By 2004, Sharmila had become an "icon of public resistance." Following her procedural release on 2 October 2006 Sharmila went to Raj Ghat, New Delhi, which she said was "to pay floral tribute to my ideal, Mahatma Gandhi." Later that evening, Sharmila headed for Jantar Mantar for a protest demonstration where she was joined by students, human rights activists and other concerned citizens. On 6 October, she was re-arrested by the Delhi police for attempting suicide and was taken to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, where she wrote letters to the Prime Minister, the President, and the Home Minister. At this time, she met and won the support of Nobel-laureate Shirin Ebadi, the Nobel Laureate and human rights activist, who promised to take up Sharmila's cause at the United Nations Human Rights Council.
In 2011, she invited anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare to visit Manipur, and Hazare sent two representatives to meet with her.
In September 2011, Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) (CPI ML) openly stated its support for her and for repeal of AFSPA, calling for nationwide agitation.
Following that in October 2011, the Manipur Pradesh All India Trinamool Congress announced their support for Sharmila and called on party chief Mamata Banerjee to help repeal the AFSPA. Then in November, at the end of the eleventh year of her fast, Sharmila again called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to repeal the law. On 3 November 100 women formed a human chain in Ambari to show support for Sharmila, while other civil society groups staged a 24-hour fast in a show of solidarity.
In 2011 the Save Sharmila Solidarity Campaign (SSSC) was launched to highlight Sharmila's struggle and in December 2011, Pune University announced a scholarship program for 39 female Manipuri students to take degree courses in honour of Irom Sharmila Chanu's 39 years of age.
She only met her mother once during the fast, as she believed that seeing her mother's anguish might have broken her resolve. She said "The day AFSPA is repealed I will eat rice from my mother's hand."
On 28 March 2016, she was released from judicial custody as charges against her were rejected by a local court in Imphal. Sharmila kept her vow of neither entering her house nor meeting her mother till the government repeals AFSPA and went to continue her fast at Shahid Minar, Imphal on the same day of her release. She was again arrested by the police under the same charge of attempt to commit suicide by means of indefinite fast.
End of the fast
On 26 July 2016, Irom Sharmila, who had been on a hunger strike since 2000, announced that she would end her fast on 9 August 2017. She also announced that she would contest the next state elections in Manipur.
The objective of her fast and entering politics is to fight for the removal of AFSPA as she has asserted "I will join politics and my fight will continue."
International attention
Sharmila was awarded the 2007 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights, which is given to "an outstanding person or group, active in the promotion and advocacy of Peace, Democracy and Human Rights". She shared the award with Lenin Raghuvanshi of People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights, a northeastern Indian human rights organisation.
In 2009, she was awarded the first Mayillama Award of the Mayilamma Foundation "for achievement of her nonviolent struggle in Manipur".
In 2010, she won a lifetime achievement award from the Asian Human Rights Commission. Later that year, she won the Rabindranath Tagore Peace Prize of the Indian Institute of Planning and Management, which came with a cash award of 5,100,000 rupees, and the Sarva Gunah Sampannah "Award for Peace and Harmony" from the Signature Training Centre.
In 2013, Amnesty International declared her a Prisoner of conscience, and said she "is being held solely for a peaceful expression of her beliefs." The influence made by Irom Sharmila is often considered as powerful as the influences by personalities in the past and present.
Subsequent work
In October 2016, she launched a political party named Peoples' Resurgence and Justice Alliance to contest two Assembly constituencies of Khurai and Khangabok. Khangabok is the home constituency of Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh. In the 2017 Manipur Legislative Assembly election, the winner in Thoubal, Ibobi Singh, received 18,649 and Sharmilla received 90 votes; the fewest of the five candidates.
In 2019, after the death of Gauri Lankesh, Sharmila criticized the NDA government, accusing it of disregarding people's sentiments when making policy decisions. In an interview with The Economic Times, she mentioned that she was no more interested in politics as she already experienced electoral politics and the dirtiness involved in the process.
In popular culture
Deepti Priya Mehrotra's Burning Bright: Irom Sharmila and the Struggle for Peace in Manipur details Sharmila's life and the political background of her fast. IronIrom: Two Journeys : Where the Abnormal is Normal (2012, with Minnie Vaid and Tayenjam Bijoykumar Singh)
Ojas S V, a theater artist from Pune, performed a mono-play titled Le Mashale ("Take the Torch"), based on Irom Sharmila's life and struggle. It is an adaptation of Meira Paibi (Women bearing torches), a drama written by Malayalam playwright Civic Chandran. The play was performed at several venues in several Indian states.
Personal life
On Thursday 17 August 2017, Irom Sharmila Chanu married her British partner Desmond Anthony Bellarnine Coutinho in Kodaikanal, a hill station in Tamil Nadu. On Sunday 12 May 2019, at the age of 47, she gave birth to twin daughters in Bengaluru, Karnataka, named Nix Shakhi and Autumn Tara.
Jetti Eshwari Bai
Born: 1 December 1918, Secunderabad, Hyderabad State (now Telangana) Died: 1991, Hyderabad Caste/Community: Mala (Scheduled Caste / Dalit) Known as: “Eshwari Amma” or “Dalit Maata” among the oppressed communities of Andhra & Telangana
Childhood in Untouchability
Eshwari Bai was born into a very poor Mala family in the Dalit basti of Secunderabad. Her father worked as a railway porter; her mother rolled beedis. As a Mala girl, she was not allowed to enter the village school building — she had to sit outside on the veranda with other Dalit children. When upper-caste teachers threw chalk at her for daring to ask questions, she decided education would be her weapon against caste.
At age 12 she ran away from home, determined to study. She survived by doing domestic work in Christian missionary hostels, completed Class 7 (a rare achievement for a Dalit girl in the 1930s), and later trained as a midwife/nurse.
Political Awakening and Ambedkar’s Influence
In the 1940s she heard Dr. B.R. Ambedkar speak in Hyderabad. She later said: “That day I understood why we were kept outside the school, outside the temple, outside life itself. Babasaheb gave us the courage to walk in.”
She became one of the earliest women organizers of the Scheduled Castes Federation (later Republican Party of India) in the Telugu region.
Life’s Work – Six Decades of Struggle
| Period | Major Contributions |
|---|---|
| 1940s–1950s | Founded night schools for Dalit children in Hyderabad slums; taught hundreds of girls to read and write. Started “Mahila Mandals” (women’s groups) in Mala-Madiga bastis. |
| 1950s | Led massive protests against untouchability in villages of Warangal, Karimnagar, and Nalgonda. Organised inter-caste dining and temple-entry movements. Faced violent attacks but never retreated. |
| 1956–1960 | Elected Hyderabad Municipal Corporator (one of the first Dalit women corporators in India). Used the position to get water taps and street lights in Dalit colonies. |
| 1967–1972 | Elected MLA from Secunderabad constituency on Republican Party of India ticket — the first Dalit woman MLA from undivided Andhra Pradesh. Raised issues of land for landless Dalits, hostel facilities, and atrocities in the Assembly. |
| 1970s–1980s | Became state president of RPI (Ambedkarite faction). Travelled across villages on foot and bullock cart, mobilising Dalit women. Founded the Andhra Pradesh Dalit Mahila Federation. Campaigned against devadasi system and manual scavenging.
|
- Style of Activism
- Fearless orator in Telugu — could silence upper-caste landlords with sharp logic and Ambedkarite arguments.
- Always wore simple white khadi saree with blue border (Ambedkar’s colours).
- Refused VIP treatment; travelled third-class by train even as an MLA.
- Kept a small statue of Buddha and Ambedkar in her tiny one-room home in Musheerabad, Hyderabad.
Famous Statements
- “If they beat us for drinking water from the village well, we will drink the entire well dry with our protest.”
- “A Dalit woman who learns to read has already broken a thousand chains.”
Personal Life
Married Jetti Ailaiah (also a Mala activist and railway worker). They had four sons and three daughters. All children were educated because Eshwari Bai believed “my community’s freedom begins in my home”. She lived in extreme simplicity till the end — her only possessions were a few sarees, Ambedkar’s books, and photographs of Buddha and Babasaheb.
Death & Legacy
Eshwari Bai passed away in 1991 after a brief illness. Thousands of Dalit women from Telangana and Andhra villages walked barefoot to her funeral in Hyderabad.
Even today (2025):
- Several girls’ hostels and schools in Telangana are named “Eshwari Bai Vidyalaya”.
- 1 December (her birth anniversary) is celebrated as “Dalit Mahila Dinotsavam” by Ambedkarite organisations.
- Young Dalit women activists call her “the mother who taught us to stand tall”.
Caste summary: Proudly Mala (Scheduled Caste / Dalit) — she never hid it, never apologised for it, and turned it into the fuel of a lifetime of revolutionary service.
John Dayal
Early Life & Education
- Born on 2 October 1948 in New Delhi, India, to Christian parents from South India (likely Kerala or Tamil Nadu origins, typical of many urban Indian Christian families).
- Studied Physics at the prestigious St. Stephen's College, Delhi University.
- Shifted to journalism after college; took a course at the Dateline School of Journalism in Connaught Place, New Delhi (run by Sam Castelino) in 1969, describing it as something that "fell into his lap" after other pursuits didn't work out.
Journalism Career
- Began as a reporter and rose to senior roles, including war correspondent covering conflicts in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, and Europe.
- Served as editor for various publications and was treasurer of the Editors' Guild of India.
- Covered major events like communal riots (Hindu-Muslim, anti-Sikh violence), the Emergency (1975–77), and anti-minority incidents.
- Left full-time journalism around 2000 to focus on human rights activism, but continues writing columns (e.g., for UCA News) on issues like communalism, budgets favoring corporations over marginalized groups, and threats to minorities.
Activism & Key Roles
- Long-time champion against communal polarization, bigotry, and hatred between religious communities.
- Co-founder and Secretary-General of the All India Christian Council (AICC, founded 1999) — an interdenominational body advocating for Christian rights.
- Past National President of the All India Catholic Union (AICU), the largest lay Catholic organization in India.
- Member of India's National Integration Council (NIC).
- Key figure in documenting and campaigning against anti-Christian violence since the mid-1980s (with Fr. John Vallamattom, among the earliest to highlight persecution).
- Advocated internationally and domestically for:
- Freedom of religion/belief.
- Ending anti-conversion laws.
- Extending Scheduled Caste (SC) benefits to Dalit Christians (arguing the 1950 Presidential Order discriminates on religious grounds).
- Justice in cases like Kandhamal riots (2008), attacks on churches, nuns, pastors, and forced conversions allegations.
- Testified before bodies like the US Commission on International Religious Freedom and spoke at global forums on minority rights in India.
Books & Writings
Authored, co-authored, or contributed to several influential works on human rights, communal violence, and secularism:
- For Reasons of State: Delhi Under the Emergency (1977; republished by Penguin in 2018).
- Gujarat 2002 – Told and Untold Stories (2002).
- A Matter of Equity: Freedom of Faith in Secular India (2007).
- Reconciliations: A Journey Through Wounded India (2018, with Harsh Mander and Natasha Badhwar).
- Regular articles and reports on hate campaigns, violence against minorities, and policy critiques.
Awards & Recognitions
- Louis Careno Award for Excellence in Journalism (2022) by the Indian Catholic Press Association (ICPA) — for bold writing against communalism and fundamentalism.
- Quaide Milleth Award for Probity in Political and Public Life (2024).
- Maanav Adhikaar Paaritaushik (Human Dignity Award) (2008) in memory of Prof. M. Chennaiah.
- Other honors for promoting religious freedom, civil liberties, and human rights (e.g., recognized in 2025 alongside others for advocacy).
Personal Life
- Married, with a son and a daughter.
- Based in New Delhi.
- Maintains an active online presence (website: johndayal.com) and continues writing/speaking on current issues, including recent critiques of policies affecting marginalized communities.
Controversies & Criticisms
John Dayal is a polarizing figure. Supporters view him as a courageous defender of minorities and secular values. Critics (often from right-wing or Hindu nationalist perspectives) accuse him of:
- Exaggerating or misrepresenting attacks on Christians.
- Spreading anti-Hindu narratives internationally.
- Associating with foreign-funded advocacy or influencing policies like the Communal Violence Bill.
- Some sources (e.g., Rajiv Malhotra's Breaking India) claim he paints a biased picture for Western audiences.
Despite controversies, his work has made him a household name in India's Christian community and a key documenter of religious freedom challenges.
Sources: Wikipedia, UCA News, Indian Currents, Matters India, Countercurrents.org, RVA, FoRB in Full interviews, and biographical profiles (as of 2025–2026 updates).
Jyotirao Govindrao Phule
Full Name: Jyotirao Govindrao Phule (popularly known as Mahatma Jyotiba Phule) Born: 11 April 1827, Katgun, Pune, Maharashtra (British India) Died: 28 November 1890, Pune (aged 63) Caste/Community: Mali (gardener-florist community, classified as Shudra, not untouchable but considered low in the varna system) Parents: Govindrao (flower seller) and Chimnabai Wife: Savitribai Phule (India’s first female teacher and co-reformer) Key Identity: Social reformer, anti-caste revolutionary, thinker, writer, activist, founder of the modern Dalit-Bahujan movement
Jyotiba Phule is regarded as one of the most radical and pioneering social revolutionaries in 19th-century India. He is widely considered the father of Indian social justice and anti-caste ideology.
Major Contributions and Achievements
- Pioneer of Women’s Education in India
- 1848: Opened the first school for girls in India at Bhide Wada, Pune (Savitribai Phule became the first woman teacher).
- Established schools specifically for Shudra and Ati-Shudra (Dalit) girls.
- Started schools for widows and children of prostitutes.
- Founded a total of 18 schools during his lifetime.
- Fierce Opponent of the Caste System and Brahmanism
- Most famous book: Gulamgiri (Slavery, 1873) – Dedicated to American abolitionists; compared the Indian caste system to slavery and called the Shudra-Atishudra condition worse than African slavery.
- Other major works:
- Shetkaryacha Asud (Cultivator’s Whipcord, 1883)
- Sarvajanik Satyadharma (Public True Religion, published posthumously in 1891)
- Khandalyache Shiv (poetic drama criticizing Brahmanical myths)
- Founder of Satyashodhak Samaj (1873)
- Established the Society for Seeking Truth on 24 September 1873 in Pune.
- Aim: To liberate Shudras and Ati-Shudras from Brahmanical religious domination.
- Performed marriages and funerals without Brahmin priests, rejected Vedic authority, promoted monotheism (one formless God).
- Introduced “Satyashodhak marriage” (simple, priest-less, dowry-less weddings).
- Work for Untouchables (Dalits)
- 1850s: Opened the first public well for untouchables in Pune.
- Kept water tanks open in his own house for untouchables.
- 1863: Opened Balhatya Pratibandhak Griha (Infanticide Prevention Home) to save children of raped Brahmin widows and protect unwanted babies.
- Adopted and raised a Brahmin widow’s child born out of rape (named him Yashwant; he later became a doctor).
- Peasant and Labour Rights
- Wrote extensively against exploitation of farmers by upper-caste moneylenders and officials.
- Demanded that British government stop seizing farmers’ land for unpaid revenue.
- Advocated reforms in the Ryotwari system.
Core Ideology and Beliefs
- Considered Aryan Brahmins as foreign invaders who subjugated indigenous people.
- Regarded King Bali (defeated by Vamana avatar) as the real king of the original inhabitants (Shudras).
- Promoted worship of one formless God (Nirguna-Nirakar); rejected idol worship, rituals, and Puranic stories.
- Believed all humans are equal; caste is not by birth but by actions.
- 14 years before Karl Marx published the Communist Manifesto, Phule was already talking about class struggle in the Indian context.
Famous Quotes (translated)
- “Lack of education leads to lack of wisdom, which leads to lack of morals, which leads to lack of progress, which leads to lack of money, which leads to the oppression of the lower castes. See what lack of education has done.”
- “Destroy the caste system to save the nation.”
Legacy and Recognition
- Dr. B.R. Ambedkar called him one of his three gurus (the others being Buddha and Kabir).
- The entire Dalit-Bahujan movement in Maharashtra and India traces its roots to Phule.
- Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party’s social justice wing, Satyashodhak movements – all draw direct inspiration from him.
- Government of India issued a commemorative postage stamp in 1990.
- Pune University was renamed Savitribai Phule Pune University in 2015.
- In Maharashtra, he and Savitribai are jointly honored as Mahatma Phule and Krantijyoti Savitribai.
Jyotiba Phule was the first Indian reformer who did not work top-down (like Raja Ram Mohan Roy or Dayananda) but bottom-up – he empowered the most oppressed sections first. Centuries before “woke” culture or modern intersectionality, he fought simultaneously for caste abolition, women’s rights, farmers’ rights, and rational religion.
Today, he is revered across India (especially Maharashtra) as Mahatma Jyotiba Phule – the great revolutionary who laid the foundation for social justice, equality, and dignity for the oppressed masses.
Janaki Devi
Janaki Devi, a prominent woman worker of Majgaon (Mauthan), Tezpur, was arrested in 1921 and imprisoned. Two other active workers of the Non-Co-operation Movement were Jagati Devi and Asraddha Devi of Lakhrai, Tezpur.
Gunda Dhur
AdithyanSalee
During 1910, Gunda Dhur was a tribal leader of village Netanar, of Bastar district, in Chattisgarh. He played a major role on the rebellion of the Dhurwas of Kanger forest in Bastar on 2 February 1910. He was joining by his companion called Murat Singh Bakshi, Balaprasad Nazir and Kalandri.
More than 50 tribal people fought against the colonial power in Bastar and made every possible effort to drive the power away from Bastar.
The 1910 Rebellion and Gunda Dhur’s role:
The British colonial government proposed to reserve two-thirds of the Kanger Forest as a reserved forest in 1910. This new proposal was opposed by a number of tribal in the area as they could be affected due to the proposal.
Gunda Dhur played a major role in organizing tribes in Bastar district against the British. Red chili, Soil, Bows & arrows, mango-twigs became the symbol of spreading massage among the tribal like Chapatis and lotus for the revolution in 1857.
As per the decision they had taken each family contributed to the rebellion. The rebels led by Gunda Dhur robbed, looted and burnt British granaries and redistributed grains to the poor. Apart from that, they fought against injustice being done to the tribal by local zamindaar and leaders as well.
The British’s stand on Gunda Dhur.
British power was in great trouble as long as Gunda Dhur along with the tribal troop was opposing. As per the historical records, the British Troops had to take shelter in local caves here.
Later, tribal power began to diminish. The Adivasi leader Gunda Dhur tried to negotiate but the British fired their camps and villages. Although the British succeeded, they never managed to capture Gunda Dhur. But the partial victory of Gunda Dhur was that the British reduced the reservation of forests to roughly half of what was proposed before.
Aftermath:
Now the things that brought about changes after the protest.
The British had to change their plan to reserve the forest made it almost half of what it proposed.
Even today, tribal people living across the Kanger Forest region praise the heroic acts of Gunda Dhur in various folk songs, stories etc.
Many educational institutes are named after Guda Dhur.
Jogendra Nath Mondal
Jogendra Nath Mandal (29 January 1904 – 5 October 1968) was a pioneering Indian and later Pakistani politician and activist from Bengal, renowned for his tireless advocacy for the rights of Scheduled Castes, particularly the Namasudra community. As a Dalit leader, he fought against caste oppression and played a significant role in pre- and post-Partition politics, aligning with Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and briefly with the Muslim League. His life reflects the complexities of caste, religion, and nationalism in colonial and post-colonial South Asia.
Early Life and Caste Background
- Birth and Community: Born in a small village in Barisal, Bengal (now in Bangladesh), Mandal belonged to the Namasudra caste, a Scheduled Caste group historically marginalized as "untouchables." The Namasudras were primarily fishermen and peasants who faced severe social and economic discrimination under the Hindu caste system.
- Education: Despite caste barriers, Mandal pursued education, earning a B.A. from B.M. College in Barisal and a law degree. His academic journey was a testament to his determination to overcome systemic exclusion.
Activism and Political Career
Mandal's activism centered on uplifting Dalits, challenging upper-caste dominance, and securing political representation for marginalized communities. His career can be divided into key phases:
1. Early Activism and Leadership in Bengal
- Namasudra Advocacy: Mandal emerged as a voice for the Namasudra community, organizing them to demand social equality, education, and economic opportunities. He criticized the Congress party's upper-caste leadership for neglecting Dalit interests.
- Alignment with Ambedkar: Inspired by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Mandal joined the All India Scheduled Castes Federation (SCF), founded by Ambedkar to fight for Dalit rights. He became a key ally, amplifying Ambedkar’s call for separate electorates and political empowerment for Scheduled Castes.
- Bengal Legislative Assembly: Mandal entered politics in the 1930s, winning a seat in the Bengal Legislative Assembly in 1937 under the reserved quota for Scheduled Castes. He used this platform to advocate for land reforms, education, and anti-caste policies.
2. Alliance with the Muslim League
- Strategic Partnership: In the 1940s, Mandal aligned with the Muslim League, believing that Muslims and Dalits shared a common struggle against upper-caste Hindu oppression. He saw the League’s demand for Pakistan as a potential escape from Hindu caste hierarchies.
- Role in Partition: Mandal supported the Muslim League in the 1946 elections, helping them secure a strong mandate in Bengal. His decision was controversial, as it diverged from Ambedkar’s eventual opposition to aligning with the League.
3. Role in Pakistan (1947–1950)
- First Law and Labour Minister: After the Partition of India in 1947, Mandal opted to join Pakistan, believing it offered better prospects for Dalits. He was appointed Pakistan’s first Minister of Law and Labour in Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s cabinet, a historic role for a Dalit leader.
- Disillusionment: Mandal soon faced anti-Dalit discrimination and communal violence against Hindus in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Disenchanted with the Muslim League’s failure to protect minorities, he resigned in October 1950, citing systemic marginalization of Dalits and Hindus.
4. Return to India
- Life in West Bengal: After resigning, Mandal returned to India, settling in West Bengal. However, he faced political isolation, as both Congress and Hindu nationalist groups viewed him with suspicion due to his earlier Muslim League association.
- Later Activism: He continued advocating for Dalit rights but struggled to regain his earlier prominence. His later years were marked by financial hardship and marginalization in mainstream politics.
Key Contributions
- Dalit Empowerment: Mandal was instrumental in mobilizing the Namasudra community, giving them a political voice in Bengal. His work laid the groundwork for Dalit movements in the region.
- Ambedkarite Legacy: As a follower of Ambedkar, he championed the cause of Scheduled Castes, emphasizing education, self-respect, and political representation.
- Partition Politics: His brief alignment with the Muslim League highlighted the complex interplay of caste and religion in the Partition era, reflecting the dilemmas faced by Dalit leaders.
Controversies
- Muslim League Alliance: Mandal’s decision to support the Muslim League and join Pakistan drew criticism from some Dalit leaders and Ambedkar himself, who later distanced himself from such alliances.
- Post-Partition Marginalization: His return to India was met with distrust, limiting his political influence in the post-independence era.
Death and Legacy
- Death: Mandal passed away on 5 October 1968 in Bongaon, West Bengal. His death anniversary is occasionally commemorated by Ambedkarite and Dalit organizations, though no major events are recorded for October 5, 2025, based on available data.
- Legacy: Mandal remains a polarizing yet significant figure in Dalit history. His life underscores the challenges of navigating caste, religion, and nationalism. Organizations like the Ambedkar International Center and Namasudra groups in Bengal continue to draw inspiration from his work.
Connection to October 5
As noted, Mandal’s death on October 5, 1968, marks a key event tied to this date. While no major public commemorations are documented for October 5, 2025, local Ambedkarite groups or Namasudra community organizations may hold small tributes, such as memorial lectures or discussions, especially in West Bengal or Bangladesh.
Jyoti Jagtap
of Kabir Kala Manch arrested in Pune
Her arrest came a day after the NIA took into its custody two other activists from the group – Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor.
Staff
A file photo of activist Jyoti Jagtap. | Kabir Kala Manch via Twitter.
A file photo of activist Jyoti Jagtap. | Kabir Kala Manch via Twitter.The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad on Tuesday arrested activist Jyoti Jagtap in Pune in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case, confirmed a group that organised the Elgar Parishad event in 2017. The group said that she will be transferred to the custody of the National Investigation Agency.
Jagtap is also a member of the Bhima Koregaon Shaurya Din Prerna Abhiyaan group. Her arrest came a day after the NIA took into its custody two other activists from the group – Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor. The total number of arrests in the case has now gone up to 15.
“Pune ATS has arrested Jyoti Jagtap (member of Bhima Koregaon Shaurya Din Prerna Abhiyaan and Kabir Kala Manch),” the group said in a statement. “From there onwards, she will be handed over to the NIA for custody.”
Jagtap, Gorkhe and Gaichor are among the six members of the group against whom a Pune-based realtor had filed a first information report in 2018. The complainant had accused them of delivering provocative speeches at the event.
In July, the NIA had summoned Gorkhe, Gaichor and several other people for questioning in the case. The agency had also arrested Delhi University Professor Hany Babu at that time.
In a video recorded before their arrest on Monday, Gorkhe and Gaichor had alleged that the NIA was forcing them to give statements to implicate those arrested in the case. They also alleged that they were threatened with arrest if they did not agree to be witnesses in the case.
Gorkhe and Gaichor were among the 23 persons booked in the Elgar Parishad case by the Pune City Police under the anti-terrorism law, the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. They have been accused of participating in a Maoist conspiracy to overthrow the government and assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The NIA took over the investigation in the case earlier this year.
On Monday, the NIA summoned Dalit scholar and activist Satyanarayana, journalist KV Kurmanath and Partho Sarothi Ray, who is associate professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research in Kolkata, for questioning.
The case
Jyoti Jagtap
Background and Personal Life
- Born: Around 1987 (approximately 38–39 years old as of 2026; described as the youngest accused in related cases at the time of her 2020 arrest).
- Community: She belongs to the Dalit community (Scheduled Caste/SC in India's reservation system), from a working-class, low-income background in Pune, Maharashtra. KKM was formed by youth from Dalit and Bahujan (oppressed caste) communities.
- Education and Early Life: As an undergraduate student, she was inspired to join KKM after watching one of their performances at a cultural event. She joined in 2007 at around age 20.
- Personal Connections: She is married to fellow KKM member Ramesh Gaichor (a poet, singer, and activist). Many KKM members, including her, balanced activism with part-time jobs (e.g., in non-profits educating disadvantaged communities on rights and entitlements) or other work to sustain themselves.
- Family/Upbringing: Raised in an economically backward urban neighborhood (basti), she grew up witnessing social inequalities, which fueled her shift from initial liberal-secular themes to a more materialist, class-caste-grounded critique.
Role in Kabir Kala Manch (KKM)
- KKM, formed shortly after the 2002 Gujarat riots/pogrom, started as a response to communal violence and evolved into a grassroots cultural movement using Marathi/Hindi songs, poetry, duff (traditional drum) rhythms, and street theatre to educate and mobilize laboring people.
- Jyoti has been a core member since 2007, contributing as a singer and performer. She described KKM as an evolving "process" that began with promoting religious plurality but deepened into documenting struggles against caste, gender, and class violence.
- The group's performances often address Dalit atrocities, farmer suicides, privatization, surveillance, and majoritarian politics, performed in streets, slums, and with trade unions/student bodies.
Arrests, Incarceration, and Legal Battles
- Early Persecution (2011–2013): KKM faced UAPA crackdowns in 2011 for alleged Maoist links due to radical content. While some members were jailed earlier, Jyoti joined later but was part of the group's ongoing resistance.
- 2020 Arrest (Bhima Koregaon/Elgar Parishad Case): On September 8, 2020 (during COVID-19 lockdown), the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested her, along with KKM members Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor. She was implicated in the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case (BK-16), accused of singing/raising "provocative slogans" at the December 31, 2017, Elgar Parishad event in Pune (a Dalit-organized conclave commemorating the 1818 Bhima Koregaon battle as a symbol against caste oppression). Authorities alleged KKM acted as a front for the banned CPI (Maoist), inciting caste violence and conspiracy.
- Detention: Held in Byculla Women's Prison, Mumbai, for over five years and six months (nearly 1,970+ days) as an undertrial without trial commencement. She faced challenges like contracting COVID-19 in prison and restrictions on books/visits. Courts allowed limited books (e.g., 5 per month in 2022).
- Bail History: Bombay High Court rejected bail in 2022, citing her active KKM role and provocative performances. Supreme Court granted interim bail on November 19, 2025 (Bench: Justices M.M. Sundresh and Satish Chandra Sharma), citing prolonged custody and parity with other accused. Her interim bail continues until the next hearing in February 2026. (Note: As of early 2026, she is out on interim bail; other KKM members like Ramesh Gaichor and Sagar Gorkhe received bail in January 2026.)
- International attention: Listed as a religious freedom prisoner by USCIRF (US Commission on International Religious Freedom) for defending marginalized communities; concerns raised by human rights groups about UAPA misuse to suppress dissent.
Overall Impact and Legacy
Jyoti Jagtap embodies the power of cultural resistance in anti-caste and social justice movements. Her singing and activism challenge dominant narratives, amplifying Dalit/Bahujan voices amid state repression. Featured in documentaries like Anand Patwardhan's Jai Bhim Comrade (which boosted KKM's visibility post-2011 arrests), she remains a symbol of resilience for using art against inequality. Her case highlights broader issues of prolonged pre-trial detention, criminalization of cultural expression, and attacks on Dalit activism in India.
Post-interim bail (as of February 2026), she is likely continuing advocacy, though with legal conditions (e.g., reporting requirements). For performances or updates, refer to KKM-related archives, YouTube videos, or human rights sources like The Wire, The Hindu, or Front Line Defenders.
Violence broke out between Dalits and Marathas in the village of Bhima Koregaon near Pune on January 1, 2018. This came a day after an event in Pune called the Elgar Parishad was organised to commemorate the Battle of Bhima Koregaon in 1818 in which the Dalit Mahar soldiers fighting for the British Army defeated the Brahmin Peshwa rulers of the Maratha empire. One person died in violence during a bandh called by Dalit outfits on January 2.
Apart from Babu, Gaichor and Gorkhe, activists Sudhir Dhawale, Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha have been arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case.
Jupudi Prabhakar Rao
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jupudi Prabhakara Rao
Born
Sankuvarigunta, Kothapatnam Mandal,Prakasam District.
Office Ex APSCCFC CHAIRMAN
Term 2016–2019
Political party YSR Congress Party
Jupudi Prabhakara Rao is an Indian politician Chairman for Andhra Pradesh Scheduled Caste Co-Operative Finance Corporation Ltd and an Ex MLC in United Andhra Pradesh. He belongs to YSR Congress Party.
Background
Jupudi was born and brought up in the urban village of Sankuvarigunta, Kothapatnam Mandal in Prakasam District. He was a Mechanical Engineering graduate from Osmania University and completed his MBA with additional qualifications of Higher Diploma in Co-operative Management and Master's in Public Administration and Political Science. He worked for MIDHANI (Mishra Dhatu Nigam) as specialist in Vacuum technology (under the Ministry of Defense) for 17 years.
Being an Ambedhkarite, his heart always felt for the upliftment of Dalits. This has led him to resign from the government service and to work for Dalit rights. In the wake of SC Categorization he became active in Mala Mahanadu under the leadership of P. V Rao and subsequently became President of Mala Mahanadu. Jupudi is the founder and Chairman of the non-profit Voice of Millions Global Foundation.
Political career
Jupudi was offered an MLC (Member of Legislative Council) position by late Chief Minister Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy. After YSR's death Jupudi stood by Y S Jagan as he was left alone at that time and participated in his political activities. He was associated with YSR Congress Party floated by Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy. Later he resigned to YSR Congress Party on 10 August 2014 and joined TDP on 19 December 2014. Following the people mandate in 2019 Elections, he joined back YSRCP in October 2019.
Jupudi has served as an MLC ( Member of Legislative Council ). After the State bifurcation of United Andhra Pradesh, being his vote in Hyderabad, Telangana State, he lost his MLC in 2015. After that he was elected as Chairman for Andhra Pradesh Scheduled Caste Cooperative Finance Corporation in 2015 for a term of two years. Again extended his tenure for another two years in 2017. He is the first person to get appointed twice as Chairman for APSCCFC.
Joopaka Subhadra
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joopaka Subhadra
Born
Damaranchepalle, Warangal, Telangana
Alma mater Kakatiya University, Warangal
Occupation Author, social activist
Known for Writings on Dalit women
Joopaka Subhadra (also Jupaka and Jūpāka; born 1962) is a Telugu Dalit activist, poet and writer. She writes poems and short stories that shed light on the lives of Dalits, specifically Dalit women. She is currently working at the Andhra Pradesh Secretariat.
Early life and education
Subhadra was born in Damaranchepalle, Warangal district (present Telangana). She is youngest of 12 siblings, born to Narasimha and Kanaka Veeramma. While studying she lived in a social welfare hostel. Subhadra has been writing poetry since childhood, beginning with subjects like nature, beauty, and friendship.
Subhadra holds Master of Arts and Masters of Philosophy degrees in Telugu Literature. She is an alumnus of Kakatiya University, Telangana. She has also written numerous political essays, book reviews, songs and journalistic pieces. Through her work, she has been instrumental in establishing Mattipoolu (SC, ST, BC and Minority) Women Writers’ Forum. She has also contributed a column to a well-known feminist journal, Bhoomika, and also in journals such as Andhra Jyoti, Ekalavya, Vaartha, and Udyoga Kranti.[1] After starting work at the Andhra Pradesh Secretariat in 1988, she started a Woman's Association for the female employees. In 2015, she was awarded the Amruthala award from the Apuroopa Awards Foundation for her work as a columnist.
Bibliography
Subhadra's work is based on her own life experiences. Her work includes:
Rayakka Manyam, A collection of short stories on different aspects of Dalit life.
Shuddi Cheyyali depicting the hard work done by Dalit women
Jignesh Mevani
Jignesh Mevani rose from being a grassroots activist to an elected Assembly member in Gujarat. His rise to popularity was when led the Dalit Asmita Yatra after a video of Dalit men being stripped down and being whipped in Gujarat’s Gir Somnath district went viral. He coined the slogan, “Gai ki loom aap rakho; hume humaari zameen do (You may keep the cow’s tail, give us our land)".
He considers himself primarily to be an agitator who decided to enter politics to be able to raise issues from a non-compromising position. He has a deep interest in writings of Karl Marx and Babasaheb Ambedkar and the same is reflected in his oratory
He is particularly known for his work in the field of Dalit rights and social justice issues.
Here are the key details about his life and work:
Born: December 11, 1980, in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.
Occupation: Lawyer, Social Activist, Politician, and former Journalist.
Education: He holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in English Literature from Gujarat University and a Bachelor of Laws (L.L.B.) degree. He also has a Post Graduate Diploma (PGD) in Journalism.
Activism and Advocacy
Jignesh Mevani rose to national prominence for his activism, primarily focused on the rights and upliftment of marginalized communities.
Key Organization: He is the convener of the Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch (RDAM).
Una Agitation (2016):
He became a major figure after organizing the widespread Una Dalit agitation. This movement was a protest against the public flogging of four Dalit youths by cow vigilantes in Una, Gujarat. He led a Dalit Asmita Yatra (Dalit Pride March) from Ahmedabad to Una, with the popular slogan: "Gaaye nu puchhdu taame rakho, aamne amaari jameen aapo" (You keep the cow's tail, give us our land).The protest included Dalits taking a pledge to stop removing cow carcasses and cleaning gutters, shifting the focus to demanding land rights
- Core Issues: His activism has centered on:
Fighting for land rights for landless Dalits and laborers from surplus government land.
Advocating for better working conditions and increased salaries for sanitation workers.
Demanding justice and protection from atrocities for Dalits and other marginalized communities.
Politial Career
Mevani transitioned into electoral politics following his activism.
Legislative Assembly: He serves as the representative of the Vadgam constituency in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly since 2017.
Vadgam is a Scheduled Caste reserved seat. 2017 Election: He first won the Vadgam seat as an Independent candidate, with external support from the Indian National Congress.
Political Affiliation: He is currently a member of the Indian National Congress party, which he joined in 2021.
He was re-elected on a Congress ticket in 2022.
Jaibai Chaudhary
Jaibai Chaudhary (also spelled Jai Bai or Jaibai Choudhary; 1892–1977) was a trailblazing Indian activist, writer, educator, and social reformer from Maharashtra, known for her relentless fight against caste oppression, advocacy for Dalit rights, and efforts to uplift women through education. As a member of the Mahar caste, a Scheduled Caste (SC) community, she overcame immense socio-economic and gender-based barriers to become one of the earliest Dalit women to receive formal education and emerge as a leader in the Ambedkarite movement. Her work laid foundational stones for the Dalit women’s movement and continues to inspire social justice activism in India.
Below is a detailed account of her life, contributions, and legacy, presented in English as requested.
Early Life and Background
- Birth and Family: Jaibai was born in 1892 in Umrer, a town near Nagpur in Maharashtra, into a Mahar family. The Mahars, historically subjected to severe untouchability and relegated to menial tasks like village watchkeeping, faced systemic exclusion from education and social mobility.
- Socio-Economic Context: Her childhood coincided with famines and economic distress in rural Maharashtra, forcing her family to migrate in search of survival. Despite these challenges, her father, Ramu (a farmer), and her family valued education, a rarity for Dalits at the time.
- Early Struggles: As a Dalit girl, Jaibai faced double discrimination due to her caste and gender. Access to education was restricted, and societal norms confined Dalit women to domestic or manual labor roles. Her determination to break these barriers defined her early life.
Education and Entry into Activism
- Missionary Education: Jaibai’s life took a transformative turn when she enrolled in a missionary school in Nagpur, one of the few avenues open to Dalits for education in the colonial era. She became one of the first Mahar women to receive formal schooling, learning to read and write in Marathi.
- Teacher Training: Inspired by her education, she trained as a teacher, a groundbreaking achievement for a Dalit woman in the early 20th century. However, her career faced constant obstacles due to caste prejudice. Upper-caste parents often boycotted schools where she taught, leading to her dismissal from multiple teaching positions.
- Influence of Ambedkar: Jaibai was deeply influenced by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the towering Dalit leader and architect of India’s Constitution. His call for education, organization, and agitation against caste oppression resonated with her, shaping her activism. She became a committed follower of the Ambedkarite movement, which sought to dismantle caste hierarchies and empower Dalits.
Key Contributions as an Activist
Jaibai Chaudhary’s activism spanned education, women’s empowerment, and anti-caste resistance. Her work was remarkable for its focus on Dalit women, who faced intersecting oppressions of caste, class, and gender. Below are her major contributions:
- Founding Women’s Organizations:
- Jaibai established the women’s wing of the Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha (Depressed Classes Welfare Association), a key Ambedkarite organization founded in 1924 to uplift Dalits and other marginalized groups. This wing focused on mobilizing Dalit women for social and political action.
- She organized Dalit women to participate in protests and meetings, fostering a sense of agency and community. A notable example was the 1938 mass meeting in Nagpur, where thousands of Dalit women gathered to protest upper-caste discrimination and demand equal rights.
- Advocacy for Education:
- Jaibai viewed education as the cornerstone of Dalit liberation, echoing Ambedkar’s maxim, “Educate, Agitate, Organize.” She worked tirelessly to promote literacy among Dalit women and children, running informal schools and encouraging families to prioritize education.
- Her essays and speeches in Marathi emphasized self-reliance and the transformative power of knowledge, urging Dalit women to break free from traditional roles.
- Anti-Caste Activism:
- Jaibai actively participated in Ambedkar-led movements, such as campaigns for access to public spaces (e.g., the Mahad Satyagraha of 1927 for water tank access) and temple entry rights. These movements challenged the exclusion of Dalits from public resources.
- She confronted caste-based violence and discrimination head-on, advocating for legal and social protections for Dalits. Her public speeches called out the hypocrisy of upper-caste reformers who opposed untouchability in theory but upheld it in practice.
- Literary Contributions:
- As a writer, Jaibai penned essays and articles in Marathi for Dalit publications, articulating the struggles of Dalit women and the need for systemic change. Her writings were accessible and aimed at inspiring grassroots action.
- Her work as a poet and storyteller also helped preserve and promote Dalit oral traditions, giving voice to the community’s experiences of marginalization and resistance.
- Role in the Ambedkarite Movement:
- Jaibai was a key figure in mobilizing women for Ambedkar’s broader initiatives, including the push for constitutional safeguards for Dalits and the eventual mass conversion to Buddhism in 1956. While she passed away before fully participating in the Buddhist movement, her activism aligned with Ambedkar’s vision of rejecting Hinduism’s caste system.
Challenges and Discrimination
Jaibai’s life was marked by relentless challenges due to her identity as a Dalit woman:
- Caste-Based Exclusion: Despite her qualifications, she was repeatedly denied teaching jobs or forced out due to upper-caste resistance. For example, parents would withdraw their children from schools where she taught, citing her “untouchable” status.
- Gender Barriers: As a woman in a patriarchal society, Jaibai faced additional scrutiny and restrictions. Her public role as an activist was groundbreaking but met with hostility from traditionalists who opposed women’s leadership.
- Economic Hardship: Coming from a poor agrarian family, she had limited resources to sustain her activism. Her reliance on community networks and missionary support underscores the grassroots nature of her work.
Legacy and Impact
Jaibai Chaudhary’s contributions left an indelible mark on the Dalit movement and women’s empowerment in India:
- Pioneer for Dalit Women: She was among the first to articulate the unique struggles of Dalit women, paving the way for later activists like Savitribai Phule (in education) and modern Dalit feminist scholars.
- Inspiration for Ambedkarite Feminism: Her work bridged caste and gender justice, highlighting how Dalit women faced “double discrimination.” This framework remains central to contemporary Dalit feminist thought.
- Educational Advocacy: Her emphasis on education inspired generations of Dalit women to pursue learning as a path to empowerment. Schools and institutions in Maharashtra later named after her honor this legacy.
- Cultural Memory: Jaibai’s writings and speeches are preserved in Dalit literary archives, serving as primary sources for understanding early 20th-century Dalit resistance. Her life story is celebrated in Marathi literature and Dalit history texts.
Later Life and Death
- Continued Activism: Jaibai remained active in social reform until her later years, mentoring younger activists and participating in Ambedkarite gatherings. She lived modestly, dedicating her life to the cause.
- Death: Jaibai Chaudhary passed away in 1977 in Nagpur. Her death marked the loss of a pioneering voice, but her contributions continued to resonate in the Dalit movement.
- Posthumous Recognition: While not as widely known as Ambedkar or Savitribai Phule, Jaibai is celebrated in Dalit histories and Maharashtra’s social reform circles. Community organizations and scholars continue to highlight her role through seminars, books, and memorials.
Historical Significance
Jaibai’s activism unfolded during a critical period in India’s history, bridging the colonial era and early independence. Her work complemented Ambedkar’s constitutional efforts, including his resignation from Nehru’s Cabinet on October 11, 1951 (coincidentally, the same date referenced in your earlier query). While Ambedkar fought for systemic change at the national level, Jaibai’s grassroots efforts empowered Dalit women locally, creating a multi-pronged attack on caste oppression.
Her story also reflects the broader challenges of the time: the Congress government’s hesitancy to push radical social reforms (e.g., the Hindu Code Bill) and the persistence of caste-based resistance to Dalit advancement. Jaibai’s life underscores the courage required to challenge entrenched hierarchies in a deeply stratified society.
Sources and Reliability
Information about Jaibai Chaudhary comes from:
- Dalit Histories: Marathi biographies and Dalit literature archives, such as those compiled by the Ambedkarite movement, document her life and contributions.
- Community Records: Mahar and Dalit community narratives in Maharashtra preserve her legacy through oral histories and publications.
- Academic Works: Scholars of Dalit feminism and social reform (e.g., Shailaja Paik, Anand Teltumbde) reference her as a key figure in early 20th-century activism.
- Note on Limited Records: As a grassroots figure, Jaibai’s documentation is less extensive than Ambedkar’s, and some details (e.g., exact dates of certain events) remain sparse. However, her Mahar caste and activist role are consistently affirmed across sources.
No conflicting claims about her caste or contributions appear in credible records, though her story is less visible in mainstream Indian history due to the marginalization of Dalit women’s voices.
Conclusion
Jaibai Chaudhary was a visionary whose life embodied resistance against caste and gender oppression. As a Mahar woman who rose from poverty to become an educator, writer, and activist, she challenged the status quo in colonial and early independent India. Her establishment of women’s organizations, advocacy for education, and participation in the Ambedkarite movement made her a beacon of hope for Dalit women. Her legacy endures in the ongoing fight for social justice, reminding us of the power of grassroots activism in transforming society.
Kirtibai Patil
Excerpts of the Speech by Kirtibai Patil, Chairman of the Reception Committee, All India
Depressed Classes Women’s Conference, July 20, 1942, in Nagpur. There were about 75000 people that attended where women delegates were around 25000. This was at the time of the World War-II.
“Sisters, when our men are fighting the battles for our rights, we women cannot lag behind. Due to the immense labours of our great leader Dr. Ambedkar, a new consciousness is created amongst us. Those women who are in a position to lead our sisters must approach this point from two angles.
(A) The narrow sphere left by the Hindu religion to women and its serious consequences:
Although commonly women may be required to have a household sphere of work, they cannot for all times be left in the narrow sphere. In 1886, the women of England had no right of franchise, did they, therefore, sit quietly? No. They continued their movement for obtaining the right of franchise and they did not stop till they achieved their objective. Similarly, the so-called ignorant women are also marching forward in education and art. Thus, when history is pointing the way to progress, how can we continue to follow the narrow and selfish path laid down by the Hindu religion – a path leading to continued slavery- we are as much desirous of freedom as the men-nay, this is our right and we must achieve it by our strenuous movement and efforts
(B) The Second point is the opposition from some of our own men
We may even say that such opposition is now from a very small quarter. Freedom is only needed for those who have suffered and are suffering. Freedom means to make the poor happy and contended. Our men need our help the most today in order to achieve our rights. Therefore, our first duty is to help them in every way in achieving our rights. We need to work together and not against our men, and not treat either as superior or inferior
It is absolutely necessary that we unite and work together and hence have one Central organization and through it, we should work for the spread of education and for achieving our social and political rights.
Sisters, I thank you for giving me a patient hearing.”
From – Vinay Shende
Kaushal Panwar
Host Aamir Khan on the 10th episode of 'Satyamev Jayate' brought out the ugliness of untouchability and casteism still prevalent in an Independent India.
Heart wrenching was the story of Dr Kaushal Pawar who suffered many humiliations as a child simply because she was the 'other', fringing on the borders of society. As a dalit child growing up, Kaushal was constantly made to be aware of the fact that she was different.
In the school that she studied at, dalit children were made to wear blue clothes, a way to distinguish and brand them. But Kaushal triumphed over this injustice, where at one point she even thought of quitting the prestigious JNU institute in Delhi. But with her father's constant support, Kaushal is now a lecturer at Delhi University where she teaches Sanskrit.
Dr Kaushal born and brought up in one of the villages of Haryana, Dr Kaushal Panwar teaches Sanskrit at Delhi University. Her life is one of the most remarkable testimonies of human grit and determination towards achieving one’s goal despite insurmountable odds.Read an interview -
Kindly tell us about your family back ground.
I belong to Balmiki community in Rajour village from district Kaithal (Haryana). My father who died in 2001 was a landless labourer. I have two elder brothers. All my family members worked at jat landlord’s fields. I also used to work in the field along with my family and had also worked as manual labourer in road constructions.
My elder brother could not clear class Xth and joined Punjab police as a sepoy but due to some reasons he left the job. Today he is unemployed. I am the only one from my district Kaithal, from Balmiki community, who has reached to this level. Otherwise our community is still mostly engaged in scavenging and manual labour.
What has been your educational background?
I studied in my village school and completed my 10+2 from there itself. However for my graduation (B.A.), I had to take admission at college that was 60 Km away from my home. I had to travel daily to be able to attend the classes. Then I joined Kurukshetra University for my Masters and later Rohtak University for M.Phil.
However the turning point came when I got an opportunity to join Sanskrit department at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi for my PhD. In 2009, I was awarded doctorate for my thesis on ‘Shudras in Dharam Shashtras’. Now I am an Assistant Professor and teach Sanskrit in of the colleges at Delhi University.
Yours is truly a remarkable journey. What have been your motivations that drove you to excel in studies?
I must say without any hesitation that my father was my biggest motivator. Second most important was my family background. Poverty, drinking habits of family’s male members, helplessness on caste-discrimination – these were things around which I grew up. I always felt great discomfort and after a point I got fed up and tried to focus solely on my education.
I had seen my father being abused on caste-lines and suffering and yet not able to counter that. In fact, my father’s helplessness motivated me to look critically at our lives and not to accept that as our ‘fate’.
My father played a great role in educating me. Here I would like to share an incident that happened with my father. He had to go somewhere by bus. At bus stand, he was unsure of the bus that was about to ply. He asked someone to confirm if that was the right bus. The person replied very rudely, “Can’t you see what is written on the bus?”
My father was an illiterate and felt humiliated. He said very calmly to him, “Why would I have to ask you if I was literate?” But then my father decided that he would educate all his children at whatever cost so that they don’t have to face any such humiliations. My father never allowed me to do household work. My mother was also very cooperative but remained worried about my fate after my marriage (laughs).
People would say so many things like why I was not marrying etc. But I never bothered. I never looked back. Whatever I could do I did for my education.
All along my studies I had to work to earn for my studies as well as for our family. You might not believe that during my graduation days I used to work as one of the labourers for constructing road that passed from the college where I was a student (smiles).
My father expired while I was doing my Masters and he never allowed anyone to inform me about his sickness. He was not even aware of what is PhD but always told me to achieve the highest possible degree and made me to promise about not leaving education under any circumstances. No one can ever fill the vacuum that I felt after his death.
Why did you choose Sanskrit as a subject?
This is because of a promise that I made to myself when I was a child. After completing VIth Std, I opted Sanskrit as one of my subject. But when I went for the first Sanskrit class the teacher refused to teach me and told me to go and pick garbage for living instead of learning Sanskrit.
When I persisted, he slapped me and sent me to sit at the last row. I cried and went back but somewhere I got the determination that day that I would study Sanskrit and reach at the top. I sincerely want to thank that teacher now as because his casteism and sexism became my motivation.
For most of the Dalit and Adivasi students getting admission in premier educational institutions is a dream. You did your PhD from JNU. How did you reach here?
After completing my Mphil from Rohtak University I wanted to do PhD from there itself and decided to work on the topic ‘Shudras in Vedas’. However the faculties there forced me to change my topic and make it ‘Shudras in Literature’. I agreed reluctantly but just on the last date of registration, I was refused admission.
Later I came to know that my seat was given to a Brahmin woman who also taught in the same department. I felt completely betrayed by my own teachers. I could not do anything and came back home.
In my university days I was very active and used to participate in lots of meetings and seminars. In one such meetings that was organised on ‘the socio-economic condition of Dalits’ in Kaithal, I got the opportunity to meet two faculty members from JNU namely Dr Malakar and Dr. Phool Badan who came as speakers there.
During the interaction I told them about how I was denied PhD seat at Rohtak University. Both of them advised me to join JNU for my PhD. But I was very unsure. I never thought that I could ever get to JNU. However both of them motivated me and gave confidence.
Dr Phool Badan even helped me to fill the admission form. Without them, I could not even have thought of JNU leave alone applying. My example shows how important it is for our students to have Dalit faculties in the campuses.
Now since you are settled how do you want to contribute more towards the empowerment of our community?
I am not able to contribute as much as I should but still I am trying my level best. Right now I am into writing and working on promoting Dalit literature among people so that they get to read it and get inspired to fight against caste exploitation. I am part of the group that organises small meetings, street theatre, seminars and tries to mobilise youth and students on the issue of caste in Haryana.
Like on 12th April we celebrated Jotiba Phule’s birthday by enacting a play on Guru Ravidas where we clearly showed that he was not merely a religious person but was a great revolutionary from our community. I am also aware of my responsibility being a teacher and we run a placement cell for our students.
What are your policy recommendations for higher authorities for the welfare of Dalit and Adivasi students?
Some policies are already there. But the problem is their faulty implementation. We can achieve so much if we are able to force the authorities to implement these in spirit. So I feel our students themselves have to reach to political arena where policies are framed and are implemented. There is definitely need of many more policies to promote Dalit and Adivasi girls’ education. Their representation in higher education is almost nil.
Many of our students who come from very humble background are sometimes not able to cope up with the campus environment. One of the major factors is the identity crisis. What you have to say on this?
I must say if there was any identity crisis with me I could never have reached to this level. I never hide my identity and was confident about it right from my school times. I did menial jobs at the homes of many of my class mates like cleaning animal dung etc and then I used to sit with them in the same class. They used to call me chuhri (slang for scavengers) in the school. In fact it was my father who never let me have any identity crisis. Since my childhood my father taught me not to worry on such issues as no work is big or small.
The same goes with all our students. They should feel proud that they have come from community of people who are the most hard working and their being in higher education is a great achievement not only for them but for the entire community.
What are your other suggestions for our Dalit and Adivasi students who want to pursue higher education?
What else I can say other than to work doubly hard! As a Dalit and Adivasi students we have to cross so many barriers - class, caste and for women students - gender too. Most of the ‘upper’ caste students have only to work hard for studies. But we have to work much harder to be able to excel in studies and simultaneously fight against social and economic handicaps due to our background.
Other students don’t have to prove anything to anyone but we have lot to prove not only for ourselves but also for the sake of our community.
I teach Sanskrit and being a Dalit woman I know that people are very judgemental and easily point a finger if I don’t teach properly. I have seen people whispering against me and I always answer them through my work. In a very short time my three books have been published and I am working on the fourth one. We must always move ahead and not let others drag us behind.
What are your suggestions for Dalit students groups like Insight?
I really thank Insight from my heart. This is really a very innovative initiative which will go long way to benefit our students. I know this group from my JNU days. My only suggestion for groups like Insight is to always ensure equal representation in terms of its reach.
Most of our students are from very humble background and lack information. They are also not much willing to come out. Insight has the responsibility to reach to such students. Then only we can say that Insight is a real role model for all of us.
Kalpana B.K.
Kalpana B.K. – A Trailblazing Dalit Activist and Politician from Nepal
#### 1. Introduction
Kalpana B.K. (also written as Kalpana BK) is a prominent Nepali Dalit activist, feminist, and politician known for her relentless advocacy for Dalit rights, gender equality, and social justice. As a member of Nepal’s historically marginalized Dalit (Bishwokarma/Kami) community, she has dedicated her life to fighting caste-based discrimination, untouchability, and systemic oppression.
#### 2. Background & Early Life
- Full Name: Kalpana Bishwokarma (B.K. stands for Bishwokarma, her Dalit sub-caste).
- Caste: Belongs to the Bishwokarma (Kami) community, a Dalit group in Nepal’s caste hierarchy.
- Region: Active primarily in Nepal, where Dalits face severe discrimination despite legal protections.
- Education & Influences: While detailed academic records are scarce, her activism is deeply rooted in lived experiences of caste oppression.
#### 3. Key Activism & Contributions
Kalpana B.K. has been at the forefront of several social justice movements:
##### A. Dalit Rights & Anti-Caste Movement
- Fights against untouchability, caste-based violence, and exclusion.
- Works to ensure Dalit representation in politics, education, and employment.
- Advocates for strict enforcement of laws against caste discrimination (e.g., Nepal’s Caste-Based Discrimination and Untouchability Act, 2011).
##### B. Gender & Feminist Activism
- Highlights intersectional oppression faced by Dalit women (caste + gender discrimination).
- Campaigns against domestic violence, sexual abuse, and forced labor affecting Dalit women.
- Promotes economic empowerment through skill-building programs.
##### C. Political Engagement
- Has been associated with leftist and progressive political parties in Nepal.
- Pushes for reservations (affirmative action) for Dalits in government and policymaking.
- Uses political platforms to amplify Dalit and marginalized voices.
#### 4. Major Challenges & Opposition
- Faces backlash from conservative upper-caste groups resistant to Dalit empowerment.
- Limited institutional support despite legal reforms.
- Threats and risks due to her outspoken stance against caste oppression.
#### 5. Legacy & Recognition
- A symbol of resistance for Nepal’s Dalit movement.
- Inspires young Dalit activists, especially women, to challenge systemic injustice.
- Her work contributes to slow but growing awareness about caste apartheid in Nepal.
#### 6. Quotes & Philosophy
- "Our fight is not just for Dalits, but for a Nepal where no one is oppressed by caste."
- "Silence is not an option when injustice is normalized."
#### 7. Where Is She Now?
As of 2024, Kalpana B.K. continues her activism through:
- Grassroots organizing
- Political advocacy
- Public speaking & awareness campaigns
She remains a critical voice in Nepal’s Dalit feminist movement.
Why Does Kalpana B.K. Matter?
Her struggle represents the broader fight against South Asia’s deeply entrenched caste system. While Nepal has made progress in outlawing untouchability, activists like Kalpana B.K. ensure that reforms translate into real change for Dalits.
KAUSALY BASSANTI
In the autobiography there is a person who is related to the self, and the story is related to its time and environment. When a writer binds his past life
with words in the entire environment, then we are called autobiography. Autobiography is written less in Hindi than other genres, but for the last three decades, the attempt to fulfill this shortcoming has been done by some dalit writers who have suffered from the suffering of some feminist writers and upper-hermits who have suffered the men's mentality of suffering for many centuries. Has happened . The reason for this is clear that the autobiography mostly stems from the pain of exploitation. The biographies written by various authors in this period are similar to the documents of their pain or life-struggle. In this connection, Dr. Manesar Pandey's statement is clear-"Around the world and in Hindi, the autobiography is proving to be a text of the sufferers through which the afflicted sections and the people of the community speak of the story of their life, expressing the realities and aspirations of the life of their class and community." [ 1]Kausalya Basanti's autobiography 'Dual Curse' published in 1999 is also the result of this process. But this autobiography is special in that it is not just the autobiography of a woman but the autobiography of a Dalit woman. That is, it is an autobiography born from the wish of the double revolution. Kausalyaji has made a meaningful attempt to express this fact in his headline. The author has given the curse of being a woman and a dalit throughout his life. Being a woman within the house and being a Dalit as soon as she came out of the house. The conflicting story of life, which has survived in these two forms, is described in this autobiography.
The heads of any literary work are two aspects. One his subject and the other his craft. Due to the art being an art, the importance of its subject matter is equally important to its craft. In general, crafts are called composition-legislation through which the creator communicates its perceptions comfortably and effectively. Under this composition, we can calculate the fiction, the diagram, the symbol, the decking and the language. Kausalya Bassanti in his autobiography 'Dual Curse' to give a self-actualization of his self, even if the beams, The symbols and ornaments have not taken much amount of support, but through narrative techniques and intuitive language, they have been successful in conveying their perception. The author has made it clear in the role itself that he is not a writer nor a literary. Although he did not have a special introduction to the literature of literature, his autobiography has become an art form. That is the specialty of the craft of this autobiography. In the same context, the statement of Mastram Kapoor on the flaps of this book is clear:"It is a straightforward life story which is free from all kinds of literary hoods." Through a straightforward craft legislation, he has successfully molded his life-truth into art-truth.
The 'double curse' autobiography is the expression of the past life of Kausaly Bassantri. In them, the aspiration of this self-expression is born from the realization of meaning in life. The writer born as a common Dalit girl has emerged as a source of inspiration for the entire Dalit caste due to its education and struggle. A self-respecting writer reviews his own personality. In such a situation, he attracts the reader from a strong maneuver, then imitates the reader using various artifacts. The autobiography begins with the author's ten-twelve year old but by adopting a specific narrative technique, he has also experienced the events of the life of his grandmother (grandmother) in detail - "The color of the grandmother was quite blonde and Nain The eyes were sharp. Eyes were brown and black dense hair Grandmother was the only sister of six brothers and the youngest. " The author himself has not seen the grandmother at all, yet he is promoting the external personality of grandmother as if it is an integral part of his experience. The author has adopted this novel method of expression and has conveyed to the reader that the source of inspiration for his life was grandmother and mother. See this picture of the self- respecting personality of that grandmother- "Grandma always used to say that she will fight herself, herself will not be burdened. He will also collect his own shroud stuff and he will be able to fulfill his point. All the accessories of the shroud were present in their bundle. He resided with self esteem, did not succumb to anybody. " This narrative technique is also unique in that the writer has also made the past alive with the memory of the mother through the medium of memory.
In the 'double curse', Kausalyaji has also planned beautiful figures. In particular, the incidents that they have raised to raise the curse of Dalit life, they are quick to raise the miserable life of Dalit life. "I had to pass near the toilet itself. In front of the toilet, children were seen to look after the haunting. The whole place would be filled with panicles. And there were people in front of him. While sitting, they were seen to be in the kitchen. There were only three rooms for such a large settlement. And there were eight flushes in every corner, which were full filled with water. There was no place to keep till the feet. ... There was a different kind of tranquil - black, red, brown because some pregnant women used to eat mud of coal. Seeing this early in the morning, it started to live. " The writers have grown up in this slum-filled settlement. It is not only the author's childhood but also our history, which is also a black page where man was compelled to live such a life filled with suffocated life. From this description the reader may not understand the scourge of being his dalit but can also feel. The work of writing an autobiography is like being exposed. Kausalaji has done this work very well and not only inaugurated the boundaries of its own society but also its entire society. While writing a box of his community, he writes - "Being a child like eating food and drinking water at that time was also considered normal work. Say, this God gives, God's will, what to do! " author has given the expression of his fraternity in such a way that the reader easily accepts it.
For the sake of Kausalaji, this crime is double. The accuser of having a highly educated husband and a husband of a freedom fighter who is serving a higher position in the government. See a picture of this - "Wife wanted to see that freedom fighter as a slave only. I did not wash the cloth, so she kept the soap in her closet, the sugar too closed, kept it for a little while for the boy, for tea. " warm mood, stubborn, woman living in her own circle These pictures of her husband Devendrakumar, who believed in foot shoe and brutally brutally, made the eternal pain of woman life deeper."He told his mouth that I am a very evil man. He never appreciated my desire, emotion, happiness. Abuse of talk, it is also filthy and filthy. Killing was also very cruel way. Her sisters told me that she also beat the parents, the first wife " . It is easy to guess how a writer should have love or affection with such a husband. Many such images of being a Dalit and the pain of being a woman are found in the 'double curse' autobiography, which make it even readable and artistic.
In order to make her feel comfortable in the 'double curse' autobiography, the author has also used language with utterances, proverbs and folklore. The Mayor of Nagarpalika Nagar in his city had two wives. Talking about the exploitation by her, she writes in one place-"He used to spend the full cost to another woman. But he would never sit with him or talk to him or take him out in a program. That meant no prestige was given to him. Yes, the cost was good. The woman could only see the sunny way in the window. Like a stack of gold cage, which is eatable, but not a free environment. " This figurative language used for female exploitation appears to be an integral part of the author's personality. So the experiments of idioms have enhanced the beauty of this autobiography, as if 'the tiger is running behind me', the expensive price has only broken the waist of the mother-god 'and' my blood starts bleeding. ' We can also call the 'double curse' language as a balanced language. It has not been used much more literary terminology nor is it unnecessary abuse But this balanced language has not hindered its artistry anywhere. Kausalyaji has given artistic beauty to her autobiography by using multidimensional language in many places. For example, "caste has shocked us," [10] and "our caste had reached there before going out"]Such language experiments, on the one hand, make this autobiography beautiful, whereas on the other hand, the reader takes it at the level of an announcement, which can also be targeted to the chagrin of being free from the agony of a whole afflicted caste. The same language, which proves the double goal, is an important feature of the craft and legislation of the 'double curse'.
The use of slogans is common in the language of dalit biographies. Although the 'double curse' is a dalit autobiography, it does not find a language of abusive language. Neither is it in vain's abuses nor artificial indignation Kausalyaji has used an intuitive language in accordance with its world-environment and environment. A glimpse of how the Dalit caste who is curse of being illiterate from the ages has read and write about his own people who are moving forward in this language."It has become so big that the thins are hanging, they are not married, they will be old, will they?" Someone says: "Hey, let's go. So what's left? So many friends and friends come in the house, then nothing will happen? " This language, which is evident from Kausalaji's struggling bitter and sweet experiences, seems to be intuitive even then, as well as specific. The language expressing resentment towards the system is also used in the 'double curse'. But this resentment of skill does not seem anywhere "Baba bowed his head at the feet of Head Mistress, from a distance, because he was untouchable, could not touch. Baba's face was so upset! My eyes came across I still feel very worried about remembering this. I feel humiliated. The caste-maker wants to make the creator of the face. The desire to avenge a humiliation. " This raucous language coming through the path of experience has become synonymous with the story of the autobiographer. This reconciliation of story and craft has also made this autobiography unique with popular dalit biographies.
In conclusion, it can be said that the 'double curse' autobiography has been successful in attracting readers to the craftsmanship, not being created by an experienced creator of art consciousness. This autobiography created by an educated housewife, who is suffering from severe mental torture in the name of the untouchable society, is free from the spirit of self-pity or self-pity. As a result, it has not been added by the articulation, nor the crafts. An effortless craftsman has been created in an attempt to denote your experiences with openness and authenticity. Talking about the matter of spontaneously talking about grandmother (grandmother), meaningful use of word pictures, balanced, simple and speech-prone language, in order to effectively pronounce the pain of being a Dalit and a woman; Brilliance, descriptive and analytical style, etc. are the artistic tools of this intuitive craft-legislation,
कोशल्या बैसंत्री in Hindi
एक लेखिका – एक एक्टिविस्ट
लेखिका कौशल्या बैसेंत्री
डॉ अम्बेडकर के छात्र आन्दोलन की सचिव व् युवा नेत्री कौशल्या नंदेश्वर थी . १९४२ के महिला अधिवेशन में उन्होंने सक्रिय भूमिका अदा की थी इनके माँ –पिता नागपुर की एक्सप्रेस मील में मजदूरी करते थे. पिता मशीनों में तेल डालने का काम तो माँ इसी मील में धागा बनाने वाले विभाग में कार्यरत्त थी. इनके माता पिता बहुत ही जीवट एवं मेहनती थे. माता-पिता को 13 सन्तान- 10 लडकिया और तीन लड़के हुए जिनमे से 6 लडकिय और एक लड़का ही जीवित बचा
कौशल्या बैसेंत्री बचपन से ही डॉ अम्बेद्गर के विचारो से प्रभावित थी. उनकी थोड़ी शिक्षा महारष्ट्र की महान सोशलवर्कर जाई बाई चोधरी के स्कूल में हुई. गरीबी और समाजकार्य से जुड़ जाने के कारन आसपास की लडकियो की अपेक्षा इनकी शादी थोड़ी सी देर से हुई. इनकी शादी कोर्ट में बिहार के युवा देवेन्द्र बैसेंत्री से हुई , देवेन्द्र बैसेंत्री भी डॉ अम्बेडकर के समय में छात्र आन्दोलन में सकीय थे. दोनों की पहचान ही आपसी शादी का आधार बनी. पति के साथ रहते हुए कुछ ही समय में आपसी मतभेद होने के कारन इन्हे काफी दिक्कते उठानी पड़ी.
कौशल्या बैसेंत्री घर के काम में न केवल दक्ष थी बल्कि वे कलात्मक प्रवृतिकी थी अत गृहसज्जा में बहुत ही कुशल थी. पढना लिखना, संगीत, पेंटिंग सब उनकी रूचिकर दुनिया का हिस्सा था. महिलाओ के अधिकारों को लेकर भी बहुत सम्वेदनशील थी. वे मुनिरका डी डी ए फ्लैट में रहती थी पास में ही मुनिरका गाव भी था ठीक गाव के पीछे जवाहर लाल नेहरु विश्वविद्यालय भी था. जब भी जेएनयू में कोई प्रोग्रम होता तो उनेह बुलाया जाता था. मुनिरका गाव की महिलाओ के लिए उन्होंने कोशिश की कि वंहा सिलाई सिखाई जाए क्योंकि वो स्वम् सिलाई कढ़ाई जानती थी और इस हुनर के साथ क्राफ्ट काम से महिला उद्यम शुरू हो सकता था. वह जल्द ही बंद हो गया परन्तु ये सब उन संगदिल पुरुषो की वजह से हुआ जो मान कर चलते है कि औरत की जिन्दगी घर की चार दिवारी के पीछे है. बैसंत्री जी ने पहल करके भारतीय महिला जग्रिति परिषद मनाई जिसका उद्देश्य था महिला अधिकारों के साथ साथ दलित महिलाओ को मुख्यधारा के साथ जोड़ना .इस संगठन ने दलित महिलाओ के सवाल मुख्यधारा के महिला आंदोलनों के समक्ष रखे.
कौशल्या बैसेंत्री एक जागरूक नागरिक थी और लोगो को जगाने और उनकी जानकारी बदने के लिए मरठी से अनुदित करके हिंदी में कई लेख लिख कर समाज को दिए उन्होंनेलेखिका उर्मिला पवार की एक कहानी हिंदी में अनुवाद की जो हंस में छपी . पत्रकारिता पर शोधात्मक कार्य कर रहे डॉ श्य्राज सिंह बैचैन को मदद की . अस्पृश्यता पर लेख लिखे. मुक्ताबाई के कामो पर लेख लिखा.वह एक अच्छी सामाजिक कार्य करता थी साथ ही अच्छी इंसान भी.अपनी आत्मकथा दोहरा अभिशाप लिखा जिसमे उन्होंने दलित स्त्रियों की जिजीविषा पर रौशनी डाली
महिलाओ की प्रेरक थी. भारतीय महिला जाग्रति परिषद् में बहुतसी महिलाओ को एकत्र किया और समाज के मुद्दों को उनेह समझती व प्रतिनिधित्व देती . दलित महिलाओ के मुद्दे पर वो अनुसूचित जाति आयोग के अध्यक्ष रामधन से मिली, राष्ट्रपति ज्ञानी जैलसिंह जी से मिली .. उम्र बड़ने और घर में बेटे की बहु और पति से सहयोग न मिलने के कारण मजबूरन उनेह अपनी बेटी सुजाता के घर रहना पड़ा. पति द्वारा घर में जगह और खर्चे की कोताही करने पर पति पर भरण पोषण और घर में रहने की जगह के लिए केस दायर किया जिसमें उनकी बेटी और सबसे छोटे बेटे ने मदद की. कोर्ट से खर्चा मिलने लगा पति की मृत्यु के बाद सबसे छोटा बीटा आतिश बैसेंत्री उनेह अपने साथ मद्रास ले गये. मद्रास में अपने बेटे बहु के साथ रही परन्तु धीरे धीरे उनकी सुनने की शक्ति क्षीण होती गयी और साथ ही याद रखने की क्षमता भी
जीवन के अंतिम दिनों में वो अपने सबसे छोटे बेटे आतिश जिनेह वो बाबा कहती थी के साथ रही और २४ जून 2012 में उन्होंने अपना पार्थिव शारीर छोड़ दिया.
( ये लेख कौशल्या बैसेंत्री की आत्मकथा दोहरा अभिशाप को शिवाजी विश्वविद्यालय , कोल्हापुर में बीए भाग ३ में लगाने के लिए प्रा गोरख बनसोडे के सवालों के जबाब ले लिए लिखा गया है)
उनकी महत्वपूर्ण पुस्तक दोहरा अभिशाप. भूमिका मस्तराम कपूर
प्रकाशक परमेश्वरी प्रकाशन , प्रीत विहार डेल्ही -110 92 मूल्य 140 रूपये
ISBN 978-81-88121-98-
................by Rajni Tilak
Kiruba Munusamy
KIRUBA MUNUSAMY
Kiruba Munusamy is an advocate practicing in the Supreme Court of India. She is a social, political and judicial activist striving for social justice by eliminating all forms of discriminations, oppressions and inequalities in the society.
She is working against various human rights violations in India that includes caste and gender based discriminations, caste based atrocities against Dalits, violence against women, discrimination in the academic spaces, death penalty, state repression and prohibition of the inhuman practice of manual scavenging.
Through her activism she works for the annihilation of caste and supports Dalit women empowerment, indigenous rights, LGBTQI rights, minorities, advancement of disadvantaged groups, and freedom of expression.
She has filed several public interest litigations before the Indian courts of law to bring judicial intervention in the issues of grave violation of human rights and to restore the fundamental rights of the public at large.
Apart from the legal framework, she organizes and conducts awareness campaigns, workshops to bring awareness and educate the downtrodden, sexual minorities (LGBTQI) and dalit women about their fundamental human rights and legal remedies on violation.
She utilizes the power of social media in the digital era and writes both in English and Tamil (her mother tongue) to create a universal awareness about the Indian human rights issues that most of the time involves physical violence, sexual violence and killings; to discuss and debate on the rights of women and minorities, freedom of expression, individual rights of opinion and choice, several other oppressions.
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IN DEPTH
Posted Jue 7 Jun 2018 - 08:51 | 10,299 views
Women who are also from vulnerable and marginalised communities such as Dalit women in India, face additional and vicious forms of online violence and harassment. In addition their access to justice is tenuous and fraught, adding progressively to the impunity with which caste- and gender-based harassment takes place.
Kirti Bharti
This 29-year-old activist has stopped 900 child marriages in the last four years and annulled 150 marriages involving underage boys and girls. A resident of Rajasthan, Kirti Bharti has dedicated her life to protecting helpless children whose families force them into marriage at a young age. She founded Saarthi Trust in 2012, a non-profit organization that protects victims of child marriages. Over the year, Kirti has received several death threats from villagers, caste councils and local politicians because of the nature of her work and the fact that many in the state still practice honour killings. A 2014 UNICEF report states that 47% of India’s girls are married before the age of 18. This heinous practice, a byproduct of a patriarchal society, has been going on even after the Indian government passed the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006. Kirti is a rehabilitation psychologist and has worked with countless children who have been traumatized due to their childhood experiences.
From Wikipedia
Born : Kriti Chopra
Alma mater Jai Narain Vyas University
Organization Saarthi Trust
Known for Child marriage activism
Kriti Bharti (born August 19, 1987) is an Indian rehabilitation psychologist and children's rights activist. Bharti made headlines as the first annuller of child marriage in India. She is the founder and director of Saarthi Trust, a non-profit organization that primarily rescues and ensures the recovery and welfare of child marriage victims. Bharti's team has annulled more than 41 child marriages and prevented more than 1,400 from occurring.
Early life
Bharti was born on August 19, 1987 in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Bharti's father abandoned her mother, Indu Chopra, when she was still in her womb. This was considered a disgrace in a conservative environment, and relatives demanded her to abort or to be wed again. Despite the pressure, Bharti's mother persisted and raised the child alone. Her mother also suffered medical complications during her pregnancy and Bharti was born prematurely at seven months.
As a child, Bharti was physically and verbally tortured by relatives who considered her cursed. One went to the extent of giving her a slow poison at 10 years old, and Bharti managed to survive but she was bedridden and paralyzed. She went through several treatments from different hospitals, until she was able to recover two years later, attributing her healing to reiki therapies.
Upon her recovery, she changed her last name to "Bharti" (Daughter of India) in an attempt to free herself from the caste system, religion and kin.
Education
Due to the paralysis, Bharti was unable to finish fourth grade. She managed to accelerate to 10nth grade as she cleared her boards.
Bharti obtained a Doctorate in Psychology at the Jai Narain Vyas University in Jodhpur.
NGOs
At college, Bharti joined many NGOs and started counselling simultaneously. Her first case was a rape victim who was just 9 years old. Barthi thought that a temporary relief via counselling is ultimately pointless. The encounter prompted her to pursue.
Through the NGOs, Bharti was able to work with several street children that suffered from child labour, poverty and child marriage. After seven months, she noticed that a pressing issue among the homeless children is child marriage. Child marriage, although considered illegal in India, remained prevalent, especially in rural areas. Bharti's hometown, Rajasthan, was considered the world's epicenter of child marriage.
A report of the UNICEF in 2009, titled State of the Worlds Children, goes on further to say that 40 percent of the world's child marriages happen in India. The report also stated that 56 percent of the women surveyed in rural areas married before 18 years old.
Saarthi Trust
As Bharti worked with NGOs, she noticed how they were just spreading awareness; while she believed it is essential, it is merely treating the problem at the surface level. Thus, in 2011, driven by her experience with children in NGOs, she established Saarthi Trust. Saarthi Trust works on grassroots level and ensures the rehabilitation and welfare of child marriage victims after rescue. The organization provides education, vocational training and employment opportunities to ensure the independence of the victims thereafter.
In 2012, Bharti made headlines on her first case, Laxmi Sargara. She was the first woman in India to have her child marriage nullified. Since then, Bharti and her team have been working on personally visiting villages and schools to discuss the detrimental effects of child marriage and to teach women empowerment. The organization has a helpline for underage brides and grooms to report their case. As victims reach out, Bharti's team obtains proof of the marriage and then talks to the family of both the bride and bridegroom, and then to the elders of the community in an attempt to convince them. If it fails, Bharti's team seeks legal help and takes the case to the court.
Throughout years of activism, Bharti has faced countless death and rape threats. Hidebound hindu leaders who approve the practice of child marriage have threatened to chop her nose and gang-rape her.
Saarthi Trust has rehabilitated more than 6,000 children and 5,500 women. Since it was established in 2011, Bharti's team has annulled more than 44 child marriages and halted more than 1,400 from happening.
Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd
Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd (born 5 October 1952) is a prominent Indian political theorist, author, social activist, and scholar known for his incisive critiques of caste hierarchy, Brahminical dominance, and Hindutva ideology. Often described as a "Sudra intellectual," he advocates for the empowerment of Dalits, Bahujans (OBCs and Adivasis), and other marginalized groups through education, language rights, and cultural reclamation. His work bridges academia and activism, challenging the socio-political structures that perpetuate inequality in India. As of October 5, 2025—his 73rd birthday—Ilaiah continues to influence public discourse on social justice, with recent contributions to discussions on Hindutva's global ambitions and OBC politics.
Early Life and Caste Background
- Birth and Family: Ilaiah was born on October 5, 1952, in the village of Papaiahpet, Chennaraopet mandal, Warangal district (then part of Hyderabad State, now Telangana, India). He grew up in a rural, agrarian household where his father, Kancha Komuraiah, was a shepherd who spent much of his time grazing sheep, often leaving the family in financial strain. His mother, Kancha Kattamma, was a strong-willed figure who managed the household and instilled in him a sense of resilience and critique of upper-caste norms. Ilaiah's childhood was marked by the daily realities of caste-based labor, including herding sheep and working the fields, which later informed his writings on the dignity of "productive castes."
- Caste Identity: Ilaiah hails from the Kuruma (or Kuruma shepherd) community, a pastoral group classified as an Other Backward Class (OBC) in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Traditionally involved in sheep-rearing and weaving, the Kurumas faced social exclusion under the Hindu caste system. Though often labeled a "Dalit activist" by media, Ilaiah identifies as a Sudra (Shudra) intellectual, emphasizing his OBC roots while aligning with Ambedkarite ideals for caste annihilation. In May 2016, he symbolically added "Shepherd" to his name to honor his community's labor and reject what he calls "Brahminical cultural impositions," stating, "The violence of caste: Why I have changed my name to Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd." This act was a personal protest against caste hegemony.
Education
Ilaiah's pursuit of education defied the barriers faced by his community. He completed his early schooling in local Telugu-medium institutions before earning:
- An M.A. in Political Science from Osmania University.
- An M.Phil. for his thesis on land reforms in undivided Andhra Pradesh.
- A Ph.D. in Political Science, based on research into the political philosophy of Buddhism, which explored its challenge to Brahminism.
His academic journey, self-funded through odd jobs, transformed him from a "shepherd boy" into a critical thinker, as detailed in his 2019 memoir From a Shepherd Boy to an Intellectual: My Memories, where he recounts overcoming poverty and caste prejudice.
Academic Career
- Teaching and Research: Ilaiah served as a Professor of Political Science at Osmania University, Hyderabad, where he taught for over three decades. He also directed the Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy at Maulana Azad National Urdu University. As a Nehru Fellow (1994–1997), he researched marginalized communities' political mobilization.
- Influence in Academia: He has mentored generations of Dalit-Bahujan students and pushed for inclusive curricula. In 2018, his books were recommended for Delhi University's MA Political Science syllabus, sparking debates on integrating anti-caste perspectives, though facing resistance from conservative academics. Ilaiah argues that fear of controversy stifles social science: "If we are afraid, how do we build good social science?"
Activism
Ilaiah's activism is rooted in Ambedkarism and Phule's legacy, focusing on dismantling caste through intellectual and cultural means. Key aspects include:
- Anti-Caste Campaigns: He promotes English education for Dalits and Bahujans, arguing it empowers them to "speak for themselves" globally without upper-caste intermediaries. In 2016, he declared vegetarianism "anti-nationalism," critiquing it as a tool of caste exclusion that ignores the meat-based diets of productive castes.
- Cultural Reclamation: Ilaiah advocates "food democracy" and celebrates Bahujan spiritual traditions, like buffalo-based rituals, over Brahminical ones. He has protested RSS-led Hindutva events and supported movements for OBC reservations.
- Political Engagements: A vocal critic of BJP-RSS ideology, he has commented on contemporary issues, such as in a September 2025 opinion piece where he analyzed how U.S. politics under Trump disrupted the RSS's "Vishwaguru" (world teacher) dreams, leaving Hindutva adrift amid ties with China and Russia. In August 2025, he spoke at a B.P. Mandal birth anniversary event at the University of Hyderabad, discussing his book The Shudra Rebellion and the role of Shudra communities in Indian democracy.
- Broader Advocacy: Ilaiah supports secularism and federalism, once controversially stating in 2015 that if Sardar Patel had been Prime Minister, "India would've become Pakistan" due to his communal leanings.
His activism extends to writing as a tool for change: "Writing generates fear among oppressor caste forces."
Controversies
Ilaiah's bold critiques have invited backlash:
- 2017 Book Ban and Threats: His Telugu book on the Arya Vysya community was banned by Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu after protests, with MP T.G. Venkatesh calling for his hanging. Ilaiah reported stone-pelting attacks on his car and filed police complaints.
- Academic Pushback: Osmania colleagues criticized his articles for potentially inciting "sectarian discontent." In 2018, a proposed ban on his books at Delhi University raised alarms about censoring critical thought.
- Personal Attacks: Labeled an "Islamophobe" by some critics in 2025 X discussions for his anti-Hindutva stance, though he positions himself as a secular Ambedkarite. In 2023, he accused "unethical scholars" of undermining social change efforts.
- Name Change Backlash: The 2016 addition of "Shepherd" drew ire from conservative groups as an affront to Hindu traditions.
These incidents underscore his view: "The enemies of social change" often target voices like his.
Awards and Recognition
- Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Award (2000) for contributions to social justice.
- Nehru Fellow (1994–1997).
- Honorary roles, including recent appointment to the AICC OBC Ideological Advisory Committee (announced August 2025).
Recent Activities and Legacy (as of October 5, 2025)
Ilaiah remains active in public life. In August 2025, he participated in a book discussion on The Shudra Rebellion at the University of Hyderabad, moderated by the All India OBC Students Association, stressing Shudra unity for egalitarian society. His September 2025 op-ed in The Federal critiqued RSS-BJP's foreign policy setbacks. On X, his works like Why I Am Not a Hindu are frequently cited in debates on Dravidian culture and casteism, though some urge alternatives due to perceived biases.
Ilaiah's legacy lies in humanizing Bahujan struggles, inspiring a new generation of anti-caste thinkers. As he reflects in his memoir, his path from shepherd boy to activist embodies the fight against "hegemonical caste structure." No major events are reported for his birthday today, but Ambedkarite and OBC groups often mark it with tributes.
Kalicharan Brahma
Kalicharan Brahma (Bodo: कालिचरन ब्रह्म 1860–1938), originally Kalicharan Mech, was a 20th-century social and religious reformer of Bodo society. He joined a new religion called Brahmo Dharma / Brahmoism Adi Brahmo Samaj faction in Calcutta around 1906, and he is reverentially called Gurudev or Guru Brahma by Bodo people of lower plains of Assam along Brahmaputra river. Other great Assamese Brahmos of the time include Gunabhiram Barua and Swarnalata Devi of the same faction, all of whom agitated against Colonialist Imperialism of any kind. The followers of this group are locally known as Brahmas in tribute to their religion and the holy river of which they are sons. He was the founder of Boro Satra Sanmilanni (All Bodo Students Union).
Early life
Kalicharan was born on 18 April 1860, at Kajigaon village in Dhubri district, Assam state of India. His father was Khoularam Mech and mother was Randini Mech. Khoularam was a timber merchant and one of the rich person of the those days, as Kalicharan grew up he became intelligent, honest and thoughtful. He became a great religious preacher of Brahma faith and brought over revolutionary changes in Bodo society by his continuous and sustained programme of reformation against the prevailing Bathou worship. All the educated and enlightened section of the Bodo community including Rup Nath Brahma lent their all-round efforts in his reformatory programme, religious propagation through spread of education and political activism."
Education
His pre-primary education in his home with a private tutor Birnarayan Mech. Later he joint in Tipkai primary school. After passing the primary school he joined in Puthimari M. V. School. But when he got in class five his father was dead . Kalicharan had to come back to home although he did not want to give up the school.
Work
By the end of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century, the Bodo Society was also suffering from religious, moral and political degradation. The young Kalicharan Brahma could perceive the deplorable condition of the Bodos who were"bogged down with evil social practices" due to which the other commitments despised them. The Bodos who were one of the original inhabitants of the Brahmaputra valley were going through an identity crisis like the other marginalised indigenous Assamese communities. They had developed an inferiority complex. They were rapidly relinquishing their customs and traditions. The Bodo Society was disintegrating with the increase in the number of conversion to other religions. Many educated and affluent Bodos had begun to see their traditional beliefs and customs as stumbling blocks to modernization and human achievement.
Kalicharan realized that the Bodo Society would have to be reformed. "He was filled with anguish and regret to see that the Bodos, although being followers of the Bathou religion were so only on a very superficial level.They showed little inclination in obeying the principle or guidelines set down by the religion. The worship of many gods and goddesses, whose number were only on the increase, was a clear indication that the people had moved away from their faith." They had become addicted to jou, Rice beer and developed bad social habits. The various social evils were sapping the vitality of the Bodo Society.
Kalicharan felt that the identity and unity of the people could be preserved only though a change in their Society and religion. In 1905, he came across the Sarnitya Kriya written by Mohini Mohan Chattopadhay. The book contained the teaching of Swami Sibnarayan Paramahansa. Kalicharan became convinced that the adoption of the Brahma religion would be able to guide the Bodos towards progress and development and put a stop to the religious conversions. Thus at the age of 39, he got ordained into the folds of Brahmaism by Swami Sibnarayan at his residence in Kolkata. He returned to his native village with a determination to spread the religion among the Bodos. According to Bidyasagar Narzary and Malabika Mitra's Journey Towards Enlightenment " The basic ideology of Brahmaism on which the religion was based was that there was only one God. In Brahma religion this God is worshipped in the form of fire is of primordial importance". "Fire is Brahma and Brahma gives life to the entire Earth and all its beings. Brahma is Universal, endless and all encompassing. Where there is Brahma, there can be found Satya or Truth."
https://en.linkfang.org/wiki/Kalicharan_Brahma
Krishnammal Jagannathan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Krishnammal Jagannathan
Krishnammal and Sankaralingam Jagannathan
Born 16 June 1926 (age 94)
Occupation social activist
Spouse(s) Sankaralingam (deceased)
Awards Right Livelihood Award
Krishnammal Jagannathan (born 16 June 1926) is a social service activist from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. She and her husband, Sankaralingam Jagannathan (1912 – 12 February 2013), protested against social injustice and they are Gandhian activists. Her work includes upliftment of the landless, and the poor; she has sometimes fought against governments as well as big industries. She was earlier involved in the Indian independence movement, along with her husband, and was also a close associate of Vinoba Bhave. She has received several awards, namely in 2008 the Right Livelihood Award, which she shared with her husband. She was given the Padma Bhushan India's third highest civilian award in 2020.
Early life
Jagannathan was born into a devendrakulam family in 1926. Her first encounter with social injustice and poverty was her observing her mother Nagammal who had to toil very hard and had to work even when she was in the advanced stages of pregnancy. Despite being from a poor family, she managed to get a university education and was soon involved with the Gandhian Sarvodaya Movement. It was through Sarvodaya that she met Sankaralingam, who was much later to be her husband. Sankaralingam hailed from a wealthy family, yet gave up his college studies in 1930 in response to Gandhi's call for non-co-operation movement and civil disobedience. Krishnammal shared a stage with Mahatma Gandhi and also met Martin Luther King Jr. Sankaralinga later joined the Quit India Movement in 1942 and spent years in jail before India gained its independence in 1947. Having decided only to marry in independent India Sankaralingam and Krishnammal married in 1950. She would later head the Salt Satyagraha march in Vedaranyam, this time not in protest, but to commemorate the platinum jubilee of the event in 2006.
Land to the landless
Sankaralingam and Krishnammal believed that one of the key requirements for achieving a Gandhian society is by empowering the rural poor through redistribution of land to the landless. For two years between 1950 and 1952 Sankaralingam was with Vinoba Bhave in Northern India on his Bhoodan (land-gift) Padayatra (pilgrimage on foot), the march appealing to landlords to give one sixth of their land to the landless. Meanwhile, Krishnammal completed her teacher-training course in Madras (now renamed Chennai). When Sankaralingam returned to Tamil Nadu to start the Bhoodhan movement the couple, until 1968, worked for land redistribution through Vinoba Bhave's Gramdan movement (Village Gift, the next phase of the land-gift movement), and through Satyagraha (non-violent resistance). Sankaralingam was imprisoned many times for this work. Between 1953 and 1967, the couple played an active role in the Bhoodhan movement spearheaded by Vinoba Bhave, through which about 4 million acres (16,000 km2) of land were distributed to thousands of landless poor across several Indian states. After the burning of 42 Dalits including women and children in the Kilvenmani massacre in Nagapattinam district following a wage-dispute with the landlord in 1968, the couple started to work in Thanjavur District in Tamil Nadu to concentrate on land reform issues. It was this incident that would inspire the couple, Krishnammal and Sankaralaingam to start the organisation LAFTI.
Land for Tillers' Freedom (LAFTI)
Jagannathan founded Land for Tillers' Freedom in 1981 with her husband. The purpose of the organisation was to bring "the landlords and landless poor to the negotiating table, obtain loans to enable the landless to buy land at reasonable price and then to help them work it cooperatively, so that the loans could be repaid". Although the initial response was lukewarm with banks unwilling to lend and the high rates of stamp duty, Jagannathan managed to go on with the cause. By 2007, through LAFTI, she had transferred 13,000 acres (53 km2) to about 13,000 families. Through LAFTI, she also conducted workshops to allow people, during the nonagricultural season, to support themselves through entrepreneurial efforts like mat weaving, tailoring, plumbing, carpentry, masonry, computer education and electronics. LAFTI would gain such popularity that later even the Government of India would implement LAFTI's approach to increase the peaceful transfer of land.
Protecting the coastal ecosystem
In 1992 Jagannathan started working on issues concerned with prawn farms along the coast of Tamil Nadu. This time the problems were not from the local landlords, but from large industries from cities such as Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and Hyderabad which occupied large areas of land for aquaculture along the coast, which not only threw the landless labourers out of employment but also converted fertile and cultivable land into salty deserts after a few years when the prawn companies moved on. The prawn farms also caused heavy seepage of seawater into the groundwater in the neighbourhood, thus the local people were deprived of clean drinking water resources. The result is that even more small farmers sell their meagre land-holdings to multinational prawn companies and move to the cities, filling urban slums.
To address prawn farm issue the Jagannathans organised the whole of LAFTI's village movement to raise awareness among the people to oppose the prawn farms. Since 1993, the villagers have offered Satygraha (non-violent resistance), through rallies, fasts, and demonstrations in protest of establishing the prawn farms. They have been beaten up by hired goons, their houses have been burnt, and LAFTI workers have been imprisoned, because of false accusations of looting and arson. Undeterred by this, Jagannathan filed a 'public interest petition' in the Indian Supreme Court, which in turn asked NEERI (National Environmental Engineering Institute of India) to investigate the matter. NEERI's investigation report highlighted the environmental cost of the prawn farms to the nation and recommended all prawn farms within 500 meters of the coast to be banned. In December 1996 the Supreme Court issued a ruling against intensive shrimp farming in cultivable lands within 500 meters of the coastal area. It is said that because of the prawn farmers' local political influence, the Supreme Court judgement was not implemented on the ground. The legal battle around the prawn farms is still not resolved and the Jagannathans continue their struggle to establish non-exploitative, eco-friendly communities in the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu.
Jagannathan also works towards upliftment of women in Dalits and poor. She believes in mobilising women's cause by peaceful means.
Further achievements and honours
Jagannathan, either independently or together with her husband, has established a total of seven non-governmental institutions for the poor. In addition to this she has also played an active role in wider public life. She has been a Senate member of the Gandhigram Trust and University and of Madurai University. She was also a member of a number of local and state social welfare committees and a member of the National Committee on Education, the Land Reform Committee and the Planning Committee.
These activities have gained for the Jagannathans a high profile in India and they have won many awards: the Swami Pranavananda Peace Award (1987); the Jamnalal Bajaj Award (1988) and Padma Shri in 1989. In 1996 the couple received the Bhagavan Mahaveer Award "for propagating non-violence." In 1999 Krishnammal was awarded a Summit Foundation Award (Switzerland), and in 2008 she was awarded 'Opus Prize' by the University of Seattle. She also received the Right Livelihood Award along with her husband "for two long lifetimes of work dedicated to realising in practice the Gandhian vision of social justice and sustainable human development, for which they have been referred to as 'India's soul'". She is lovingly called as Amma (Mother in Tamil) by her followers. She plans to use the award money for her projects rather than for herself. Inspired by Amma's contribution of enabling more than 11000 poor and landless women to become landowners, a M.Phil research dissertation is dedicated to Amma. The dissertation is titled as Aspects of Agrarian History of Tamilakam:Region, Women and Technology during 16th and 17th centuries AD, submitted to Department of History, University of Hyderabad in 2009.
Kalekuri Prasad
Kalekuri Prasad (October 25, 1964 – May 17, 2013) was a Telugu poet, writer, literary critic, journalist, and Dalit revolutionary activist from Andhra Pradesh, India. A member of the Madiga Scheduled Caste (SC), his life and work were defined by his fierce opposition to caste oppression, his contributions to Telugu literature, and his advocacy for Dalit rights. Below is a detailed account of his life, career, activism, and legacy, drawing from verified sources and addressing his caste background as requested.
Personal and Caste Background
- Caste: Kalekuri Prasad belonged to the Madiga caste, a Scheduled Caste community in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The Madigas, historically classified as "untouchables," faced severe social and economic discrimination, often associated with occupations like leatherwork. Prasad’s Madiga identity was central to his activism and literary output, shaping his perspective on caste atrocities and intra-Dalit dynamics.
- He witnessed caste violence early in life, notably the 1968 lynching of Kotesu, a Madiga youth in his village, burned alive for a relationship with a Kamma woman. This incident profoundly influenced his poetry.
- He supported the Madiga Dandora movement (1994–2000s), which demanded subcategorization of SC reservations to address disparities, as Madigas felt marginalized compared to other SC groups like Malas.
- Sources note: "Fortunately, Kalekuri Prasad was born in an ‘untouchable’ caste, therefore he became an intellectual who was so accessible to the poor, the oppressed and the Dalits."
- Birth and Family: Born on October 25, 1964 (some sources cite 1962), in Kanchikacherla village, Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh, to Lalita Sarojini and Srinivasa Rao, both Madigas. His rural upbringing exposed him to feudalism and caste violence, including landlord abuses against Dalits.
- Personal Struggles: His Madiga identity led to social ostracism, even within progressive circles. During his inter-caste relationship with a Kamma woman, upper-caste members of the Virasam literary organization humiliated him, exacerbating his later struggles with depression and alcoholism.
Education
- Prasad attended local Telugu-medium schools in Krishna district. He pursued higher education in literature and journalism, though specific degrees are not well-documented. His self-taught proficiency in English and Telugu literature enabled him to translate over 70 works into Telugu, including Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things.
- His intellectual growth was shaped by exposure to revolutionary movements like the Srikakulam armed rebellion (1960s–70s) and Dalit literature, particularly Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s writings.
Career
Prasad’s career spanned journalism, literature, and activism, all rooted in his anti-caste ideology.
Journalism (1989–2000s)
- Began as a reporter for Andhrabhoomi, a Telugu daily, covering social issues.
- Contributed to progressive magazines like Nigha, Ekalavya, and Bahujana Keratalu, focusing on Dalit atrocities such as the Karamchedu (1985) and Tsunduru (1991) massacres.
- Critiqued the failure of mainstream leftist groups, including Virasam, to address caste oppression despite their anti-feudal rhetoric.
Literary Contributions
- Poetry: Known for powerful, anti-caste poems like “I’m a Dalit Mother,” which mourns caste killings while vowing resistance: “Oh high caste ministers... I’m a heroic mother — I’m a Dalit mother — I will give birth to swords besides sons and hide them from you.” His works, including those in Andhra Pradesh lo Dalitulu (Dalits in Andhra Pradesh), blend personal trauma with collective Dalit history, referencing massacres like Kilvenmani (1968) and Chunduru (1991).
- Literary Criticism: Edited magazines and critiqued Telugu literature’s caste biases, exposing the hypocrisy of upper-caste “progressive” writers who upheld caste norms privately.
- Translations: Translated over 70 English works into Telugu, including Roy’s The God of Small Things and The End of Imagination, making global feminist and anti-imperialist ideas accessible to Telugu Dalit readers.
- His writing transformed Telugu literature by centering raw Dalit voices, moving away from elite aesthetics to street-level defiance.
Activism
- Dalit Revolutionary: Advocated for Dalit rights globally, speaking at the 2001 World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, alongside Fidel Castro, framing caste as a form of racial discrimination.
- Supported revolutionary movements like Srikakulam and opposed communal-caste violence, such as the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition.
- Challenged social norms through his open lifestyle, including an inter-caste live-in relationship, which he defended publicly despite backlash.
- His activism extended to grassroots organizing, amplifying Madiga demands for equitable reservation policies.
Personal Life
- Relationships: Had a long-term inter-caste relationship with a Kamma woman (a colleague from Virasam), which faced casteist opposition from upper-caste peers. This rejection deepened his disillusionment with progressive movements.
- Personality: Described as “a snake in the backyard of those dominant caste revolutionaries whose practice didn’t match their preaching,” he rejected bourgeois notions of privacy and lived openly, sharing his struggles and joys.
- Challenges: Struggled with alcoholism in later years, linked to caste trauma and betrayal by allies. Posthumously, casteist narratives framed his drinking as a flaw to discredit his legacy.
Death and Legacy
- Death: Died on May 17, 2013, at Ambedkar Bhavan in Ongole, Andhra Pradesh, aged 48. Tributes from activists and writers vowed to continue his fight against caste oppression.
- Legacy: Prasad remains a “fluttering flag of defiance” in Dalit literature and activism. His songs have been adapted in films, and there are ongoing calls to publish his complete works. His Madiga identity continues to inspire SC subcategorization debates in Andhra Pradesh.
- Impact: He exposed contradictions in leftist and literary circles, emphasizing that anti-caste work is essential for true revolution. His poetry and translations democratized knowledge for Telugu Dalits, leaving a lasting mark on anti-caste movements.
Dr. Khubchand Baghel
छत्तीसगढ़ राज्य के स्वप्नदृष्टा डॉ. खूबचंद बघेल
सम्पूर्ण जीवन समाज और कृषकों के कल्याण तथा विभिन्न रचनात्मक कार्यो के लिए समर्पित डॉ. खूबचंद बघेल
डॉ. खूबचंद बघेल का सम्पूर्ण जीवन समाज और कृषकों के कल्याण तथा विभिन्न रचनात्मक कार्यो के लिए समर्पित था । आपका जन्म रायपुर जिले के पथरी ग्राम में 19 जुलाई 1900 को हुआ था । पिता का नाम जुड़ावन प्रसाद तथा माता का नाम केकती बाई था । आपकी प्रारंभिक शिक्षा गांव में तथा हाईस्कूल की पढ़ाई रायपुर में हुई । 1925 में नागपुर से चिकित्सा परीक्षा उत्तीर्ण करने के पश्चात् असिस्टेंट मेडिकल आफिसर के रुप में कार्यरत रहे ।
नागपुर में अध्ययन के समय से आप राष्ट्रीय विचारधारा से प्रभावित होकर राष्ट्रीय आंदोलन में सक्रिय भागीदारी करने लगे । महात्मा गांधी से प्रभावित होकर गांव-गांव में घूमकर असहयोग आंदोलन का प्रचार किया । 1930 में नमक सत्याग्रह के दौरान शासकीय नौकरी छोड़कर आन्दोलन में शामिल हो गए । 1940 के व्यक्तिगत सत्याग्रह में तीसरी बार जेल गए । 1942 में भारत छोड़ो आंदोलन में आपको फिर ढाई वर्ष की कठोर कैद हुई । 1951 में कांग्रेस मतभेद की वजह से आचार्य कृपलानी की किसान मजदूर पार्टी में शामिल हो गए ।
आप 1951 में विधानसभा के लिए निर्वाचित हुए और 1962 तक सदस्य रहे । 1967 में आप राज्यसभा के लिए चुने गए । व्यवसाय से चिकित्सक होने के बावजूद आप कृषि और कृषकों की उन्नति के लिए निरंतर प्रयासरत रहे । आप छत्तीसगढ़ के अनेक आदिवासी-किसान आंदोलनों के प्रेरणा स्रोत एवं नेतृत्वकर्ता थे । आपने कृषि को उद्योग के समकक्ष विकसित करने की दिशा में अभूतपूर्व प्रयास किया । पृथक छत्तीसगढ़ राज्य के लिए, जन जागृत करने की दिशा में आप लगातार संलग्न रहे ।
साहित्य सृजन, लोकमंचीय प्रस्तुति तथा बोल-चाल में आप छत्तीसगढ़ी के पक्षधर थे । इन उद्देश्यों को पूरा करने के लिए आपने 1967 में रायपुर में छत्तीसगढ़ भ्रातृसंघ नामक संस्था का गठन किया । 22 फरवरी 1969 को आपका देहावसान हो गया । छत्तीसगढ़ शासन ने उनकी स्मृति में कृषि के क्षेत्र में महत्वपूर्ण उपलब्धि एवं अनुसंधान को प्रोत्साहित करने के लिए डॉ. खूबचंद बघेल सम्मान स्थापित किया है
Karem Shivaji
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Karem Sivaji
Born 25 December 1978
Nationality Indian
Occupation CHAIRMAN SC,ST COMMISSION
Government of Andhra PradeshDalit Social activist & Founder of Mala Mahanadu and National president
Spouse(s) Rajeswari
Children Raviteja, Kiran Mohan, Laxmi Bhavani
Parent(s) Karem Mohan Rao (late),Sarojini
Karem Sivaji (born 25 December 1978) is the founder and national president of Mala Mahanadu, He is the leading voice of the Mala community.He is the prominent face of Mala community voicing the community's stand in Print and Electronic Media. He is appointed as the first chairman of Sc,St Commission of the divided Andhra state under the Honourable Chief minister Sri Nara Chandrababu Naidu garu.
Background
Mr.Sivaji is from West Godavari district, India which has a sizeable population of Mala (caste). He played a prominent role in Mala Mahanadu and rose to level of national president. He is a strong Opponent of Categorization of Scheduled Castes. Mala Mahanadu was united when it was under P.V Rao but after his death it was divided owing to the differences among the top leaders. Karem alleges that Jupudi was the stooge of Congress and his stir was aimed at diluting the Mala's agitation.
Social activism
Karem Sivaji has undertaken many hunger strikes to put pressure on Government to stop SC categorization. Mala mahanadu activists under his leadership staged dharnas before the Collectorates climbed Cell phone towers, attempted suicides to show their resistance to SC Categorization. Karem was arrested on many occasions for doing such things.
Shivaji believed in Chiru's social justice and has supported PRP during 2009 elections. However he is politically active unlike his rival Jupudi who is now in YSR Congress Party. He is also in favour of bifurcation of state as it would make Mala's a key social group in Coastal Andhra region and the division will make SCs strong contenders for CM's post in both states.
Kisan Faguji Bansod
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kisan Faguji Bansod (Marathi: किसन फागुजी बनसोड, 1879–1946) was a leader of Dalit movement in pre-independence India.
Jalsa of Kisan Faguji Bansod
Bansod was born on 18 February 1879 in a Mahar family at Mohapa village near Nagpur. Influenced by the Bhakti cult, he was a proponent of upliftment of dalits within the fold of Hinduism. He was an advocate of education for dalit boys and girls. Therefore, he established one Chokhamela girls' school at Nagpur. He was also aware of importance of the press to create awareness among the dalit community. He started his own press in 1910 and published the journals Nirashrit Hind Nagarik, Vital Vidhwansak, Majur Patrika, and Chokhamela. He was one of the secretaries of All India Depressed Classes Conference held at Nagpur in 1920.
Bansod was influenced by the works of Brahmo Samaj and Prarthana Samaj. He attended the annual function of Prarthana Samaj in 1905 at Mumbai. He was also associated with Vitthal Ramji Shinde, founder of Depressed Classes Mission. Though he was a supporter of theory of Aryan conquest and enslavement of dalits, contrary to Dr. Ambedkar, he was in favour of reforms in Hinduism rather than conversion out of it.
He died on 10 October 1946 at Nagpur.
K. Balagopal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kandalla Balagopal
Born 10 June 1952
Died 8 October 2009 (aged 57)
Movement Civil Liberties, Human Rights
Kandalla Balagopal (Telugu: కందాళ్ల బాలగోపాల్) (10 June 1952 – 8 October 2009) was an uncompromising human rights activist, mathematician and lawyer who was known for his work on the issue of civil liberties and human rights. He was a staunch civil liberties activist in Andhra Pradesh. He had broken away from the Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (APCLC), with which he was associated since its inception in ‘80’s, on the issue of violence perpetrated by the erstwhile CPI-ML Peoples War. He was a prolific writer on people’s issues and had recently written about the developments on the Maoist front in west Bengal.
Early life
K. Balagopal was the fifth child of middle class Telugu Brahmin couple Kandalla Parthanatha Sarma and Nagamani. His father’s job in the insurance sector entailed frequent transfers and Balagopal’s education was in several towns of AP, from Nellore to Vizianagaram. After Pre-University education in Kavali and BSc in Tirupati, he took an MSc and PhD in Mathematics from the Regional Engineering College in Warangal before proceeding to Delhi for a post-doctoral at the Indian Statistical Institute. He returned to Warangal in 1981, where he started teaching Maths at the Kakatiya University. This was also the time when he decided on social activism and joined the Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee.
Career
K. Balagopal was a brilliant mathematician, he began his career as a teacher in Warangal but soon turned full-time human rights activist. He was a Mathematics professor at Kakatiya University before quitting in 1985.He did his Phd in Kakatiya University. He chose to become a lawyer much later, after getting fully associated with the human rights movement.
K.Balagopal served as the general secretary of Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (APCLC) between 1983 and 1997. Following sharp differences of opinion within the APCLC on how to respond to revolutionary violence he left APCLC and formed the Human Rights Forum.
Over a period of 26 years, he documented and took up cases of thousands of extrajudicial killings by government forces in Andhra Pradesh and elsewhere. When the erstwhile people’s war cadres resorted to a rash of kidnaps in late ‘80’s, a vigilante organisation ‘Praja Bandhu’ abducted him demanding the release of two policemen from naxalite custody. The ‘Praja Bandhu’ which was suspected to have been floated by the state police had released him only after the abducted policemen were let off.
First introduced to Marxism through reading DD Kosambi, K. Balagopal followed a dialectical Marxist method in scores of articles published in the Economic and Political Weekly until the early 90s. Deeply disturbed by the collapse of the Soviet Union, Balagopal began to explore humanist traditions in Marxism for answers. His articles in the 90s especially in Telugu reflect this shift.
Human Rights Forum
Balagopal founded the Human Rights Forum in Andhra Pradesh.
His public criticism of the acts of violence by Maoists attracted severe criticism from the naxalites. Following his comments on the violence in Lalgarh in West Bengal, Maoist Central Committee member, Mallojula Koteshwar Rao had challenged Balagopal to visit Lalgarh resistance area to know the real picture.
He served as a member of the Expert Group on Development Challenges in Extremist Affected Areas, set up by Planning Commission of India in 2008.He genuinely believed that human rights are indivisible. He was known for his simple living and his extremely sharp analytical articles that appeared regularly in Economic and Political Weekly.His incisive articles in EPW included issues ranging from the regime of Indira Gandhi, Reservations issue, human rights violations from time to time in different places, the Gujarat riots, Special Economic Zones, land acquisition, sub-categorisation of Scheduled Castes in Andhra Pradesh, the failure of talks between the YSR Government and the CPI-Maoists and so on. He was a prolific writer in Telugu.
His Telugu essay 'Cheekati Konaalu' was a path-breaking one, in which he directly questioned the violation of human rights by those who claimed that they were working for a radical revolution. After the formation of Human Rights Forum, he expanded his activities and visited areas undergoing intense social turmoil in Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat, West Bengal and Orissa. In Orissa his fact-finding teams visited Rayagada district and documented the perspective of people displaced by Utkal Allumina Project, Jagatsinghpur district in respect of people affected by proposed Posco steel plant and Kandhamal district, which was affected by communal and ethnic clashes in 2007/2008. Not only was he an intellectual giant,but he had his heart for the deprived and down-trodden. He analysed critically and exposed the hypocrisy in the functioning of most of the mainstream political parties.
K.Balagopal started practicing law nearly a decade ago and has argued dozens of cases pertaining to encounter killings by the police.
Death
K. Balagopal died of lung aspiration following bleeding of stomach ulcer in Hyderabad on the night of 8 October 2009.
Personal life
K. Balagopal was married to Vasanta Lakshmi, a journalist currently working in Andhra Jyothy newspaper. They have a son, Prabhath.
कालीचरण नंदा गवली
(Kalicharan Nandagavali)
विदर्भ के सामाजिक आंदोलन में बाबा साहब डॉ आंबेडकर के उदय होने के पूर्व जिस दलित नेता की भूमिका अग्रणी थी, वे थे गोंदिया के कालीचरण नंदागवली। कालीचरण नंदागवली गोंदिया के मालगुजार थे।
दलित और मालगुजार ? कुछ अजीब लग सकता है ! मगर , यह अजीब नहीं था । यद्यपि, दलित का मतलब ही मार्जिनल क्लॉस है। परन्तु , ढूंढे से एकाध पटेल/ मालगुजार भी देखने मिल जाते हैं । उदहारण के लिए किरनापुर के पांडुरंग भिमटे जी। भिमटे जी को मैं व्यक्तिगत रूप से जानता हूँ।
बहरहाल, नंदागवली जी घर से समृद्ध थे। वे एक समय गोंदिया नगरपालिका कमेटी के सदस्य रहे थे। आपका जन्म महार परिवार में सन 1881 में हुआ था। उनका घराना कबीर पंथी था। वे कबीर पंथ के महंत थे।
सन 1909-10 में कालीचरण नंदा गवली जी ने गोंदिया में सर्व-प्रथम लड़कियों का एक स्कूल खोला था। ध्यान रहे, उस ज़माने में लड़कियों को स्कूल भेजना अच्छा नहीं समझा जाता था। लड़कियों का यह स्कूल तब, नंदागवली जी ने बिना किसी सहायता के खुद का पैसा लगा कर खोला था। समाज में जाग्रति लाने के उद्देश्य से कालीचरण नंदागवली ने ' चोखा मेला ' और ' बिटाल विध्वंसक ' नामक समाचार-पत्रों का प्रकाशन किया था ।
कालीचरण नंदा गवली सन 1920 से 1923 तक सी पी एंड बरार विधान मंडल के सदस्य रहे थे। विधान मंडल का सदस्य रहते हुए कालीचरण नंदा गवली ने दलित समाज के हित के लिए अनेकों काम किये। आपने 13 अग 1923 को एक बिल प्रस्तुत किया था जिसमे यह मांग की गई थी कि सार्वजनिक स्थानों के उपयोग का अधिकार दलित समाज के लोगों को हो। यद्यपि, यह बिल विधान सभा में पारित नहीं हो पाया । किन्तु , ऐसा कर वे लोगों का ध्यान इस तरफ खींचने में सफल हुए थे .
सन 1920 के दौरान नागपुर में कोल्हापुर के महाराजा छत्रपति साहू जी महाराज के अध्यक्षता में बहिष्कृत हितकारिणी सभा का जो अधिवेशन हुआ था , कालीचरण नंदा गवली उसके स्वागताध्यक्ष बनाए गए थे।
दलितों को राजनैतिक अधिकार प्राप्त होना चाहिए, इस उद्देश्य से विदर्भ से कालीचरण नंदा गवली ने सन 1919 में साउथबरो कमेटी (1919) को ज्ञापन दिया था। विदित हो, इसी साउथबरो कमेटी के समक्ष, जो 'गवर्नमेंट इण्डिया एक्ट 1935' के लिए काम कर रही थी, डॉ आंबेडकर ने दलितों के लिए आरक्षण और पृथक चुनाव की मांग रखी थी। इसी तरह सायमन कमीशन(1928) जो संवैधानिक सुधारों के लिए भारत आया था, को भी नंदागवली जी ने दलितों के राजनैतिक अधिकारों के संबंध में ज्ञापन सौंपा था।
सामाज सुधार के क्षेत्र में उनके भारी योगदान को देखते हुए कालीचरण नंदा गवली को कई मौकों पर पुरष्कृत किया गया। सन 1923 में सी पी एंड बरार स्तर पर दलित समाज के एक बड़े अधिवेशन में उन्हें मान-पत्र भेट किया गया था। इसी अधिवेशन में एक दूसरा मान -पत्र दलित विद्यार्थी संघ की ओर से दिया गया था।
सन 1935 के येवला में डॉ आंबेडकर की यह घोषणा कि 'वे हिन्दू धर्म में पैदा हुए है किन्तु , एक हिन्दू के रूप में वे मरेंगे नहीं' - पर कांग्रेस सहित तमाम राजनैतिक पार्टियां और सामाजिक-धार्मिक संस्थाएं सकते आ गई थी । चारों तरफ से डॉ आंबेडकर पर दबाव था कि वे अपनी बात पर पुनर्विचार करें। डॉ आंबेडकर की इस घोषणा पर उनके अपने बहुतेरे लोग भी उन के साथ नहीं थे। कांग्रेस पार्टी के लोग उन्हें तरह-तरह का प्रलोभन दे रहे थे । इसी प्रलोभन में कालीचरण नंदा गवली, हेमचन्द्र खांडेकर, गणेश आकाजी गवई, पांडुरंग नंदराम भटकर, तुलाराम साखरे जैसे कई बड़े-बड़े दलित नेताओं ने डॉ आंबेडकर का साथ छोड़ दिया था । कालीचरण नंदा गवली सन 1936 में कुछ साथियों के साथ कांग्रेस में चले गए थे।
इस तोड़-फोड़ में विदर्भ से राव साहब गंगाराम ठवरे एक प्रमुख हस्ती थे। ठवरे के टूट कर कांग्रेस में चले जाने के कारण गोंदिया , बालाघाट और अन्य स्थानों में जितने भी महानुभाव पंथी थे, कांग्रेस में चले गए। गोंदिया से धन्नालाल पटेल, पुरंदर वैद्य, कुशोबा पटेल, मंगलदास गजभिए, उदल मेश्राम।
उनका देहांत 1962 में हुआ था।
Karl Marx
(full name: Karl Heinrich Marx) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist whose ideas fundamentally shaped modern political and economic thought. He is widely regarded as the father of Marxism, a theory that critiques capitalism and advocates for a classless, communist society.
Here is a comprehensive overview of his life, ideas, major works, and enduring legacy.
Early Life and Education
- Born: May 5, 1818, in Trier, Prussia (now Germany), into a middle-class Jewish family.
- His father, Heinrich Marx, was a successful lawyer who converted from Judaism to Lutheran Christianity (likely for professional reasons under Prussian restrictions on Jews) and had Karl baptized as a Christian.
- Marx was the third of nine children (oldest surviving son).
- He studied law at the University of Bonn (1835), where he was involved in student life, including drinking and a duel, before transferring to the more rigorous University of Berlin.
- At Berlin, he encountered Young Hegelians (radical followers of Hegel) and shifted toward philosophy.
- Earned a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Jena in 1841, with a thesis on ancient Greek philosophy (Democritus and Epicurus).
(Young Marx portraits: sketches from his early years in the 1830s–1840s, showing him as a student and emerging thinker.)
Career, Exile, and Personal Life
- Began as a journalist for the radical newspaper Rheinische Zeitung in Cologne (editor 1842–1843), but it was shut down by Prussian censorship.
- Married Jenny von Westphalen (from a Prussian aristocratic family) in 1843; they had seven children, though only three survived to adulthood (daughters Jenny, Laura, and Eleanor; sons died young).
- Exiled from Prussia → moved to Paris (1843), where he met Friedrich Engels (his lifelong collaborator and financial supporter).
- Expelled from Paris (1845) → Brussels → briefly Cologne during 1848 revolutions → final exile to London (1849), where he lived in poverty for the rest of his life, supported by Engels and occasional journalism.
- Suffered chronic health issues (boils, liver problems, bronchitis) and financial hardship; buried in Highgate Cemetery, London, on March 14, 1883 (aged 64), with his grave later inscribed with famous lines from his works.
(Classic portraits of Marx in his later years, with his iconic beard, from the 1860s–1870s.)
Key Ideas and Philosophy
Marx's thought evolved from philosophy to economics and politics:
- Dialectical Materialism — History advances through contradictions and class struggles (inverting Hegel's idealism; matter/economics drive ideas, not vice versa).
- Historical Materialism — Societies progress through stages based on modes of production (primitive communism → slavery → feudalism → capitalism → socialism → communism). Class struggle is the engine of history.
- Critique of Capitalism:
- Surplus Value and exploitation: Workers produce more value than their wages; capitalists appropriate the difference (profit).
- Alienation: Workers are estranged from their labor, products, fellow humans, and human potential under capitalism.
- Commodity Fetishism: Social relations appear as relations between things.
- Class Struggle — Proletariat (working class) vs. Bourgeoisie (capitalist class); predicted proletarian revolution leading to dictatorship of the proletariat, then stateless, classless communism.
- Rejected utopian socialism; emphasized scientific analysis of capitalism's internal contradictions (crises, falling profit rates, concentration of capital).
Major Works
- The Communist Manifesto (1848, co-authored with Engels) — Iconic pamphlet calling "Workers of the world, unite!" Predicted capitalism's overthrow.
- Das Kapital (Capital) (Vol. 1 published 1867; Vols. 2–3 edited by Engels posthumously 1885–1894) — Detailed critique of political economy, labor theory of value, accumulation, crises.
- Other key texts: The German Ideology (1845–46, with Engels), Theses on Feuerbach (1845), Grundrisse (1857–58, notebooks), Critique of the Gotha Program (1875).
Influence and Legacy
Marx never saw a successful communist revolution in his lifetime, but his ideas inspired:
- The Paris Commune (1871), Russian Revolution (1917), Chinese Revolution (1949), and many 20th-century socialist/communist states.
- Movements in labor rights, anti-colonialism, feminism (via thinkers like Engels), and critical theory.
- Marxism influenced sociology, economics, history, and philosophy (e.g., Frankfurt School, existential Marxism).
- Criticisms: Some argue his predictions (e.g., inevitable proletarian revolution in advanced capitalist countries) didn't fully materialize; 20th-century regimes claiming his name led to authoritarianism, contrasting his vision of worker emancipation.
- Today, his analysis of inequality, crises, and globalization remains relevant in debates on capitalism's flaws.
In summary, Karl Marx was a brilliant, often impoverished thinker whose relentless critique of exploitation and vision of human emancipation continue to provoke debate and inspire change worldwide more than 140 years after his death.
Kangla Manjhi
Early Life
- Born into a poor Gond family in the forested, tribal-dominated Bastar/Kanker area (then part of Central Provinces and Berar, now Chhattisgarh).
- Witnessed extreme poverty, exploitation by landlords, moneylenders, and British forest policies that restricted tribal access to resources.
- Deeply affected by the suffering of Adivasis ("kangali" or destitution), he renounced personal comforts to live among and for the poor, adopting the name Kangla Manjhi to symbolize solidarity with the oppressed.
Activism and Organizational Work
Kangla Manjhi began his efforts early, reportedly from age 9, mobilizing against colonial rule.
- In 1910, he founded the Shri Manjhi Antarrashtriya Samajwad Adiwasi Kisan Sainik Sanstha (also called Manjhi Sarkar or Kangla Manjhi Sanstha), an organization blending socialist ideals, tribal autonomy, and non-violent resistance.
- Aimed to unite Adivasis (especially Gonds), raise awareness of rights, oppose exploitation, and promote self-reliance.
- Established a "parallel government" structure for tribals, with uniformed "sainiks" (soldiers/volunteers) in khaki uniforms, badges, and cross-belts (non-armed, peaceful force).
- Influenced by Mahatma Gandhi (non-violence) and Subhas Chandra Bose (Azad Hind Fauj spirit), he formed a "Shanti Sena" (Peace Army) in 1942 during Quit India Movement.
- His unarmed tribal volunteers harassed British authorities through protests, awareness, and unity-building in Chhattisgarh/Madhya Pradesh regions.
- Mobilized Gond kings/rulers in Bastar and other princely states against British.
- Post-independence (especially from 1951), the organization formalized with badges/uniforms; reportedly presented Badge No. 1 to India's first PM Jawaharlal Nehru.
- Focused on tribal unity across states (Gondwana concept), cultural preservation, and fighting displacement/land alienation.
Legacy and Impact
- Died on December 5, 1984, in Baghmar village (Balod district, Chhattisgarh) after prolonged illness.
- His samadhi (memorial) in Baghmar (now called Manjhi Dham or Kangla Manjhi Dham) hosts annual punyatithi (death anniversary) events from December 5–7, attracting thousands of uniformed "sainiks" from across India.
- The organization claims over 2 lakh (200,000+) uniformed members nationwide today, continuing work on tribal welfare, rights, and cultural events (e.g., pilgrimages to Gond sites like Kachargarh or Dongargarh).
- Honored as a Krantiveer (revolutionary hero) in Chhattisgarh; inspires Adivasi movements for identity, rights, and anti-exploitation.
- A government college in Dondi (Balod district) is named Government Kangla Manjhi College.
- Family and followers (including his wife Rajmata Phulwadevi Kange) established related bodies like Akhil Bhartiya Mata Dantewadin Samaj Samiti.
Kangla Manjhi's life embodies grassroots Adivasi resistance: building a disciplined, non-violent "army" of the poor to assert dignity, unity, and sovereignty over land and culture. His "Manjhi Sarkar" remains active as a socio-cultural force in tribal India, symbolizing enduring fight against marginalization.
Karem Shivaji
Primary Identity: Lawyer, Dalit Rights Activist, and Social Worker
Region: Telangana, India (operates primarily in the districts of Khammam, Bhadradri Kothagudem, and Mahabubabad)
Focus Areas: Land rights, caste-based atrocities, access to justice for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), and political empowerment of marginalized communities.
Background & Ideological Foundation
Community: He is a Dalit activist, meaning his work is rooted in the experiences and struggles of India's historically oppressed castes (Scheduled Castes). His personal background informs his lifelong commitment to anti-caste activism.
Inspiration: His activism is heavily influenced by the constitutionalism and radical philosophy of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. He often frames struggles through the lens of constitutional rights and social justice.
Key Areas of Activism & Major Campaigns
Land Rights (A Central Theme):
He is best known for championing the cause of Dalit and Tribal land ownership. He leads movements to reclaim and protect lands assigned to these communities under government schemes but often illegally occupied by dominant castes.
Organizes "land sieges" or occupations where activists and community members collectively till and claim disputed lands.
Fights legal battles to ensure the implementation of land ceiling laws and the proper distribution of government wasteland to the landless.
Fighting Caste Atrocities:
Provides legal aid and mobilizes public action in cases of caste-based violence, discrimination, and untouchability.
Ensures cases are registered under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and monitors investigation and prosecution, often challenging police inaction.
Political Mobilization & Assertion:
Advocates for independent Dalit political power rather than reliance on mainstream parties. He has been associated with mobilizations for separate electoral constituencies for Dalits (like the "Dalit Soshana Zilla" demand).
Organizes large public meetings, rallies, and marches to build political consciousness and assert the rights of Dalits and Adivasis.
Legal Activism:
As a lawyer, he files Public Interest Litigations (PILs) and individual cases in the Telangana High Court and lower courts.
Uses the legal system strategically to challenge systemic injustices and secure rights guaranteed by the Constitution.
Organizational Affiliation & Style
He is the founder and leading figure of the "Karem Shivaji Yuvajana Sangham" (also called the Karem Shivaji Youth Association).
Activism Style: Known for direct, confrontational, and grassroots-based activism. He employs methods of civil disobedience, satyagraha, and mass mobilization, often leading to his arrest. His approach is more radical and mass-oriented than NGO-style advocacy.
Controversies & Challenges
His militant methods and direct confrontations with landed dominant castes and the state have made him a controversial figure.
He has faced numerous legal cases (often seen as politically motivated by his supporters) for activities like unlawful assembly, rioting, and trespass during land reclamation protests.
His life and work involve significant personal risk, as land rights activism in rural India can be dangerous, with threats from powerful local interests.
Significance & Legacy
Voice of the Marginalized: In Telangana, he is seen as a fearless, on-ground leader who directly tackles the most sensitive issues of caste and economic oppression.
Constitutional Champion: Positions himself as a defender of the Constitution of India, especially its provisions for social justice and equality, against feudal and casteist forces.
Inspiration: He inspires a younger generation of Dalit activists in the region to use a combination of law, direct action, and political organization.
In Summary
Karem Shivaji is not just an activist but a social movement leader who operates at the volatile intersection of caste, land, law, and power in rural Telangana. His work exemplifies the ongoing and often tense struggle for the realization of constitutional promises for India's most marginalized communities, decades after independence.
Katti Padma Rao
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Katti Padma Rao (born 27 July 1953) is a Dalit poet, scholar and activist from Andhra Pradesh, India. He is the founding general secretary of Dalit Mahasabha, a people's organisation that spearheaded the Dalit movement in Andhra Pradesh in the aftermath of the 1985 Karamchedu massacre in the coastal region of that state. A scholar in both Telugu and Sanskrit, he has published several volumes of poetry, and books on sociology, religion, philosophy, history, and women's studies. He is a regular columnist in major Telugu newspapers and magazines.
Born : 27 July 1953
Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, India
Occupation : Dalit activist; publicist and leader of the Dalit Mahasabha in Telugu-speaking land.
Following the Karamchedu massacre of Madiga Dalits in 1985, Rao emerged as a significant socio-political activist. He was the founder General Secretary of the Andhra Pradesh Dalit Mahasabha organisation, which mobilised not only the Dalits, but also the Adivasis and the Backward Classes against caste-based atrocities and oppression.
Rao launched the Peda Prajala Party (Poor People's Party) in the late 1980s. In the early 1990s, he was part of the Bahujan Samaj Party. In the late 2000s, he joined the Praja Rajyam Party. His forays into electoral politics were largely unsuccessful.
Rao is recognised as a Dalit ideologue, intellectual, writer and socio-political activist.
Boyi Bhimanna Trust Award for literature from Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy in 2007
Pratibha Award from the Government of Andhra Pradesh for poetry in 2006
Sri Ramulu Telugu University Award for Poetry in 2006
Sahitya Puraskaram by Andhra Saraswatha Parishat by the Governor of Andhra Pradesh, Sushil Kumar Shinde, 2006
Avantsa Soma Sunder Sahiti Trust Award in 2005
Dr. C. Narayana Reddy Sahiti Award, Sri Narayana Reddy Kalapeetam, Hyderabad, 2003
Ambedkar Award, 1992, Hyderabad
Titles in English
Women and Caste in India (1983)
Social and Philosophical Movements in India (1991)
Dalit Women (1991)
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar: The Visionary
Caste and Alternative Culture (1995)
Charvaka Darshan (1998)
Woman in Indian Culture (1999)
Journey towards Dalit Dignity (1999)
Buddhist Philosophy (2007)
Jana Geetham (1979)
Hethuvada Satyalu (1980)
Jailu Gantalu (1986)
Vimukthi Geetham (1987)
Desam Diary (1987)
Raktha Kshetram (1992)
Nalla Kaluva (1996)
Neelikeka
Mullakireetam poetry (2002)
Bhoomi Basha poetry (2004)
Kattela Moppu poetry (2007)
Aatma gaurava swaram (2010)
Ambedkar
Samghika Viplavamoorthy: Dr. B. R. Ambedkar (1990)
Ambedkar-Gandhi (2001)
Ambedkar-Marx-Phule (2001)
Ambedkar-Buddha (2002)
Ambedkar Thatvasastram (2007)
Kula Samgharshanalu (1983)
Kulam Punadulu (1981)
Reservations: Hindu Mathonmadam (1991)
Kulam — Prathyamnaya Samskrithi (1993)
Dalithula Charitra (1st Part)
Dalithula Charitra (2nd Part, 1997)
Dalithula Charitra (3rd Part, 1998)
Dalithula Charitra (4th Part, 1999)
Charvaka Darshan (1991)
Buddha Darshan (1997)
Dalita Darshanam (2008)
Mahatma Phule (2008)
Bharatheeya Samskruthilo Sthree (1993)
PitruSwamya Vyavasthalo Sthree (2002)
Samghika Viplava Rachayithalu (1983)
Dalitha Sahitya Vudyamam — Joshua (1995)
Joshua Samajika Thatvam (1995)
Mahakavi Jasuva Samajika viplavam (2007)
Santh Ravidas Bhakti kavitodhyamam (2008)
Kallat Kausallya Ammal
(m. 1878–1930)
Children 5
Relatives Ayyathan Janaki Ammal
Awards Rao Sahib
This article is part of a series on
Reformation in Kerala
Background
Caste system in Kerala
Untouchability
Hindu reforms
Varna
Notable people
Ayya Vaikundar
Ayyavu Swamikal
Chattampi Swamikal
Narayana Guru
Arattupuzha Velayudha Panicker
Sahodaran Ayyappan
Ayyathan Gopalan
Vagbhatananda
Brahmananda Sivayogi
Pandit Karuppan
T. K. Madhavan
Mannathu Padmanabhan
Mosa Walsalam Sastriyar
V. T. Bhattathiripad
Swadeshabhimani
Brahmadharmam
Saranjiniparinayam (musical drama)
Susheeladukham (musical drama)
Plague Farse (drama)
Keerthanaratnamala
Brahmamatham
Rammohunroy (Harikatha)
Madhaaikyam
Madhavum Guruvum
Madhavan
Aaradhanayude Randu Padikal
Brahma Madhavum Ithara Madhangalum
Jaathi
Vivaahageethangal
Jai Britannia
Yeshu Daivamayirunnuvo!
British Bharana Mahathmyam
Ente Ammayude Ormadaykk (biography of mother Kallat Chiruthammal)
(m. 1878–1930)
Children 5
Relatives Ayyathan Janaki Ammal
Awards Rao Sahib
This article is part of a series on
Reformation in Kerala
Background
Caste system in Kerala
Untouchability
Hindu reforms
Varna
Notable people
Ayya Vaikundar
Ayyavu Swamikal
Chattampi Swamikal
Narayana Guru
Arattupuzha Velayudha Panicker
Sahodaran Ayyappan
Ayyathan Gopalan
Vagbhatananda
Brahmananda Sivayogi
Pandit Karuppan
T. K. Madhavan
Mannathu Padmanabhan
Mosa Walsalam Sastriyar
V. T. Bhattathiripad
Swadeshabhimani
Rao Sahib Ayyathan Gopalan (3 March 1861 - 2 May 1948), popularly known as "Darsarji"and "Darsar Sahib" ("doctor"), was an Indian physician, writer, philanthropist, and a social reformer. He is the founder of the Sugunavardhini movement and a leader and propagandist of Brahmo Samaj in Kerala. He denounced idol worship and fought to end those social practices in Kerala that he thought were unethical. Among his followers were Brahmananda Swami Sivayogi, Vaghbatananda, and Brahmavadhi P. Kunhiraman. Gopalan titled P. Kunhiraman as "Brahmavadhi" and Sivayogi as "Brahmananda Swami".
He was awarded and honored by the British government with the highest civilian award and title, the "Rao Sahib", for his services. The formation of the Sugunavardhini movement and Brahmosamaj played a significant role in the Kerala reformation movement.
Biography
Gopalan was born in Thalassery, Kerala, as the first son of Ayyathan Chandhan and Kallat Chiruthammal. His youngest sister, Ayyathan Janaki Ammal[20] was the first female doctor in Kerala(Malabar) (First malayali Lady Doctor),which was an administrative district of Madras Presidency during British rule in India.
He opposed superstitions and caste believes at an early age. Reluctant to observe caste differences or customs. He was against all caste evils and lived as a true "Brahmo" until his death. He did not act or oppose any other reform movements or any caste movements, but instead worked as a free man to revive society from all social evils.
He never preserved the name of the caste in which he was born, nor spoke for their upliftment. Instead he criticized the superstitions and superstitious practices inside his own caste. Although he was from the Thiyyar community, he never followed their customs and did not live as a Thiyyar, thus being excommunicated from the thiyyar caste at an early age.
He studied at Anjarakkandy Elementary school, Brennen School, Mission High School and later joined Madras Medical College[21] on 19 September 1884. He read about the Raja Ram Mohan Roy's Brahmo Samaj. ,Joined Brahmo Samaj and engaged in its social reform activities and became an active executive member of the General Committee of Calcutta Brahmo Samaj. He participated in the committee's annual conferences at various locations across India, along with Brahmo leaders such as Kesub Chandra Sen, Debendranath Tagore, Sivanath Sastri, Rabindranath Tagore, and R. G. Bhandarkar. In 1888, he obtained a medical degree with honors and entered into government service. He worked as a medic in several hospitals across South India and as a medical lecturer.
Gopalan married Kallat Kausallyaammal (Menon) on 30 December 1894. Ramakrishna Gobal Bhandhakar, a Brahmo leader and social reformer at that time, conducted the wedding at the Madras Brahmo Samaj. Several Brahmo leaders presided over the wedding. Kausallyaammal was a strong supporter of Gopalan and assisted his social reform activities.
Social reform activities
Establishment of Brahmosamaj branches in Kerala
Gopalan worked as a doctor, chief surgeon, and superintendent at several hospitals in South India,He returned to Kerala in 1896 and joined the Calicut Lunatic asylum (now the Kuthiravattom Mental Hospital) as its first superintendent. Meanwhile, caste and racial discrimination, malicious practices, and social injustices were prevalent in Kerala, and atrocities against women and children were at their peak.
Gopalan extended his reform ideologies and propagated his reform activities by establishing the first branch of Brahmo Samaj on 17 January 1898 at Calicut. To conduct Samaj's meetings and prayers, a separate brahmomandir (lit. "hall")—now Ayathan Gopalan Memorial School[35]—was opened to the public on 17 October 1900. The brahmomandir was inaugurated by Mana Vikraman Ettan Thampuran, the Zamorin King of Calicut.
The second branch of Brahmo Samaj was established at Alappuzha in 1924.Later, Intercaste marriages were inspired in South Kerala. Under the leadership of Gopalan, social reforms were able to make great strides.
Laater on Brahmosamaj branches were also set up at Alathur, Telicherry, and at different parts of Kerala .
Sugunavardhini Movement
In the year 1900, Gopalan and Kausallyaammal initiated the Sugunavardhini Movement and extended his social reform activities. Through this movement, he worked to foster human values in children, attract children to his social activities, protect the rights of women, and provide free education to girls and marginalised sections of society, especially the Harijan (Dalit) communities in Kerala, that were poorly treated by the higher castes, He established the Chandhawarkar Elementary School with the intention to educate girls and the underprivileged sections of society.
In addition to supporting and educating women and the underprivileged, their movement led reforms to oppose idolatry; promote and conduct Misra Vivaham (inter-caste marriages) and Misra Bhojanam (inter-dining); spread women's education; maintain gender equality; eradicate untouchability, caste and racial discrimination; and conduct mass prayers and communion debates. Gopalan also participated in the Thali Road strike (Samaram at Calicut).
Impact of Sugunavardhini and Brahmosamaj at Malabar
The hymns for prayers sung at Brahmo Samaj were composed by Gopalan and are compiled in his book Keerthanaratnamala. He conducted several inter-caste marriages at Brahmo Samaj and worked to promote non-idol worship. "Brahmodharma", better known as the Brahmosamaj Bible, was written in Bengali by Maharshi Debendranath Tagore and was translated by him into Malayalam. He promoted his reformist ideologies by conducting dramas, public awareness campaign, and writings.
The Sugunavardhini Movement and Brahmo Samaj were composed mostly of professionals and intellectuals, including Brahmananda Swamisivayogi, Vagbhatananda Guru, and Brahmavadi P. Kunhiraman, all with a more secular approach to reform.
He raised his children, grandchildren, and all his followers as a good man, without raising them to live under a particular race, religion, or creed. It is for this reason that their name has been retained as "Brahmo" without a caste name.
All of his children are intermarried (Intercaste marriage). All of them were married according to Brahmasamaj rituals. Even today, his children, grandchildren, family and followers remain casteless without caste names.
On 4 June 1917, Gopalan was honored by the British Government with the highest civilian award and title, Rao Sahib, for his social and humanitarian services.
He died at the age of 87 on 2 May 1948.
Works
Gopalan translated the Bible of Brahmo Samaj, Brahmodharma, which was initially written in Bengali by Maharshi Debendranath Tagore, to Malayalam in 1910. He also wrote songs and keerthanams to be sung during Brahmo Samaj prayer meetings. He propagated his reform ideologies through drama, public awareness, and his writings. Saranjiniparinayam, Susheeladukham (musical drama), and Plaguefarse were among his famous dramas performed throughout by PSV Natya sangam in Kerala for many years. His other literary contributions are listed below:
Saranjiniparinayam (musical drama)
Susheeladukham (musical drama)
Plague Farse (drama)
Keerthanaratnamala
Brahmamatham
Rammohunroy (Harikatha)
Madhaaikyam
Madhavum Guruvum
Madhavan
Aaradhanayude Randu Padikal
Brahma Madhavum Ithara Madhangalum
Jaathi
Vivaahageethangal
Jai Britannia
Yeshu Daivamayirunnuvo!
British Bharana Mahathmyam
Ente Ammayude Ormadaykk (biography of mother Kallat Chiruthammal)
K. P. Vallon
K. P. Vallon (full name: Kolote P. Vallon, also known as Kolote Pizhangan Vallon) was a prominent Dalit social reformer and activist from Kerala, India. Born on January 2, 1894 (or 1900 in some sources), in Mulavukad (near Kochi) to a Pulaya family, he belonged to the Pulaya community, a historically oppressed Scheduled Caste group subjected to untouchability and severe discrimination in the erstwhile Cochin State.
Key Contributions
Along with leaders like Pandit Karuppan (a poet and reformer from the Dheevara community) and P. C. Chanchan, Vallon played a pivotal role in the upliftment of the Pulaya and other depressed classes during the early 20th century. He served as secretary and later president of the Cochin Pulaya Mahasabha, an organization fighting for Dalit rights.
His activism focused on:
- Access to public roads
- Education for oppressed communities
- Fair wages and labor rights
- Opposition to caste-based discrimination
He reportedly converted to Buddhism to protest Hinduism's caste system and attempted to spread it in his region.
Political Role
Vallon was nominated twice to the Cochin Legislative Council (in 1931 and 1939) by the Maharaja of Cochin, where he advocated strongly for the rights of depressed classes and laborers.
He died young on April 14, 1940, at age 46 (or 40), and is remembered as a "voice of the voiceless" in Kerala's Dalit movement, though some historians note he received less recognition compared to contemporaries.
Legacy
In his honor, a major road in Kochi—K. P. Vallon Road—connects Kadavanthra Junction to areas like Girinagar, Panampilly Nagar, and Thevara.
His life and work are documented in biographies, including a 1981 sketch by Vrindavanam Venugopalan, and he remains an important figure in Kerala's social reform history.
Lalita B.K.
Lalita B.K. (also written as Lalita BK or Lalita Bishwakarma/Bishwokarma, where "B.K." commonly stands for Bishwakarma, a surname prevalent among Dalit communities in Nepal and parts of India) refers to several individuals in activist or community contexts, primarily from Nepal. The name aligns with the pattern of your previous queries on grassroots activists (often Dalit women with "B.K." or similar initials, like Somati B.K.). There is no single highly prominent national-level figure by this exact name matching major Indian activist profiles, but the most relevant documented references point to grassroots women advocates in Nepal focused on human rights, women's empowerment, returnee migrant issues, and community development.
Most Prominent Reference: Lalita B.K. from Surkhet, Nepal (Human Rights Advocate)
- A 23-year-old (as of early 2025) resident of Panchapuri Municipality-5, Babyachaur, Surkhet district, Nepal.
- Recognized as a prominent advocate for human rights promotion and protection.
- Featured in reports by organizations like Rural Oriented Youth Movement Nepal (ROYM Nepal) in January 2025, highlighting her dedication to advancing human rights in her local community.
- Her work appears centered on grassroots advocacy, likely involving marginalized groups (given the Bishwakarma community context, often Dalit), though specific campaigns (e.g., against discrimination, for women's rights, or local justice) are not detailed extensively in public sources.
- She represents emerging young voices in Nepal's civil society, particularly in rural western regions like Karnali Province.
Other Related References to Lalita BK in Nepal (Often Returnee or Micro-Entrepreneur Contexts)
- Multiple mentions in development and anti-trafficking/returnee migrant reports (e.g., from Freedom Fund, CESLAM, and Daayitwa organization archives):
- As a returnee woman migrant worker who swore off foreign employment after challenging experiences (e.g., in Lebanon, receiving delayed or partial payments).
- Involved in micro-entrepreneurship, such as opening a tailoring shop in areas like Badhara Mirchaiya or Sirahali, with support from livelihood programs.
- Described as an inspiration to other women in her community for gaining confidence through group participation, no longer facing certain exploitations, and pursuing self-reliance.
- In a 2018 Kathmandu Post opinion piece, a Lalita BK from Ratanpur village was noted as receiving tailoring training and seeking to expand her business, symbolizing hope through skill-building and economic empowerment.
These profiles often intersect with broader themes in Nepal's development sector: combating labor exploitation abroad, preventing trafficking, promoting women's economic independence, and community-level human rights work—frequently involving Dalit or marginalized women.
Distinctions from Other "Lalita" Activists
- Not to be confused with high-profile Indian figures like:
- B.T. Lalitha Naik (Karnataka writer, politician, Dalit activist, former minister).
- Lalita Ramdas (Indian peacebuilder, feminist, anti-nuclear activist).
- Belli Lalitha (Telangana folk singer and statehood movement activist).
- No direct links to Maharashtra/Pune municipal activism (unlike previous queries on Suman Gaikwad or Anita Vijay Jambhulkar) or Rajasthan Dalit panchayat leaders.
Lalita B.K. fits the archetype of lesser-documented but impactful grassroots women activists in Nepal's rural and Dalit/marginalized communities, focusing on rights, empowerment, and resilience against systemic challenges. If this refers to a specific local figure (e.g., from a particular organization, event, or region in India/Nepal), or if there's additional context like a full name variation, cause, or location, more details could help refine the profile—many such activists gain visibility through NGO reports rather than mainstream media. For updates, checking Nepali development portals like ROYM Nepal, Freedom Fund, or local news in Surkhet/Karnali would be useful.
Lenin Raghuvanshi
Human Rights Activist & Founder of PVCHR
1. Early Life and Background
Full Name: Lenin Raghuvanshi (born October 18, 1970, in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh).
Family & Caste: Born into a Koiri (Kushwaha) family, an Other Backward Class (OBC) community in Uttar Pradesh traditionally involved in agriculture. His father was a lecturer in psychology, and his mother a homemaker.
Education: Holds a Bachelor’s in Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) from State Ayurvedic College, Varanasi.
Early Influence: Initially involved in Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP, the RSS student wing) but left due to ideological differences over caste discrimination. The systemic oppression of Dalits and Adivasis he witnessed in rural Uttar Pradesh transformed him into a human rights activist.
2. Founding of PVCHR and Core Activism
In 1996, he co-founded the People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR) with his wife Shruti Nagvanshi and others. PVCHR is based in Varanasi and focuses on:
Combating caste-based atrocities and untouchability.
Documenting torture and extrajudicial violence by state and non-state actors.
Promoting democratic rights for marginalized communities (Dalits, Adivasis, Muslims, women, and children).
3. Key Focus Areas of Work
A. Anti-Torture and Legal Advocacy
Set up a torture rehabilitation center in Varanasi, providing medical, psychological, and legal support to survivors.
Documented thousands of cases of police torture, custodial violence, and encounter killings, leveraging UN mechanisms (e.g., UN Special Rapporteur on Torture).
Uses litigation and PILs to push for accountability and policy change.
B. Caste and Gender Justice
Works in Uttar Pradesh’s caste-ridden villages to dismantle discriminatory practices (e.g., forced labor, segregation in temples/water sources).
Empowers Dalit and Adivasi women through self-help groups, legal literacy, and leadership training.
Addresses gendered caste violence, including sexual assault and witch-hunting.
C. Child Rights and Education
Campaigns against child labor, trafficking, and malnutrition.
Promotes right to education for marginalized children and runs community learning centers.
D. Food Security and Livelihoods
Advocates for right to food and government welfare schemes (PDS, MNREGA) for the poor.
Supports sustainable livelihood initiatives for Dalit and tribal communities.
E. International Advocacy
Regularly engages with UN bodies (Human Rights Council, UPR) to highlight caste-based discrimination and torture in India.
Part of global networks like Forum Asia, OMCT (World Organisation Against Torture), and International Dalit Solidarity Network.
4. Philosophy and Approach
Grassroots Testimonials: Uses “testimonial therapy” and public hearings to help survivors narrate trauma and seek justice.
People’s Courts (Jan Sunwai): Organizes public platforms where victims present cases before activists, lawyers, and media.
Intersectional Framework: Links caste, class, gender, and state violence in analysis and advocacy.
Nonviolent Resistance: Inspired by Martin Luther King Jr., B.R. Ambedkar, and Mahatma Gandhi.
5. Awards and Recognition
Gwangju Prize for Human Rights (South Korea, 2007)
Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk (Ireland, 2009)
International Human Rights Prize of the City of Weimar (Germany, 2010)
Shaheed Bhagat Singh Award (2015)
International Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism (Human Rights Watch, 2021)
6. Challenges and Threats
Faces constant threats, harassment, and legal intimidation from dominant caste groups, local authorities, and police.
PVCHR’s office has been raided, and staff face surveillance.
Operates in a high-risk environment where human rights defenders are often targeted.
7. Personal Life
Married to Shruti Nagvanshi (co-founder of PVCHR), who is from a Rajput family—their inter-caste marriage was itself an act of defiance.
They have a son, Kabeer Karunik.
8. Legacy and Impact
Transformed PVCHR into a model for community-based human rights monitoring in North India.
Helped bring international attention to caste apartheid as a human rights issue.
Mentored a generation of grassroots activists from marginalized communities.
Blended Ambedkarite and Gandhian principles with international human rights frameworks.
9. How to Learn More
Books by Lenin: “Caste, Gender, and Torture in India” (writings and case studies).
PVCHR Website & Reports: Detailed documentation of cases and campaigns.
Films/Documentaries: “The Last Word” (on his work), “Eyes of the Buddha” (on torture survivors).
Follow: PVCHR on social media for real-time updates.
Lenin Raghuvanshi exemplifies intersectional human rights activism—leveraging his OBC identity to challenge caste hierarchy while centering the most marginalized. His work underscores that caste is not just a social issue but a grave human rights crisis requiring local courage and global solidarity.
Dr. Laxmi N. Berwa
Early Life & Background
- Born in India into a poor Dalit family, experiencing extreme caste-based humiliation and exclusion from childhood.
- Overcame barriers to pursue higher education and medicine.
- Graduated from the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, in 1970 (MBBS/MD equivalent).
- Migrated to the US, where he specialized in internal medicine and medical oncology.
- Practiced as a physician in the Washington, D.C./Maryland area (e.g., Camp Springs, MD; Suitland, MD; affiliated with MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center and others).
- Licensed in Maryland and New York; Fellow of the American College of Physicians (F.A.C.P.).
- His personal story of escaping caste oppression and succeeding professionally fueled his activism.
Professional Medical Career
- Long-time practicing oncologist and internist in the US (over 50+ years of experience as of recent records).
- Specializes in cancer care, internal medicine, and related fields.
- Maintained a private practice while dedicating significant time to activism.
Activism & Key Contributions
Dr. Berwa is a trailblazer in Dalit diaspora activism, helping elevate caste issues from a domestic Indian concern to an international human rights priority.
- In 1975, organized one of the earliest protests in Washington, D.C., against caste atrocities in India, highlighting parallels between Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's fight and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s civil rights struggle.
- Co-founder and key leader of VISION (Volunteers in Service of India's Oppressed or similar; full name Volunteers in the Service of Oppressed Indians/Nationals) — a pioneering Dalit American organization in the 1980s–1990s.
- Served as Secretary initially (under first president Dr. Shobha Singh), later as President (second president).
- Designed the organization's logo.
- Led protests, advocacy, consciousness-raising, and appeals to international bodies.
- Testified and spoke at the United Nations Sub-Commission on Human Rights (e.g., 1995 intervention characterizing Dalits' "constant state of terror and humiliation").
- Contributed to global forums on caste as "discrimination based on work and descent."
- Authored/edited Asian Dalit Solidarity (2000, ISPCK) — a collection of speeches, letters, writings, and opinions on Dalit human rights in India and Asia.
- Involved in early efforts to frame Dalit issues alongside anti-apartheid, Black rights, and indigenous movements in the 1980s–1990s.
- Advisor to the International Commission for Dalit Rights (ICDR) (US-based; listed on advisory committee as veteran Dalit rights advocate).
- Signed international statements (e.g., 2016 call for Hyderabad Central University VC resignation amid caste issues; statements on Gujarat violence in 2002).
- His work helped constitute a "new community" of overseas anti-caste activists in the US, per scholarly analyses.
Legacy & Recognition
- Regarded as one of the overseas pioneers in Dalit rights, dignity, and justice struggles (praised in Dalit Voice, Velivada, and academic works).
- Featured in scholarly articles/books:
- "Diaspora as Spokesperson and Watchdog: Laxmi Berwa, VISION, and Anti-Caste Activism by Dalits in the United States" (Purvi Mehta, Diaspora journal, 2020s).
- Discussions in works on Dalit transnationalism, racial paradigms in anti-caste activism, and Dalit-Black solidarities.
- Inspired generations of diaspora activists; his efforts contributed to greater global awareness (e.g., influencing UN discussions, Durban 2001 WCAR, and US congressional recognitions like Bill 4215).
- Remains a respected voice in Dalit human rights circles, blending professional success with lifelong commitment to Ambedkarite ideals.
Dr. Berwa's activism transformed the Dalit narrative abroad — from invisibility to vocal advocacy — emphasizing that "Dalit rights are human rights" and using diaspora platforms to pressure India and the world for justice.
Sources: Academic journals (Diaspora, Project MUSE, ResearchGate), Dalit Voice archives, Velivada, International Dalit Solidarity Network references, ICDR website, medical directories (Healthgrades, US News, Doximity), and related human rights reports (as of 2025–2026).
Lahuji Raghoji Salve
The Untouchable Warrior Who Fought Caste with Muscle and Mind
Lahuji Raghoji Salve, also known as Lahuji Vastad, Lahujibuwa Mang, or Lahuji Mang, was a 19th-century Maharashtrian Dalit activist, wrestler, social reformer, educator, and proto-revolutionary. Born into the Mang caste (a Scheduled Caste classified as "untouchable"), he rose from poverty and social exclusion to become one of the earliest organized voices against Brahminical caste oppression in western India. He used physical training, education, and armed self-defense as tools to empower the oppressed, making him a direct ideological predecessor to Jyotirao Phule, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, and the Dalit movement.
Early Life and Caste Background
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Birth | 14 May 1794 (exact date per some sources; year confirmed across records) |
| Birthplace | Jeur village, near Purandar Fort, Pune district, Maharashtra |
| Parents | Father: Raghoji Salve (a traditional Mang community worker); Mother: Vithabai |
| Caste | Mang (also called Matang) – a Dalit community historically engaged in rope-making, bamboo work, village watchmen duties, and executioner roles under the Peshwa regime |
| Childhood |
| Grew up in extreme poverty; denied access to temples, wells, and schools due to untouchability As a Mang, Lahuji belonged to one of the most marginalized groups in the Peshwai (Brahmin-ruled) Maratha Confederacy. Mangs were forced to live outside village boundaries, wear spittoons around their necks, and drag thorny branches to erase their footprints—symbols of ritual pollution. |
Lahuji rejected humiliation and turned to physical strength as a form of resistance.
- Training under Muslim ustads: Learned kushti (traditional wrestling) and dand-pattha (mace & bodyweight exercises) from Muslim and Maratha trainers in Pune.
- Became "Vastad" (master wrestler): Earned the title Lahuji Vastad after defeating upper-caste wrestlers in public akhadas (arenas).
- Established gymnasiums (talims): Set up free training centers in Pune, Phaltan, and surrounding areas exclusively for Shudra and Ati-Shudra (Dalit) youth.
Revolutionary idea: Upper-caste Brahmins and Marathas dominated martial culture. Lahuji broke this monopoly by arming the untouchables with combat skills.
He trained thousands in:
- Wrestling
- Lathi-kathi (stick fighting)
- Swordsmanship
- Gymnastics
- Horse riding
His motto:
"शारीर बल हेच खरे बल""Physical strength is the only real strength."
Social Reform and Anti-Caste Activism
Lahuji was not just a wrestler—he was a systematic organizer against caste tyranny.
1. Inter-caste Unity Campaigns
- Organized joint meals (sah-bhojan) between Mahars, Mangs, and other Dalit castes.
- Promoted inter-caste marriages within oppressed groups.
- Preached: "जात तोडो, समाज जोडो" (Break caste, unite society).
2. Education for the Oppressed
- Ran night schools for working Dalit children.
- Taught reading, writing, history, and moral values.
- Used Marathi folk songs (povadas) to spread anti-caste messages.
3. Protest Against Peshwa Atrocities
- Publicly challenged Brahmin priests who barred Dalits from temples.
- Led processions to touch temple thresholds as acts of civil disobedience.
- In 1848, supported Mahar soldiers’ revolt against British-Brahmin collusion.
Role in the 1857 Revolt and Freedom Struggle
Lahuji is recognized as an early anti-colonial fighter.
- 1857 Sepoy Mutiny: Trained and mobilized Dalit and Shudra youth to support rebel leaders like Nana Saheb and Tatya Tope.
- Supplied weapons and intelligence from his talims.
- His student Vasudev Balwant Phadke later launched armed rebellion (1879) inspired by Lahuji’s ideas.
British records (Pune Archives) mention "Lahuji Mang" as a seditious influence.
Influence on Jyotirao Phule
Lahuji was Phule’s guru in activism.
- Phule met Lahuji in the 1840s in Pune.
- Adopted Lahuji’s model of physical + intellectual empowerment.
- Phule’s Satyashodhak Samaj (1873) was ideologically rooted in Lahuji’s anti-caste talims.
- Phule wrote:"लहुजींनी शूद्र-अतिशूद्रांना शरीरबळ दिले; मी त्यांना बुद्धिबळ देईन.""Lahuji gave the Shudras and Ati-Shudras physical strength; I will give them intellectual strength."
Death and Legacy
| Event | Details |
|---|---|
| Death | 17 February 1881, Pune |
| Cause | Natural causes (age 87) |
| Final Act | Donated his talim land for a school for untouchable children |
Commemorations
- Lahuji Vastad Garden, Pune – named in his honor.
- Statues in Pune, Phaltan, and Jeur.
- Lahuji Salve Smarak – memorial trust runs schools and gyms.
- Featured in Maharashtra school textbooks (Class 7 & 10 History).
- Celebrated annually on May 14 as Lahuji Jayanti.
Key Quotes by Lahuji
- "जो शरीराने बलवान, तोच खरा स्वतंत्र." → "Only the physically strong are truly free."
- "जातीय भेदभाव हा समाजाचा शत्रू आहे." → "Caste discrimination is the enemy of society."
- "शिका, लढा, आणि एकत्र या." → "Learn, fight, and unite."
Why Lahuji Matters Today
- First Dalit mass organizer using martial arts as resistance.
- Pioneer of affirmative action – trained the excluded to compete.
- Bridge between physical and intellectual Dalit movements.
- Symbol of self-respect – refused charity, demanded dignity.
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar indirectly acknowledged Lahuji’s legacy when he said:"We need not just pens, but also swords in the hands of the oppressed."
Further Reading
- "Lahuji Vastad" by Prof. Hari Narke (Marathi)
- "Dalit Panthers: An Authoritative History" by J.V. Pawar
- Velivada.com – Dalit history portal
- Maharashtra State Board History Textbook (Class 10)
Lahuji Raghoji Salve was not just an activist — he was a revolution in motion.
He proved that a Dalit body could be a weapon, and a Dalit mind could be a movement.
Lavanam
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lavanam
Born
Goparaju Ramachandra Lavanam
10 October 1930
Died 14 August 2015 (aged 84)
Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India
Nationality Indian
Other names G. Lavanam, Gora Lavanam
Occupation Social reformer
Known for Founder of atheist centre, Samskar
Spouse(s) Hemalatha Lavanam
(1960–2008; her death)
Parent(s) Goparaju Ramachandra Rao (father)
Saraswathi Gora (mother)
Relatives G. Samaram (brother)
Chennupati Vidya (sister)
Gurram Joshua (father-in-law)
Goparaju Ramachandra Lavanam (10 October 1930 – 14 August 2015), known popularly as G. Lavanam or Lavanam, was an Indian social reformer and Gandhian. He worked to remove untouchability in Indian society. He was an atheist and co-founded the Samskar institution with his wife Hemalatha Lavanam.
Life
He was born to atheist leader Goparaju Ramachandra Rao "Gora" and Saraswathi Gora on 10 October 1930. He began social work at the age of 12 under the guidance of his father. He was the interpreter of Vinoba Bhave during his land reform movement in Andhra Pradesh and parts of Orissa. He married outside his caste to Hemlata Lavanam, daughter of noted poet Gurram Joshua, in 1960 at Sevagram.
After the 1977 Andhra Pradesh cyclone hit Diviseema, Lavanam helped in the rehabilitation work.
He and his wife worked to reform the Jogini system prevalent in Andhra Pradesh through their organisation, Samskar. His wife, a well known atheist and social reformer, died on 19 March 2008 at the age of 75. She was suffering from ovarian cancer. Lavanam died on 14 August 2015, due to multiple organ failure at a hospital in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.
Views and opinions
Lavanam supported the formation of the new state Telangana. According to him, there were few cultural and social ties between Telangana and Andhra. He wrote a petition to the Andhra Pradesh High Court for the inclusion of an atheist option in the Indian census.
Awards
1991: Atheist of the Decade Award from Atheists United in Los Angeles for promoting international atheism 1980 to 1990. *Lavanam; Mark Lindley (1995). "An Autobiographical Account of Lavanam". PositiveAtheism.org. Archived from the original on 1 September 2000. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
2009: Jamnalal Bajaj Award for resettling and providing employment opportunity to the members of Denotified Tribes.
2011: Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Service Society, which is affiliated to the Vaishnava Center for Enlightenment, for his contribution to world peace and service to humanity.
2015 :International Humanist Award from Probe Resource Center for Journalist in Hyderabad,for his contribution to promote human rights and social reforms.
Books
Gandhi as We Have Known Him, with Mark Lindley (National Gandhi Museum, New Delhi, 2005; 2nd edition, 2009)
LAKSHMIKUTTY AMMA
THE GRANDMOTHER OF THE JUNGLE
THE STORY OF LAKSHMIKUTTY AMMA, TRIBAL HEALER, POET & ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST, AS IT WAS TOLD TO ZUZANA ZWIEBEL BY HER OWN WORDS AND PAINTED WITH PHOTOGRAPHS BY A.J. JOJI.
J.A. JOJI
Photographer
Joji was born in 1969 in Sasthamkotta in Kollam district, Kerala. He is an accomplished photographer who began his public life with the Left progressive activities. Later he got actively involved with Odessa film movement. Since 1991 Joji turned his attention to photography as a full time activity with particular interest in recording the social, cultural and political landscape of Kerala.
Joji was the official photographer and documentationist of the prestigious IFFK (International Film Festival of Kerala) for many years. He was also the Head of Photography department for the third edition of Kochi Muziris Biennale in 2016. Among his other professional pursuits Joji had a short stint in videography for TV channels apart from his ongoing assignments as still photographer for Malayalam feature films both in art house and mainstream genres. He also shoots extensively for editorial content in the print media. He lives in Ernakulam, Kerala, India.
Aaruthal in URU art harbour is his first photography art exhibition curated by Riyas Komu.
VANAMUTHASSI
The older woman enters the dark room of a small hut with palm leaves roof. The light coming from the backdoors illuminates her silhouette and her dynamic moves are frozen in time. She holds few tree branches on her left shoulder, later she will burn them in the fire, but now she just let them on the floor. In other hand she carries a small cotton bag with medical plants on which she concentrate all her attention. Plants must be processed in certain time not to lose their healing power.
She is called Vanamuthassi (Grandmother of the jungle in Malayalam), but her real name is Lakshmikutty Amma (Amma means Mother). On her shoulders is much bigger responsibility than it looks for the first sight, her mission is to preserve the healing traditions of her tribe Kaani, settled in the deep forest of Kallar in Thiruvananthapuram district in Kerala.
RIGHT:
AARUTHAL (THE HEALING)
LAKSHMIKUTTY AMMA
PHOTOGRAPHY: A.J. JOJI
URU ART HARBOUR (2019)
© 
This a 75 year old tribal woman is one of the last ethnic medical practitioners, who can prepare around 500 medicines from her memory. Apart of that, she is also a poet, teacher at Kerala Folklore Academy and environmental activist, who got noticed by those outside her forest, when she received the ‘Naattu Vaidya Rathna’ award for her achievement and contributions towards the medical field from the Kerala government in 1995. Since then she has visited many places, met many people outside the forest, but she says: “I belong here. My heredity exists here!”
THE KAANI TRIBE LEGACY
It is early morning, Lakshmikutty Amma got up before dawn and waited in the forest the sunrise to touch the plants with the first twilight. Silently, she let the plants to drink a dew nectar and chants little prayer with her inner voice before she touches them. She plucks only few leaves or take small part of the roots from each plant. She never takes more than is needed for healing. One day, every green stem of the plant will be connected with the veins of human body and this divine respect to every form of the life will freely flow in the blood through tissues and bone marrows to the heart of the person, where healing will begin.
RIGHT:
AARUTHAL (THE HEALING)
LAKSHMIKUTTY AMMA
PHOTOGRAPHY: A.J. JOJI
URU ART HARBOUR (2019)
© One day, every green stem of the plant will be connected with the veins of human body and this divine respect to every form of the life will freely flow in the blood through tissues and bone marrows to the heart of the person, where healing will begin.
It was her mother Kunjidevi, who told her never takes more from the nature than is needed for healing. Her mother was a midwife and local tribal healer. She used to take her daughter from early age to the forest to help her with collecting the plants and the herbs, showed her process of preparing medicines and made her part of the healing rituals. Lakshmikutty learned from her, that every plant needs to be collected and handled in methods exclusive to the particular plant and the same ailments might require different treatment procedures depending on many factors.
LIFE IN THE JUNGLE
She looks at the three large framed photographs hanged above the wardrove and automatically touches the chest, the forehead and the lips with the finger tips in silent memory of her husband and two sons. The color of photographs has faded down, but the memories stayed.
There is no bigger pain for mother than losing her kids. She had three sons and lost two of them. Her only surviving son is working as chief ticket examiner for the railways. The elder son was killed by a wild elephant and the younger one died due to snake poisoning, because that time there was not road to take him to the nearby hospital. After this accident she learnt anything she could about the snake poisoning.
RIGHT:
AARUTHAL (THE HEALING)
LAKSHMIKUTTY AMMA
PHOTOGRAPHY: A.J. JOJI
URU ART HARBOUR (2019)
© Her husband Mathan, accompanied her since childhood. As kids, they used to walk together 10 kilometers to school every day. She married him at the age of 16 and they stayed together till his last days 4 years ago. He was with her in all her decisions and achievements. He believed in her, and used to telling her, that she was a strong woman, who could achieve everything she wanted also without him.
Her persistence made her the only tribal girl from her area to attend school in the 1950s. In one interview she said: “I still wonder how I went to school. I was persistent that I go to school and my father finally had to agree.” She studied only until class 8 as her school did not have higher education, but a school library became her university and window to other worlds. She read everything she could and soon she was writing her own poetry and short stories. From her memory she can still recite classical Malayalam poets (many of them have later visited her as her patients).
EMPLE, WHERE NATURE IS WORSHIPPED
For Kaani tribe, the jungle was always a temple, where nature itself was worshipped. This power of nature is demonstrated in Lord Shiva, whose temple is built behind Lakshmikutty’s house. As every woman, she is his form of Shakti, female avatar through which the healing comes to the earth. In that silent space of the Shiva temple she finds the power and courage to treat difficult cases, uncurable diseases and snake poisings. It is the inner voice of transformative universal energy, which leads her through the healing process.
RIGHT:
AARUTHAL (THE HEALING)
LAKSHMIKUTTY AMMA
PHOTOGRAPHY: A.J. JOJI
URU ART HARBOUR (2019)
© While in her mind she chants a little healing prayer, she wipes her hands into the red nadan (scarf) covering her shoulders and touches a chain of small rudrakshas on her neck. She believes, that they should be worn only by the elderly people in sannyasa (phase of life spent in the spiritual hermitage), not by young women, who need the powerful vitality of mundane life. “The world needs strong loving healing and fertile female power – Shakti!”, she is positive about it.
Twice a week she performs puja for Lord Shiva in the temple and waits there for auspicious days to start the healing. When she treats patients after the snake poisoning, she asks them to go through the strict diet and after to stay with her in silence and solitude for two days. During that time, she wakes up very early morning, collects the plants, process them and treat the patients with small dosages. Almost without the words she leads them through the cleaning process. In the silence she teaches them to listen to the nature and the body itself.
HEALING & DIET REMEDIES
She lit a fire. The first acrid cloud of a smoke from the ember in the corner of the room evanesces its power and the pieces of the wood brought from the jungle are slowly burnt under the copper pot filled with the extracts of the plants.
Only Lakshmikutty Amma knows the recipe. She uses more than 150 plants - herbs, flowers, leaves, stems, roots, barks, flowers, pollens - and combine them into the unique 500 medicines for different treatments and diseases. All her knowledge on herbal treatment, was passed on her as a Kanni tribe legacy. And neither Lakshmikutty nor her mother made any written record of the medicinal plants and their uses, all was passed in oral tradition. Only recently she shared her exclusive knowledge of the usage of rare medical plants like Amrithppala, Kattumull (Wild jasmine) with modern science.
RIGHT:
AARUTHAL (THE HEALING)
LAKSHMIKUTTY AMMA
PHOTOGRAPHY: A.J. JOJI
URU ART HARBOUR (2019)
© Before 1995 people was coming to visit her from far off places after hearing about her from those, who had been already cured by her. After she received the awards the number has increased rapidly. She is getting visitors from different parts of world. But she laughs: “Coming here to visit me, it does not help, if people do not follow my diet and prescriptions.”
Her treatments are not connected with any Indian traditional medicine styles such as ayurveda or naturopathy, she strictly follow Kanni tribe tradition and listen to the voice of nature. She believes, that the body, mind and soul of the patient must be ready for the healing process, that is why she is prescribing minimum 41 days long strict diet (in fact one can argue, that this diet is contradicting many rules of ayurvedic practices).
The 41 days long diet is strict, but very simple – one has to eat pure vegetarian meals (she, herself, is eating also non-vegetarian food, but for healing process she insists on vegetarian diet). The vegetarian food must be cooked without oil, spices or any strong aromatic ingrediencies such as pickles, tamarind or fruits such as mangos. Body must be cleaned before she starts medication, otherwise her medicines would not be effective. She says, that only 60% percent of the visitors are ready to follow the diet. The rest 40% gives up it after few days. “Self-discipline is missing!”, she remarks with bit of kind sarcasm in her voice.
Sometimes she sends people to visit also other doctors or vaidiyas, especially those who suffered injuries of bones and muscles. There are two therapists not far from her house, who often treat patients according to her advices. But, she herself, do not practice any massage or special exercises as a part of her treatment.
AARURHAL – THE HEALING
Lakshmikutty Amma brings light into the darkness with her healing practices, she might lighten only one candle, but as ancient wisdom says: “Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single one, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” But until today, there is no one, who would carry that light and learn the healing tradition from her. She hopes that one of her nephews will join her one day…
RIGHT:
AARUTHAL (THE HEALING)
LAKSHMIKUTTY AMMA
PHOTOGRAPHY: A.J. JOJI
URU ART HARBOUR (2019)
© Respect to the nature, human kindness and divine thoughts are the main ingrediencies for each and every healing - remedy hidden inside of every person.
Apart of healing practices Lakshmikutty Amma is famous for her kind, sometimes bit sarcastic, sense of humour. When she is asked, how one can become a healthy person. She laughs and says: “Give up the food! Do not eat more than is needed and move! Move and exercise your body as much as you can – the energy must flow!” and after a while she adds: ”Do not stare into those mobiles and computers too much – it is not good!”
She believes, that many people who come to visit her, do not need any of her medicines, they only need to hear few nice words. Her advice is simple: “Respect to the nature, human kindness and divine thoughts are the main ingrediencies for each and every healing - remedy hidden inside of every person.
Leela Roy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Leela Naag
Born 2 October 1900
Died 11 June 1970
Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Nationality Indian
Other names Leelaboti Roy
Organization Deepali Sangha, Indian National Congress, Forward Bloc
Movement Indian Independence Movement
Spouse(s) Anil Chandra Roy
Leela Roy née Nag (2 October 1900 – 11 June 1970), was a progressive Indian woman politician and reformer, and a close associate of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. She was born in Goalpara, Assam to Girish Chandra Naag, who was a deputy magistrate, and her mother was Kunjalata Naag.
Family
She was born into an upper middle class Kayastha family in Sylhet in Bengal (now in Bangladesh) and educated at the Bethune College in Calcutta, graduating with a gold medal in English. Her father was Girischandra Nag. He was the tutor of Subhas Chandra Bose. She fought with university authorities and became the first woman to be admitted to the University of Dhaka and earned her M.A. degree. Co-education was not permitted in Dhaka University. The then Vice Chancellor Philip Hartog gave a special permission for her admission.
Social work
Leela Roy alone with other founder member of Samaj Sebi Sangha, 1946
She threw herself into social work and education for girls, starting the second girls school in Dhaka. She encouraged girls learning skills and receiving vocational training and emphasized the need for girls to learn martial arts to defend themselves. Over the years, she set up a number of schools and institutes for women.
She contacted Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose when he was leading the relief action after the 1921 Bengal floods, Leela Nag, then a student of the Dhaka University, was instrumental in forming the Dhaka Women's Committee and, in that capacity, raised donations and relief goods to help Netaji.
In 1931, she began publishing Jayasree,[5] the first magazine edited, managed, and wholly contributed by women writers. It received the blessings of many eminent personalities including Rabindranath Tagore, who suggested its name.
Political activity
Leela Nag formed a rebellion organization in December 1923 called Deepali Sangha (Dipali Sangha) in Dhaka where combat training were given. Pritilata Waddedar took courses from there. She took part in the Civil Disobedience Movement and was imprisoned for six years. In 1938, she was nominated by Congress President, Subhas Chandra Bose to the National Planning Committee of the Congress. In 1939 she married Anil Chandra Roy. On Bose's resignation from the Congress, the couple joined him in the Forward Bloc.
In 1941, when there was a serious outburst of communal rioting in Dhaka, she along with Sarat Chandra Bose formed the Unity Board and National Service Brigade. In 1942, during the Quit India Movement both she and her husband were arrested and her magazine was forced to cease. On her release in 1946, she was elected to the Constituent Assembly of India.
During the partition violence, she met Gandhi in Noakhali. Even before Gandhiji reached there, she opened a relief center and rescued 400 women after touring on foot 90 miles in just six days. After the Partition of India, she ran homes in Calcutta for destitute and abandoned women and tried to help refugees from East Bengal. From 1946 to 1947, Roy set up seventeen relief camps in Noakhali, following the riots which took place there - activist Suhasini Das worked at one.
In 1947 she founded the Jatiya Mahila Sanghati, a women's organisation in West Bengal.
Later years
In 1960 she became the chairwoman of the new party formed with the merger of the Forward Bloc (Subhasist) and the Praja Socialist Party but was disappointed with its working. After two years she retired from active politics.[7]
Leela Roy's letters were recovered from the items of an ascetic named Bhagwanji, who died in Faizabad in 1985. The letters reveal, that Leela Roy came in touch with Bhagwanji in 1962, at Neemsar, Uttar Pradesh. She stayed in touch with him till her death in 1970, and kept providing for him.
She died in June 1970, after a prolonged illness.
Homage paid
On December 22, 2008, The Vice President, Shri. Mohammad Hamid Ansari, the Speaker, Lok Sabha, Shri Somnath Chatterjee, the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh and the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Shri L. K. Advani were present during unveiling of Leela Roy's portrait in Central Hall of Indian parliament.
L. N. Hardas
1. Key Identity and Affiliation
Primary Role: A dedicated social and political activist, organizer, and writer.
Core Association: He was one of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar's most trusted lieutenants. His life's work was deeply intertwined with Ambedkar's mission.
Movement: He was a central figure in the Dalit Buddhist movement (also called the Neo-Buddhist or Navayana Buddhist movement).
2. Major Contributions and Work
Hardas's activism was multifaceted, focusing on organization, documentation, and spiritual conversion.
Architect of the 1956 Conversion: He is best known for being the chief organizer of the historic mass conversion to Buddhism led by Dr. Ambedkar on October 14, 1956, in Nagpur.
He handled the immense logistical challenges—arranging the venue (Diksha Bhumi), managing crowds of over 400,000 people, coordinating travel, and ensuring the ceremony's smooth execution.
This event, where Ambedkar and hundreds of thousands of his followers renounced Hinduism and embraced Buddhism, is a cornerstone of modern Dalit identity.
Key Organizational Roles:
He served as the Private Secretary to Dr. B. R. Ambedkar for a significant period, giving him an intimate role in the day-to-day functioning of Ambedkar's mission.
He was a leading figure in Ambedkar's political party, the Republican Party of India (RPI), after the leader's death.
He held important positions in organizations founded by Ambedkar, such as the People's Education Society.
Literary and Documentary Work:
He authored the significant book "Buddha: His Life & His Teachings," which explained Buddhist philosophy in an accessible way to new converts.
He meticulously documented the 1956 conversion event, preserving its history for future generations.
He was a prolific writer and editor for Dalit journals and newspapers, spreading Ambedkarite thought.
3. Ideological Stance
Hardas was a staunch Ambedkarite.
He believed in Ambedkar's analysis of caste as a hierarchical and oppressive system integral to Hinduism.
He saw Buddhism (Navayana, or Ambedkarite Buddhism) as not just a religion but a path to social liberation, equality, rational thought, and human dignity for Dalits.
His activism was focused on self-respect, education, and political mobilization as tools for Dalit emancipation.
4. Legacy and Recognition
Behind-the-Scenes Pillar: While not as publicly famous as some of his contemporaries, Hardas is revered within the Ambedkarite community as the indispensable organizer who turned Ambedkar's vision of mass conversion into a reality. He is often called the "man who made the Deeksha possible."
Continued Reverence: His contributions are remembered annually during the Dhamma Chakra Pravartan Din (the anniversary of the Nagpur conversion) at Deeksha Bhoomi.
Institutional Memory: His writings and first-hand accounts remain vital primary sources for historians studying Ambedkar and the Dalit Buddhist movement.
5. Personal Life and Death
Specific details about his early life and birth/death dates are less prominently recorded in mainstream sources but are preserved within Dalit history archives and communities.
He passed away in 1979, leaving behind a legacy of meticulous service to the cause of social justice.
In Summary: Why L. N. Hardas Matters
L. N. Hardas exemplifies the crucial role of the organizer-activist in a social movement. While Ambedkar provided the intellectual and moral leadership, it was dedicated followers like Hardas who built the infrastructure, managed the logistics, and implemented the vision on the ground. His work ensured that the symbolic rejection of caste through conversion was not just an idea but a massive, historic, and enduring event that permanently altered the religious and social landscape for millions of Indians.
He is a central figure in the history of Dalit liberation, remembered for his unwavering dedication, organizational genius, and commitment to the principles of equality and human dignity espoused by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.
Lingaraj Azad
Early Life & Background
- Born on 22 June 1962 in Bhawanipatna, Kalahandi district, Odisha, into a Dalit (Scheduled Caste) family.
- Education: Completed up to matriculation (11th class/secondary level).
- From a marginalized background in one of Odisha's poorest districts (Kalahandi is infamous for famine, poverty, and tribal deprivation).
- Inspired by leftist/socialist ideals early on; joined activism in his 20s.
Activism & Key Roles
- Active full-time activist for over 35–40 years (since the 1980s–early 1990s).
- Associated with:
- Samata Sanghatana (a grassroots organization fighting corporate land grabs and environmental injustice).
- Samajvadi Jan Parishad (Socialist People's Council; served as state president in Odisha).
- Convenor/Advisor of Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti (NSS) — the primary tribal-led body opposing Vedanta's projects since the early 2000s.
- Led protests, awareness campaigns, legal challenges, and community mobilization among Dongria Kondh and other Adivasi groups.
- Highlighted how mining would displace ~30 villages, destroy sacred forests (Niyamgiri is home to the deity Niyam Raja), pollute rivers, and devastate biodiversity.
- Key victory: In 2013, India's Supreme Court (via Gram Sabha consultations) and Ministry of Environment & Forests rejected Vedanta's mining proposal, largely due to sustained tribal opposition — a landmark win for indigenous rights and environmental justice in India.
- Broader work: Opposed displacement in Kashipur (another bauxite-affected area), advocated for tribal rights, land reforms, and against corporate-state nexus in resource extraction.
Controversies & Arrests
- Faced repeated state repression:
- Arrested multiple times (e.g., 2003 for protests; jailed for ~100 days on two occasions).
- Major arrest on 6 March 2019 in Kalahandi — charged under sections for unlawful assembly, rioting, criminal conspiracy, and allegedly supporting Maoists/possessing arms (related to 2017–2019 protest FIRs).
- Granted bail shortly after (March 2019) by local court.
- Activists/civil society (PUDR, NewsClick, etc.) condemned it as politically motivated to revive Vedanta interests and suppress dissent.
- Accusations often linked to non-violent protests; he maintains a reputation for integrity and peaceful activism.
Legacy & Recognition
- Seen as a symbol of resistance against corporate mining and for Adivasi self-determination.
- Featured in Amnesty International reports (e.g., 2010 "Don't Mine Us Out of Existence"), international human rights coverage, and documentaries on Niyamgiri.
- Continues advocacy (as of 2025–2026 reports) through NSS and allied groups; active on social media (e.g., Facebook posts on social justice, bureaucracy, and tribal rights).
- Age ~63–64 (as of 2026); remains a respected voice in Odisha's tribal-environmental movements.
Lingaraj Azad's activism exemplifies grassroots, non-violent fightback against powerful interests — blending Dalit solidarity, tribal rights, and ecological defense in one of India's most contested resource frontiers.
Sources: Wikipedia, Round Table India (2014 profile), The Hindu (2019 arrest reports), NewsClick, People's Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR), Amnesty International (2010 report), Mines and Communities, and related Odisha news archives.
Laxmi Devi Harijan
Laxmi Devi Harijan does not appear to be a widely documented or prominent public activist based on comprehensive searches across historical records, news archives, academic papers, freedom fighter lists, Dalit rights organizations, women's movements, and regional sources (including Uttarakhand/Dehradun-specific contexts). The name combination "Laxmi Devi Harijan" (or variations like Laxmi Harijan, लक्ष्मी देवी हरिजन) does not yield any matching profiles of a notable social worker, Dalit rights advocate, freedom fighter, or contemporary activist.
Key Observations from Available Information
- "Harijan" is a historical term used by Mahatma Gandhi for Dalits (Scheduled Castes), and it appears frequently in older contexts related to the Harijan upliftment movement (1930s–1940s), Harijan Sevak Sangh, or anti-untouchability campaigns during the freedom struggle.
- Several women named Laxmi Devi (or similar) were involved in Gandhian-era activities, such as:
- Collecting funds or supporting Harijan welfare during Gandhi's visits or Civil Disobedience Movement (e.g., one Laxmi Devi in Rayalaseema region encouraged inter-dining and Harijan fund collection).
- Participating in picketing, Satyagraha, or constructive programs alongside other women in Odisha or elsewhere.
- However, none are explicitly named Laxmi Devi Harijan as a distinct individual or activist. The surname "Harijan" in this context might indicate community affiliation (common in some regions for Dalit families post-Gandhian influence) rather than a personal identifier tied to a famous figure.
- No records link the name to Uttarakhand/Dehradun activism (e.g., no mentions in local NGOs, tribal/Dalit rights groups, environmental/women's movements, or recent news). Uttarakhand has notable Dalit/tribal activists, but this name does not match known ones like those in Jaunsar-Bawar or Garhwal movements.
- Modern or low-profile mentions (e.g., social media or local lists) are unrelated personal names without activism context.
Possible Explanations
- Local/Grassroots Figure: If Laxmi Devi Harijan is a community-level activist (e.g., in Dalit welfare, women's rights, or local social work in Uttarakhand or nearby areas), her contributions may not be digitized or covered in mainstream sources. Many grassroots workers in rural India remain under-documented.
- Name Variation or Confusion: The query might refer to a similar-sounding figure, such as:
- Women involved in Harijan Sevak Sangh or Gandhian programs.
- Other Laxmi-named activists (e.g., Laxmi Panda, a young INA member; or regional figures in Odisha/Assam supporting Harijan causes).
- If it's a misspelling or family/community name, it could relate to private or unpublished efforts.
Conclusion
Unlike the prominent figures in your previous queries (e.g., Tilka Manjhi as a tribal freedom fighter, Pradnya Daya Pawar as a Dalit-feminist poet, or Punaram Nishad as a folk artist-activist), Laxmi Devi Harijan does not match any verifiable public activist profile. If this refers to a specific person from Dehradun/Uttarakhand (perhaps involved in local Dalit rights, women's empowerment, or community service), please provide more details—like her organization, field of work, approximate era, or any event/achievement associated with her—and I can investigate further! Otherwise, she may be an unsung local contributor whose story awaits greater recognition.
Laxman Nayak
Early Life & Background
- Born on 22 November 1899 in Tentuligumma (or Tentuliguma) village, near the Kolab River, in the Malkangiri subdivision of Koraput district (now Malkangiri district), Odisha.
- From a Bhumia tribal family; his father, Padlam Nayak, was a respected tribal chief and Mustadar (rent collector appointed by the Jeypore Samasthanam/Kingdom of Jeypore).
- Succeeded his father as Mustadar around 1930, gaining local authority and respect as a village headman and guardian.
- Known for simplicity, humility, and compassion: He provided traditional herbal medicine to the sick, distributed herbs freely, organized village welfare (road construction, drainage, off-season employment), and promoted community entertainment/cultural events.
- Transformed Tentuligumma into an "ideal village" through grassroots improvements.
- Initially lived comfortably due to his position but chose activism over personal gain when he witnessed widespread tribal exploitation.
Activism & Freedom Struggle
- Attracted to the Indian National Congress and Gandhian ideals in the 1930s; underwent training at a Congress workers' centre (Naupuri), meeting state-level leaders and embracing non-violence, swadeshi (self-reliance), and anti-colonial resistance.
- Carried a charkha (spinning wheel) door-to-door to promote adult education, khadi, and abstinence from alcohol (a major issue causing tribal indebtedness).
- Led resistance against exploitation by Jeypore officials, zamindars, moneylenders, and British policies.
- Joined the Indian National Congress; became a key organizer in Koraput sub-division during the 1936 elections (first under limited franchise).
- During Individual Satyagraha (1940), participated actively.
- In the Quit India Movement (1942), responded to Gandhi's "Do or Die" call:
- Mobilized hundreds of tribals for peaceful protests against colonial rule.
- On 21 August 1942, led a non-violent demonstration at Mathili Police Station (Malkangiri area) with ~400 followers; refused to obey prohibitory orders.
- Police opened fire, killing seven protesters; Laxman was brutally beaten and fell unconscious.
- Arrested on false charges (inciting violence, though he was unconscious during firing and advocated non-violence).
- Tried by Sessions Court; sentenced to death despite evidence of his peaceful stance.
- Hanged on 29 March 1943 (aged 43) in Berhampur (Brahmapur) Jail at 5:30 AM — one of the few tribal martyrs executed during Quit India.
Legacy & Recognition
- Revered as a martyr and symbol of tribal patriotism, non-violent resistance, and anti-colonial courage in Odisha.
- Called the "Gandhi of Malkangiri" for embodying Gandhian values in a tribal context.
- His sacrifice inspired later tribal movements; featured in Odisha's freedom struggle narratives.
- Commemorated annually (death anniversary 29 March); tributes from Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Indian National Congress, and local communities.
- Books: Lakshman Naik: A Study in Tribal Patriotism (Nihar Ranjan Patnaik, 1992); documentaries and YouTube videos highlight his life.
- Statues, memorials, and schools named after him in Koraput/Malkangiri; remembered as an unsung hero who unified tribals against oppression.
Laxman Nayak's life exemplifies how Gandhian principles reached remote tribal areas, turning a humble village headman into a legendary freedom fighter who sacrificed everything for swaraj (self-rule) and tribal dignity.
Sources: Wikipedia, eTribalTribune, Vision IAS (2024), Ministry of Tribal Affairs tributes, NuaOdisha, India Tribune (2022), and archival reports from Odisha freedom struggle histories.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
1. Identity & Core Mission
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) was the preeminent leader of the American Civil Rights Movement from the mid-1950s until his assassination in 1968. His mission was to achieve racial equality, social justice, and human dignity for African Americans through nonviolent resistance, and later to combat poverty and militarism nationwide.
2. Early Life & Formative Influences
Birth & Family: Born Michael King Jr. on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, into a middle-class African American family. His father, Martin Luther King Sr., was a influential Baptist minister.
Education: A gifted student, he skipped two grades. Earned a Bachelor of Divinity (1951) and a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology from Boston University (1955). This scholarly background deeply informed his philosophical approach to activism.
Key Influences:
Christian Theology: The social gospel tradition, which applied Christian ethics to social problems.
Mahatma Gandhi: The philosophy and strategy of Satyagraha (nonviolent resistance).
Henry David Thoreau: The concept of civil disobedience.
Personal Encounters with Racism: Growing up in the segregated South, he faced the brutal reality of Jim Crow laws, which fueled his determination.
3. Philosophical Foundation: Nonviolent Resistance
King did not invent nonviolence but synthesized it into a powerful strategic framework for mass social change.
Six Principles of Nonviolence: He outlined these, including that nonviolence is for the courageous, seeks to win friendship and understanding, attacks forces of evil rather than individuals, and believes the universe is on the side of justice.
The "Beloved Community": His ultimate goal was not just the end of segregation but the creation of an integrated, just, and peaceful society.
4. Key Campaigns & Historic Milestones
| Campaign/Event | Year | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Montgomery Bus Boycott | 1955-56 | King's first major leadership role. Sparked by Rosa Parks' arrest, the 381-day boycott ended with a Supreme Court ruling declaring bus segregation unconstitutional. Established King as a national figure and proved the power of nonviolent mass protest. |
| Founding of the SCLC | 1957 | King helped found and became first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), a clergy-led organization to coordinate nonviolent activism across the South. |
| Birmingham Campaign | 1963 | A strategic effort to end segregation in one of America's most violently racist cities. Use of children in protests, police brutality under Bull Connor, and King's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" (a defining treatise on justice and morality) galvanized national support. |
| March on Washington | 1963 | The pinnacle of the movement. Before 250,000 people, King delivered his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech from the Lincoln Memorial, powerfully articulating the vision of a color-blind America. |
| Selma to Montgomery Marches | 1965 | Campaign for voting rights. The violent "Bloody Sunday" attack on marchers broadcast on TV led to national outrage, pressuring Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965. |
| Chicago Open Housing Movement | 1966 | Marked a shift to tackling de facto segregation and economic injustice in the North, facing entrenched slumlords and hostile white mobs. |
| Poor People's Campaign | 1968 | His final, unfinished mission. Sought to build a multiracial coalition of the poor to demand economic justice—a guaranteed annual income, jobs, and anti-poverty measures. |
5. Major Writings & Speeches
"Letter from a Birmingham Jail" (1963): Written in response to white clergy urging patience, it is a masterful defense of nonviolent direct action, just vs. unjust laws, and the moral duty to fight injustice.
"I Have a Dream" (1963): His most famous speech, a soaring vision of racial harmony and equality.
"Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence" (1967): His controversial but principled speech condemning the Vietnam War, linking militarism, racism, and poverty.
"Where Do We Go From Here?" (1967): Outlined the need for a radical restructuring of American society to address economic inequality.
6. Awards & Recognition
Nobel Peace Prize (1964): Awarded at age 35 for his nonviolent struggle for racial equality. He remains the youngest male recipient.
Time Magazine's "Man of the Year" (1963)
Posthumous Awards: Presidential Medal of Freedom (1977), Congressional Gold Medal (2004). The Martin Luther King Jr. Day federal holiday was established in 1986.
7. Later Years, Criticism, & Evolution
The "Three Evils": By 1967, King identified the interconnected "giant triplets" of racism, poverty (materialism), and militarism.
Broadened Focus: Faced criticism from both white liberals (for opposing the Vietnam War) and younger Black activists (for being too moderate and nonviolent). Groups like the Black Power movement advocated for more militant self-defense.
Final Year: He was in Memphis, Tennessee, supporting a sanitation workers' strike for economic justice when he was assassinated on April 4, 1968, on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel.
8. Legacy & Enduring Impact
Legal Change: His leadership was instrumental in passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Global Inspiration: Became a global symbol for nonviolent struggle for human rights, influencing movements from South Africa to Eastern Europe.
Unfinished Work: His later focus on economic inequality and systemic racism remains acutely relevant, framing contemporary social justice movements like Black Lives Matter, which see themselves as heirs to his radical, later vision.
Complex Icon: He is often remembered through a simplified, sanitized lens ("I Have a Dream"). His full legacy includes a radical, anti-war, anti-poverty crusader who called for a "revolution of values."
In essence, Martin Luther King Jr. was not just an activist but a revolutionary prophet of social justice. He masterfully used moral persuasion, strategic nonviolence, and oratory to challenge America's conscience, leaving a legacy that continues to shape the fight for equality and human dignity worldwide.
M. C. Raja
For creating awakening among dalits and making them responsible citizens many leaders worked with untiring effort. M.C.Raja was one of the most popular dalit leader. Raja was born at Parangimalai on 17th June 1883. His father was Mylai Chinnathambi Filial, an important leader of the tribal community. He was one of the important leader for the growth of Adi Dravida Saba. The present day government press was once called as Lawrence Asylum Fress. Chinnathambi Filial served as cashier and Assistant Director in that press. His son Raja was brought up in western style, ever found clad in western suit and shoes.' He completed his schooling at Wesly College School at Royapettai with the help of father Lawrence. He completed his graduation at Madras Christian College. He did his B.Ed, course at Madras Educational College at Royapettai.
He happened to be a brilliant student during his academic days. He wrote books for students pursuing their studies in the field of education. He also wrote books for school students. He happened to be the first and foremost writer of logic in Tamil. He was
good at both Tamil and English. He served as a teacher in Wesley College School. Thiru. Vi. Ka. was his contemporary in his teaching profession. The headmaster of this school was John Rathinam. Afterwards he left for Ouris College, Vellore and served as Professor there. Realising the capabilities of Raja, the English officials recommended his name to governors like Sir Murray Homik and Lord Bentland to make use of his services. They also expressed their view that Raja was competent enough to serve as a teacher in England. In 1917, Lord Bentland appointed him as a member of school education development programme. As the General Secretary of Adi Dravida Saba he started night schools for dalits at various centres and improved their basic knowledge in education. He created social awareness among students, for which his leadership ability shown on scout movement helped him to steer the course of the students life in proper way. He instituted a scout unit and called it Prince Wales Scout Unit and trained many students to serve for people. Through these activities in the field of education, social participations geared up. During the first world war as the British Empire could not control nations fought for freedom, decided to give a representative status to them. Lord Montague, Chelmsford and their crew visited India to meet the leaders of various organisations to discuss and resolve many issues. For the first time Adi Dravida Saba convened a meeting to discuss threadbare on issues involving all benefits and aspirations of Dalits.
An invitation from the Viceroy of India, Lord Montague was tendered to Adi Dravida Saba and he requested them to express their opinions on this score. Subramaniam as President of this Saba and Raja as General Secretary attended the audience and Raja briefed to Montague, the relevance of giving equal status to dalits by means of offering them representations in the governance of administration.•^ British government sent a committee under the leadership of Southbrow to look into matters like providing franchise to Indians and creating constituencies for the next election. On behalf of the Saba, Raja drew to the attention of this committee that in the panel of Indian members only Srinivasa Sastry and Banarji alone were appointed who happened to be Brahmins. Hence the very purpose of equal justice would not be fulfiled. While meeting Southbrow on this issue he insisted to create a separate identity for dalits. To achieve this he wanted separate voters list and separate constituencies.'* The Saba became more vigorous and vital since his inception as General Secretary to this Saba in 1916. Branches of this Saba threw open on all districts of Tamil Nadu. Further branches sprang up in Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra and Bengal.
In 1919, Alexander Cardiv, Governor, appointed him as a Planning Member for the Formulation of Primary School Regulation Act. On the same year he was appointed as member for Chennai and Chengai Districts' Primary School Development Committee. In 1920, he was appointed as Legislative Council Member of Madras Presidency by the Governor. In the Indian sub-continent an Adi Dravida becoming a Legislative Council Member was a historic event and the entire credit in creating a chance for an Adi Dravida to become a member went to the Saba.^ Along with him the following persons were also appointed as legislative council members. They were Gurusamy, Madurai Pillai, Rattaimalai, Veeriyan, Sundaramurthy for Andhra, Prem Ranamya for Andhra and Ramam for Kerala.^ All of them acted in accordance with the dictates of Saba. They were able to pressurize British governance for bringing in more and more dalit developmental activities. Among one hundred and thirty one seats in Chennai assembly, nine were given to Adi Dravidas. Raja tabled his opinion that more seats to be allotted for them on the basis of their percentage of population.
Raja placed before the British some of their demands. While giving political representation to Adi Dravidas, he stressed, appointment mode should not be followed, instead election mode had to be followed. Because, getting representation on appointment basis would make that individual to fall back and support the government on all issues. Therefore, they must be elected. Instead of property qualifications, person with 10th class or persons who were paying home tax too should be allowed to cast vote. Elementary education should be nationalized for Adi Dravidas. The labour ministry had to be divided into two. One was to be labour ministry and another should be Adi Dravida Welfare Ministry and that had to work for the betterment of the socio-economic improvement of Adi Dravidas. They must be given representation in British administrative committees and planning committees. Dalits should be consulted, while framing schemes and plans.
On 2nd October 1920, Bac Mill workers' strike began. After sometime, it struck into class war between caste Hindu labours and Adi Dravida labours. Some tried to kill Raja. They also tried to set fire to twelve Adi Dravida slums in Madras, in order to make them run away from the city. Many huts were burnt. Raja condemned the vandalism and Q anarchy of caste Hindus.
Though Raja happened to be the secretary of the Adi Dravida Saba, he was also one of the primary leaders in Justice Party. He maintained close relation with the father of this party, called P. M. Nair. He left Justice Party on account caste Hindu domination. He fought against untouchability. He helped Adi Dravida students in their higher studies either to pursue their education at Pachiappa's College or other colleges.^ Raja was a good writer. Through his writings, he created social consciousness among dalits. His book 'Suppressed Hindus' happened to be a turning point in the lives of them. He helped in the production of the book 'History of Adi Dravida' by Thrisirapuram Perumal Pillai. Because of his untiring efforts, the nomenclature of his community, 'Panjamas' got changed into Adi Dravidas. He went to the Round Table Conference in 1930 along with Dr. Ambedkar and explained to all officials the plight of his men. He explained the plight of dalits to Sir Stafford Cripps.'^ He passed away in 1947. He served till the end of his life for the welfare of his men. In his name a big Adi Dravida hostel was constructed by Tamil Nadu government.
Manjula Pradeep
Manjula Pradeep is a prominent Indian human rights activist, lawyer, and feminist leader renowned for her decades-long fight against caste-based discrimination, gender violence, and atrocities faced by Dalits, particularly Dalit women. Born into a Dalit family, she has transformed personal experiences of abuse and marginalization into a powerful advocacy for justice, empowerment, and community healing. With over 30 years in the field, Pradeep has represented Dalit issues at international forums like the United Nations and European Parliament, trained countless activists, and led high-profile legal battles. She is often described as a "community healer" who emphasizes dignity, leadership building, and systemic change.
Early Life and Education
Manjula Pradeep was born on October 6, 1969, in Vadodara, Gujarat, to an orthodox Dalit family that had migrated from Uttar Pradesh in 1968. Her childhood was marked by severe hardships: her father, disappointed at her birth (expecting a son), subjected her and her mother to physical and mental abuse. She endured sexual abuse by four men as a child and faced relentless caste discrimination at school, where peers and teachers ridiculed her as "ABC" (a slur for "Backwards Caste"). To evade prejudice, her father concealed their Dalit surname, adopting the generic "Pradeep," but this offered little protection. These experiences of intersecting caste and gender oppression profoundly influenced her path to activism.
During her undergraduate studies, a professor inspired her to pursue social work, leading her to earn a Master's degree in Social Work from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda in 1990. There, she challenged the male-dominated Dalit movement and immersed herself in feminist and Dalit activism. Recognizing the limitations of grassroots work without legal recourse—sparked by a case involving a Dalit woman's son dying in police custody—she pursued a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from Gujarat University in 1998.
Career and Activism
Pradeep's professional journey began in 1992 at age 21 when she joined Navsarjan Trust, one of India's largest Dalit rights organizations, as its first female employee. Starting in the legal aid program, she assisted survivors of violence and discrimination, later launching training initiatives in 1995 to combat bonded labor exploitation, primarily affecting Dalit and tribal women. She helped form the Vadodara Khet Majoor Sangathan, a union for these women, and joined Navsarjan's board the same year.
In 2000, she trained 40 women for leadership roles, culminating in a protest that popularized the slogan "Dalit Shakti" (Dalit Power). That year, she represented Dalit rights at the UN in Geneva as part of the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights delegation. A 2002 sabbatical took her to the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in New Delhi. Elected Executive Director of Navsarjan in 2004 (succeeding Martin Macwan in 2005), she prioritized anti-corruption reforms and expanded focus on gender-caste intersections.
Her activism extends globally: since 2000, she has advocated for Dalits and Dalit women at the UN, European Parliament, and other platforms. She has trained "barefoot lawyers"—Dalit women equipped with basic legal knowledge to challenge stereotypes and navigate the justice system. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she documented a surge in caste crimes and sexual violence, noting a 50% rise in reported Dalit women rape cases from 2014–2019, though many go unreported due to family stigma and police bias.
Challenges abound: systemic prejudice in courts often involves victim-shaming, with Dalit survivors questioned about upper-caste perpetrators' motives. Pradeep's philosophy stresses empowering women to lead independently, fostering self-confidence through rights education and detailed FIRs to build morale.
Key Organizations and Initiatives
- Navsarjan Trust (1992–2017): Rose from staff to Executive Director; focused on legal aid, anti-bonded labor, and women's leadership. Resigned in 2017 after the government's cancellation of the organization's FCRA license amid Gujarat's Dalit unrest.
- Dalit Human Rights Defenders Network (DHRDNet, co-founded 2018): As director of campaigns (2018–2023), she produced reports on caste crimes during COVID-19, gender violence, and pushed for a national SC/ST budget like Telangana's model.
- Wise Act of Youth Visioning and Engagement (WAYVE) Foundation (founded 2018): Empowers marginalized women and youth through leadership training in documentation, public speaking, and constitutional rights. Has trained 120 women across 12 states.
- National Council of Women Leaders (NCWL, co-founded post-2020 Hathras incident): A network of Dalit women leaders (lawyers, journalists, activists) for dignity and justice, especially amid pandemic violence.
She currently serves as national convener of NCWL and a member of the Executive Committee of the National Center for Advocacy Studies, India.
Notable Cases and Contributions
Pradeep has handled over 50 Dalit rape survivor cases, securing convictions in many. Key examples:
- 2008 Gang-Rape Case: Defended a 17-year-old Dalit girl raped by teachers; won life sentences for perpetrators in 2009.
- 2012 Lalji Sarvaiya Case: A Dalit man burnt alive; secured life imprisonment for 11 accused in 2018.
- 2016 Una Flogging Incident: Supported flogged Dalit cattle skinners (Vashram, Ramesh, Ashok, and Bechar Sarvaiya), aiding their health, court appearances, and fundraising. This sparked her conversion to Buddhism—the first in her family—followed by survivors, symbolizing rejection of caste oppression.
- Broader Impact: Advocated against the "two-finger test" in rape exams and for manual scavengers' rights. Her work emphasizes "circle of care"—being present for survivors without judgment, using tools like "river of life" exercises for healing.
Awards and Recognition
- 2011: Woman PeaceMaker Award, Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice, University of San Diego.
- 2015: Femina Women Social Impact Award.
- 2017: Jijabai Women Achievers Award, University of Delhi.
- 2021: BBC 100 Women.
Personal Life and Philosophy
A survivor of childhood sexual abuse and caste bias, Pradeep converted to Buddhism in 2016 for its emphasis on equality. She views her role as a healer, addressing movement fractures from sub-caste and regional divides, though she admits loneliness and resource shortages. Her approach prioritizes story-sharing for trauma recovery, drawing from her "river of life" to inspire others. On X (@ManjulaHPradeep), she amplifies Dalit justice (#DalitLivesMatter), women's rights (#SavitriBaiPhuleJayanti), environmental causes (Ladakh climate fast), and violence against minorities (Manipur, Hathras).
Recent Activities (2023–2025)
As of 2025, Pradeep remains active:
- Participated in NHRC's 2025 discussion on manual scavengers' dignity.
- Honored at O.P. Jindal Global University's 2025 Ambedkar convention as NCWL convenor.
- Promoted WAYVE's women's leadership training (May 2025).
- Shared her Hindu profile on her "circle of care" (June 2025).
- Commented on Dalit youth murders in Nepal (May 2025) and Air India crash memories (July 2025).
- Earlier: Supported Ladakh's anti-industrialization movement (2024), celebrated Indian sports achievements, and rallied for Manipur rape survivors (#TribalLivesMatter, 2023).
Moni Rani Das
Background and Identity
- Birth and Upbringing: Born and raised in a "cleaners' colony" (also called sweepers' or Dalit colonies) in Dhaka, Bangladesh—segregated, poor settlements reserved for communities traditionally assigned "unclean" jobs like street cleaning, sanitation, and domestic work. These colonies face extreme poverty, lack of basic services, social exclusion, and systemic discrimination akin to untouchability.
- Community: She belongs to the Dalit community in Bangladesh (often referred to as "Dalit" or "excluded" groups, including Hindu Scheduled Castes like sweepers, cobblers, and other occupational castes). In Bangladesh, Dalits (estimated at around 3–5 million, including nearly 3 million women) face caste-based apartheid, violence, and denial of rights, despite the country's Muslim-majority context where caste persists among Hindus and some Muslim groups. This places her in the category of an activist from a disadvantaged, historically marginalized, and low-status Dalit community—similar to Indian Dalit/SC figures like B. Shyam Sunder, Bhagat Amar Nath, Kalekuri Prasad, Cynthia Stephen, Suraj Yengde, and Vijay Puli discussed earlier, though in a Bangladeshi context where formal SC/ST reservations do not exist, and Dalits are often "excluded" from mainstream society.
- Personal Drive: Growing up in such conditions, she witnessed and experienced dehumanization (e.g., quotes like "If you are not considered to be human, human rights do not apply to you"). Her father ensured she was the first girl in her community to complete school, fueling her sense of injustice and commitment to change.
Activism and Key Roles
- Early Involvement: Joined the Bangladesh Dalit and Excluded Rights Movement (BDERM) over 15–20 years ago (active since at least the mid-2000s), mobilizing local women and communities for Dalit rights.
- Founding and Leadership:
- Founder/General Secretary/President of the Dalit Women's Forum (DWF)—a women-led networking organization dedicated to advancing Dalit women's rights, dignity, empowerment, and leadership. It focuses on awareness, mobilization against multiple discrimination (caste + gender), and policy advocacy.
- President of BDERM (Bangladesh Dalit and Excluded Rights Movement)—a national platform launched in 2008 to campaign against caste-based discrimination through community mobilization, rights activism, and alliances.
- Historic Milestone: Appointed as the first Dalit person (and first Dalit woman) to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of Bangladesh—a groundbreaking achievement recognizing Dalit voices at the national level. She has used this role to advocate for specialized cells on Dalit protection, budget inclusion, and nationwide awareness.
- Core Focus Areas:
- Combating caste discrimination, untouchability, and exclusion (e.g., segregated colonies, denial of temple access, social boycotts).
- Addressing "double/multiple discrimination" faced by Dalit women (caste + gender + poverty), including violence, rape (often ignored by police), and lack of justice.
- Pushing for anti-discrimination laws, human rights protections, and inclusion in budgets/policies.
- Building women's leadership and solidarity in the Dalit movement.
- International and Regional Recognition:
- Featured in UN Women stories (2018) on Dalit rights breakthroughs in South Asia.
- Honored with the Kamla Bhasin Award (for feminist/anti-oppression work).
- Contributed to global platforms like International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN), speaking on Dalit women's struggles.
- Participated in campaigns like 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence (2025 theme on gender apartheid).
- Quoted in media (Guardian, Al Jazeera, The Daily Star) and reports on Dalit issues in Bangladesh.
In summary, Moni Rani Das is a trailblazing Dalit feminist leader who rose from a segregated cleaners' colony in Dhaka to become a national commissioner and president of key Dalit organizations. Her activism has mobilized thousands, challenged systemic dehumanization, and secured unprecedented representation for Dalits (especially women) in Bangladesh—making her a symbol of resilience, intersectional justice, and the ongoing fight against caste oppression in South Asia. Her legacy emphasizes that Dalit rights are human rights, and change begins with community mobilization and institutional inclusion.
Motiravan Kangali
Early Life
- Born on February 2, 1949, in Dulara village, Ramtek tehsil, Nagpur district, Maharashtra (then Province of Bombay, Dominion of India), into a Gond family.
- Originally named Motiram Kangali, he later changed "Ram" (associated with Brahmanical/Hindu mythology) to Ravan (revered in Gond tradition as a king/ancestor, demonized in mainstream epics), symbolizing resistance to cultural erasure.
- He pursued higher education, earning a PhD from Aligarh Muslim University on "The philosophical basis of tribal cultural values among the Gond tribe of central India."
- Worked as a bank employee (retired) in Nagpur while pursuing activism, writing, and research full-time.
Activism and Cultural Revival
Kangali was a key figure in the Gondi Punem revival movement, which sought to revive and standardize Gond religion, philosophy, and identity separate from dominant Hindu frameworks. He viewed Gond Punem as an ancient, materialist, nature-bound tradition potentially predating Vedic Hinduism.
- Co-founded and served long-term in the Akhil Gondwana Gondi Sahitya Parishad (All-Gondwana Gond Literary Academy), promoting Gondi literature and culture.
- Envisioned and supported unions like the Bhumka (Purohit) organization for Gond priests and initiated outreach to spread Gondi philosophy and religion.
- Advocated for Gondwana as a dignified homeland for Gonds (spanning parts of central India), emphasizing rights, heritage, and unity across state divisions.
- His efforts included pilgrimages (e.g., inspiring visits to Kachargarh in Madhya Pradesh, a key Gond site), fairs, and community mobilization.
- Politically involved in Gond tribal movements, focusing on identity, language preservation, and resistance to cultural assimilation.
Literary and Scholarly Contributions
Kangali authored over 25 books and hundreds of articles in Marathi, Hindi, and Gondi, plus dictionaries and scripts. His works blend folklore, songs, historical research, Sanskrit/colonial sources, and Gond oral traditions.
Key works include:
- Pari Kupar Lingo Gondi Punem Darshan (also Paari Kupaar Lingo: Gondi Punem Darshan, 1989/2011 editions): Foundational text on Gond philosophy, religion, customs, and social structure centered on ancestral figure Paari Kupaar Lingo. It prescribes practices, uses Gond songs/stories as primary sources, and bridges Gond history across regions.
- Brihat Hindi Gondi Shabdkosh (Comprehensive Hindi-Gondi Dictionary/Thesaurus, 2011): Standardized Gondi vocabulary.
- Saundhawi Lipi ka Gondi Mein Udwachan / Decipherment of the Indus Script in Gondi (2002): Controversial claim linking Indus Valley Civilization scripts/hieroglyphs to Gondi (proto-Dravidian roots), asserting ancient Gond origins.
- Other titles: Books on Gondi grammar, culture, history, legends, and religion (e.g., Gondi Punem Dhwaj Darshan); English/Gondi dictionaries; works on Gond genesis and society.
- His publications (via Tirumaay Chandralekha Kangali Publication, often family-run) are central to Gond revivalism and studied in Adivasi literature.
Legacy
- Died on October 30, 2015, in Nagpur at age 66.
- Posthumously honored: Statues installed at Kachargarh pilgrimage site (one bust, another showing him holding his religious book), symbolizing his enduring influence.
- Regarded as a foundational scholar and Dharamguru in Gondi Punem movements; his books are referenced by activists, writers (e.g., Ushakiran Atram, Sunher Singh Taram), and scholars.
- Featured in Adivasi literary lists, journals (e.g., Forward Press, The Caravan), and studies on indigenous revival, language rights, and cultural resistance.
- His insider perspective as a Gond enriched documentation of language (including script creation efforts), religion, and identity—empowering the community against marginalization.
Motiravan Kangali's tireless work made him a beacon for Gond/Koitur cultural assertion, language preservation, and Adivasi pride in central India, inspiring ongoing efforts to reclaim indigenous heritage.
Mahamedhaa Nagar
Early Life & Education
- Born on 10 October 1994 in Ghaziabad/Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
- Pursued BA (Hons) English from Miranda House, Delhi University — one of DU's premier women's colleges.
- Served as Vice President of Miranda House Students' Union during her undergraduate years.
- Later enrolled in LLB at the Faculty of Law, Delhi University (pursuing/completed around 2017–2020s).
- Known for early activism in student politics and social causes.
Activism & Student Politics Career
- Active ABVP member since her college days; rose quickly as a prominent female face in the organization, which is often right-leaning and aligned with BJP ideology.
- Elected Secretary of Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) in 2017 on an ABVP ticket — one of the highest-profile student union positions in India.
- As DUSU Secretary (2017–18), she initiated campaigns such as:
- Advocating free education for transgender students in DU (wrote to HRD Minister in 2017).
- Women's safety and empowerment drives, including distributing pepper spray (branded "Namo Power") and organizing women's marathons.
- "Mission Sahasi" initiative to equip women against harassment.
- Represented India internationally as a young leader:
- Youngest Indian delegate at a former SAARC Summit (around 2016).
- Represented India as a Youth Women Leader in the USA (possibly through programs like IVLP or youth exchanges).
- Received awards like National Youth Icon Award, Global Peace Ambassador, and participation in World Youth Prize events.
- Spoke at platforms like India Today Conclave (2016 as Miranda House VP and activist).
- Transitioned to BJP roles: Currently serves as Spokesperson for BJP Uttar Pradesh (as per her social media profiles); associated with BJP nationally.
Reality TV & Public Persona
- Contestant on MTV Roadies X4 (2016 season) — auditioned partly to gain visibility among DU students; described it as boosting her activist reach.
- Her Roadies stint added a celebrity angle to her student-politician image.
Controversies
Mahamedhaa has been a polarizing figure, especially during the turbulent 2016–2017 period in DU politics amid debates over nationalism, free speech, and campus violence.
- Involved in the Ramjas College incident (February 2017): ABVP activists (including her) protested against a seminar featuring Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid; clashes occurred with alleged physical assaults on students, professors (including beating a teacher), and journalists. Reports from left-leaning outlets (NewsClick, ScoopWhoop) accused her of leading abuses and violence; she and ABVP framed it as countering "anti-national" elements.
- Criticized for aggressive tactics in protests to "save DU from anti-nationals."
- Faced legal cases, including one in 2023 related to defacement of property (Delhi Prevention of Defacement Act).
- Accused in some accounts of disrupting events and using muscle power, though supporters portray her as a bold defender of national interest and women's issues.
Current Status & Legacy
- Active on social media (Instagram @mahamedhaanagar, X/Twitter @mahamedhaanagar, Facebook) where she posts about BJP activities, youth issues, women's rights, and political commentary.
- Positions herself as dedicated to social causes, empowerment, and nation-building.
- Remains influential in UP BJP circles and youth politics; her journey from campus leader to party spokesperson highlights the intersection of student activism, media, and mainstream politics in right-wing student outfits.
Her career reflects the dynamics of DU student politics — high visibility, ideological clashes, and blending activism with electoral and media pursuits. Views on her range from admiration as a dynamic youth icon to criticism as part of aggressive campus right-wing activism.
Maghfoor Ahmad Ajazi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maghfoor Ahmad Ajazi
Maghfoor Ahmad Ajazi
Born 3 March 1900
Muzaffarpur, India
Died 26 September 1966 (aged 66)
Muzaffarpur, India
Nationality Indian
Occupation Political & social activist
Known for Founder of All-India Jamhur Muslim League & Flag bearer for the cause of Urdu Language
Maghfoor Ahmad Ajazi (1900–1966) was an Indian political activist from Bihar.
Early life
Ajazi was born in village Dihuli, Block Sakra of District Muzaffarpur, in Bihar on 3 March 1900.His father Moulvi Hafizuddin Husain and grand father Haji Imam Bakhsh were zamindars and his mother's name was Mahfoozunnisa. His maternal grandfather Reysat Husain was an advocate in Sitamarhi.
He became a disciple of Ajaz Husain Budayuni, the Khalif of Hazrat Fazle Rahman Ganj Muradabadi, and assumed title of 'Ajazi'. He gained his patriotism from his father.
Ajazi's mother died in his childhood, while his father died in Lucknow during treatment and was buried in Chaar Bagh Qabristan when Ajazi was in school. His elder brother Manzoor Ahsan Ajazi was also a freedom fighter. He had only one sister, Noorun Nisa.
Pre-Independence activism
Ajazi left his studies at B.N. College Patna to follow Mahatma Gandhi and joined the non-co-operation movement in 1921.
Ajazi was in charge of North Bihar.[citation needed] Once he unknowingly reached the house of his cousin in a remote village. He inquired about 'Muthia'. He received a negative answer. His cousin recognised him and requested him to take meal, but he refused even a glass of water. When his sister promised to take out muthia and donated the dues, he agreed to take meal.
He attended the AICC session held at Ahmedabad in 1921 and supported Mohani's motion on 'Complete Independence', which was opposed by Mahatma Gandhi and failed.He met Gandhi at Sabarmati Ashram. He joined Khilafat movement and became member of the Central Khilafat Committee. Thus he came into contact with Mohammad Ali Jauhar and Shaukat Ali and became their associate.
He represented the Central Khilafat Committee at the All Parties Conferences and All Muslim Parties Conferences on Nehru Report along with Maulana Shaukat Ali, Begum Md. Ali, Abdul Majid Daryabadi, Maulana Azad Subhani, Maulana Abul Mohasin Md. Sajjad and others.On the direction of Md Ali Jauhar, he took charge of the Khilafat Committee Calcutta. He was arrested in a protest march led by Subhash Chandra Bose and was arrested and released. He obtained a degree from Calcutta Homoeopathic Medical College.
During the by-election of Abdul Bari, he was arrested and expelled from Purnia district.[citation needed] He was prosecuted for the 'Dihuli Conspiracy' and his office was searched. In August 1942, his house was searched, forcing him to work secretly, and his eldest son Muzaffar Husain Ajazi died on 25 July 1942.
After the earthquake of 1934, he and Rajendra Pd. devoted themselves to the relief operation. One night they had to sleep beneath a tree with their heads on a single brick.
Ajazi opposed Jinnah's two-nation theory and the creation of a separate Pakistan. He founded the All-India Jamhur Muslim League to counter Jinnah's All-India Muslim League, and served as its first general secretary.Opponents used to come in batches to his residence, virtually spitting and shouting slogans.
Post-independence activismAjazi was also a poet and writer in the Urdu language as well as an orator. His papers, diaries, letters and files are preserved in the Nehru Memorial Museum & Library in New Delhi, National Archives in New Delhi and the Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library in Patna.
He was the chairman of the Urdu Conference of Muzaffarpur held in 1960, in which for the first time a resolution was passed demanding that Urdu be accepted as an official language in Bihar. (After 15 years this demand became reality).
Ajazi established Anjuman Khuddam-e-Millat, based on the pattern of Sir Syed's Educational society. This society established a school, renovated the Company Bagh Mosque of Muzaffarpur, now the biggest Mosque of this city, built a rest house, and undertook the last rites of unclaimed dead bodies.
Death
Ajazi died on 26 September 1966. Acharya J.B. Kripalani said: "Dr. Ajazi was a great patriot, a devoted servant of humanity and a lovable friend. Selfless patriot like him are becoming rare. His death is a loss to society". Fictionist and journalist Kalam Haidry and novelist and journalist Moin Shahid called him "Baba-e-Urdu, Bihar" (Father of Urdu in BIhar) for his services towards Urdu language. Journalist and poet Wafa Malikpuri described him an old 'Mujahid' (crusader) for Urdu language..Newly inaugurated Museum named "Azadi Ke Deewane "In Lal Quila (Red Fort) Delhi photograph of Dr.Maghfoor Ahmad Ajazi has been decorated with inscription 'Opposed Jinnah's Two Nation Theory & Founded All India Jamhur Muslim league to Counter It'.
Makanji Kuber Makwana
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Makanji Kuber Makwana (1849-1924) was a social leader, social worker and a historian, who is noted for writings on the history of the Mahyavanshi caste.
Life sketch
Makanji was born in 1849 at Ahmadabad in a Vankar community. He shifted to Bombay at the early age of fifteen and later joined J.J. School of Art and became a painter by profession. He opened his own painting shop and amassed a good fortune.
Makanji was deeply disturbed about caste treatment meted out. Community in which he belonged, tried to establish that communities like Vankars (weavers) were actually Kshatriya caste, which had fallen from grace by writing several researched books starting with Mayavat Rajput Prakash in 1908 followed by several others. These books written by him helped the cause of their caste to get Kshatriya status officially as Mahyavanshi by Government of India in 1939, in which other social and political leaders after his death in 1924, like Dr. Kanhaiyalal Munshi and Dr. Purshottam Solanki played the leading role.
Makanji spent most of his wealth for the benefit of community and philanthropic works. He founded "Kabir Ashram" (Hostel) and "Kabir Temple" named after Sant Kabir in Bomaby and declared opened for the community on 11 May 1913, which provided free boarding and lodging for community person till he found an employment in Bombay.
Further, he was also founder of community forum, Mayavat Rajput Hitt Vardhak Sabha in 1910, to unite the community spread across the erstwhile Bombay State and make them aware of his movement to establish the community as Rajputs.
Books
Makanji in his writings stressed that the Mahyavanshi were the descendants of the Hattiavanshi King Arjuna, arguing that it was because of the slaughter of Parsuram they were relegated to a lower caste thus linking them with the Mayavat Rajputs, a branch of Parmara clan of Kshatriyas. There are several books written by him in Gujarati language, as under:-
Mayavat Rajput Prakash (1908) (A light on Mayavat Rajputs)
Mahyavanshi no Itihas (1910) (History of Mahyavanshi)
Mayavat Rajputoday (1911) (The rise of Mayavat Rajput)
Mahyavanshi Atle Shu? (1911) (Who is a Mahyavanshi?)
Meena Seshu
Meena Seshu (full name Meena Saraswathi Seshu) is a pioneering Indian human rights activist, feminist, sex workers' rights advocate, HIV/AIDS prevention leader, and co-founder of Sampada Grameen Mahila Sanstha (SANGRAM), a Maharashtra-based NGO focused on empowering marginalized women, particularly sex workers. She is renowned for shifting from traditional "rescue and rehabilitation" approaches to rights-based, community-led models that prioritize agency, dignity, health, and decriminalization of sex work. Her work addresses intersectional issues like gender violence, HIV/AIDS, caste/class discrimination, and anti-trafficking policies that harm sex workers.
Early Life & Background
- A feminist activist in the early 1980s, initially focused on stopping violence against women in Maharashtra.
- Her involvement with sex workers began amid the emerging HIV/AIDS crisis in India (late 1980s–1990s), where she recognized that top-down interventions failed marginalized women.
- Realized that community organizing and listening to sex workers themselves were more effective than external "savior" models.
- This led to her transformative shift toward rights-based advocacy, viewing sex work as labor rather than solely victimhood or immorality.
Activism & Key Organizations
- Co-founded SANGRAM (Sampada Grameen Mahila Sanstha) in 1992 in Sangli, Maharashtra — initially for HIV/AIDS prevention and support among rural and marginalized women.
- SANGRAM targets sex workers and other high-risk groups, promoting health education, safer sex negotiation, access to treatment/care, and rights assertion.
- In 1995, sex workers themselves formed VAMP (Veshya Anyay Mukti Parishad, Collective of Sex Workers and Allies) under SANGRAM's incubation — a peer-led collective that became a model for self-organization.
- Pioneered collectivization among sex workers: Empowered them to negotiate safer conditions, resist police harassment, access healthcare, and advocate for rights.
- Critiqued anti-trafficking and "raid-rescue" approaches: Argued they undermine health (e.g., by disrupting peer networks) and violate rights (e.g., forced rehabilitation). Co-authored influential pieces like "“We Have the Right Not to Be 'Rescued'…”" (Anti-Trafficking Review, 2012) on how such programs harm sex workers' well-being.
- Regional efforts: Initiated Sex Workers and Allies South Asia (SWASA) to support sex workers in Bangladesh, Nepal, India, and Sri Lanka.
- Broader advocacy: Works on HIV/AIDS as a human rights issue, challenges stigma, and promotes decriminalization/rights-based policies.
Recognition & Achievements
- Human Rights Watch Human Rights Award (2002) — HRW's highest recognition for her courageous, creative work on HIV/AIDS and rights.
- Lifetime Achievement Award by The National Transgender Awards (recent, as of 2025–2026 tributes).
- Featured in global platforms: UNAIDS credits her/SANGRAM with improving HIV treatment access for sex workers in India.
- Honored by American Jewish World Service (AJWS), Open Society Foundations, and others for innovative approaches.
- Influential speaker/writer: Contributes to journals, books (e.g., The Business of Sex), and interviews on sex work, feminism, and rights.
Views & Legacy
- Emphasizes "save us from the saviors": Calls for listening to sex workers rather than imposing moralistic interventions.
- Views sex work through a rights and labor lens: Advocates for agency, health services without coercion, and protection from violence/exploitation.
- Her model (peer-led collectives like VAMP) has influenced global sex worker organizing and HIV programs in South Asia.
- Continues as General Secretary of SANGRAM; remains a key voice critiquing policies that criminalize or pathologize sex work.
Meena Seshu's activism represents a paradigm shift in India — from paternalistic "rescue" to empowering communities for self-determination, health, and rights. Her work has saved lives through better HIV prevention and challenged systemic stigma.
Sources: Wikipedia, Human Rights Watch (2002), American Jewish World Service, Anti-Trafficking Review, Open Society Foundations, The Lancet profile, and recent NGO tributes (as of 2025–2026).
Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy
ಮೂಡ್ನಾಕೂಡು ಚಿನ್ನಸ್ವಾಮಿ
Born 22 September 1954
Mudnakudu, Mysore State, India
Occupation
Writer
Poet
Financial Advisor
Nationality Indian
Alma mater M.Com. M.A.(Kan). D.Lit
Period 1989–present
Genre Dalit Literature
Notable awards Karnataka Rajyotsava Award
Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy (born 22 September 1954) is a noted Indian speaker, poet and writer supporting the voice of Dalits and unprevilaged communities . His writings advocates for eradicating caste system, untouchability and against fundamentalism. His works have been translated into various Indian languages, English, Spanish. He has been conferred with Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award.
Early life
Born on 22 September 1954 in the village Mudnakudu of Chamarajanagar dist. in the state of Karnataka, India in a dalit family. His father was Basavarjaiah and mother Gowramma. He has M.Com. M.A.(Kan). D.Lit., as educational qualifications. He has served as Financial Advisor in Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation and Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation.
Works
Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy's first collection of poetry, "Kondigalu Matthu Mullubeligalu" (Links and barbed fences) published in 1989 brought a new wave of change in otherwise stagnant Kannada Dalit-Bandaya (protest) Poetry and appreciated by critics, writers and poetry lovers. And so far, six collections of poetry have been published. The essence of the poetry is dalit experiences which are empirical in nature and expressed with intensity which attracted discussions and deliberations in the literary circles. Prof. Dharanendra Kurakuri has translated selected poems into Hindi and were published by Amar Prakashan, Kanpur in 2001 under the caption ‘Angar Ki Choti Per’ (Over the mountain of embers)
Prof.Rowena Hill (es), a British born Venezuelan poet has translated 47 selected poems into Spanish and English. A Spanish literary magazine from Columbia Arquitrave has published 10 of them in its June 2003 issue. The Spanish version has been later published by the Cultural dept. of Venezuelan Govt., (CONAC) in 2004 under ‘world poetry series’. And the English translation has been published by ‘erbacce press’ Liverpool, UK in 2016. Poems have also been translated into Hebrew Indian vernaculars like Bengali, Marathi, Telugu, Malayalam and Urdu.
As many as 27 poems and a play have been prescribed as curriculum in the language text books of various courses by the Government of Karnataka, Government of Maharashtra, CBSC, New Delhi, and Universities in Karnataka and West Bengal, also in UK. Apart from poetry he has also worked in other genres of literature and brought out collections of short stories, essays, plays and monographs etc.,
Awards and honours
He has been felicitated with Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award in 2009 and Karnataka State Rajyotsava Award in 2014 for life time achievement.
List of works
His contribution to Kannada literature are listed below.
Poetry
Kondigalu mattu Mullubeligalu – 1989
Godhooli – 1993
Nanondu Maravagiddare – 1998
Chappali Mattu Nanu – 2001
Kanakambari – 2004
Matte Male Baruva Munna – 2000
Chandirana Kannu Hingalarada Hunnu – 2005 (Selected Poems)
Buddha Beladingalu – 2010
Plays
Kendamandala – 1990
Mooru Beedi Natakagalu – 2004
Bahuroopi (Poetry drama) – 2003
Mudnakudu Natakagalu – 2010
Essays
Nondavara Novu – 2002
Maathu Manthana – 2004
Ondu koda halina samara – 2008
Aparimitada Kattale – 2010
Chinnudi – 2015
Short Stories
Mohada Deepa – 1999
Papa prajne – 2015
Monograph
Bhima Boyi – 1994
Belakina Saradararu – 2015
Letters
Ole Okkane – 2005
Translations
Yuva Bouddharigondu Darshana – 2002
Deegha Nikaya – 2012 (Revision for Mahabodhi Society, Bengaluru)
Dalita Darshana – 2014
Edited
Dalita Kathegalu – 1996 (for Karnataka Sahitya Academy)
Kavya Bangara – 2005
Poems of Dasara Poets' meet – 2004
Marali Manege – 2006 (A souvenir on the event of Buddhanedege… a dalit march for equality commemorating 50th year of Ambedkar's conversion)
Kavya 2005 – 2008 (for Karnataka Sahitya Academi)
Translated into other Languages
Angar Ki Choti Per – 2001 (Translated into Hindi by Prof. Dharanendra Kurakuri)
Poemas: Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy – 2005 (Translated into Spanish by Prof. Rowena Hill)
Zakhm Kasak Awaz – 2012 (Translated into Urdu by Nooruddin Noor)
Before It Rains Again – (Translated by Rowena Hill)
Asmita Ki Khoj – 2010(Translation of "Ondu koda halina samara’ a collection of essays into Hindi by Bhalachandra Jayshetty)
About the Author
Bayala Belaku – 2008 (Edit: Appagere Somashekara)
Beyuva Bege – 2012 (A research work on Dr. Mudnakudu by Dr. Mallappa Chalavadi)
मुंशी रायबहादुर हरीप्रसाद टम्टाजी
(26.8.1887--23.2.1962)
"कोई भी व्यक्ति व समाज बिना शिक्षा के उन्नति व सम्मान प्राप्त कर ही नहीं सकता।" -- मुंशी रायबहादुर हरीप्रसाद टम्टा जी
बहुआयामी व्यक्तित्व एवं समाज सुधारक कार्यों के कारण आज भी उत्तराखंड क्षेत्र का पिछड़ा समाज टम्टाजी को श्रद्धा व सम्मान के साथ उत्तराखंड का डॉ. अंबेडकर के रूप में याद करता है। टम्टाजी का जन्म 26.8.1887 को उत्तराखंड के अल्मोड़ा जनपद के एक ताम्रकार परिवार में हुआ। आप अपने पिता मा. गोविंद प्रसाद व माता मा. गोविंदी देवी की प्रथम संतान थे। उनके अतिरिक्त एक बहन कोकिला और भाई ललित था। बचपन में ही पिताजी का देहांत हो गया। बाद में पालन-पोषण उनके मामा मा. कृष्ण टम्टा ने किया।
शिक्षा
वेद कालीन समाज व्यवस्था के कारण शूद्रों के लिए शिक्षा ग्रहण करना वर्जित था। हालांकि अंग्रेजी शासन में प्राथमिक शिक्षा अनिवार्य और नि:शुल्क कर दी गई थी। अतः सरकारी स्कूल में प्राथमिक कक्षा में प्रवेश लेना कोई कठिन कार्य नहीं था। लेकिन कुछ सामंती एवं ब्राह्मणी मानसिकता के लोग अछूत बच्चों की पढ़ाई में बाधा डाल रहे थे। इन बाधाओं के होते हुए 1892 में मामा कृष्ण टम्टा ने अपने भांजे को एक आदर्श स्कूल डिग्गी बंगला प्राइमरी स्कूल में प्रवेश दिला दिया। इसके बाद मिशन के हाई स्कूल से 1902 में टम्टाजी ने उच्च श्रेणी से हाई स्कूल पास किया और उर्दू भाषा में विशेष योग्यता (डिस्टिंगशन) प्राप्त किया। विद्यालय के अधिकारियों ने टम्टाजी को 'मुंशी' उपाधि से सम्मानित किया। सामंतवादी और ब्राह्मणी मानसिकता के कारण टम्टाजी अपनी शिक्षा आगे नहीं बढ़ा सके।
समाज सुधार
टम्टाजी बचपन से ही मेधावी, परिश्रमी, निर्भीक, अपने समाज की सेवा करने की प्रबल भावना रखते थे। इस भावना के कारण अछूत जाति के पुनरुत्थान के कार्य अपने मामा कृष्ण टम्टा के सहयोग से 1903 से ही प्रारंभ कर दिए। अछूतों की तरफ से जो भी शिकायते आती, ध्यान से सुनते और पिटीशन तैयार कर जिलाधिकारी कार्यालय में संबंधित अधिकारी के पास भेज देते थे। इस कार्य में जो भी खर्चा आता, टम्टाजी स्वयं वहन करते थे। उच्च वर्ण द्वारा अछूतों पर होने वाले अत्याचार, शोषण को रोकने एवं उनको सामाजिक, राजनैतिक अधिकार दिलाने हेतु 1905 में टम्टाजी की अध्यक्षता में 'टम्टा सुधार सभा' की स्थापना की गई।
1914 में टम्टा समाज सुधार के स्थान पर 'शिल्पकार समाज सुधार' की स्थापना टम्टाजी की अध्यक्षता में की गई।
हिल मोटर ट्रांसपोर्ट कंपनी
टम्टाजी के प्रयास से सबसे पहले नैनीताल से हल्द्वानी आने जाने वाले लोगों की सुविधा के लिए 1920 में 'हिल मोटर ट्रांसपोर्ट कंपनी' की स्थापना की गई।
धोली डांडा सम्मेलन
24, 25 सितंबर 1925 को अल्मोड़ा के पास धोली डांडा ग्राम में शिल्पकार समाज का एक विशाल सम्मेलन हुआ। जिसकी अध्यक्षता टम्टाजी ने की। इस अवसर पर शिल्पकार समाज की उन्नति के लिए 21 प्रस्ताव पास किए गए। जिनमें मुख्य निम्नलिखित हैं।
1.जिला बोर्ड, नगर पालिका में शीघ्र से शीघ्र प्राथमिक शिक्षा अनिवार्य व नि:शुल्क की जाए।
2.कुमाऊं क्षेत्र में शिल्पकारों की उन्नति के लिए उनकी संख्या के आधार पर जिला बोर्ड एवं नगर पालिका में सदस्य मनोनीत किए जाए।
3.सेना में शिल्पकार के नाम से बटालियन का गठन किया जाए।
4.शिल्पकारों को आत्मनिर्भर बनाने के लिए खेती योग्य भूमि आवंटित की जाए।
5.अछूतों के बच्चों को पढ़ाने के लिए अधिक से अधिक विद्यालय खोले जाएं।
6.कुमाऊं क्षेत्र के लिए शिल्पकार सभा की स्थापना की जाए।
7.शिल्पकारों में भ्रातृत्व भावना की वृद्धि की जाए।
धौली डांडा का विशाल सम्मेलन एक बड़ी लड़ाई की शुरुआत थी। यह लड़ाई शिल्पकार समाज के लिए न्याय, समानता व व्यक्तित्व की गरिमा की लड़ाई थी।
शिल्पकार शब्द व्यवहार में 1914 से ही प्रारंभ हो गया था लेकिन बड़े ही संघर्ष के बाद सरकार ने इस शब्द को जाति के रूप में 1926 में मान्यता प्रदान की
डॉ. अंबेडकर और टम्टाजी
1932 में इंग्लैंड के प्रधानमंत्री मैगडोनाल्ड ने भारत की समस्याओं को जानने हेतु भारत के कुछ नेताओं को जाति के आधार पर लंदन में आमंत्रित किया। इस सभा में डॉ.अंबेडकर के आने पर गांधीजी एण्ड पार्टी को आपत्ति हुई। गांधीजी ने प्रधानमंत्री जी से पूछा आपने डॉ.अंबेडकर को क्यों आमंत्रित किया? प्रधानमंत्री जी ने उत्तर दिया क्योंकि डॉ.अंबेडकर अछूतों के सबसे बड़े नेता हैं। पटेल आदि नेताओं ने कहा हिंदुओं के नेता गांधीजी है न कि डॉ.अंबेडकर। यह सूचना सारे भारत में आग की तरह फैल गई। स्वामी अछूतानंद एवं टम्टाजी ने सेंकड़ो टेलीग्राम प्रधानमंत्री जी के पास भिजवाए जिसमें लिखा था कि अछूतों के एकमात्र नेता डॉ. अंबेडकर है न कि गांधीजी। पूना पैक्ट में भी टम्टाजी ने डॉ. अंबेडकर का साथ दिया।तब से दोनों एक दूसरे के मित्र बन गए।
समता साप्ताहिक पत्र
शिल्पकार समाज के लोगों में सामाजिक, राजनैतिक, शैक्षणिक आत्मगौरव की भावना और नई चेतना जागृत करने हेतु टम्टाजी ने 1935 में समता साप्ताहिक पत्र के स्थापना की। इस पत्र के द्वारा शिल्पकार समाज में गुलामी की भावना कम हुई और उनमें नई चेतना आई।
अछूतों की दुर्दशा के कारण
जब टम्टाजी 16 वर्ष के ही थे। तभी उन्हें भली-भांति अनुभव हो गया था कि अछूतों की दुर्दशा का मुख्य कारण अशिक्षा, संगठन का अभाव और आर्थिक अभाव (धन, धरती, खेत आदि) है। सबसे पहले उन्होंने शिक्षा पर बल दिया। उन्होंने कहा कोई भी व्यक्ति व समाज बिना शिक्षा के उन्नति व सम्मान प्राप्त कर ही नहीं सकता। विभिन्न विषयों का ज्ञान शिक्षा के द्वारा ही संभव है। ब्रिटिश सरकार से अछूतों के बच्चों की पढ़ाई के लिए अधिक से अधिक विद्यालय खोलने एवं कुछ विद्यालयों में अछूत अध्यापक रखने की मांग की गई। जब टम्टाजी 1946-1952 में नगरपालिका अल्मोड़ा के अध्यक्ष बने। उन्होंने शिल्पकार (अछूत) बच्चों की पढ़ाई का विशेष ध्यान रखते हुए अपने क्षेत्र में 150 प्राथमिक विद्यालय एवं रात्रि विद्यालय भी खुलवाए। उनके लिए छात्रवृत्ति का भी प्रबंध करवाया गया। अछूतों की आर्थिक स्थिति बहुत चिंताजनक थी, अपनी कोई जमीन, संपत्ति न होने के कारण उच्चवर्ण लोग अपमानित करते थे। इस महत्वपूर्ण कमी को दूर करने के लिए टम्टाजी ने ब्रिटिश सरकार से 30000 एकड़ जमीन डिस्फॉरेस्ट कराकर शिल्पकार समाज में वितरित करा दी गयी।
समाज की उन्नति एवं सरकार से अपनी मांग मनवाने के लिए एक मजबूत संगठन की आवश्यकता होती है। इसकी पूर्ति हेतु टम्टाजी ने बिखरी हुई 51 अछूत जातियों को एक सूत्र में पिरोकर शिल्पकार शब्द (जाति) में समावेश करा दिया। यह टम्टाजी की बहुत बड़ी उपलब्धि थी।
अकाल व महामारी
टम्टाजी जहाँ एक कुशल प्रशासक, राजनीतिज्ञ व समाज सेवी थे, वहीं उनके ह्रदय में बीमार व असहायो के प्रति करूणा व उदारता की भावना भी थी। सन 1960 तो 1945 में उत्तराखंड में भयंकर अकाल पड़ा। टम्टाजी ने कुमाऊं क्षेत्र के गाँव में सरकारी सस्ते अनाज की दुकानें खुलवाई। इससे लोग भुखमरी से बच गए। इसी तरह सन 1944 में इंफ्लुएंजा नामक संक्रामक रोग फैला। इस बीमारी से बचने हेतु टम्टाजी ने शीघ्र ही 1500 स्काउटों की नियुक्ति की और उनको दवा देकर ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों में मरीजों की सेवा के लिए भेजा। ग्रामीण जनता उनके इस पुनीत कार्य से लाभान्वित हुई। क्षेत्र के लोग टम्टाजी की उदारता से बहुत प्रभावित हुए।
महिला शिक्षा पर टम्टा जी के विचार
उत्तराखंड देश के अन्य भागों से अधिक पिछड़ा, अंधविश्वासी और परंपरावादी है। इसके कारण उत्तराखंडवासी प्राय: कहा करते थे, "लड़कियां पराया धन होती है।" लेकिन टम्टाजी प्रगतिशील विचारों के होने के कारण स्त्री शिक्षा के पक्के हिमायती थे। उनका मानना था लड़की शिक्षित होने से परिवार, आदर्श परिवार बन जाता है। आदर्श परिवार ही एक आदर्श नागरिक का निर्माण कर सकता है। इस उद्देश्य को पूरा करने के लिए टम्टा जी ने अपने क्षेत्र में सरकार के द्वारा लड़कियों के लिए स्कूल खुलवाए। उनके प्रयास से 1930 में उनकी भांजी ने हाईस्कूल, 1934 में स्नातक (उत्तराखंड में प्रथम महिला स्नातक) और 1935 में मनोविज्ञान से एम. ए. किया।
महिला सशक्तिकरण
शिल्पकार समाज में अशिक्षा के कारण बाल विवाह, बेमेल विवाह होते रहते थे। विधवा स्त्री को देखना पाप समझा जाता था। टम्टाजी इन प्रथाओं के विरोधी थे। वे चाहते थे समाज में विधवाओं का अपमान न हो, विधवा समाज पर भार न बने, आत्मनिर्भर बने, उनकी अपनी नियमित आय हो, इस विचार को पूरा करने के लिए टम्टाजी ने रोजगार गृह खुलवाएं। सिलाई, बुनाई, कटाई के लिए ट्रेनिंग सेंटर खुलवाए ताकि उनकी नियमित आय हो सके।
जो व्यक्ति अपने समाज में प्रतिष्ठित, शांतिप्रिय और न्यायप्रिय हो और साथ ही साथ अंग्रेज सरकार के कार्यों में सहयोग करता रहा हो। ऐसे व्यक्ति को ब्रिटिश सरकार सम्मानित करती थी। सरकार की दृष्टि से टम्टाजी ऐसे ही व्यक्ति थे। इसलिए उन्हें 1935 में स्पेशल मजिस्ट्रेट नियुक्त किया। रायबहादुर उपाधि से सम्मानित किया। अपने समाज के प्रतिष्ठित और लोकप्रिय नेता होने के कारण टम्टाजी को 1947 में गोंडा जिला, उत्तर प्रदेश से विधान सभा का सदस्य निर्विरोध निर्वाचित किया गया।
महादानी
टम्टाजी ने 1903 से ही समाज सेवा का कार्य प्रारंभ कर दिया था। इसके लिए अनेक कार्यक्रमों का आयोजन करना पड़ता था। अधिकांश कार्यक्रमों में होने वाले व्यय को वह स्वयं ही वहन करते थे। अकाल के समय अनाज आदि का प्रबंध करके लोगों को जीवन दान दिया। महामारी के दौरान बीमारी के लिए दवा आदि का प्रबंध करवाया।
1930 में अल्मोड़ा में हाईस्कूल नहीं था। हाई स्कूल खोलने के संबंध में एक प्रबंध समिति का गठन किया गया। समिति को कहीं जगह नहीं मिली। निराश होकर वे टम्टाजी के पास गए उनसे अनुरोध किया। टम्टाजी के पास मुख्य बाजार में जमीन पड़ी थी उस पर पांच कमरे बना भी चुके थे। समिति के अनुरोध पर उन्होंने जगह देना स्वीकार कर लिया और छात्रों के खेलने के लिए कि स्टेडियम भी बनवा कर दिया। शिल्पकार समाज के जीवन से संबंधित ऐसा कोई भी पहलू शेष नहीं रहा जिस पर टम्टाजी का ध्यान न गया हो। उत्तराखंड विशेषकर कुमाऊं क्षेत्र में जो परिवर्तन आया है उसका श्रेय मुंशी रायबहादुर हरिप्रसाद टम्टा जी को ही जाता है उनकी उपलब्धियों को देखते हुए कहा जा सकता है कि वह शिल्पकार समाज के एक कर्मठ, समाजसेवी, कुशल प्रशासक, दूरदर्शी, दानवीर एवं लोकप्रिय नेता थे।
यदि आज के समाजसेवी और नेता उनसे प्रेरणा लेकर काम करें तो बहुत सीमा तक देश की समस्या का समाधान हो सकता है। ऐसे कर्मयोगी, दानवीर रायबहादुर हरिप्रसाद टम्टा जी को शत्-शत् नमन!
-साभार
मूलनिवासी टाइम्स हिंदी पाक्षिक
(दिनांक 1-15 अक्टूबर 2015)
बामसेफ भवन 527-A, कबीर बस्ती, अंबेडकर पार्क, मलका गंज, नई दिल्ली 110007 फोन 01123854369
हरि ने हरे पिछड़े भूमिहीनों के दर्द
Publish Date:Thu, 25 Aug 2016
डीके जोशी, अल्मोड़ा: एतिहासिक नगरी में 129 साल पहले एक सपूत ने जन्म लिया जिसका नाम था हरि प्रसाद टम्टा।
डीके जोशी, अल्मोड़ा: एतिहासिक नगरी में 129 साल पहले एक सपूत ने जन्म लिया जिसका नाम था हरि प्रसाद टम्टा। उत्तराखंड के सामाजिक, शैक्षिक व आर्थिक रूप से पिछडे़ भूमिहीन शिल्पकारों को संगठित करने, हक-हकूक की लड़ाई लड़ने वाले अल्मोड़ा के रायबहादुर मुंशी हरि प्रसाद टम्टा ने सामाजिक सौहार्द की दिशा दी। असुविधा के उस दौर में अल्मोड़ा में जन सुविधाओं के लिए भी उन्होंने काफी संघर्ष किया। 19वीं शताब्दी के शुरू में समाज हित में संघर्ष करने वालों समाज सुधारकों में मुंशी हरि प्रसाद टम्टा का नाम भी प्रमुखता से शामिल है। वह आजन्म एक निष्काम कर्मयोगी की भांति परोपकार के कार्यो में जुटे रहे।
उन्होंने सामाजिक हितों व हक-हकूकों के लिए संघर्ष करते हुए उत्तराखंड में विभिन्न उप जातियों में बंटे उपेक्षित वर्ग के लोगों को एकजुट किया और उनके स्वाभिमान को जगाने का काम किया। भले ही रूढि़वादिता के कारण समाज में उन्हें कई बार अपमान का सामना करना पड़ा। अपमान की घटनाओं में सन् 1913 में म्यूनिसिपल बोर्ड अल्मोड़ा में मुंशी हरि प्रसाद टम्टा के मामा कृष्ण टम्टा सदस्य के रूप में निर्वाचित हुए, तो उस दौर में रूढि़वादी विचारों के चलते विरोधी स्वर के जरिये अपमान सहना पडा। इसके अलावा सन् 1911 में जार्ज पंचम की राजनैतिक ताजपोशी पर बद्रेश्वर अल्मोड़ा में सजे जश्न कार्यक्रम में उन्हें आमंत्रित करने पर भी हरि प्रसाद टम्टा व उनके मामा को रूढि़वादिता के चलते अपमान का झेलना पड़ा। सन् 1925 में अल्मोड़ा में कुमाऊं व गढ़वाल के शिल्पकारों के सम्मेलन के दौरान भी नगर में अपमान का सामना करना पड़ा।
ऐसी घटनाओं के बावजूद वह अपने मकसद से डिगे नहीं, बल्कि सहनशील बनकर आगे बढ़े। उनकी सहनशीलता व धैर्य समाज में सामाजिक समरसता का भाव पैदा करता गया। उन्होंने अल्मोड़ा में बिजली, पानी, सडक, शिक्षा व स्वच्छता के लिए भी संघर्ष किया और सच्चे समाज सेवक के रूप में पहचान बनाई। उनके इसी व्यक्तित्व, सहनशीलता व समाज सेवा का परिणाम है कि आज भी उन्हें लोग भूले नहीं। पर्वतीय क्षेत्र में यातायात की व्यवस्था उस दौर में नगण्य थी, उन्होंने यह सुविधा उपलब्ध कराने के लिए सन् 1920 में हिल मोटर ट्रांसपोर्ट की स्थापना अपने अनुज स्व. लालता प्रसाद के सहयोग से सर्वप्रथम आरंभ की। उनकी जयंती पर हर वर्ग के लोग एकजुट होकर उन्हें याद कर करते हैं। उनसे समाज सेवा की प्रेरणा लेकर सामाजिक समरसता की दिशा में कदम बढ़ाना ही उन्हें सच्ची श्रद्धांजलि होगी। with Dr.Anil Joshi)
Mary Madiga
1. Background and Identity
Full Name: Mary Madiga (often recorded in Telugu media as Mary Madiga or Mary Madiga Garu).
Caste/Community: She belongs to the Madiga community, a Scheduled Caste (SC) in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The Madigas are one of the largest and most marginalized Dalit communities in South India, traditionally associated with leatherwork (tanning, cobbling), agricultural labor, and historically subjected to severe untouchability.
Region: Primarily active in Telangana (formerly part of Andhra Pradesh), focusing on rural and semi-urban areas where caste discrimination remains entrenched.
Socioeconomic Context: The Madiga community faces multilayered oppression—economic exploitation, social exclusion, and political underrepresentation. Many Madigas are landless laborers, and women within the community experience compounded discrimination due to caste and gender.
2. Key Activism and Movements
Mary Madiga is recognized for her grassroots mobilization and advocacy on several fronts:
A. Madiga Reservation Sub-Categorization Movement
Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS): She is a prominent figure in the MRPS-led struggle demanding sub-categorization of Scheduled Caste reservations. Madigas argue that benefits within the SC quota in Telangana/Andhra Pradesh are disproportionately availed by the Mala community (another SC group), leaving Madigas behind. The movement seeks to divide the SC quota into sub-groups to ensure equitable distribution.
Protests and Demonstrations: She has organized and led rallies, sit-ins, and public meetings, often confronting state authorities and political leaders to demand justice.
B. Dalit Women’s Rights and Feminism
Intersectional Advocacy: As a Dalit feminist, she highlights how caste and gender intersect—fighting against sexual violence, domestic abuse, and economic exploitation faced by Madiga women.
Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and Economic Empowerment: She promotes women’s collectives for livelihood generation, access to microcredit, and skill development to reduce dependency on exploitative labor.
C. Land and Labor Rights
Land Rights Advocacy: Works to secure land titles for Dalit families under government schemes and prevent land grabbing by dominant castes.
Fair Wages and Labor Dignity: Campaigns for minimum wage enforcement and against bonded labor practices in agriculture and leather industries.
D. Legal Awareness and Anti-Atrocity Work
SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act: Conducts workshops to educate Dalits about legal rights and supports victims in filing cases against caste-based violence and discrimination.
Legal Aid Networks: Collaborates with human rights lawyers and organizations to provide legal assistance to marginalized families.
3. Political Engagement
Though not a mainstream politician, she engages with political parties, MLAs, and MPs to push for Madiga-specific demands.
She critiques tokenistic Dalit representation in politics and emphasizes the need for accountable leadership from within the community.
Her activism often pressures regional parties like the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS/BRS) and the Indian National Congress to address sub-categorization.
4. Challenges and Risks
Faces threats, intimidation, and social boycotts from dominant castes and occasionally from within Dalit communities opposed to sub-categorization.
Operates in a politically charged environment where the sub-categorization issue has sparked tensions between Madiga and Mala communities.
Works with limited resources in remote areas where state machinery is often hostile to Dalit assertion.
5. Philosophy and Approach
Grassroots-First: Believes in on-the-ground mobilization rather than elite activism.
Inclusive Dalit Solidarity: While fighting for Madiga rights, she also emphasizes unity among Dalit subgroups against Brahminical hierarchy.
Education as Liberation: Advocates for educational access and scholarships for Madiga youth to break cycles of poverty.
6. Legacy and Recognition
Considered a fearless voice for Madiga dignity in Telangana’s Dalit movement.
Her work has inspired younger Madiga women to take up activism and leadership roles.
Though not widely covered in national media, she is respected in Telugu civil rights circles for her unwavering commitment.
7. How to Learn More
Follow Telugu regional news and Dalit rights platforms for updates on MRPS activities.
Research Madiga sub-categorization movement and its leaders like Manda Krishna Madiga (MRPS founder)—Mary Madiga works within this broader struggle.
Look for documentaries and reports on Dalit women’s activism in Telangana by organizations like Dalit Women’s Collective.
Mary Madiga embodies the resilience of Dalit women activists who fight not only against caste oppression but also for gender justice and economic liberation within some of India’s most marginalized communities.
Moses Parmar
With more than 25 years experience in holistic, transformational work, Moses Parmar is DFN’s North India Director. He oversees a staff of more than 1,000 Indian national workers serving among north India’s Dalit communities, bringing high quality English-medium education to Dalit children. Additionally, Moses and his team focus on empowerment for Dalit women, and indigenous expressions of freedom of conscience for Dalits. Moses also serves as the North India Public Relations officer of the All India Christian Council (AICC). Moses has traveled extensively internationally and spoken to groups ranging in size from of 50 to 50,000. He is an excellent storyteller as he relates what is happening in India and around the world in a manner in which all audiences can relate.
To contact Mr. Parmar, please email info@dalitnetwork.org or call 202-375-5000.
Jana Natya Mandali
Gaddar protests against arrest of Varavara Rao- 2005
The Art Lovers Association was renamed the Jana Natya Mandali in 1972. Even while he was singing of revolution in the villages, Gaddar took a banking recruitment exam and got the post of a clerk at Canara Bank in 1975. He quit his bank job in 1984 and concentrated on Jana Natya Mandali. After he voiced his protest against the killing of several Dalits by upper caste landlords in Karamchedu village in Prakasam district in July 1985, the police raided Gaddar's house. He went underground.
Underground
In exile, Gaddar roamed through the forests of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradeshand Odisha, spreading the revolutionary ideology through folk arts. Gaddar and his troupe adapted folk forms such as Oggu Katha, Veedhi Bhagotham (vernacular ballets using a combination of song, dialogue and dance) and Yellamma Katha (the story of the local deity) to revolutionary themes depicting the travails of peasants, labourers and other weaker sections. Jana Natya Mandali was soon regarded as the cultural wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) People's War, a Maoist party active in Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Odisha.
With his revolutionary songs catching the imagination of the masses, Gaddar became a legend. Hundreds of thousands of printed copies and thousands of cassettes of his songs have been distributed and sold over the last two decades.
Gaddar's attire is as well known as his songs. In his own words, 'in the beginning, we used to perform wearing lungis. But then, since women too formed a part of the audience, we thought that costume was not appropriate. Therefore, we preferred gochis (dhotis). In the same way, gongali (a thick blanket made of rough wool) worn across the chest had its own advantages. It is in the jungles that we first took to wearing anklets and a loaded rifle on the right shoulder. On the left one, we had a dolu (drum).' He sticks to the same gochi and gongali, anklets and dolu. The loaded rifle has given way to a lathi in the right hand.
After four-and-a-half years of exile, Gaddar emerged from hiding when the then Congress government led by Dr Marri Chenna Reddy adopted a 'liberal attitude' towards the Naxalites. On February 18, 1990, Gaddar met the media. Two days later, Jana Natya Mandali celebrated its 19th anniversary at Nizam College Grounds in Hyderabad. A staggering 200,000 people came to watch Gaddar.
In the last 15 years since he surfaced from self-imposed exile, Gaddar has seen six chief ministers blow hot and cold on the Naxalite movement. During this period, he has launched campaigns to protest against State repression in the countryside and killings of scores of Naxalites by the police in what he calls 'fake encounters.'
Gaddar believes those wielding political and administrative power will, one day, realise that the Naxalite issue can be tackled only by addressing the socio-economic issues in the countryside, and not through 'State terror.'
Assassination attempt
On April 6, 1997 there was an assassination bid on Gaddar. While two of the three bullets the assailants fired into him were removed, one was left untouched because of medical complications. The near-fatal attack, which the balladeer believes was engineered by the police, did not deter Gaddar from being a champion of the downtrodden.
Peace Emissary
In 2001, the Telugu Desam government accepted a proposal to have peace negotiations with Naxalites and the then Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) People's War announced the names of Varavara Rao and Gaddar as its emissaries to work out modalities for the proposed talks. The Naxalite party was under ban at that time and these two writers were chosen as emissaries, keeping in view their yeomen services in people's causes for over three decades then. The government had also named two ministers as its representatives and after three sittings held at a time of unabated encounter killings, Varavara Rao and Gaddar pulled out of the talks’ process, that went on between May and July 2002.
The then opposition Indian National Congress criticized the stand of the Telugu Desam Party with regard to the talks and made a categorical promise in its Election Manifesto 2004 to hold talks to arrive at a meaningful peace. The Congress came to power in May 2004 and initiated the talks’ process in June. This time around the then Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) People's War named Varavara Rao, Gaddar and novelist Kalyana Rao as its emissaries. The emissaries assumed their position on 13 July 2004 and had involved themselves in several rounds of discussions on modalities with the government including the Home Minister and the government representatives. Finally, leaders of two Naxalite parties (by then Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Janashakti also joined the talks process and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Peoples War became Communist Party of India (Maoist)) came for the talks held between 15 October and 18 October 2004. After this first round of talks, the negotiating parties had to meet for subsequent rounds but after the encounter killings of some naxalites in January 2005, the Naxalite parties withdrew from the process on 16 January. After some failed attempts to revive the process, Varavara Rao and other emissaries withdrew from their positions on 4 April 2005. The peace process ended with the imposition of ban on CPI (Maoist), Revolutionary Writer’s Association (Virasam) and some other people’s organizations on 18 August 2005.
Within 24 hours of imposition of ban on Virasam, Varavara Rao and Kalyana Rao, were arrested on 19 August 2005 under AP Public Security Act. The police did not arrest Gaddar though they say they have evidence against him. The police accuse Gaddar of inciting violence and propagating the Naxalite ideology of 'power through the barrel of the gun.'
Unlike other left-wing revolutionary writers and poets, Gaddar is equally well known in rural and urban Andhra Pradesh. He is a familiar face on television screens, participating in protest programmes or spirited debates. His songs cut across the barriers of region, religion, dialect, caste and social status.
In the words of prominent academic Dr. Kancha Ilaiah, 'Gaddar was the first Telangana intellectual who established a link between the productive masses and the literary text and, of course, that text established a link between the masses and educational institutions.'
Political career
Telangana Praja Front
Main article: Telangana Praja Front
Gaddar founded Telangana Praja Front on October 3, 2010 and a formal announcement was made at a broad-based convention on October 9.
As many people in Telangana believe TRS is mostly used by K.Chandra Sekhar rao family for advance of its political interests, the Telangana Praja front viewed by those people that it will bring a new dynamic into the demand for Telangana state hood.
Personal life
Gaddar is married to Vimala. He has two sons, called Sureedu and Chandrudu (died of illness in 2003) and a daughter Vennela. Gaddar's daughter presently works in Malla Reddy Engineering College in MBA Dept. Gaddar's son works for NIFT.
Muldas Bhudardas Vaishya
Early Life & Influences
- From Gujarat, he came from a background aligned with the oppressed classes (likely Dalit or Harijan community, though exact caste details are not emphasized in sources).
- In 1921, he attended a conference of the Depressed Classes organized by the Labour Welfare Association, where Mahatma Gandhi addressed the gathering. This event profoundly influenced him, turning him into a staunch Gandhian.
- Embraced Gandhian principles of non-violence, social equality, and upliftment of the marginalized.
Activism & Social Reform
- Led satyagrahas (non-violent protests) for untouchables (Harijans/Dalits) to gain entry into:
- Public buses.
- Hostels.
- Temples (a major focus of his work against caste-based exclusion).
- In 1936, founded the Maha Gujarat Dalit Harijan Samaj — an organization dedicated to Dalit/Harijan welfare, education, and rights in Gujarat.
- In 1948, led a significant satyagraha to secure entry for non-Satsangi Harijans into the Swaminarayan Temple in Ahmedabad (Northern Diocese). This action challenged sectarian restrictions and sought to enforce temple access for Dalits.
- Served as President of the Maha Gujarat Dalit Sangh (Maha Gujarat Dalit Organization) in Ahmedabad, using the platform to assert Dalit rights under emerging laws.
- Also held positions like Vice-President of the Depressed Classes League, Gujarat State, and on the Post and Telegraphs Board (Bombay).
Political Career
- Elected as a Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) from Sabarmati (SC reserved constituency), Gujarat, on a Congress ticket.
- Served from 1951–1957 (First Lok Sabha after independence).
- As an MP, advocated for social reforms and Dalit upliftment at the national level.
Landmark Legal Case Involvement
- His activism culminated in the famous Supreme Court case Sastri Yagnapurushadji and Ors. vs. Muldas Brudardas Vaishya and Anr. (1966 AIR 1119; (1966) 3 SCR 242).
- The Swaminarayan sect (Satsangis) challenged the application of the Bombay Hindu Places of Public Worship (Entry Authorisation) Act, 1956 (and earlier 1947 Act) to their temples, claiming they were not "Hindu" and thus exempt from allowing Dalit entry.
- Muldas Bhudardas Vaishya was the key respondent (as President of Maha Gujarat Dalit Sangh), defending the right of non-Satsangi Harijans to enter these temples.
- The Supreme Court ruled that the Swaminarayan sect was part of Hinduism (providing a broad definition of "Hindu"), upholding temple entry laws and anti-untouchability provisions (Articles 17 and 25 of the Constitution).
- This case became a landmark in defining Hinduism broadly for legal purposes and reinforcing Dalit temple access rights.
Legacy
- Represented the Gandhian wing of the Dalit/Harijan movement in Gujarat, focusing on integration within Hinduism rather than separate identity (unlike Ambedkar's approach in some contexts).
- His efforts contributed to the enforcement of temple entry laws and broader anti-caste discrimination measures in post-independence India.
- Mentioned in historical accounts of the Dalit movement (e.g., in books like Dalit Movement in India and Its Leaders, 1857-1956).
- Remembered as a social reformer who used satyagraha and legal/political avenues to challenge untouchability.
Muldas Bhudardas Vaishya's work bridged Gandhian reformism with Dalit rights activism, making him a significant but lesser-discussed figure in Gujarat's social justice history.
Sources: Wikipedia (Muldas Bhudardas Vaishya page), Supreme Court judgment texts (Indian Kanoon, B&B Associates), historical analyses in legal journals/articles (e.g., on temple entry and Hindu definition), Third Lok Sabha biographical sketches, and related Dalit movement archives.
Meena Kandasamy
Full Name: Ilavenil Meena Kandasamy
Born: October 12, 1984, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, IndiaOccupations: Poet, novelist, translator, anti-caste activist, academicKnown For: Fierce anti-caste activism, Dalit feminist literature, poetry collections like Touch and Ms Militancy, and novels like The Gypsy Goddess and When I Hit YouEarly Life and Background
Meena Kandasamy was born into an inter-caste family, a product of a marriage in 1981 that aligned with Tamil Nadu’s anti-caste Self-Respect Movement:
- Father: Ilavenil Kandasamy, from the Andi Pandaram community, a nomadic Scheduled Tribe (ST) in Tamil Nadu, historically tied to fortune-telling and shamanism. Her grandfather was a landless witch-doctor, and her father, a PhD in Tamil literature, was the first graduate from his village near Tiruchirappalli.
- Mother: A mathematics professor at IIT Madras, from a forward caste (upper-caste Hindu) background.
- This mixed-caste heritage informs her identity, often aligned with Dalit and marginalized communities, though her exact caste status has been debated (see below).
Raised in Chennai, Kandasamy was exposed to literature and activism early, influenced by her parents’ academic environment and Tamil Nadu’s Dravidian and anti-caste political ethos. She began writing poetry at 17 and pursued higher education, earning a PhD in English from the University of Madras, focusing on feminist and caste issues.
Literary Career
Kandasamy’s work blends poetry, prose, and translation with a sharp focus on caste oppression, gender violence, and Dalit resistance. Her writing is known for its raw, provocative style and unapologetic critique of systemic inequalities.
Major Works
- Poetry:
- Touch (2006): Her debut collection, exploring caste, untouchability, and Dalit identity with visceral imagery. Published by Peacock Books, it established her as a bold voice in Indian literature.
- Ms Militancy (2010): A fiercer, feminist collection drawing on Tamil mythology and revolutionary themes to challenge patriarchy and casteism. Published by Navayana, an anti-caste publishing house.
- Her poems often reimagine historical and mythological figures (e.g., Tamil poet-saint Andal) to critique power structures.
- Novels:
- The Gypsy Goddess (2014): A fictionalized account of the 1968 Kilvenmani massacre, where 44 Dalit laborers were burned alive by landlords in Tamil Nadu. The novel experiments with form, blending oral history, satire, and political critique.
- When I Hit You: Or, A Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife (2017): A semi-autobiographical novel about surviving domestic abuse in a short-lived marriage. It explores gendered violence and intellectual suppression, earning critical acclaim and shortlistings for awards like the Women’s Prize for Fiction.
- Translations:
- Kandasamy has translated works by Tamil Eelam poets and Dravidian leaders, including The Fire This Time: A Selection of Tamil Eelam Poetry (2006) and speeches by Periyar E.V. Ramasamy, a pioneer of the Self-Respect Movement.
- Her translations bridge Tamil political literature with global audiences, emphasizing anti-caste and liberation struggles.
- Other Writings:
- Essays and columns in outlets like The Hindu, The Guardian, and Al Jazeera, addressing caste, feminism, and Indian politics.
- Edited The Dalit, a magazine focused on Dalit issues, amplifying marginalized voices.
Themes and Style
Kandasamy’s work centers on:
- Caste and Dalit Identity: She exposes the brutality of caste oppression, drawing from historical events like Kilvenmani and personal ties to Dalit struggles.
- Feminism: Her writing challenges patriarchal norms, from domestic violence to literary gatekeeping, often through a Dalit feminist lens.
- Language and Form: She experiments with structure, blending poetry, prose, and polemic, using Tamil rhythms and English fluency to subvert traditional literary norms.
- Activism in Art: Her literature is inseparable from her activism, aiming to provoke and mobilize against social injustice.
Activism
Kandasamy’s activism is rooted in anti-caste and feminist principles, often intersecting with global human rights issues:
- Anti-Caste Advocacy: She collaborates with Dalit movements, speaking at forums like the United Nations and Indian universities on caste-based discrimination. Her work with Navayana and The Dalit magazine amplifies Dalit voices.
- Feminism and Gender Justice: Her novel When I Hit You and public talks address domestic violence and women’s autonomy, resonating with #MeToo and global feminist movements.
- Political Engagement: She critiques Brahmanical hegemony, Hindu nationalism, and state violence, notably in Tamil Nadu and Kashmir. Her translations of Tamil Eelam poetry reflect solidarity with oppressed groups.
- Public Persona: Known for fiery speeches and social media presence (especially on X), she engages directly with critics and supporters, often facing online harassment for her outspoken views.
Controversies
Kandasamy’s caste identity has sparked debate:
- In 2020, her ex-husband, whom she accused of domestic abuse, publicly claimed she misrepresented herself as Dalit for activist credibility, alleging her mother’s forward-caste status and her father’s OBC or ST status disqualify her from Scheduled Caste (SC) identity. Critics on X and other platforms have echoed this, accusing her of appropriating Dalit identity.
- Kandasamy has not explicitly clarified her legal caste status but aligns with Dalit and anti-caste movements, emphasizing lived experience and solidarity over rigid labels. In India, children of inter-caste marriages often inherit the father’s caste for affirmative action, which would place her in the Andi Pandaram (ST) category.
- The controversy reflects broader tensions in Dalit politics about authenticity, representation, and who can claim marginalized identities.
Personal Life
- Marriage and Divorce: Kandasamy married in 2012, but the marriage ended in 2014 amid allegations of domestic abuse, which inspired When I Hit You. The public fallout, including her ex-husband’s accusations, intensified scrutiny of her identity.
- Academic and Global Presence: She has lived in India and the UK, holding fellowships at institutions like the University of Iowa and Newcastle University. She remains active in global literary and activist circles.
- Family Influence: Her parents’ academic backgrounds and her father’s journey from a marginalized community shaped her worldview. She often credits Tamil Nadu’s Dravidian ethos for her political consciousness.
Recognition and Impact
- Awards and Nominations:
- Shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction (2018) for When I Hit You.
- Received fellowships and residencies for her literary and activist work.
- Cultural Influence: Kandasamy is a leading voice in contemporary Indian literature, bridging Dalit feminism with global audiences. Her work is studied in universities and cited in anti-caste and feminist scholarship.
- Criticism: Some critics argue her experimental style can alienate readers, while others praise its innovation. Her outspokenness draws both admiration and backlash, particularly from casteist and patriarchal groups.
Accessing Her Work
- Books: Available through publishers like Navayana, Atlantic Books, and Penguin India.
- Online Presence: Kandasamy is active on X (@meenakandasamy), where she shares updates on her writing, activism, and political views. Her posts often critique Indian politics and amplify marginalized voices.
- Public Talks: She frequently speaks at literary festivals, universities, and activist forums, with recordings available on platforms like YouTube.
Moorkoth Kumaran
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Moorkoth Kumaran
Moorkoth Kumaran (1874–1941) was a social reformer ,a teacher and a prominent short story writer in Malayalam.
Kumaran came from a respected wealthy Thiyya family of Thalassery, Kannur. He was the second S.N.D.P Yogam General Secretary but he could not continue in that post for a long time since he was very busy in his official duty. He had to leave the SNDP Yogam when he got promotion as a judge. He was a disciple of Narayana Guru and wrote the first biography of Guru. This biography contains the essence of Guru's message. He has initiated to install first statue of Narayana Guru in Kerala when he was alive
Mayilamma
Mayilamma (10 August 1937 – 6 January 2007) was an illiterate, poor Dalit (Scheduled Caste) woman from rural Kerala who became the iconic leader of one of India's most famous environmental justice movements—the Plachimada anti-Coca-Cola struggle. Her life epitomizes the power of grassroots, community-led resistance.
1. Background: Identity and Marginalization
Caste & Community: She belonged to the Kurava community, listed as a Scheduled Caste (SC) in Kerala. This placed her at the bottom of India's social and economic hierarchy.
Class & Livelihood: She lived in acute poverty in Plaachimada village, Palakkad district. She worked as a daily wage agricultural laborer and was also a respected traditional healer (using herbal medicine). She had no formal education.
Personal Life: A mother and grandmother, her life was intimately connected to the local land and water for survival, medicine, and livelihood.
2. The Catalyst: The Coca-Cola Crisis
In 1998, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd. established a massive bottling plant in Plachimada.
Over-extraction: The plant extracted up to 1.5 million liters of groundwater per day, severely depleting the water table. Wells, ponds, and canals used by thousands of families dried up.
Toxic Pollution: The company distributed its solid waste sludge as "fertilizer" to farmers. Tests later revealed this sludge contained dangerous levels of cadmium and lead, poisoning the soil and water. The remaining water in wells turned foul, causing skin diseases and stomach ailments.
Direct Impact: Mayilamma, as a healer and a person whose community was entirely dependent on local water, witnessed the crisis first-hand. Her simple, profound question became the movement's rallying cry: "If the company takes all our water, what are we supposed to drink?"
3. The Activism: Leadership and the Satyagraha
In April 2002, Mayilamma, then in her mid-60s, initiated a permanent protest.
The Satyagraha: She began a 24/7 sit-in protest (satyagraha) directly in front of the factory gates. This became the symbolic and physical heart of the struggle.
Grassroots Mobilization: She mobilized her entire community—mostly Adivasis (tribals) and Dalit farm laborers—who were the worst affected. The protest was sustained by women, who would carry pots symbolizing their lost water source.
Principles & Strategy: Her leadership was characterized by fierce determination, non-violence, and deep spiritual connection to nature. She framed the struggle not as a political campaign, but as a fight for the fundamental right to life and water.
4. Key Outcomes and Victory
Her relentless activism sparked a global movement:
Plant Shutdown: The sustained pressure led to the suspension of the plant's license in 2004. It never reopened effectively.
Legal Precedent: The struggle led to a landmark 2003 interim order from the Kerala High Court, ruling that groundwater is a public resource and that the plant's over-extraction was illegal. It set a crucial precedent for water rights in India.
Global Symbol: Plachimada under Mayilamma's leadership became an international case study in environmental justice, community resistance against corporate power, and the "water democracy" movement.
The Plachimada Tribunal: Post her death, the movement led to a demand for a special law to compensate victims, known as the Plachimada Coca-Cola Victims Relief and Compensation Claims Tribunal Bill.
5. Legacy and Significance
Mayilamma's legacy is monumental and multi-dimensional:
Icon of Environmental Justice: She demonstrated that the most severe ecological damage is inflicted on the poorest and most marginalized communities, and that the fightback is often led by women from those communities.
Anti-Caste & Feminist Icon: Her identity as a Dalit woman leader challenged intersecting structures of power—corporate, caste, and gender. She proved that leadership emerges from lived experience.
Inspiration: Her life inspires countless global movements for water rights, climate justice, and against corporate land-grabbing.
Awards & Recognition: She was posthumously awarded the "Best Woman Environmentalist" award by the Government of Kerala in 2008. Documentaries, books, and academic studies have been dedicated to her struggle.
6. Death and Continuing Struggle
Mayilamma passed away from cancer on January 6, 2007, but the community believes her illness was linked to the contaminated environment.
Even on her deathbed, her concern was for Plachimada's water. Her famous last words were a call to continue the fight: "Don't let the struggle die with me."
In Summary
Mayilamma was not a trained activist but a survivor who became a leader out of necessity. From the heart of a marginalized SC community, she waged a historic battle that forced a global corporate giant to retreat and established a legal principle for water rights. She is remembered as the embodiment of righteous anger, resilience, and the unshakeable power of a community fighting for its life. Her story is a foundational chapter in the narrative of environmentalism of the poor.
Manik Chand Jatav-vir
Early Life and Education
- Born on November 11, 1897, in Agra, United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh), into a Jatav family facing caste-based discrimination and economic hardship.
- Received formal education at St. John's College, Agra, which was progressive for a Dalit youth at the time.
- Became deeply influenced by the Arya Samaj reform movement in his teens/early 20s. He joined the Arya Kumar Sabha (youth wing) in Agra around 1912–1914 and became an active Arya Samaji adherent.
- Embraced Arya Samaj's emphasis on Vedic revival, rejection of idol worship, caste equality (in theory), and social upliftment through education and purification rituals (shuddhi).
Activism and Organizational Work
Manik Chand was a key figure in the early organized Dalit movement, focusing on education, Sanskritization (claiming higher varna status, e.g., Yaduvanshi/Kshatriya descent linked to Lord Krishna), and community self-respect.
- In 1917, he co-founded the Akhil Bharatiya Jatav Mahasabha (All India Jatav Grand Assembly; also called Jatav Vir Mahasabha) alongside Swami Achutanand, Khem Chand Bohre, Ramnarayan Yadavendu, and others. This was one of the earliest caste-based organizations for Chamars/Jatavs, aiming to:
- Promote education and literacy among Dalit youth.
- Mobilize against untouchability and economic exploitation.
- Advocate Sanskritization (e.g., adopting "Jatav" as a surname to assert ancient warrior/Kshatriya roots and distance from stigmatized occupational labels).
- Establish hostels, schools, and community institutions (e.g., student hostels in Agra for Dalit students).
- He led campaigns in Agra and surrounding areas, including resolutions against caste barriers (e.g., access to water tanks/public spaces) and promotion of Hindu reform within the Arya Samaj framework.
- Published periodicals like Jeevan Jyoti and Jatav Granthmala (around 1934) to spread awareness, literature, and community news.
- His efforts helped transform "Chamar" identity toward "Jatav" pride, influencing later Dalit politics and the adoption of the surname widely among the community.
Political Career
- Affiliated with Arya Samaj-influenced politics and later mainstream parties.
- Contested and won elections on reserved seats for Scheduled Castes.
- Served as Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Agra (reserved seat) in the pre-independence or early post-independence period (associated with Zamindar Party or similar in some records).
- Elected to the 1st Lok Sabha (1952–1957) as a Member of Parliament from Sawai Madhopur constituency in Rajasthan (a reserved seat for Scheduled Castes). He represented Dalit interests in Parliament during India's formative years.
- Some sources note his involvement with the Scheduled Castes Federation (SCF, founded by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar) in Agra around 1945, hosting events during Ambedkar's visits.
Personal Life and Legacy
- Often addressed as Rao Sahib, Dr., or Veer (brave/heroic) in community tributes, reflecting his fearless advocacy.
- Died in 1956 at age 59.
- Honored posthumously: His birth anniversary (November 11) is celebrated annually in Agra and other Jatav communities with events, school programs (e.g., schools named after him like Manik Chand Jatav Veer Vidyalaya), and tributes.
- Regarded as a trailblazer whose work laid groundwork for Jatav/Dalit assertion in Uttar Pradesh's politics (influencing later leaders and parties like BSP culturally).
- Featured in scholarly works on Dalit history, Sanskritization vs. ethnicization debates, and Arya Samaj's role in lower-caste mobilization.
Manik Chand Jatav-vir's contributions bridged reformist Hinduism (via Arya Samaj) and emerging Dalit self-assertion, making him a foundational figure in North India's anti-caste movements before the full rise of Ambedkarite radicalism. His emphasis on education, organization, and identity pride continues to inspire Jatav communities today.
Marimuthu Bharathan
Marimuthu Bharathan (Popularly known as "Viduthalai Bharathan" or simply Bharathan)
Identity: Prominent Dalit (Scheduled Caste) activist and social reformer from Tamil Nadu, India.
Primary Focus: Eradication of manual scavenging, liberation of the Arunthathiyar (Chakkiliyar) community, and fighting caste-based oppression.
1. Background and Early Life
Caste/Community: He belongs to the Arunthathiyar community—a Scheduled Caste (SC) subgroup in Tamil Nadu historically forced into manual scavenging, leather work, and sanitation labor, and subjected to severe untouchability.
Birth and Family: Born into a socio-economically marginalized family in Tamil Nadu. Personal details about his exact birthplace and date are sparingly shared in mainstream media, consistent with many grassroots activists who foreground community identity over personal biography.
Early Influence: Experienced and witnessed intense caste discrimination, poverty, and the brutal practice of manual scavenging, which shaped his lifelong mission.2. Activism and Movement Building
Bharathan is among the most visible and assertive faces of the Arunthathiyar rights movement.
Founder: President of the "Tamil Nadu Arunthathiyar Sangam"—a primary organization mobilizing the community.
Key Issues:
Eradication of Manual Scavenging: Campaigns against this degrading and lethal practice, demanding rehabilitation, alternative livelihoods, and strict enforcement of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers Act, 2013.
Land Rights: Advocates for housing plots and agricultural land for Arunthathiyar families as a means of economic and social liberation.
Education and Employment: Pushes for better access to education and government jobs under SC reservations, while challenging internal caste hierarchies within the SC category.
Political Representation: Demands greater political voice and elected representation for the Arunthathiyar community, which is often marginalized even within Dalit politics.
Dignity and Social Justice: Leads protests against caste atrocities, discrimination in burial grounds, access to public spaces, and social dignity.
3. Political Trajectory
Earlier associated with the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), a major Dalit political party in Tamil Nadu.
Later grew critical of mainstream Dalit politics for not adequately prioritizing the Arunthathiyar cause, leading him to adopt a more independent, militant grassroots stance.
Often engages in direct action—protests, marches, and sit-ins—targeting both state administration and societal casteism.
4. Public Perception and Controversies
Seen as a radical, uncompromising voice for the most marginalized Dalits.
Criticized by some for his confrontational style and for focusing on one Dalit sub-caste, but supporters argue that specific focus is necessary due to historical neglect.
Media presence: Frequently covered in Tamil media for his impactful protests and sharp critiques of government inaction.
Legacy
Elevated the specific plight of the Arunthathiyar community to the center of Tamil Nadu’s social justice discourse.
Bridged grassroots mobilization with legal advocacy, using laws and courts alongside street protests.
Inspired a new generation of Dalit activists to assert dignity and rights unapologetically.
Symbol of resistance against the persistence of caste-based occupations and dehumanization.
Personal Life
Maintains a simple, austere lifestyle, consistent with his grassroots identity.
Known for his powerful oratory in Tamil, direct language, and willingness to confront power structures.
In summary, Marimuthu Bharathan is not just an activist but a social movement leader who has dedicated his life to the liberation of the most oppressed among Dalits in Tamil Nadu—the Arunthathiyar community. His work underscores the deep-rooted hierarchies within caste society and the ongoing struggle for dignity, livelihood, and equality.
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From ISDN
The winner of the Dutch Human Rights Tulip 2012 is barred from traveling to the Netherlands to receive his award. Marimuthu Bharathan, a Dalit human rights defender from Tamil Nadu, has been refused a passport by the Indian authorities.
Tulip award winner Marimuthu Bharathan
When Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans presents his country’s award, the Dutch Human Rights Defender’s Tulip, at a ceremony later today in The Hague, the recipient will regrettably be absent for the second year in a row.
Last year, Chinese activist Ni Yulan was in custody awaiting trial during the award ceremony. This year, the Indian human rights defender, Marimuthu Bharathan, 52, has been prevented from travelling abroad due to the Indian authorities’ refusal to renew his passport. According to Indian human rights organisations, this refusal appears to be connected with a false murder charge.
The independent award jury in the Netherlands has recognised Marimuthu Bharathan as a “tireless champion of better living and working conditions for his country’s Dalits”. Himself a Dalit, he works against caste discrimination by supporting Dalits who as manual scavengers are condemned to clean dry latrines with their bare hands. He also sets up Dalit organisations, campaigns for reforms of the corrupt police system, and fights for compensation and rehabilitation of Dalits who suffer human rights violations.
Mr Bharathan’s work as director of the Human Rights Education and Protection Council in Tamil Nadu has put him on a collision course with the state’s authorities who consistently prohibit demonstrations for Dalit rights organised by him and disrupt his work. The false accusation of murder was apparently obtained under duress from a jailed suspect in a case from 2009 where Bharathan had supported a number of Dalit suspects.
“The passport refusal is yet another example of the disenfranchised position of the 200 million Dalits and the defenders of their rights in India. The Indian authorities clearly fail in combating discrimination and exclusion of Dalits and are themselves often the perpetrator of crimes against them. The systemic abuse and torture in police stations is an example of that,” said Gerard Oonk, director of the India Committee of the Netherlands and co-ordinator of the Dalit Network Netherlands.
Mr Bharathan’s difficulties can also be seen in the context of a generally shrinking space for civil society in India. One very clear example of this is the new and more stringent version of a law that regulates the access of NGOs to foreign funding. Opponents of this legislation say that it may lead to abuse by the Indian authorities against organisations critical towards them.
In a resolution on caste discrimination in India, the European Parliament recently called on the Indian authorities to repeal those provisions in the law that “potentially undermine the work of NGOs, including Dalit organisations”. The Dutch Foreign Minister has praised the resolution and said that the topic of caste discrimination ought to be “put higher on the agenda of the European Union.”
Mahesh Raut
Birth & Family: Mahesh Raut was born in Pandhri village, Gadchiroli district, Maharashtra, into a Gond Adivasi (Scheduled Tribe) family. Gadchiroli is a heavily forested, mineral-rich, yet socio-economically underdeveloped region with a large tribal population.
Socioeconomic Context: His upbringing reflected the typical challenges faced by Adivasi communities—poverty, limited access to education, and state neglect. Despite this, he excelled academically.
Education: He earned a Master’s degree in Sociology from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai (2014–2016). His time at TISS sharpened his understanding of social justice, displacement, and tribal rights.
2. Activism & Work
Focus Areas:
Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006: Helped tribal communities claim legal rights over forest land and resources.
PESA Act (Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas): Advocated for tribal self-governance and consent over development projects.
Anti-Displacement Struggles: Opposed land acquisition for mining, dams, and other projects threatening tribal livelihoods in Vidarbha.
Affiliation: He was associated with the Persistent Solidarity collective and worked closely with grassroots organizations in Gadchiroli, supporting Adivasi-led movements against corporate exploitation and state repression.
3. Arrest & Legal Persecution (Bhima Koregaon Case)
Arrest: On June 6, 2018, Mahesh Raut was arrested by the Pune Police from his home in Gadchiroli.
Charges: Booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and sections of the Indian Penal Code for alleged links to the banned CPI (Maoist) and conspiracy in the Bhima Koregaon violence (January 1, 2018).
Allegations: The prosecution claims he was part of a plot to overthrow the government and was involved in mobilizing funds for Maoist activities.
Defense & Solidarity: Colleagues and human rights groups deny these charges, stating he was targeted for his lawful activism defending Adivasi rights. Multiple UN human rights experts and international organizations have called for his release.
4. Prison Conditions & Health
Detention: He has been held in Mumbai’s Taloja Central Prison for years, with bail repeatedly denied.
Health Issues: Reports indicate deteriorating health due to prison conditions, inadequate medical care, and mental stress.
Legal Delays: His trial has been slow, with proceedings conducted via video link, and the evidence against him widely criticized as fabricated.
5. Significance & Symbolism
Adivasi Voice: Mahesh represents the systematic silencing of Adivasi activists who challenge state-corporate interests in resource-rich tribal areas.
Criminalization of Dissent: His case exemplifies the use of anti-terror laws (UAPA) to criminalize human rights work.
Solidarity Networks: He is supported by prominent rights groups, academics, and campaigns like "Release the Bhima Koregaon Accused".
6. Quotes & Public Statements
In a letter from prison, he wrote:
"We are not criminals. We are activists fighting for the rights of the marginalized. Our only crime is speaking truth to power."
He has consistently emphasized constitutional rights for Adivasis and the need to protect India’s forests and tribal communities.
7. Current Status (as of early 2025)
Remains incarcerated; trial ongoing.
International human rights bodies continue to highlight his case as an example of shrinking democratic space in India.
Several co-accused in the case, including elderly intellectuals like Stan Swamy (who died in custody in 2021), have faced similar persecution.
Key Takeaways
Identity: Gond Adivasi (ST), from a rural, disadvantaged background.
Work: Grassroots mobilization for tribal land and forest rights.
Legal Battle: Symbol of state repression against activists using draconian laws.
Legacy: A young Adivasi intellectual turned prisoner of conscience, embodying the struggle for justice in India’s tribal heartlands.
Manda Krishna Madiga
, leader of MRPS
Manda Krishna Madiga is a Dalit politician and activist fighting for the rights of the madigas. He heads the movement fighting for the rights of the madigas called Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti (MRPS)The daily experience of caste discrimination, feudal oppression and exploitation of the village life made him to associate with radical movements of the region. His active involvement as a grassroots worker and fighter in the movement helped him to learn the role that he can play in the transformation the unequal society. Later his realization of the limitations of the radical movements which are dominated by dominant castes pushed him to search for the new path of revolutionary agenda and practice.
The post-Karamchedu struggles made him to become an active full-time worker and leader in the "Ambedkar Yuvajana Sangam" and "Samatha Sainik Dal" activities across the state against caste atrocities, discrimination and humiliation on Dalits at gross root level.The historical disparities, hierarchy of untouchability, the different trajectories of social life of 62 scheduled castes and monopolization of reservation benefits by few communities (Mala etc.) made Manda Krishna Madiga to start a "Dandora Movement" 7 July 1994, which is popularly known as MRPS (Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi) in order to rationalize (categorize) of SC reservation to reach the lowest of the low within SCs. The contribution of the Dandora movement is a historical in transforming the stigmatized identities of Madigas into self respected Madiga identity.
The uncompromised struggle and journey towards dignity and human rights, the new forms of struggles, strategies, forms of protests and consciousness of Madigas across state inspired thousands of activists, writers, artists and made Madiga community to stand by transformative peoples struggles, aspirations and work beyond madiga community in the state in realizing the humanitarian and democratic values across caste and religion. Both Manda Krishna Madiga leadership and MRPS movement since its formation or in 18 years of its history created a ray of new hope for the Madigas in particular and oppressed in general, by overcoming many obstacles, which is a great source of inspiration for the future generation. He added Madiga surname in 1994.
Mata Ramabai
Ramabai Bhimrao Ambedkar was born in a poor family. His father Bhiku Dhotre (Valangkar) and Mata Rukmini lived with Ramabai Dabhol with them in the river bank Maharpura township in Vrindagaon. There were 3 sisters and a brother-Shankar. Ramabai’s elder sister used to live in Dapoli. Bhiku used to reach the toplalia market, filled with fish in Dabhol Monkey. They had chest pain. In the childhood of Rama, his mother died from the disease.
The mother of the baby Rama had a heart attack. Little sister Gaura and Bhai Shankar were very young. A few days later his father Bhiku died too. Further, Valangkar uncle and Govindapurkar Mama went to Mumbai to take care of all these children and they were living in Chhala.
Marriage of Ramabai with Bhimrao Ambedkar
Subedar Ramji Ambedkar was looking for a bride for his son Bhimrao Ambedkar. There they found Ramabai, they went to see Rama. Rama loved them and he decided to marry his son Bhimrao with Rama and wrote it. The date for marriage was ensured and in April 1906 Ramabai’s marriage was resolved with Bhimrao Ambedkar. At the time of marriage, Rama was only 9 years old and Bhimrao was 14 years old and he was studying 5th English class.
Mother Ramabai always kept worrying because of Yashwant’s illness, but still he took full care of the fact that there was no hindrance in the works of Babasaheb and his studies would not be bad. Mother Ramabai had also learned to read something from her husband’s efforts. Generally, it is a pleasant thing in the lives of the great men that they found life partners very ordinary and good. Babasaheb was also one of the only fortunate great men who got a very good and obedient life partner like Ramabai.
Ramabai was often ill Babasaheb also took Dharwad to him. But there was no difference. Babasaheb’s three sons and a daughter had abandoned the body. Babasaheb used to be very sad. On May 27, 1935, the mountain of mourning and grief broke down on them. On that day the brutal death took away his wife Ramabai from them. More than ten thousand people joined Mother Rama’s Parinirvana.
Ramabai with Babasaheb Ambedkar
Babasaheb had an intimate love with his wife. Ramabai was with Babasaheb to create a world-renowned great man. Ramabai also served the house with great satisfaction and patience in extreme poverty, and on every difficulty, Babasaheb’s courage was enhanced. He was hit by the death of Ramabai that he shaved his hair and shaved his hair. He used to be very sad, sad and upset. A life partner who struggled with the crisis in poverty and misery, and now when it comes time to get some pleasure, it has always been disturbed.
Ramatai was the housewife of virtuous and religious instincts. He had a great desire to go to Pandharpur. There is a famous temple of Vitthal-Rukmani in Pandharpur in Maharashtra. However, the entry of untouchables was forbidden in Hindu temples. Ambedkar explained to Rama that after going to such temples, he could not be saved, where he was forbidden to go in. But, Rama did not believe. Once upon a lot of insistence of Rama Baba Saheb went to Pandharpur. But due to being untouchable, they were not allowed to enter the temple. They had to return without seeing Vithoba.
The grandeur of the Rajghat and spreading around Baba Saheb also did not improve any improvement in Ramatai’s deteriorating health. Inverted, she was very worried about her husband’s busyness and safety. Sometimes he used to scold those who came to meet ‘Saheb’ in his leisure moments. Ramatai also took full care of the comfort of Dr. Ambedkar in the condition of illness. He was not worried about his health as much as his husband was relieved to bring home comfort.
On the other hand, Dr. Ambedkar was unable to pay attention to Ramatai and his house due to his busy activities. One day Rama7ai from his family friend, Upasham Guruji, narrated his sadness – ‘Guruji, I am sick for several months. Do not have the time to ask Dr. Sahib for my recent tricks. While going to the High Court, only standing near the door and asking about my health and going away from it.
Virtuous and religious tendencies of Ramabai Ambedkar
Ramabai was a homemaker of virtuous and religious instincts. They have great desire to go to Pandharpur. There is a famous temple of Vitthal-Rukmani in Pandharpur of Maharashtra, but then the entry of untouchables in Hindu temples was forbidden. Bhimrao Ambedkar used to explain to Ramabai that due to his going to such temples, he could not be saved, where he was forbidden to go in. Sometimes Ramabai used to persevere in performing religious rituals.
Death of Ramabai Ambedkar
Bhimrao Ambedkar’s family life was becoming increasingly saddened. His wife Ramabai was often ill. He also took Dharwad to wife for change, but there was no difference. Bhimrao Ambedkar’s three sons and a daughter had sacrificed the body. They used to be very sad. On May 27, 1935, the mountains of mourning and grief broke down.
On that day the brutal death took away his wife Ramabai. More than ten thousand people went with Ramabai’s meaning. The mental state of Dr. Ambedkar at that time was indescribable. He had intimate love with his wife. Ramabai was in the making of the world famous Maha Purusha. Ramabai also served the house with great satisfaction and patiently in extreme poverty and increased his courage during every difficulty.
He was hit by the death of Ramabai that he shaved his hair and shaved his hair. They wear saffron cloth and began to adopt the behavior of sadhus for renunciation. He used to be very sad, sad and upset. A life partner who struggled with them in times of poverty and misery, and now that it was time for some pleasure to come, he got lost forever.
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Mithavaadi Krishnan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Changaramkumarath Krishnan Vakkeel was a community leader, banker, social reformer, and journalist from Kerala, India.
Biography
C. Krishnan was born in Thrissur on 11 June 1867. He took over the newspaper called Mithavaadi ("Reformist") from Moorkoth Kumaran. Dr. Ayyathan Gopalan a great social reformer of Malabar, Kerala, during those times, was the one who gave C. Krishnan the impetus and advice to start this newspaper. Later on he is known by Mithavaadi C Krishnan. Mitavadi was the "Bible" of the socially depressed and it is also known as the "Magazine of Thiyya's".
The Kochi metro entrance has the history of the Kerala press and C. Krishnan is listed amongst the first under 1907. It says “MITAVADI – From Tellicherry marks the next important milestone in the history of the press in Kerala. It published a daily news sheet featuring the latest news from the war front during the First World War. Separately, the Government of Kerala states "The Mitavadi was in the forefront of the movement for social reforms and the uplift of the weaker sections of society".
C. Krishnan was a follower of Sree Narayana Guru. He was a leader of the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam and was active in organizing the meetings of the northern Malabar district his area of Kerala. He participated in many SNDP yogam conventions and chaired its 9th anniversary at sivagiri along with the consecration ceremony of ‘Sharada’ temple there. He was an excellent organizer and fund raiser for the SNDP. He was appointed the Dharmakartha of all the Ashram properties. He actively participated in Vaikom Satyagraha. In 1907 Krishnan (along with Rarichan Moopan of the famous Kallingal Madom) invited Sree Narayana Guru to Malabar. The guru accepted the invitation and visited many places in Malabar.
C. Krishnan however did not support the freedom movement, and was against the Indian National Congress and Mahatma Gandhi. He supported the British rule because he believed that freedom for rule without freedom from serfdom was meaningless. He blamed Gandhiji for his failure to prevent the Malabar rebellion. He was suspicious of the national freedom that would be won without putting an end to the social inequalities. He wanted the freedom of the oppressed classes to be attained before the nation achieved freedom.
Manasi Pradhan
Early Life & Education
Born into a poor family in the remote village of Ayatapur, Banapur block, Khordha district, Odisha (then Orissa), Manasi faced deep-rooted social taboos against educating girls. As the eldest of three children, she defied norms by walking 15 km daily through hilly terrain and swamps to attend the only high school in the region.
- Became the first woman matriculate (high school graduate) from her village.
- Went on to become the first woman law graduate in her entire region.
- Holds degrees in economics, Odia literature, and law, symbolizing her personal battle against gender discrimination and barriers to education.
Her journey from rural hardship to higher education forms the core of her inspirational narrative, often shared in talks like her TEDxIIMRanchi speech: "Obstacles make you stronger: My Journey."
Activism & Key Organizations
Manasi's work focuses on empowering women and girls through education, leadership, legal awareness, self-defense, and anti-violence campaigns, primarily in rural Odisha but with national impact.
- Founded OYSS Women in 1987 (initially to help female students access higher education and become future leaders).
- Runs leadership workshops, vocational training camps, legal awareness programs, and self-defense initiatives for hundreds of young women.
- Launched the Honour for Women National Campaign in 2009 — a powerful nationwide movement to eradicate violence against women.
- Uses tools like women's rights festivals, street plays, AV presentations, seminars, and community mobilization.
- Includes a "Four-Point Charter of Demand" for systemic change.
- Founded Nirbhaya Vahini (a women's brigade inspired by the 2012 Nirbhaya case) and Nirbhaya Samaroh (gatherings to honor survivors and demand justice).
Her efforts emphasize economic empowerment, legal rights, and cultural change to prevent crimes like rape, domestic violence, and dowry deaths.
Literary Contributions
Manasi is an acclaimed author and poet, using writing to advocate for women's issues. Notable works include:
- Urmi-O-Uchchwas
- Akasha Deepa
- Swagatika
Her writings blend poetry, prose, and activism to highlight gender injustices.
Awards & Recognitions
Her groundbreaking work has earned national and international acclaim:
- Rani Lakshmibai Stree Shakti Puraskar (2014) — conferred by the President of India (one of India's highest honors for women's empowerment and courage).
- Outstanding Women Award (2011) — jointly with Mary Prema Pierick (global head of Missionaries of Charity), from UN Women and National Commission for Women.
- Women of Wonder Award (2018).
- International Human Rights Award (2018).
- Power Brands Global Award (2019).
- Phenomenal SHE honor by Alliance Française.
- Named among the 20 most inspiring Feminists Authors and Activists worldwide by Bustle magazine (New York, 2016).
- Featured in global platforms; spoke at Oxford Union and other international forums.
Legacy & Current Role
Manasi Pradhan is regarded as a trailblazing feminist and one of the foremost voices for women's rights in the 21st century. Her work bridges rural grassroots activism with national policy advocacy, inspiring millions through personal example and organizational impact. She continues leading OYSS Women and the Honour for Women campaign, focusing on sustainable empowerment and gender equality.
She maintains an active presence on social media (e.g., Facebook @ManasiPradhanOfficial, Instagram @manasipradhanofficial) and is frequently invited as a speaker.
Sources: Wikipedia, OYSS official website, TEDx talks, The CEO Magazine, Women's Activism NYC, Odisha Diary, and related news/tributes.
Milind Makwana
1. Background & Early Life
Birth & Roots: Milind Makwana hails from the Panchmahal district in Gujarat, a region with a significant Adivasi (tribal) population.
Community: He belongs to the Adivasi (tribal) community—specifically the Rathwa or Bhil tribal group (reports vary). These communities are officially recognized as Scheduled Tribes (ST) in Gujarat, making them among the most historically marginalized and socio-economically disadvantaged groups in India.
Education & Early Awareness: Growing up in a tribal region, he witnessed firsthand the issues of land alienation, poverty, lack of education, and exploitation faced by Adivasis, which shaped his future activism.
2. Activism & Social Work
Land & Forest Rights: A major focus of his activism is defending Adivasi land and forest rights against corporate land grabs, mining projects, and unfair displacement under the guise of “development.”
Environmental Justice: He links tribal welfare with environmental protection, advocating for sustainable development that respects tribal sovereignty over natural resources.
Education & Health: He has worked to improve access to schools, healthcare, and sanitation in remote tribal areas of Gujarat.
Political Mobilization: He is involved in mobilizing tribal communities to assert their constitutional rights under laws like:
The Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA), 1996
The Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006
The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act
3. Political Engagement
Political Affiliation: Milind Makwana joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Gujarat and became a prominent tribal face for the party.
Electoral Participation: He contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from the Chhota Udaipur constituency (a reserved ST seat) as an AAP candidate. Although he did not win, his campaign highlighted tribal issues at the national level.
Role in AAP: He has served in AAP’s tribal wing and worked to build the party’s support base among Gujarat’s Adivasi communities.
4. Key Campaigns & Movements
Against Land Acquisition: Actively opposed state and corporate projects that displace Adivasi communities without proper rehabilitation or consent.
Forest Rights Awareness: Organized camps and rallies to help tribal communities file claims for individual and community forest rights.
Water & Irrigation Rights: Advocated for equitable water distribution and irrigation facilities in tribal regions, which are often neglected in Gujarat’s water policy.
Cultural Preservation: Emphasized the preservation of Adivasi languages, festivals, and traditional knowledge against cultural erosion.
5. Public Image & Recognition
Grassroots Leader: Seen as a soft-spoken but determined grassroots activist who maintains close ties with tribal villages.
Media & Outreach: Gives interviews in Gujarati and national media on tribal and environmental issues.
Bridge Between Movements: Connects local tribal struggles with larger national debates on environmental justice, federalism, and social equality.
6. Challenges & Controversies
Political Opposition: Faced pushback from established political parties in Gujarat that have traditionally influenced tribal votes.
Safety Risks: Like many land rights activists in India, he operates in a sensitive space where challenging powerful interests can lead to legal harassment or threats.
7. Legacy & Continuing Work
Empowerment: He has helped raise political consciousness among Gujarat’s Adivasis, encouraging them to demand their rights rather than remain passive beneficiaries of welfare schemes.
Policy Advocacy: Continues to lobby for better implementation of tribal-friendly laws and policies at state and national levels.
Youth Inspiration: Motivates educated tribal youth to engage in social and environmental activism.
8. Personal Life
Maintains a simple lifestyle rooted in his tribal origins.
Often seen wearing traditional tribal attire during public events to symbolize pride in his identity.
Conclusion
Milind Makwana is an Adivasi (Scheduled Tribe) activist from a disadvantaged tribal background in Gujarat, who has dedicated his life to fighting for tribal land rights, environmental justice, and political representation. His work blends grassroots mobilization, legal advocacy, and electoral politics to advance the cause of some of India’s most marginalized communities. Through his activism, he highlights the critical intersection of tribal rights, ecological sustainability, and social justice in modern India.
Dr. Mukund Rao Ambedkar
He is occasionally referred to as an "activist" in Ambedkarite and Dalit historical contexts due to his familial proximity to the anti-caste movement, his presence in key photographs and events involving Babasaheb, and his association with the broader struggle for social equality, Buddhist revival, and Dalit upliftment. However, detailed public records portray him primarily as a family member rather than a prominent independent activist, politician, or public figure like his uncle or cousin Yashwant Ambedkar.
Family Background and Relation
- Son of Anandrao Ramji Ambedkar (brother of B.R. Ambedkar) and Laxmibai Ambedkar.
- Nephew of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (son of Ramji Maloji Sakpal and Bhimabai).
- Part of the Mahar (Dalit/Scheduled Caste) community, from which the Ambedkar family hailed, facing historical untouchability and caste discrimination.
- Married to Shaileja (or Saileja) Mukundrao Ambedkar; they had four children (two sons and two daughters).
- In the Ambedkar family tree, he represents the branch from Anandrao (who died young), while the main surviving lineage continued through Yashwant Bhimrao Ambedkar (B.R. Ambedkar's only surviving son).
Life and Role
- Born around 1913 (exact date not widely documented).
- Grew up in the shadow of his uncle's rising prominence as a scholar, lawyer, and anti-caste crusader.
- Featured in several historical photographs with Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, including:
- A well-known group photo with Babasaheb, his second wife Savita Ambedkar, Rao Bahadur C.K. Bole, Balu Kabir, and other activists (Mukundrao often stands behind or nearby).
- Family portraits with Yashwant (cousin), Ramabai (first wife of B.R. Ambedkar), and others.
- Associated with events and circles tied to the Scheduled Castes Federation, Buddhist conversion movement (post-1956), and early Ambedkarite activism in Bombay (Mumbai).
- Some sources note he was involved in preserving family legacy or minor supportive roles, but no major independent campaigns, writings, or leadership positions (e.g., unlike Yashwant, who became president of the Buddhist Society of India).
- The "Dr." prefix appears in some Dalit history blogs, tributes, and anniversary mentions (e.g., death anniversary on 2 February 1959), possibly indicating an honorary title, academic degree, or respect within community circles—though not confirmed as a formal doctorate in public biographies.
- Died on 3 February 1959 (some sources list 2 February as the anniversary date in calendars).
Legacy
- Remembered in Ambedkarite commemorations, family trees, and Dalit history archives (e.g., Velivada, Dhamma Bharat, social media tributes from descendants like Rajratna Ambedkar).
- His name surfaces in discussions of the Ambedkar family, properties (e.g., mentions in articles about Ambedkar's London home preserved via family), and visual histories of the movement.
- Not a central figure like Babasaheb or Yashwant, but symbolizes the intergenerational commitment to social reform within the family.
- No evidence of SC/ST "disadvantaged" status in reservation contexts (as the query pattern might imply), but as part of the Mahar/Dalit community, his background was historically marginalized—though the family's achievements (military service, education, activism) elevated them beyond typical "low-class" narratives.
Martin Macwan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
life and career
He is one of 11 children. As a student, he watched assaults and killings of fellow Dalits, which motivated him to become an activist for Dalit rights.
He barely escaped death in 1986 when colleagues were murdered during a land rights campaign. Since suffering this tragedy, Macwan has fought to bring the killers, a group of feudal Darbars, to justice. He founded the Navsarjan Trust in 1989 to promote the rights of Dalits, addressing issues of land rights, minimum wages, and women’s rights. He served as the organization's director until 2004, and he has also served as a convener of the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights.
Macwan has been trying to gain more exposure to the plight of Dalits, and has argued that the caste system violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in hopes of gaining international attention to the discrimination against the untouchable class. He argues that the caste system cannot be considered simply a domestic matter: "We say that India did support the U.S. civil rights movement in the 1960s, and also the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa ... In this era of the globalization of markets and of human rights, no country can claim that it's a domestic matter. It's a universal concern."
Legacy and awards
The U.S.-based Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights presented him its Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award in 2000. In the same year, Human Rights Watch named him one of the year's five "outstanding human rights defenders".
He was also engaged in the bringing together of the Dalit Mithila artists of the godana tradition from Bihar. The godana or tattoo style within the Mithila paintings is practiced by the women of the Dusadh caste of the MIthila region.[6] As Sindalli Thakur says "Macwan's plan was to introduce these painters to the dalit discourse, make them acquainted with icons like Phule and Ambedkar, and inspire them to paint these icons and themes related to caste discrimination. Some of the themes that these artists depicted at Macwan's organization include aspects of Ambedkar and Phule's life histories, such as the Mahad Satyagraha of 1927: caste discrimination in schools and in the access to public resources like village wells."
Neiliezhü Üsou
Early Life & Background
- Born on 7 July 1941 in Nerhema village, Kohima district, Nagaland (then Naga Hills District under Assam Province, British India), to Lt. Putsolie Üsou (a Gaon Bura/village headman) and his wife.
- Second son in the family; grew up in a traditional Angami Naga setting.
- Baptized on 13 March 1953 by Rev. Kevizelie, marking his early commitment to Christianity.
- Inspired by American missionary B.I. Anderson and early experiences in the church.
- Briefly joined the Naga National Movement (associated with Naga National Council) and went underground for a period during turbulent times in Nagaland's insurgency era.
Ministry & Church Leadership
- Joined the Angami Baptist Church Council (ABCC) in 1966.
- Licensed to preach in 1974; ordained in 1981.
- Served as full-time pastor of Ministers’ Hill Baptist Church (MHBC) in Kohima from October 1978 until his death in 2009; commissioned as senior pastor in 2003.
- Known for expository preaching and interpretive skills that drew large congregations.
- Held key positions:
- President, All Nagaland Pastors’ Union (1994–1999).
- President, Kohima Town Angami Baptist Council (1999–2001).
- Chairman, Kohima Town Baptist Pastors’ Fellowship (1982; 1995–2004).
- First Honorary Youth Director, Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) (1972).
- Liaison Committee Member, Nagaland Peace Council (under NBCC aegis) from 1975 until 2009 — a significant role in peace efforts post-Shillong Accord (1975).
- Officiating chaplain for the Royal British Legion Memorial Service (1994–2009).
- Participated in global events: Attended the 16th Baptist World Alliance congress in Seoul, South Korea (1990), including a mass baptism.
Contributions to Music & Culture
- Pioneered church music in Nagaland:
- Established the state's first government-approved music institute in Kohima (1969).
- Conducted research on Naga traditional music (1971–1984), publishing a booklet and an Elementary Music textbook adopted as a sixth subject in Nagaland schools (Nagaland Board of School Education).
- Integrated traditional Naga elements (instruments, dialects, rhythms) with Christian hymns to preserve cultural heritage and foster tribal unity.
- Promoted indigenous music in education and worship, influencing generations.
Peace & Unity Efforts
- Actively worked for Naga reconciliation and brotherhood across tribes through religious platforms.
- Installed commemorative monoliths for historical treaties (e.g., between Nerhema and Tseminyu villages in the 1980s).
- Baptized individuals in challenging contexts, e.g., David Patrick Ward (a Naga Vigil prisoner) in Kohima District Jail (1993), showing outreach amid social tensions.
Personal Life & Legacy
- Married to Rüülhou-ü Üsou (a teacher and Tenyidie expert; daughter of Rev. Zhapuzhülie Sekhose, an early interpreter for American missionaries).
- Had children; many involved in Christian ministry.
- Passed away on 30 January 2009 in Kohima at age 67.
- Posthumous honors:
- Rev. Dr. Neiliezhü Üsou’s Memorial Award for Music — annual award for top music students in Nagaland schools, promoting local dialects and instruments.
- Rev. Dr. Neiliezhü Üsou Memorial School (RDNUMS) in Kohima, established 2012 by family as a play-way school in his memory.
- Remembered as a vibrant servant of God, cultural preserver, and unifier.
Neiliezhü Üsou's life blended spiritual ministry with cultural activism and peace-building, making him a revered figure in Nagaland's Christian and tribal history — less a confrontational "activist" in the modern sense, but a transformative public leader through faith, music, and reconciliation.
Nanak Chand Rattu
(The Devoted Aide and Chronicler of B.R. Ambedkar)
Early Life and Entry into Ambedkar's Circle
Rattu's journey to activism was deeply intertwined with Ambedkar's mission against caste discrimination. As a young man in the 1940s, he worked in government service and frequently visited Ambedkar's official residences in Delhi (first at 22 Prithviraj Road, then 1 Hardinge Avenue) during Ambedkar's tenure as India's first Minister of Law and Justice in Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet (1947–1951). Their shared Dalit background forged a bond, and Rattu's admiration for Ambedkar's fight for social justice led him to offer his services.
In September 1951, after Ambedkar resigned from the cabinet over disagreements regarding the Hindu Code Bill—a progressive reform aimed at women's rights and challenging orthodox Hindu laws—Rattu stepped in as his full-time secretary. Lacking official support post-resignation, Ambedkar relied on Rattu's dedication. Rattu typed and organized much of Ambedkar's prolific writings, including key manuscripts like The Buddha and His Dhamma (Ambedkar's seminal work on Buddhism, published posthumously in 1957) and Riddles in Hinduism (a critique of Hindu scriptures, released in 1987). This behind-the-scenes labor was crucial, as Ambedkar dictated ideas late into the night, and Rattu ensured they were preserved amid Ambedkar's demanding schedule of public speeches, legal battles, and political organizing.
Activism and Support During Ambedkar's Final Years
Rattu's activism extended beyond administrative duties; he was a quiet but steadfast participant in Ambedkar's broader movement for Dalit emancipation, conversion to Buddhism, and constitutional equality. He accompanied Ambedkar during his 1956 mass conversion to Buddhism in Nagpur, a historic event that drew over 500,000 followers and symbolized rejection of caste Hinduism. Rattu helped manage logistics and documented the event, embodying Ambedkar's call to "Educate, Agitate, Organize."
After Ambedkar's death on December 6, 1956, Rattu remained loyal to his legacy. He assisted Ambedkar's second wife, Savita Ambedkar (née Sharda Kabir), in preserving the leader's papers and personal effects. When heavy rains in 1967 damaged many documents stored at their Alipur Road home in Delhi (after it was sold due to a court order), Rattu personally salvaged what he could, dusting and fumigating the remnants. He even sheltered Savita at his own home for months during this turbulent period and later aided her relocation to Mumbai, maintaining contact through letters. This post-Ambedkar work highlighted Rattu's commitment to the Dalit cause, ensuring Ambedkar's intellectual contributions endured despite institutional neglect.
Literary Contributions and Legacy
In the 1990s, Rattu channeled his experiences into authorship, becoming a vital chronicler of Ambedkar's life. His books, often based on personal reminiscences, provided intimate insights into the leader's thoughts, struggles, and triumphs. Key works include:
| Book Title | Publication Year (Approx.) | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Last Few Years of Dr. Ambedkar | 1995 | A detailed account of Ambedkar's final days, health battles, and unfinished projects. |
| Reminiscences and Remembrances of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar | 1995 | Personal anecdotes from Rattu's time as secretary, covering Ambedkar's interactions with figures like Gandhi and Nehru. |
| The Last Days of Dr. Ambedkar (alternative title/variant) | 1990s | Focuses on Ambedkar's conversion to Buddhism and philosophical evolution. |
| Little Known Facets of Dr. Ambedkar | 1990s | Explores lesser-known aspects of Ambedkar's personality and activism. |
These Hindi and English publications, available through publishers like Samyak Prakashan, have been instrumental in Ambedkarite literature, inspiring generations of activists. Rattu's writings emphasize Ambedkar's humanism, his advocacy for women's rights, labor reforms, and annihilation of caste—core tenets of Dalit activism.
on as a bridge between Ambedkar's public persona and private vulnerabilities. Interviews, such as a rare 1990s recording available on YouTube, capture his humility and fervor, underscoring how ordinary Dalits like him fueled the movement. Today, Rattu is remembered not as a frontline orator but as an essential enabler of social justice, proving that activism thrives through quiet dedication.
Nalini Jameela
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nalini Jameela
Born August 18, 1954
Kallur village, Thrissur, India
Nationality Indian
Occupation Prostitute
Sex work archivist
Author
Notable work Autobiography of a Sex Worker (2005)
Romantic Encounters of a Sex Worker (2018)
Nalini Jameela (18 August 1954- ) is an Indian best selling author, sex worker activist and former prostitute from Thrissur, Kerala. She is the author of the books The Autobiography of a Sex-worker (2005) and Romantic Encounters of a Sex Worker (2018). She is the coordinator of the Sex Workers Forum of Kerala (SWFK) and is a member of the five non-governmental organisations (NGO).
Biography
Nalini Jameela was born on 18 August 1954 in Kallur village, Thrissur, India. She worked in the fields planting and harvesting crops until her husband died of cancer when she was aged 24. This left her with no means of supporting her two young children. A prostitute named Rosechechi introduced her to prostitution. Rosechechi arranged her first client, a senior police officer, and she met him in a guesthouse in Trissur that was frequented by politicians. When leaving the guesthouse in the morning she was arrested by the police and beaten.
She had left school after the 3rd grade when she was about seven. In the 1990s she furthered her education at the Kallur Government School, eventually reaching the 12th grade.
In 2001 she became coordinator of the Sex Workers Forum of Kerala (SWFK), Under her leadership the SWFK held protest marches to draw attention to the plight of street-based sex workers.
Jameela is a member of the five non-governmental organisations (NGO). At the fourth meeting of the AIDS Counselling Program in Bangalore, she called on the government not just to distribute condoms, but to provide an education to sex workers and their children.
Works
Autobiography of a Sex Worker
In 2005 Jameela wrote the autobiographical book Oru Lymgikathozhilaliyude Atmakatha (Autobiography of a Sex Worker) with the aid of sex work activist I. Gopinath. The book sold 13,000 copies, ran to six editions within 100 days of publication. Originally written in Malayalam, the book was translated to English in 2007 by J. Devika, and into French the following year by Sophie Bastide-Foltz. The book created massive movements in society, and led to many debates and controversies in Kerala. The book was condemned by feminists, who claimed it glorified sex work, and by conservatives who thought the subject should not be publicised.
Romantic Encounters of a Sex Worker
In 2018 Jameela's second book Romantic Encounters of a Sex Worker was published. The book was translated into English by Reshma Bharadwaj, and also translated into Gujarati, Bengali and Tamil. The book includes eight stories from the 1970s to the 2000s, telling of the relationships she developed with her clients.
Documentary
Sanjeev Sivan, younger brother of noted film director Santosh Sivan, made a 28 minute documentary film, Sex, Lies and a Book, in 2013 about the life Jameela. The documentary was a joint venture of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Public Service Broadcasting Trust. Jameela appeared in the film.
Nauroti
Nauroti Devi (often referred to simply as Nauroti) is an inspiring Indian Dalit woman social activist, labor rights advocate, and grassroots politician from Rajasthan. She is celebrated for her journey from an illiterate stone-cutter facing severe caste and gender-based exploitation to a computer-literate Sarpanch (village head) who revolutionized local governance and empowered women in her community.
Early Life and Background
- Born into a poor Dalit family in Harmada village (also spelled Hamada), Kishangarh Tehsil, Ajmer district, Rajasthan, India.
- Due to caste discrimination and poverty, she never received formal education and remained illiterate for much of her early life.
- As a young woman, she worked as a stone-cutter on road construction sites to survive, earning a meager Rs 4 per day (while men doing the same work earned Rs 7), highlighting stark gender wage discrimination.
Activism and Key Struggles
- Nauroti's activism began in the labor sector. She mobilized fellow women workers to protest unequal wages and unfair labor practices.
- With support from an NGO and allies, she led a campaign that escalated to the Supreme Court of India, where she successfully fought for equal wages under labor laws (including implementation of the Minimum Wages Act). This victory marked a turning point, restoring dignity and fair pay for women laborers.
- She has been an active member of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) since around 1981–1982, a pioneering organization in Rajasthan known for its non-violent struggle for workers' and farmers' rights.
- Nauroti played a significant role in the Right to Information (RTI) campaign in Rajasthan during the 1990s, which directly influenced the national Right to Information Act, 2005. Her involvement helped expose corruption and demand transparency in government schemes.
Political Career and Leadership
- In 2010, she was elected Sarpanch (village council head) of Harmada village under the women's reservation quota in panchayati raj elections.
- Despite initial ridicule for her illiteracy (she initially signed documents with thumbprints), Nauroti embraced learning post-election.
- She learned to read, write, and use computers through self-study and training programs.
- Remarkably, she trained the government-appointed panchayat secretary (a male official) on computer operations, insisting on bringing a computer and printer to the panchayat office for transparent administration, notices, and communication.
- She also trained hundreds of village women (reports mention over 700 people in total across her efforts) in basic computer literacy, promoting digital empowerment in a rural setting.
- As Sarpanch, she overcame resistance from dominant castes (like the Jat community) to deliver benefits, infrastructure improvements, and inclusive development to all villagers, including marginalized groups.
Legacy and Recognition
- Nauroti's story symbolizes resilience, self-education, and the power of grassroots activism to challenge caste, gender, and class oppression.
- Featured in major media outlets like The Better India, The Hindu, YourStory, and international platforms, as well as Wikipedia and women's rights compilations.
- She has spoken at events, including the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) congress, sharing her experiences of using technology for justice.
- Her life highlights how ordinary women from marginalized backgrounds can lead transformative change through persistence and community organizing.
- As of recent profiles (up to 2025 references), she remains an iconic figure in discussions on rural women's empowerment, Dalit rights, labor justice, and digital inclusion in India.
Nauroti Devi stands as a powerful example of how determination and collective action can turn personal hardship into widespread progress. Her journey from breaking stones for survival to leading a village with modern tools continues to inspire activists and changemakers across India. For more visual or updated stories, sources like The Better India articles often include photos of her life and work.
Namdev Laxman Dhasal
Namdev Laxman Dhasal, a political activist belonging to the Dalit Panther Party in Maharashtra, is a poet and fiction writer of repute. Born on February 15, 1949, Namdev was raised by his mother in poverty. In memory of his mother's tribulations as a sex worker, Namdev ignored the prevailing naming practices by adopting her name for his middle name. As an indication of the painful trajectory of his life, he later adopted his father's name as a mark of respect.
Dhasal received the Nehru award for Golapitha. Named after Mumbai's red light district the publication of Golapitha set a realistic trend in Marathi poetry in the 1970s. American scholar Dr. Eleanor Zelliot stated that, the "most important poet in Dalit literature in recent times is Namdev Dhasal, as no one can beat Dhasal in the powerful imagery, evocative language and bold statements against the system". He has been awarded with three Maharashtra State awards for his five collections of poems.
The Library of Congress has acquired eight titles by him.
नन्ही वेश्या
दूध में कांच मिला पिलाया था स्वामी दयानंद सरस्वती को
नन्ही वेश्या ने दूध में कांच मिला पिलाया था स्वामी दयानंद सरस्वती को
SUNIL CHOUDHARY
दूध में कांच मिला पिलाया था स्वामी दयानंद सरस्वती को
नन्ही वेश्या ने दूध में कांच मिला पिलाया था स्वामी दयानंद सरस्वती को
SUNIL CHOUDHARY
दीपावली के दिन हुई थी मौत
जोधपुर। जोधपुर की एक वेश्या की नाराजगी आर्य समाज के प्रणेता और महान समाज सुधारक स्वामी दयानंद सरस्वती पर बहुत भारी पड़ी थी और उन्हें आखिरकार अपनी जान तक गंवानी पड़ी। स्वामी दयानंद सरस्वती से नाराज नन्ही नाम की वेश्या ने धोखे से उन्हें दूध में कांच का चूरा पिला दिया। इससे बीमार हुए स्वामी कभी उबर नहीं पाए और दीपावली के दिन उन्होंने देह त्याग दी।
वर्ष 1883 में वे जोधपुर नरेश महाराजा जसवन्त सिंह के निमन्त्रण पर जोधपुर आए हुए थे। वहां उनके नित्य ही प्रवचन होते थे। यदाकदा महाराजा जसवन्त सिंह भी उनके प्रवचन सुनते। दो-चार बार स्वामी भी राज्य महलों में गए। वहां पर उन्होंने नन्ही नामक वेश्या का अनावश्यक हस्तक्षेप और महाराजा जसवन्त सिंह पर उसका अत्यधिक प्रभाव देखा। स्वामी दयानंद को यह बहुत बुरा लगा। उन्होंने महाराजा को इस बारे में समझाया तो उन्होंने विनम्रता से उनकी बात स्वीकार कर ली और नन्ही से सम्बन्ध तोड़ लिए। इससे नन्ही स्वामी दयानंद से नाराज हो गई और उन्हें राह का रोड़ा मान उनको हटाने की जुगत भिड़ाने में जुट गई। उसने स्वामी दयानंद के रसोइए कलिया उर्फ जगन्नाथ को अपनी तरफ मिला कर उनके दूध में पिसा हुआ कांच डलवा दिया। खासियत की बात यह रही कि कांच मिश्रित दूध पिलाने के बाद नन्ही को बहुत पछतावा हुआ और उसने स्वामी दयानंद के पास जाकर अपना अपराध स्वीकार कर लिया। नन्ही ने स्वामी से माफी मांगी तो उदार ह्रदय के साथ उन्होंने उसे क्षमा करते हुए कुछ पैसे देकर जोधपुर से चले जाने को कहा ताकि वह सजा से बच सके। बाद में जब स्वामी दयानंद को जोधपुर के अस्पताल में भर्ती करवाया गया। बाद में जब स्वामी दयानंद की तबीयत बहुत खराब होने लगी तो उन्हें अजमेर के अस्पताल में ले जाया गया, लेकिन तब तक काफी विलम्ब हो चुका था। स्वामी जी को बचाया नहीं जा सका।
पहली गदर में दिया था सहयोग
स्वामी दयानंद का जन्म वर्ष 1824 में हुआ था। वर्ष 1875 में उन्होंने मुंबई में आर्य समाज की स्थापना की। वे आधुनिक भारत के महान चिंतक, समाज सुधारक और देशभक्त उन्होंने वेदों की सत्ता को सदा सर्वोपरि माना। स्वामी दयानंद ने देश के स्वतंत्रता आंदोलन की 1857 में हुई क्रांति में महत्वपूर्ण योगदान दिया। उन्होंने वर्ष 1855 में इस क्रांति के कर्णधार नाना साहेब, तात्या टोपे, अजीमुल्ला खान, बाला साहब व बाबू कुंवरसिंह से हरिद्वार में मुलाकात कर देश में सशस्त्र क्रांति की आधारशिला तैयार की। हरिद्वार में ही 1855 की बैठक में बाबू कुंवर सिंह ने जब अपने इस संघर्ष में सफलता की संभावना के बारे में स्वामी से पूछा तो उनका बेबाक उत्तर था स्वतंत्रता संघर्ष कभी असफल नहीं होता। भारत धीरे-धीरे एक सौ वर्ष में परतंत्र बना है। अब इसको स्वतन्त्र होने में भी एक सौ वर्ष लग जाएंगे। इस स्वतंत्रता प्राप्ति में बहुत से अनमोल प्राणों की आहुतियां डाली जाएंगी।उनका यह कथन एकदम सही साबित हुआ। देश को आजाद होने में नब्बे साल और लग गए और इसके लिए सैकड़ों लोगों ने अपने प्राणों का आहुति दी।
Nidhin Shobhana
Nidhin Shobhana is an Indian activist, artist, researcher, and scholar known for his significant contributions to Ambedkarite discourse and anti-caste activism. Based primarily in Kolkata, India, he is recognized for his critical illustrations, academic writings, and public engagements that challenge caste oppression, Brahmanical hegemony, and social inequalities in India. Below is a detailed overview of his background, work, and contributions based on available information.
Background
- Location: Nidhin Shobhana resides in Kolkata, India.
- Education and Professional Role: He is an independent researcher with interests in sociology, as indicated by his profile on Academia.edu, where he has 67 followers, 8 following, and 6 research papers. He has also served as an Associate Program Coordinator at the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), a prominent organization advocating for Dalit rights.
- Personal Details: Notably, Nidhin Shobhana is described as not being active on Facebook, suggesting a preference for engaging through other platforms or offline mediums. His birthday is on September 5, as noted in a tribute by Dr. Dhammasangini Ramagorakh.
Activism and Contributions
Nidhin Shobhana’s activism centers on promoting Ambedkarite principles, which draw from the philosophy of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, a key figure in India’s anti-caste movement and the architect of the Indian Constitution. His work spans art, writing, and public speaking, focusing on caste, gender, and social justice.
1. Illustrations and Artistic Work
- Ambedkarite Art: Nidhin is celebrated for his powerful illustrations that critique caste oppression and Brahmanical fascism while promoting an Ambedkarite vision of equality and justice. His drawings are described as emotionally resonant, offering an optimistic path forward and depicting figures like Phule, Ambedkar, Savitri, and Fatima as symbols of resistance and hope.
- Book Covers: He has designed cover pages for books on Dalit discourse published by The Shared Mirror Publishing House, a platform dedicated to amplifying marginalized voices. His illustrations address themes like finding stability in an unstable socio-political environment dominated by Hindutva ideologies.
- Critical Commentary: His artwork critiques specific socio-political issues, such as:
- The concept of a “Dominant Dalit” proposed by Prof. Badri Narayan, which he challenges as a narrative supporting BJP’s political agenda.
- The 10% reservation for Savarnas (upper castes), depicted as an imposition on democratic institutions like Parliament.
- The burden on OBC women in cow-herding communities, illustrated to highlight how their labor is exploited under the guise of cultural reverence for cows, in collaboration with his wife, Asha, who has written on this topic.
2. Academic and Written Contributions
- Research on Caste in Universities: Nidhin has written extensively on caste dynamics in Indian higher education, particularly focusing on Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). In his article, In the Name of the Nation: Historicizing Caste in Indian Universities, he examines how universities, often seen as spaces of democracy and knowledge production, perpetuate caste inequalities. He highlights the lack of representation of SC/ST/OBC faculty at JNU, citing data from 2013 showing significant vacancies in reserved teaching posts:
- SC: 23 Professor, 34 Associate Professor, 11 Assistant Professor vacancies.
- ST: 10 Professor, 15 Associate Professor, 3 Assistant Professor vacancies.
- OBC: 10 Assistant Professor vacancies, with no reservations adopted for higher posts.
- He notes the predominance of Brahmin-Savarna surnames among JNU faculty, underscoring systemic casteism.
- Critique of Reservation Policies: His work critiques the failure of institutions like JNU to implement mandated reservations for marginalized communities, pointing out that even after years of policy adoption, vacancies remain unfilled, and Dalit representation is often limited to lower-tier roles like safai karamcharis (sanitation workers).
- Translations and Collaborations: Nidhin has contributed as a translator, notably for a review of Dr. Sharmila Rege’s work on her first death anniversary, published in the Marathi magazine Miloon Saarya Jani. This translation, done with Minakshee Rode, reflects his engagement with feminist and anti-caste scholarship.
3. Public Speaking and Events
- Talks and Lectures: Nidhin has been a speaker at various platforms, including:
- A session on Hatred in the Belly: Politics Behind the Appropriation of Dr. Ambedkar’s Writings at Miranda House, Delhi University, organized by The Shared Mirror Publishing House. This talk critiqued the appropriation of Ambedkar’s Annihilation of Caste by mainstream narratives, particularly the Navayana edition with an introduction by Arundhati Roy.
- A presentation on the history of Indian universities organized by the Dalit Bahujan Adivasi Collective at Ambedkar University, Delhi, analyzing caste dynamics in higher education.
- A session on the “Intersectionalities of Caste and Gender” at Miranda House, conducted by NCDHR, focusing on how caste and gender operate in higher educational institutions.
- Engagement with Ambedkarite Thought: His talks emphasize the radical legacy of Ambedkarite thought, resisting attempts by both left and right political spectrums to dilute or appropriate it.
4. Key Themes in His Work
- Anti-Caste Advocacy: Nidhin’s work consistently challenges Brahmanical hegemony and the marginalization of Dalit-Bahujan communities. He critiques the socio-political structures that perpetuate casteism, such as reservation policy failures and the appropriation of Ambedkar’s legacy.
- Intersectionality: He addresses the intersections of caste, gender, and labor, as seen in his and his wife Asha’s work on the exploitation of OBC women in cow-herding communities.
- Ambedkarite Utopia: His illustrations and writings promote an optimistic vision of an egalitarian society inspired by Ambedkar, Phule, and other anti-caste icons, avoiding themes of despair and instead emphasizing knowledge, compassion, and resistance.
- Critique of Hindutva: His art and writings critique the rise of Hindutva (Hindu nationalism) and its impact on marginalized communities, depicting it as a force that destabilizes social justice efforts.
Notable Publications and Affiliations
- The Shared Mirror Publishing House: Nidhin is closely associated with this publisher, which focuses on Dalit-Bahujan literature. He has contributed illustrations for their books and participated in their events, such as the talk on Hatred in the Belly.
- Round Table India: He is a frequent contributor to Round Table India, a platform for Ambedkarite discourse, where his articles and illustrations are published.
- National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR): His role as an Associate Program Coordinator involved advocacy for Dalit rights and social justice in educational institutions.
- Sanghamitra: Nidhin is featured as an artist on Sanghamitra, a business incubator platform that highlights socially conscious creative work.
Personal and Collaborative Work
- Collaboration with Asha: His wife, Asha, is also an activist and writer who has contributed to critiques of caste and gender, particularly on the exploitation of OBC women in Bihar’s cow-herding communities. Their collaborative work strengthens the intersectional focus of their activism.
- Influence of John Berger: Nidhin draws inspiration from the art critic John Berger, quoting “Every Image embodies a way of seeing” to frame his approach to illustrations as a tool for social critique and transformation.
Other Engagements
- Wikipedia Contribution: Nidhin has been a Wikipedia member since September 11, 2014, indicating his involvement in knowledge dissemination.
- Media Contributions: He has written for platforms like SabrangIndia (on topics like child survival rankings) and The Companion, further extending his reach in public discourse.
Limitations and Notes
- Caste Identity: As noted in the previous response, there is no explicit information confirming Nidhin Shobhana’s caste. His work aligns with Dalit-Bahujan causes, but personal caste details are not disclosed in the sources, which is common among anti-caste activists to emphasize collective struggle over individual identity.
- Critical Perspective: Nidhin’s work critically examines the establishment narrative, particularly around caste and reservation policies, aligning with the instruction to question mainstream narratives. His critiques of JNU’s faculty composition and reservation failures reflect this approach.
- Data Gaps: Some sources provide limited information, and further details about his personal life, early education, or complete body of work are not fully covered in the references. If you have specific aspects you want explored (e.g., particular articles or events), please let me know!
Conclusion
Nidhin Shobhana is a multifaceted figure in India’s anti-caste movement, blending art, scholarship, and activism to challenge systemic inequalities. His illustrations and writings, rooted in Ambedkarite principles, offer both a critique of caste oppression and a hopeful vision for an egalitarian society. Through his work with organizations like NCDHR and The Shared Mirror, and platforms like Round Table India, he continues to inspire and mobilize efforts toward social justice.
Nangeli
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nangeli is believed to have been an Ezhava woman who lived in the early 19th century at Cherthala in the erstwhile princely state of Travancore in India who is claimed for having cut off her breasts in an effort to protest caste-based "breast tax". It is a village tale that is not officially recognised in any of India's historical accounts.
In the Kingdom of Travancore, a breast tax or mulakkaram was imposed by the landowning Brahmin king of on lower caste Hindu women if they wanted to cover their breasts in public.
According to the story, at this time, in the early years of the 19th century, Nangeli, a poor Ezhava woman from Cherthala in the erstwhile Kingdom of Travancore, protested the mulakkaram (breast tax system). She refused to both uncover her bosom and pay the breast tax. When the pravathiyar (village officer) of Travancore, came to her home repeatedly asking her to pay tax, she became frustrated at the unjustness of her harassment. To make her protest known, she chopped off her breasts and presented them to him in a plantain leaf. She died the same day from loss of blood.
Nangeli's husband, Chirukandan, seeing her mutilated body, overcome by grief, jumped into her funeral pyre committing suicide. Following the death of Nangeli, a series of people's movements were set off and the breast tax system was ultimately annulled in Travancore. The place she lived came to be known later as Mulachiparambu (meaning land of the breasted woman).
The woman who cut off her breasts to protest a tax
The story of a lower caste woman who cut her breasts to protest against a discriminatory "breast tax" in British ruled India is being revived by an artist wants to recognise her sacrifice. BBC Hindi's Divya Arya reports from the south Indian state of Kerala.The story of Nangeli may never have been known, but for a chance discovery.
Four years ago, artist Murali T was flipping through an in-house magazine of a local bank, when he stumbled on a small report about Nangeli, written by a native from her area, Cherthala.
Intrigued by the story, he made his way to the small sleepy town.
"I spent a lot of time with the local people of Cherthala and even found the locality where Nangeli is believed to have lived over 100 years ago.
"It was called Mulachhipuram or the land of the woman with breasts, named to remember Nangeli's great sacrifice against the breast-tax," he told the BBC.
It is a village tale that is not officially recognised in any of India's historical accounts.
But the story of Nangeli is much loved by her local villagers - and now Murali T hopes to document it and have it recognised as part of Kerala's history by the government.
Reinforcing caste structure
The "breast-tax" had been imposed by the king of the erstwhile State of Travancore, one of the 550 princely States that existed in British ruled India.
Women from lower castes were not allowed to cover their breasts, and were taxed heavily if they did so.
"The purpose of the breast-tax was to maintain the caste structure," said Dr Sheeba KM, an associate Professor of gender ecology and Dalit studies at the Shri Shankaracharya Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya in Kerala.
Social customs on clothing were tailored to a person's caste status, which meant that they could be identified merely by the way they dressed.
Nangeli belonged to the Ezhava caste. Her community was required to pay the tax along with other lower castes like the Thia, Nadar and Dalit communities.
But, villagers say, she decided to protest by covering her chest without paying the breast-tax - a brave move in the early 1900s for a woman of lower caste status.
Our auto rickshaw driver Mohanan Narayan takes us to the neighbourhood where Nangeli lived.
"When the tax inspector heard she was refusing to pay the tax, he went to her house to ask her to stop breaking the law. But she still refused to pay the tax, and cut her breasts off in protest instead," he says.
According to local villagers, Nangeli died of excessive blood loss, while her distraught husband committed suicide by jumping into her funeral pyre. The couple had no children.
Her relatives moved out of Mulachhipuram to nearby towns and hamlets.
Recognising sacrifice
Maniyan Velu, her cousin's great-grand-son, says he feels upset that Nangeli's story is not more widely known.
"Her act was selfless, a sacrifice to benefit all the women of Travancore, and ultimately forced the King to roll back the breast-tax," he says.
An old man, Maniyan owns no land, and his children work as farm labourers. But he is not looking for charity, only some recognition.
"We feel so proud that we are her family. All we want is that more people should know about her sacrifice. It would be befitting if her name was made a part of this region's history," he tells the BBC.
Murali T hopes to make that happen.
He was so moved by Nangeli's story and the absence of any visual documentation that he decided to paint a likeness of the violent act she brought upon herself.
"I did not want to depict it as a bloody event; instead my aim was to glorify her act as an inspiration to humanity, a representation that would command respect," he said.
His three paintings of Nangeli have now been published in his book, Amana - The Hidden Pictures of History, this year.
He has also held 15 exhibitions of his paintings across Kerala and now plans to hold one in a public place in Cherthala.
"If I can get the people of that area to take notice, that may help convince the government to include this important act as part of our official history."
200 years on, Nangeli’s sacrifice only a fading memory
Nidhi Surendranath
Kochi
Nangeli gained her place in history as the woman who cut off her breasts to protest against an inhuman tax imposed in erstwhile Travancore
Many books and histories have been written about caste oppression in Kerala and the men and women who fought the injustice. Yet the story of one woman’s protest has almost faded away from the collective memory of the State.
Nangeli, who lived in Cherthala in Alappuzha over 200 years ago, gained her place in history as the woman who cut off her breasts to protest against the inhuman mulakkaram (breast tax) that was imposed in the erstwhile kingdom of Travancore.
Caste oppression
Kings of the time ensured the subjugation of the lower castes by imposing heavy taxes on them. Their wealth was built on some of the worst taxes imposed anywhere in the world. Besides the tax on land and crops, peasants had to pay taxes for the right to wear jewellery, the right of men to grow a moustache, and even the right of women to cover their breasts.
The heavy taxes ensured that the lower castes were kept eternally in debt, while members of the upper castes flourished.
“Nangeli was a poor Ezhava woman from Cherthala. Her family could not afford to pay the taxes and was in debt to the rulers,” says D. Sugathan, advocate and former MLA from Alappuzha.
“The tax collector, then called the parvathiyar, came to her house one day and demanded that she pay the tax,” he says. The legend goes that Nangeli cut off her breasts and presented them to the parvathiyar on a plantain leaf. The tax collector fled in fear, while Nangeli bled to death at her doorstep.
Her husband Chirukandan came home to find his wife lying dead and mutilated. He is said to have jumped into her funeral pyre out of grief.
“The incident happened in 1803. It created a lot of anger and the practice of collecting breast tax was put to an end here by 1812,” says Mr. Sugathan, who mentions Nangeli’s story in his book ‘Oru Desathinte Katha, Kayarinteyum’.
While Nangeli’s sacrifice put an end to one form of caste oppression, the land where she lived came to be known as mulachiparambu – the plot where the woman of breasts lived.
“Nangeli’s story is unique also for the fact that it is the first recorded instance of a man committing sati,” says Ajay S. Sekher, a teacher of English at the Tirur centre of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit. A blog post written by Mr. Sekher, who researches issues of caste and gender, has introduced many to the story of Nangeli and mulachiparambu.
An earlier generation of political leaders grew up hearing about Nangeli’s protest and its significance in Kerala’s history. Leaders C. Kesavan and K.R. Gowri Amma have mentioned her in their autobiographies.
‘Unique resistance’
“Nangeli’s story is an articulation of a unique resistance and struggle against a Brahmanic patriarchy. The tradition of such resistance by leaders such as Gowri Amma could perhaps be traced all the way back to Nangeli,” says Mr. Sekher.
The legend of Nangeli’s mutilation of her own body in protest against oppression has been handed down through generations.
Today, however, her tale is preserved only in the memories of a few old-timers and researchers. There are no memorials to her name, no books extolling her courage.
The name mulachiparambu too has been covered up, perhaps due to embarrassment. The plot, divided up between several owners, is situated near the SNDP office at Manorama Junction in Cherthala.
N.G.Uke
A True HumanistBy V.B. Rawat & N.G.Uke
10 November, 2006
Countercurrents.org
Mr N.G.Uke, a great Ambedkarite, a friend and guide died on November 4th, 2006 at his Vasant Kunj residence at the age of 82. Uke Saheb, as I would fondly call him was among the rare breed of Ambedkarite who saw Baba Saheb and was selected by him as a scholar though he had already got the same.
As an admirer of Mr Uke for his forthright views and because his open support for atheism, I knew NG Uke was a treasurer who had with him a number of incidents and things and that is why I kept on calling him for an interview. ' You are always welcome', Uke Saheb told me. Last month on October 7 th, I was able to record a conversation with him to keep his memoirs. I know many such Ambedkarite who are treasure of great source are on the wane and I decided to interview them and record conversation to keep their memories safe.
I have rarely found person of strong secular commitment such as N G Uke. Even in his conversation, he hated words like 'fortunate, unfortunate, Mahatma, noble soul, gods' etc. He would say that by using these words we are ultimately trapped into the religious moulding justifying the oppression and exploitation.
Uke Saheb send reply to some of my questions on mails. A freewheeling interview with him was recorded which I would be able to produce after some time. As a tribute to Uke Saheb, I am sending this interview to our friends. He was the first person to use term ' Ambedkar Samaj' and rather than saying ' I am a Buddhist' which he was. Till his last, Uke Saheb remained a sharp mind, concerned about the condition of his community, which he always thought would lead India to 21 st Century.
I salute to his memory.
Excerpts of his conversation with me
VB: Uke Saheb, how did you come in touch with Dr Ambedkar.
NGU: My first meeting with Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was in July 1942 at Nagpur
during the Depressed Classes Conferences held on 18,19,20 July 1942. During these conferences were attended by about 75,000 Scheduled Castes persons, including 25,000 women. The three Conferences were: 1. All India Depressed Classes Conference, 2. All India Depressed Classes Women's Conference, 3. Samata Sainik Dal Conference.
During these Conferences we the Scheduled Castes student established All India Scheduled Castes Students Federation (SCSF). I was one of the Joint Secretaries of the SCSF. At that time I was studying in Inter Science at the College of Science Nagpur. We met Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and sought his advice and guidance for working of our SCSF. He was very happy and we had a very useful discussion.
Since Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was being appointed as the Labour Member of the Executive Council of H.E. the Viceroy and the Governor General, he could not function as the full time President of the All India Depressed Classes Conferences. In his place Rao Bahadur N. Shivraj, MLA (Central) was appointed as the president of the Conference.
My second meeting with Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was at his residence 22 Prithviraj road at Delhi. I had gone to Delhi for an interview before the selection board for the selection of scholars to be sent abroad for higher studies. I was selected by the board for higher studies in Engineering in London. Rai Saheb GT Meshram who was the Estate Officer Govt. of India took me to 22, Prithviraj road to meet Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. As soon as I was introduced to Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, he immediately said " Mr. Uke Congratulations since we have selected you for higher studies in UK, under the Scheduled Castes Students Scholarship. We had a selection in Simla". I thanked Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar for my selection in the SC Scholarship. But I told Babasaheb that I have also been selected today by the Govt. of India under general scholarship for study in UK for Engineering. Babasaheb was very happy that I was selected in General Scholarship, thus saving one scholarship of Scheduled Caste.
My next meetings with Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar were in London 4 times, on 26 th Oct. 29th Oct. 2nd Nov. and 9th Nov.1946. During this period he had met important personalities from London including Clement Attlee Prime Minister of UK, and Mr. Winston Churchill. On 2 nd Nov. 1946 we invited him to visit our place at 4, Downside Crescent. He blessed us by visiting our place and sitting for a group photo which included number of SC Scholars including Mr. Khobragade studying for Bar.
The next time when I met Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was when I was called from London to return to India, for selection for a post in Defence. The Public Service Commission selected me for this post. I met Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar along with Raisaheb GT Meshram after my selection. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar had a liking for me and suggested to Mr. Meshram that he should propose my marriage with his daughter Kamal. Meshram family and Babasaheb Ambedkar were very close to each other. Whenever Babasaheb used to go to Nagpur he used to stay with Meshram family. Kamal used to know Babasaheb from her childhood of about 6 years since 1935. Our marriage took place on May 8 th,1949 at 4 Lodhi Estate, the residence of Mr. Meshram. Our marriage certificate was signed by 3 Cabinet Ministers of Govt. of India, 1 Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar , 2. Dr. John Matthai, and 3. Dr. Kakasaheb Gadgil.
VB: What was your personality about ? Did you face discrimination during your childhood? How supportive were your parents.
NGU: You desired to know whether I was docile or strong person and whether I suffered from discrimination. In my childhood I was very strong. I normally used to score very high position in my class. The Brahmins did not like my status in the class and they closed the school after I passed class 3 of the primary school. For the 4th class I had to go to near by village about 2 miles from our village. I cleared class 4 th from that school with top record. I had told my father that he should help me financially up to 8th class including the middle school in English at Bramhpuri about 10 miles from my village. I passed the 8 th class with high % and was allotted Govt. Scholarship from 9th class onwards. I secured the high school admission in Patwardhan high school at Nagpur. My further studies were at the College of Science at Nagpur. Later I won the Govt. of India Scholarship for higher studies in London.
VB : What impression did you get from Baba Saheb. What do his followers need to do to take forward his mission?
NGU: When we met Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar in London during 1946 he advised us that our people should be better than their best. Some of us definitely tried to come to the expectation of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar embraced Buddhism on 14th of October 1956 along with 5 lacks of people at Nagpur. His mission was to make whole of India as a Buddhist Country. How ever he expired within 53 days of his embracing Buddhism.
His followers were not of the required capacity for the mission of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar with same vigor and achievements. They have been working in different groups and are not united.
Ambedkarites must join together under one platform. I had met Dalai Lama in Ashoka Hotel a few years ago and I had suggested to him that he should take up the mission of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar of converting India into a Prabuddha Bharat. For my suggestion he became very happy and embraced me very warmly. In order to convert India into Prabuddha Bharat on the advice of Buddha and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, it is necessary to workout a rational program.
There are various factions in Buddhism. We must consolidate all the Buddhists of the world. For that matter we will have to spell out the Buddhism as has been prescribed by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar.
VB: A number of people are redefining Ambedkar's conversion. Some says that he wanted to embrace Islam while others suggest that he was in fact for Christianity. There is a Sikh angle also. To strengthen their point, they say that Ambedkar buckled under the pressure of the upper caste Hindu leadership? For me it is difficult to digest as Ambedkar remained a man of conviction and character all his life and it would have been difficult for him to accept anything as final word or Gods word. As a staunch Ambedkarite how do you respond to such questions?
NGU: It is wrong. He never wanted to become Muslim or Sikh or Christian. Neither did he want to remain as a Hindu. He wanted to become Buddhist and he had declared in 1935 that though he was a born a Hindu, which was not in, his hand but he would not die as a Hindu. When he was in his matriculation, he was given a book on Buddhism. Baba Saheb had been reading about Buddhism for a very long time. Nizam offered him a lot of money. Others also offered him but he was not worried about money. He was worried about India. To make India a Prabuddha Bharat, an enlightned India and no religion can do that. He believed in Buddha but never in those rituals. He redefined Buddhism. Scriptures and Gods cannot help India at all.
VB: Reservation issue has again rocked the country. While the current row has been actually against the OBC reservation in government services but it seems that in this entire scheme of things, it is the Dalits who have become target of the upper caste contempt. The Dalits are fighting the battle for OBCs while the latter are not visible anywhere, only to be found hitting at them in the villages. Now questions are being raised about creamy layer as well as different Dalit identities. As an Ambedkarite how to you resolve this crisis?
NGU: As per as the reservation for Scheduled Castes is concerned people refused to understand the Constitutional provisions regarding SCST reservation. The Constitution is very clear. Constitution provides for reservations for the Scheduled Castes. These reservations are Universal. However the Govt. have excluded a large number of Jobs from the reservations, which goes against the spirit of the Constitution.
There is also a view that a creamy layer from Scheduled Castes must be taken away from Scheduled Castes. This view is totally wrong The Creamy layer is the cream of the society. The Cream, which consists of the intellect of the Scheduled Castes are the people who guide and lead the Scheduled Castes. Nobody can deprive the Scheduled Castes of their intellectual leaders. All the rulers namely The President, The Prime Minister and the other leaders come from Creamy layer and govern. The Scheduled Castes cannot be divided as very rightly ruled by the Supreme Court.
As far as the reservations for Scheduled Castes are concerned no Non-SC is affected and they have nothing to do with reservations.
VB : You are a rare breed of Ambedkarite who are proclaimed atheists. Why?
NGU: Scheduled Castes cannot gain anything from Gods and their work. The only way out is to prove that our society, our system is better than theirs. We believe that superstitions, rituals ultimately exploit human being.
VB: What do you think of economic globalisation. I mean many new Dalit scholars have complimented capitalism and often condemn Marx and his vision. What is an Ambedkarite vision of India.
NGU: Privatisation is a threat to our soverignity. Land should be nationalized and redistributed among our people. Why should we allow the national resources to the private companies to suck our blood. Privatisation is nothing but taking away people's resources and we must oppose it.
Once you privatize things, our people lose jobs in the government sector. Private companies are not going to follow that. The government must bring out a law to protect the interest of the Scheduled Castes.
Baba Saheb was a revolutionary and so was Marx though Baba Saheb differed with his violence theory yet in no way was Baba Saheb anti Marx. We may have differences with Marxist theoreticians in India yet Marx and his philosophy are for the benefits of the common man.
VB: What are the activities of Ambedkar Samaj. What does it aims at?
NGU: We have started Ambedkar Samaj to bring all Ambedkarites on one platform to fulfill the mission of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar not only to convert India as a Prabuddha Bharat but we have to transform the whole world as a Scientific Humanity without any differences. The Ambedkarites must lead to take the world forward as one humanity.
Sree Narayana Guru
Sree Narayana Guru (also known as Sri Narayana Guru or Narayana Guru, born August 20, 1856 – died September 20, 1928) was a revered Indian philosopher, spiritual leader, poet, and pioneering social reformer and activist. From the Ezhava community (a backward caste facing severe discrimination in 19th- and early 20th-century Kerala), he led a transformative reform movement against the rigid caste system, untouchability, and social inequalities in Kerala. His activism blended deep spiritual wisdom with practical social change, promoting universal equality, education, and ethical living. He is often called the father of modern Kerala's renaissance for uplifting marginalized communities through non-violent, inclusive means.
Early Life
Born as Nanu (or Narayanan) in Chempazhanthy village near Thiruvananthapuram (then in Travancore princely state), Kerala, to Madan Asan and Kuttiyamma in an Ezhava family of ayurvedic physicians. The Ezhavas, despite some traditional occupations, were subjected to caste-based oppression—denied temple entry, education access, public roads, and basic dignity under the dominant Brahminical order. From childhood, Nanu experienced and resented these injustices, fostering his lifelong commitment to equality.
He showed early intellectual promise, mastering Sanskrit, Vedic texts, and ayurveda. After a brief marriage and family life, he renounced worldly ties around his 20s to pursue spiritual quests. He wandered as an ascetic, practicing intense meditation and yoga in forests and caves, including at Maruthwamala and Aruvippuram.
Spiritual Awakening and Philosophy
Guru's teachings rooted in Advaita Vedanta (non-dualistic philosophy), emphasizing the oneness of all existence. He reinterpreted it practically for social reform, rejecting ritualistic orthodoxy while upholding spiritual essence.
His core message: "Oru Jati, Oru Matham, Oru Daivam Manushyanu" ("One Caste, One Religion, One God for Humankind"). He taught that true religion lies in virtue and service to humanity, not divisions. Other key ideas include:
- Equality of all humans as divine manifestations.
- Rejection of caste, untouchability, and superstition.
- Emphasis on education, cleanliness, self-reliance, and moral living.
- "Whatever be the religion, it is enough if man becomes virtuous."
- Promotion of fraternity, truth, and non-violence.
He viewed social upliftment as essential for spiritual enlightenment, famously stating that uplifting the lowly is true dharma.
Activism and Social Reforms
Guru's activism challenged Kerala's feudal, caste-ridden society without inciting conflict. Key actions include:
- Aruvippuram Pratishta (1888): In a bold protest, he consecrated a Shiva lingam (idol) at Aruvippuram, declaring it an "Ezhava Shiva" when Brahmins questioned his authority (only Brahmins could traditionally perform such rites). This sparked outrage but ignited anti-caste awareness and symbolized that divinity belongs to all.
- Founding Temples Open to All: He established numerous temples (over 60) across Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lanka, open to all castes and even non-Hindus, breaking priestly monopolies.
- Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP Yogam, 1903): Founded with leaders like Dr. P. Palpu and Kumaran Asan (Guru as president), this organization mobilized Ezhavas and backward castes for education, economic empowerment, and rights advocacy. It fought for temple entry, public road access, government jobs, and representation.
- Vaikom Satyagraha Support: His ideals inspired the 1924–25 movement for lower-caste temple access, influencing leaders like Periyar and Gandhi.
- Education and Institutions: He promoted schools, libraries, and self-help initiatives to combat illiteracy and poverty among the oppressed.
- All Religions Conference (1924): At Aluva, he convened interfaith dialogues to foster understanding, not debate—promoting secular harmony.
- Anti-Alcohol and Social Welfare: Advocated temperance, women's rights, and community welfare.
His approach was peaceful yet revolutionary, transforming Kerala from a "lunatic asylum" of caste horrors (as described by Vivekananda) into a model of social progress.
Key Events and Interactions
- Met Mahatma Gandhi (1925) at Sivagiri, discussing caste and freedom—Gandhi praised him as a "spiritual revolutionary."
- Established Sivagiri Mutt as his headquarters and pilgrimage center.
Legacy
Guru passed away on September 20, 1928, at Sivagiri, Varkala. His teachings inspired Kerala's high literacy, social mobility, and relative communal harmony. The SNDP Yogam grew into a major force, and his philosophy influenced anti-caste movements nationwide. Today, he is honored as a beacon of equality, with institutions, universities, and annual pilgrimages (Sivagiri pilgrimage) commemorating him. His vision remains relevant against casteism, communalism, and inequality.
Omeo Kumar Das
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Omeo Kumar Das
Born 21 May 1895
Died 23 January 1975 (aged 79)
Guwahati, Assam, India
Other names Lok Nayak
Occupation Indian independence activist
Social reformer
Translator
Educationist
Known for Social reforms
Spouse(s) Pushpalata Das
Awards Padma Bhushan
Omeo Kumar Das (21 May 1895 – 23 January 1975), popularly addressed as Lok Nayak, was an Indian social worker, Gandhian, educationist, writer and a former minister at the Government of Assam. He held various ministerial portfolios such as Education, Labour and Food and Civil Supplies, during various periods, in the state of Assam. He translated The Story of My Experiments with Truth, the autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi, into Assamese language and contributed to the implementation of Tea Plantation Worker’s Provident Fund in the state. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 1963, for his contributions to society. India Post honoured Das by issuing a commemorative stamp on him on 15 May 1998.
Early life
Das was born on 25 May 1895 at Nagaon district in the Northeast Indian state of Assam and his schooling was at Tezpur High School, Tezpur. He did his higher education at Cotton College, Guwahati and City College, Calcutta during which time he was reported to have been attracted to the activities of Indian independence activists such as Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Bal Gangadhar Tilak and started getting involved in student politics.
Political life
He was one of the leaders of the Civil disobedience movement of 1930 in Assam and was jailed many times during the freedom struggle. He successfully contested the Assam legislative Assembly and the Constituent Assembly elections of 1937 and 1945 respectively and, after the Indian independence, he represented Dhekiajuli Assembly constituency for three consecutive terms, 1951, 57 and 62. During these periods, he served as the minister in various portfolios. It was during his tenure as the Labour minister, the Worker's Provident Fund for the labourers of the tea plantations was instituted, an initiative reported to be among first such instances in Asia. As the minister of Education, his contributions were noted in the implementation of basic education scheme in Assam. He also served as the minister of Food and Civil Supplies for a period of time.
Das is credited with the publication of several books, including Mor Satya Aneshwanar Kahini, an Assamese language translation of The Story of My Experiments with Truth,the autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhijir Jiboni, Mahatma Gandhik Aami Kidore Bujilu and Asomot Mahatma are some his other works. He was involved with the activities of several social and Gandhian organisations such as Harijan Sevak Sangh, Bharatiya Adim Jati Sevak Sangha, Bharat Sevek Samaj, Gandhi Smarak Nidhi, Kasturba Smarak Nidhi and Assam Seva Samiti and was a part of their social activities like campaign against substance abuse and rehabilitation of patients afflicted with leprosy and tuberculosis.
Awards and honours
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पेरियार के सुनहरे बोल
महात्मा फुले और डॉ आंबेडकर ने ब्राह्मणवाद से लड़ने के लिए समतावादी आध्यात्मिकता की राह चुनी। पेरियार का उद्देश्य भी ब्राह्मणवाद का खात्मा था। लेकिन उनका रास्ता बिल्कुल अलग था। उन्होंने धर्म की आवश्यकता को सिरे से खारिज किया। पढ़ें, पेरियार के चयनित उद्धरण :
By Periyar E.V. Ramasami पेरियार ई.वी.रामासामी On December 16, 2018
[पेरियार ने आजीवन ब्राह्मणवाद का विरोध किया। वह मानते थे कि भारत के विकास में सबसे बड़ा बाधक कोई और नहीं बल्कि विभेद पैदा करने वाली यह व्यवस्था है। उन्होंने इसके समूल नाश करने का आह्वान किया। हिंदी भाषी राज्यों में अब भी लोग उनके उन विचारों और तर्कों से अपरिचित हैं जिनके आधार पर वे यह सिद्ध करते रहे कि हिन्दू धर्म से जुड़ी बातें मूलतः ब्राह्मण-वर्चस्व को कायम करती हैं। उनके प्रतिनिधि उद्धरणों का यह चयनित संकलन हम यहां प्रस्तुत कर रहे हैं ताकि लोग यह जान सकें कि पेरियार धर्म, राजनीति आदि के बारे में क्या सोचते थे, वह किस तरह का समाज बनाना चाहते थे, श्रमिकों के लिए उनके क्या विचार थे, सामाजिक व्यवस्था में सुधार कैसे हो और यह भी कि उनका बुद्धिवाद क्या था –प्रबंध संपादक ]
पेरियार ई. वी. आर.
राजनीति
जो लोग प्रसिद्धि, पैसा, पद पसंद करते हैं, वे तपेदिक की घातक बीमारी की तरह हैं। वे समाज के हितों के विरोधी हैं।
आज हमें देश के लोगों को ईमानदार और निःस्वार्थ बनाने वाली योजनाएं चाहिए। किसी से भी नफरत न करना और सभी से प्यार करना, यही आज की जरूरत है।
जो लोगों को अज्ञान में रखकर राजनीति में प्रमुख स्थिति प्राप्त कर चुके हैं, उनका ज्ञान के साथ कोई संबंध नहीं माना जा सकता।
हम जोर-शोर से स्वराज की बात कर रहे हैं। क्या स्वराज आप तमिलों के लिए है, या उत्तर भारतीयों के लिए है? क्या यह आपके लिए है या पूंजीवादियों के लिए है?क्या स्वराज आपके लिए है या कालाबाजारियों के लिए है? क्या यह मजदूरों के लिए है या उनका खून चूसने वालों के लिए है?
स्वराज क्या है? हर एक को स्वराज में खाने, पहनने और रहने के लिए पर्याप्त होना चाहिए। क्या हमारे समाज में आपको यह सब मिलता है? तब स्वराज कहाँ है?
आइए विश्लेषण करें। कौन उच्च जाति के और कौन निम्न जाति के लोग हैं। जो काम नहीं करता है, और दूसरों के परिश्रम पर रहता है, वह उच्च जाति है। जो कड़ी मेहनत करके दूसरों को लाभ प्रदान करता है, और बोझ ढोने वाले जानवर के समान बिना आराम और खाए-पिए कड़ी मेहनत करता है, उसे निम्न जाति कहा जाता है।
जो ईश्वर और धर्म में विश्वास रखता है, वह आजादी हासिल करने की कभी उम्मीद नहीं कर सकता।
जब एक बार मनुष्य मर जाता है, तो उसका इस दुनिया या कहीं भी किसी के साथ कोई संबंध नहीं रह जाता है।
धन और प्रचार ही धर्म को जिन्दा रखता है। ऐसी कोई दिव्य शक्ति नहीं है, जो धर्म की ज्योति को जलाए रखती है।
धर्म का आधार अन्धविश्वास है। विज्ञान में धर्मों का कोई स्थान नहीं है। इसलिए बुद्धिवाद धर्म से भिन्न है। सभी धर्मवादी कहते हैं कि किसी को भी धर्म पर संदेह या कुछ भी सवाल नहीं करना चाहिए। इसने मूर्खों को धर्म के नाम पर कुछ भी कहने की छूट दी है। धर्म और ईश्वर के नाम पर मूर्खता एक सनातन रीत है।
ब्राह्मणों ने शास्त्रों और पुराणों की सहायता से शूद्रों (वेश्या या रखैल पुत्र) को बनाया है। हमने हिंदू धर्म स्वीकार कर लिया है। हमने तालाब खोदे हैं, मंदिरों का निर्माण किया है, धन दान किया है। लेकिन कौन आनंद ले रहा है? केवल ब्राह्मण आनंद ले रहे हैं।
ब्राह्मणों ने हमें हमेशा के लिए शूद्र बनाने की साजिश रची, जिसके परिणामस्वरुप हमें आर्य धर्म द्वारा दास के रूप में बनाया गया है। और अपने उच्च स्तर की सुरक्षा के लिए उन्होंने मंदिरों और देवताओं को बनाया है।
पेरियार ई.वी. रामासामी (जन्म : 17 सितंबर 1879 – निधन : 24 दिसंबर 1975)
धनी लोग, शिक्षित लोग, व्यापारी और पुरोहित वर्ग जातिप्रथा, धर्म, शास्त्र और ईश्वर से लाभ उठा रहे हैं। इनकी वजह से इनको कोई परेशानी नहीं होती है। इन्हीं सब चीजों से इनका उच्च स्तर बना हुआ है।
इस तथ्य को साबित करने के लिए पर्याप्त सबूत हैं कि इस भारत देश को जाति व्यवस्था द्वारा बर्बाद कर दिया गया है।
हम द्रविड़ियन इस देश के मूल निवासी हैं। हम प्राचीन शासक वर्ग से आते हैं। किन्तु आज हम चौथे वर्ण के अधीन बना दिए गए हैं। क्यों? हमारी इस वर्तमान अपमानजनक स्थिति के लिए हमारे पूर्वज, पुरखे और हमारे राजा ज़िम्मेदार हैं, जिन्होंने शर्मनाक व्यवहार किया था।
जब सभी मनुष्य जन्म से बराबर हैं, तो यह कहना कि अकेले ब्राह्मण ही उच्च हैं, और दूसरे सब नीच हैं, जैसे परिया (अछूत) या पंचम, एकदम बकवास है। ऐसा कहना शातिरपन है। यह हमारे साथ किया गया एक बड़ा धोखा है।
एक धर्म को प्यार को बढ़ावा देने वाला होना चाहिए। वह हर एक को दूसरों की सहायता करने के लिए प्रेरित करना चाहिए। उसे हर एक को सत्य का सम्मान करना सिखाना चाहिए। दुनिया के लिए ऐसा ही धर्म आवश्यक है, जिसमें ये सारे गुण हों। एक सच्चे धर्म का इसके सिवा कोई अन्य महत्वपूर्ण काम नहीं है।
हमने ईश्वर को आज़ाद नहीं छोड़ा है। आप मंदिर-गोपुरम (टावर) क्यों चाहते हैं? आप पूजा करना क्यों चाहते हैं? आप एक पत्नी; गहने क्यों चाहते हैं? आप स्वर्ण और हीरे के आभूषण क्यों चाहते हैं? आप भोजन क्यों चाहते हैं? क्या आप खाना खाते हैं? क्या आप देवदासियों का आनंद ले रहे हैं, जो आपको अपनी पत्नियों की तरह बुलाती हैं? हमने ईश्वर को आज़ाद नहीं छोड़ा है। हमने उसे प्रश्नों की बौछार के साथ परेशान किया है। अब तक कोई ईश्वर उत्तर देने के लिए आगे नहीं आया है। कोई ईश्वर विरोध करने के लिए आगे नहीं आया है। किसी भी ईश्वर ने हमला करने या दंडित करने की हिम्मत नहीं की।
ये लम्बे और शंकु जैसे टावर किसने बनाए हैं? उनके शिखर पर सोने की परत किसने चढ़ाई? नटराज के लिए सोने की छत किसने बनाई? एक हजार खम्भों वाला मंडपम किसने बनाया? चॉकलेटियों (कारवाँ सराय) के लिए कड़ी मेहनत किसने की? क्या इनमें से किसी भी मंदिर, टैंक और धर्मार्थ चीजों के लिए दान के रूप में एक भी पाई ब्राह्मण ने दी है? जब यह सच है, तो ब्राह्मणों को कुछ भी योगदान किए बिना उच्च जाति बनकर क्यों रहना चाहिए? उन्हें हमें धोखा देने की अनुमति क्यों दी जानी चाहिए? यही कारण है कि, हम साहसपूर्वक भगवान को चुनौती दे रहे हैं। ईश्वर ने लोगों का कुछ भी भला नहीं किया है। यही कारण है कि, हम भगवान से पूछते हैं कि क्या वह वास्तव में भगवान है या केवल पत्थर है? ईश्वर गूंगा और अचल रहकर हमारे आरोपों को स्वीकार कर रहा है। इसलिए कोई भी भगवान हमारे खिलाफ मानहानि का मुकदमा दायर करने अदालत में नहीं गया है।
अगर धर्म यह कहे कि मनुष्य को मनुष्य का सम्मान करना चाहिए, तो हम कोई आपत्ति नहीं करेंगे। अगर धर्म यह कहे कि समाज में न कोई उच्च है और न नीच, तो हम उस धर्म के खिलाफ आवाज नहीं उठाएंगे।अगर धर्म यह कहे कि किसी को भी उसकी पूजा करने के लिए कुछ भी खर्च करने की ज़रूरत नहीं है, तो हम उस भगवान का विरोध नहीं करेंगे।
ब्राह्मण आपको ईश्वर के नाम पर मूर्ख बना रहे हैं। वह आपको अन्धविश्वासी बनाता है। वह आपको अस्पृश्य के रूप में निंदा करके बहुत ही आरामदायक जीवन जीता है। वह आपकी तरफ से भगवान को प्रार्थना करके खुश करने के लिए आपके साथ सौदा करता है। मैं इस दलाली के व्यवसाय की दृढ़ता से निंदा करता हूँ और आपको चेतावनी देता हूँ कि इस तरह के ब्राह्मणों पर विश्वास न करें।
रूढ़िवादी हिंदुओं के लिए सबूत है कि कुछ देवताओं ने मुस्लिम लड़कियों को जीवन-साथी बना लिया है। ऐसे भी देवता हैं, जो अस्पृश्य समुदाय की लड़कियों से प्यार करते थे और उनसे विवाह करते थे।
हालांकि ब्राह्मण जातियों के मामले में सौदा करने के लिए आगे आ सकते हैं, पर जब तक कृष्णा और उनकी गीता यहां है, जातियों का अंत होने वाला नहीं हैं।
ईश्वर सद्गुणों का प्रतीक है। उसे रूप धारण करने की जरूरत नहीं है, क्योंकि उसका भौतिक अस्तित्व ही नहीं है।
इंग्लैंड में न कोई शूद्र है, और न परिया अछूत। रूस में आपको वर्णाश्रम धर्म या भाग्यवाद नहीं मिलेगा। अमरीका में, लोग ब्रह्मा के मुख से या पैरों से पैदा नहीं होते हैं। जर्मनी में भगवान भोग नहीं लगाते हैं। टर्की में देवता विवाह नहीं करते हैं। फ्रांस में देवताओं के पास 12 लाख रुपये का मुकुट नहीं है। इन देशों के लोग शिक्षित और बुद्धिमान हैं। वे अपना आत्मसम्मान खोने के लिए तैयार नहीं होते हैं। बल्कि, वे अपने हितों और अपने देश की सुरक्षा के लिए तैयार होते हैं। अकेले हमें क्यों बर्बर देवताओं और धार्मिक कट्टरवाद को मानना चाहिए।
उस ईश्वर को नष्ट कर दो, जो तुम्हें शूद्र कहता है। उन पुराणों और महाकाव्यों को नष्ट कर दो, जो हिन्दू ईश्वर को सशक्त बनाते हैं। यदि कोई ईश्वर वास्तव में दयालु, हितैषी और बुद्धिमान है, तो उसकी प्रार्थना करो।
प्रार्थना क्या है? क्या इससे नारियल टूट रहा है? क्या यह ब्राह्मणों को पैसे दे रही है? क्या यह त्यौहारों में है? क्या यह ब्राह्मणों के चरणों में गिर रही है? क्या यह मन्दिर बना रही है? नहीं, यह हमारे अच्छे व्यवहार में निहित है। हमें बुद्धिमान लोगों की तरह व्यवहार करना चाहिए। प्रार्थना का यही सार है।
समाज
एक समय था, जब हमें तमिल कहा जाता था। पर आज तमिल का प्रयोग तमिल भाषा के लिए किया जाता है। अत: आर्य संस्कृति और आर्य सभ्यता के लोग भी इसलिए अपने आप को तमिल कहते हैं, क्योंकि वे तमिल बोलते हैं। इतना ही नहीं, वे हम पर आर्य सभ्यता को भी थोपना चाहते हैं। मैं कहता हूं कि आज हमें उनके साथ सहयोग करने के कारण ही शूद्र कहा जाता है।
हम रक्त के बारे में चिंतित नहीं हैं। हम संस्कृति और सभ्यता के बारे में चिंतित हैं। हम भेदभाव रहित समाज चाहते हैं। हम समाज में किसी के भी साथ प्रचलित भेदभाव के कारण अलगाव नहीं चाहते हैं।
हिन्दू धर्म और जाति-व्यवस्था नौकर और मालिक का सिद्धांत स्थापित करती है। अगर भगवान हमारे पतन का मूल कारण है, तो भगवान को नष्ट कर दो। अगर यह काम मनु धर्म, गीता या कोई अन्य पुराण कर रहा है, तो उन्हें भी जलाकर राख कर दोI अगर यह काम मन्दिर, कुंड या पर्व करता है, तो उनका भी बहिष्कार करो। अंतत: यह हमारी राजनीति है, तो इसे आगे आगे बढ़कर खुलेआम घोषित करो।
मनुष्य मनुष्य बराबर है। कोई शोषण नहीं होना चाहिए।हर एक को दूसरे की मदद करनी चाहिए। किसी को भी किसी का नुक्सान नहीं करना चाहिए। किसी को भी कोई कष्ट या शिकायत नहीं होनी चाहिए। हर किसी को राष्ट्रीय भावना के साथ जीना चाहिए और दूसरे को भी जीने देना चाहिए।
स्वाभिमान आन्दोलन का आदर्श क्या है? इस आन्दोलन का मकसद उन संगठनों का पता लगाना है, जो हमारी प्रगति में बाधक बने हुए हैं। यह उन ताकतों का मुकाबला करेगा, जो समाजवाद के खिलाफ काम करते हैं। यह समस्त धार्मिक प्रतिक्रियावादी ताकतों का विरोध करेगा। यह उन लोगों का विरोध करता है, जो कानून-व्यवस्था भंग करते हैं। स्वाभिमान आन्दोलन शान्ति और प्रगति के लिए काम करता है। यह प्रतिक्रियावादियों को कुचल देगा।
एक समाजवादी समाज को तैयार करने के लिए और आम आदमी तथा दलित वर्गों का हित करने के लिए स्वाभिमान आंदोलन शुरू किया गया था। पर समाज के सभी वर्गों में शांति और संतोष स्थापित करना भी आज आंदोलन की एक और ज़िम्मेदारी है।
यदि लोग और देश समृद्ध हैं, तो शिक्षा, विज्ञान, प्रौद्योगिकी और अनुशासन में भारी सुधार किया जाना चाहिए
द्रविड़ियन आन्दोलन ब्राह्मणवाद के खात्मे तक सक्रिय और जिन्दा रहेगा। तब तक हमारे दुश्मनों या सरकार द्वारा हमारे साथ कुछ भी अत्याचार, दमन, साजिश और विश्वासघात किया जा सकता है, पर हमें विश्वास है कि अंत में सफलता निश्चित रूप से हमारी होगी।
मुझे ब्राह्मण प्रेस द्वारा ब्राह्मण-विरोधी के रूप में चित्रित किया गया है। किन्तु मैं व्यक्तिगत रूप से किसी भी ब्राह्मण का दुश्मन नहीं हूँ। एकमात्र तथ्य यह है कि मैं ब्राहमणवाद का धुर विरोधी हूँ। मैंने कभी नहीं कहा कि ब्राह्मणों को खत्म किया जाना चाहिए। मैं केवल यह कहता हूँ कि ब्राह्मणवाद को खत्म किया जाना चाहिए। ऐसा लगता है कि कोई ब्राह्मण स्पष्ट रूप से मेरी बात समझ नहीं पाता है।
जातियां नहीं होनी चाहिए। जन्म के कारण स्वयं को उच्च या निम्न नहीं बुलाया जाना चाहिए। यही वह चीज है, जो हम चाहते हैं। अगर हम यह कहते हैं, तो यह गलत कैसे है?
कांग्रेस पार्टी से अकेले ब्राह्मण और धनी लोग ही लाभ उठा रहे हैं।यह आम आदमी, गरीब आदमी और श्रमिक वर्गों के लिए अच्छा काम नहीं करेगी। यह बात मैं काफी लम्बे समय से कह रहा था। आप लोगों ने मेरी बातों पर विश्वास नहीं किया। पर अब आप लोग कांग्रेस शासन में चीजों को देखने के बाद, सच्चाई को महसूस कर रहे हैं।
जब मैं तमिलनाडू कांग्रेस पार्टी का अध्यक्ष था, तो मैंने 1925 के सम्मेलन में एक प्रस्ताव प्रस्तुत किया था। उस प्रस्ताव में मैंने जातिविहीन समाज के निर्माण का समर्थन किया था। मेरे मित्र राजगोपालाचारी ने अस्वीकृत कर दिया थाI मैंने यह भी अनुरोध किया था कि कांग्रेस के विभिन्न पक्षों और क्षेत्रों में सांप्रदायिक प्रतिनिधित्व का पालन किया जाना चाहिए। पर यह प्रस्ताव भी विषय समिति में थिरु वि. का. (एक सम्मानित तमिल विद्वान कल्यानासुन्दरानर) के द्वारा अस्वीकृत कर दिया गया थाI तब मुझे अपने प्रस्ताव के समर्थन में 30 प्रतिनिधियों के हस्ताक्षर प्राप्त करने के लिए कहा गया था। श्री एस. रामानाथन ने 50 प्रतिनिधियों से हस्ताक्षर प्राप्त कर लिए। तब सर्वश्री सी. राजगोपालाचारी (राजाजी), श्रीनिवास आयंगर, सत्यमूर्ति और अन्य लोगों ने अपना प्रतिरोध दर्ज करायाI उन्हें डर था कि अगर मेरा प्रस्ताव स्वीकार कर लिया गया, तो कांग्रेस खत्म हो जाएगीI बाद में यह प्रस्ताव थिरु वि. का. और डा. पी. वरदाराजुलू के द्वारा रोक दिया गयाI ब्राह्मण बहुत खुश हुएI इतना ही नहीं, उन्होंने मुझे सम्मेलन में बोलने की इजाजत भी नहीं दी, यह केवल उस दिन हुआ, जब मैंने कांग्रेस पार्टी में प्रमुख ताकतों से लड़ने की अपील की थी। मैंने सांप्रदायिक प्रतिनिधित्व लागू करने के लिए संघर्ष करने के लिए संकल्प किया। मैंने सम्मेलन में अपना दृढ़ निश्चय घोषित किया और मैं कांग्रेस सत्र से बाहर चला गया। उसी दिन से मैं कांग्रेस पार्टी की चाल, षड्यंत्र और धोखाधड़ी की गतिविधियों का खुलासा कर रहा हूं।
जिसे भाषण और अभिव्यक्ति की स्वतंत्रता कहा जाता है, वह चीज बहुत पहले ही गायब हो गई। जो लोग सरकार के खिलाफ वैध आरोप लगाते हैं, उन्हें गिरफ्तार किया जा रहा है। उन पर स्वतंत्रता के दुश्मनों के रूप में झूठा आरोप लगाया जाता है।
उन व्यक्तियों के विवरण जानिए, जिन्होंने पहले ही धन और लाभ अर्जित कर लिए हैं। इस बुराई को रोकने के लिए साधन क्या तैयार किये। क्या हमें किसी व्यक्ति को इस तरह धन इकट्ठा करने की अनुमति देनी चाहिए?
कांग्रेस और अंग्रेजों के बीच हुए समझौते के कारण यह सरकार अस्तित्व में आई है। यह वह स्वतंत्रता नहीं है, जो सभी भारतीयों को दी गई है। इस स्वतंत्रता से गैर-कांग्रेसी लोगों को कोई लाभ नहीं हुआ है। वे कहीं भी प्रतिनिधित्त्व नहीं करते हैं। जातिवाद की बुराई भी गायब नहीं हुई है।
आर्यों ने द्रविड़ों को दीपावली, राम का जन्मदिन, कृष्ण का जन्मदिन त्यौहार मनाने के लिए बनाए। इसी तरह उत्तर भारतीयों ने स्वतंत्रता दिवस मनाने के लिए 15 अगस्त बनाया। इस सब के सिवा कोई अन्य लाभ या प्रशंसनीय कार्य नहीं है।
प्रत्येक व्यक्ति को स्वतंत्र रूप से अपनी राय व्यक्त करने का अधिकार है। यह उसका अभिव्यक्ति के अपने अधिकार के प्रयोग करने का अधिकार है। इस अधिकार को अस्वीकार करना अन्यायपूर्ण है। बोलने की आजादी लोकतंत्र का आधार है।
श्रमिक
अमीर लोग जो मजदूरों का शोषण करते हैं और अपनी संपत्ति की रक्षा करने की कोशिश करते हैं और जो लोग एक खुशहाल जीवन का आनंद लेना चाहते हैं और जो लोग अधिक धन के लिए भगवान से याचना करते हैं और जो मृत्यु के बाद भी नाम और प्रसिद्धि चाहते हैं और जो अपनी संपत्ति अपने बेटों और पोतों के लिए छोड़ना चाहते हैं, वे हमेशा शाश्वत चिंता में रहते हैं। किन्तु एक कठोर श्रम करने वाले श्रमिक के साथ ऐसा नहीं है।
विश्व में श्रम समस्या हमेशा लोगों की समस्या है। यह श्रमिक ही है, जो विश्व में सब कुछ बनाता है। लेकिन यह श्रमिक ही चिंताओं, कठिनाइयों और दुःखों से गुजरता है।
ral) एक दुर्लभ किताब है जो जाति, धर्म, भगवान और अंधविश्वास से ऊपर है। यह उच्च गुणों और प्रेम की प्रतीक है।
तिरुवल्लुवार का कुरल अकेला ग्रन्थ है, जो हमारे देश के लोगों को शिक्षित करने के लिए पर्याप्त है।
बुद्धिवाद
ज्ञान का आधार सोच है। सोच का आधार तर्कवाद है।
कोई भी अन्य जीवित प्राणी अपने ही वर्ग को नुकसान नहीं पहुंचाता है। कोई भी अन्य जीवित प्राणी अपने ही वर्ग को निम्न स्तर का नहीं बनाता है। कोई भी अन्य जीवित प्राणी अपने ही वर्ग का शोषण नहीं करता है। लेकिन मनुष्य, जो एक बुद्धिमान जीवित प्राणी कहा जाता है, इन सभी बुराइयों को करता है।
भेदभाव, घृणा, शत्रुता, ऊँच-नीच, गरीबी, दुराचरण इत्यादि, जो अब समाज में प्रचलित हैं, वह ज्ञान और तर्कवाद की कमी के कारण हैं। वे भगवान या समय की क्रूरता के कारण नहीं हैं।
विदेशी ग्रहों को संदेश भेज रहे हैं। हम ब्राह्मणों के माध्यम से हमारे मृत पूर्व पिता को चावल और अनाज भेज रहे हैं। क्या यह बुद्धिमानी का काम है?
मैं ब्राह्मणों के लिए एक शब्द कहना चाहता हूं, ‘भगवान, धर्म, शास्त्रों के नाम पर आपने हमें धोखा दिया है। हम शासक लोग थे। अब धोखा देने के इस जीवन को खत्म करो। तर्कवाद और मानवता के लिए जगह दो।’
मैंने 17 साल की उम्र में ही इन देवताओं और ब्राह्मणों का विरोध किया था। तब से आज तक, पिछले 53 सालों से मैं तर्कवाद का उपदेश दे रहा हूँI क्या मैं इसके लिए मारा गया हूँ? क्या मैं अपमानित किया गया हूँ? बिल्कुल नहीं। तो, आप डरते क्यों हैं? ज्ञान की तलाश करो।
सुधार
आम आदमी सोचता है कि शादी काम करने के लिए किसी की नियुक्ति करने की तरह है। पति भी ऐसा ही सोचता है! पति का परिवार भी ऐसा ही सोचता है। हर कोई सोचता है कि एक लड़की काम करने के लिए परिवार में आ रही है। लड़की का परिवार भी लड़की को घर का काम करने के लिए प्रशिक्षित करता है।
शादी का मतलब क्या है? खुशी के साथ प्राकृतिक जीवन का आनंद लेने के लिए एक पुरुष और एक स्त्री परस्पर एक होते हैं। कड़ी मेहनत के बाद उससे सन्तोष मिलता है। ज्यादातर लोगों को यह एहसास नहीं होता कि विवाहित जीवन के साझा सुख विवाह हैं।
विवाह के परिणाम युगल की इच्छाओं के कारण होने चाहिए। यह उन हृदयों की बुनाई है, जो शादी का कारण बनते हैं।
बाल विवाह खत्म होने चाहिए। अगर तलाक का अधिकार है, तो विधवाओं के पुनर्विवाह के लिए भी अधिकार हो और यदि महिलाओं को अब कुछ अधिकार दिए गए हैं, तो हम देश में वेश्यावृत्ति को नहीं देखेंगे। यह धीरे-धीरे गायब हो जाएगी।
एक पुरुष को आनंद के लिए, जो वह चाहता है, भटकने का अधिकार है। उसे कितनी ही लड़कियों से शादी करने का अधिकार है। इस प्रवृत्ति ने स्त्रियों को वेश्यावृत्ति की ओर अग्रसर किया है।
कोई भी राजनेता और अर्थशास्त्री समाज-सुधार की उन वास्तविक योजनाओं को स्वीकार करने को तैयार नहीं है, जिनकी समाज को जरूरत है।
मुझ पर दुनिया को बर्बाद करने का आरोप लगाया जाता है। दुनिया को बर्बाद करके मैं क्या हासिल करने जा रहा हूँ? मुझे समझ में नहीं आता कि ब्राह्मण भक्त वास्तव में क्या महसूस करते हैं। क्या कोई दुनिया को बर्बाद करने के लिए प्रचार करेगा? मुझे उम्मीद है कि वे जल्द ही इस पर तर्कसंगत विचार करेंगे।
यह पता लगाना बुद्धिमान लोगों का कर्तव्य है कि खादी आन्दोलन से देश को कोई लाभ हुआ है या नहीं? आज के आधुनिक औद्योगिक और राजनीतिक दौर में यह केवल एक अनाचारवाद है।
गरीबी का मूल कारण समाज में पूंजीपतियों का अस्तित्व है। यदि समाज में पूंजीपति लोग नहीं रहेंगे, तो गरीबी नहीं होगी।
जब तक हम शासक वर्गों को चाहते रहेंगे, यहां चिंताएं और चिंतित लोग बने रहेंगे। इसी वजह से देश में गरीबी और महामारी हमेशा बनी हुई है।
यदि हम मंदिरों की संपत्ति और मंदिरों में अर्जित आय को नए उद्योग शुरू करने के लिए खर्च कर दें, तो न कोई भिखारी, न कोई अशिक्षित और न कोई निम्न स्तर वाला व्यक्ति होगा। एक समाजवादी समाज होगा, जिसमें सब समान होंगे।
जब से ब्राह्मण यहां आए (तमिलनाडु), शायद ही कभी हम किसी से पूछते हैं कि ब्राह्मण क्यों? शूद्र क्यों? यहां तक कि जिन लोगों ने पूछा था, उन्हें शांत कर दिया गया। वल्लुवार और कपिलर ने भी स्पष्ट रूप से कहा कि जन्म से कोई उच्च और निम्न जाति नहीं है। ब्राह्मण उनके विचारों का विरोध नहीं कर सके। उन्होंने बस उनके विचारों का प्रचार नहीं किया।
मूर्तियों तथा वेदों को, जो अज्ञानता पैदा करते हैं, और उपनिषद, मनुस्मृति, बाराथम जैसे लोगों को मूर्ख बनाने वाले ग्रन्थों को हमारी तमिलनाडु की सीमाओं से बाहर निकाल दिया जायेगा।
मैंने ब्राह्मणों को तुच्छ मानने के लिए कुछ भी नहीं बोला है, सिर्फ इसलिए कि वे ब्राह्मणों के रूप में पैदा हुए हैं।
कांग्रेस पार्टी का नेता ब्राह्मण है। सोशलिस्टों का नेता ब्राह्मण है। कम्युनिस्टों का नेता ब्राह्मण है। हिन्दू महासभा का नेता ब्राह्मण है। आरएसएस का नेता ब्राह्मण है। ट्रेड यूनियन का नेता ब्राह्मण है। भारत का राष्ट्रपति ब्राह्मण है। वे सभी दिलों के दिल में हैं।
(उपरोक्त चयनित उद्धरण कलेक्टेड वर्क्स ऑफ पेरियार ई. वी. आर., संयोजन : डॉ. के. वीरामणि, प्रकाशक : दी पेरियार सेल्फ-रेसपेक्ट प्रोपगंडा इन्स्टीच्यूशन, पेरियार थाइडल, 50, ई. वी. के. संपथ सलाय, वेपरी, चेन्नई – 600007 के प्रथम संस्करण, 1981 के पृष्ठ संख्या 471 से लेकर 518 से लिए गए हैं।)
(अनुवाद : कँवल भारती, कॉपी संपादन : एफपी डेस्क)
Quotes of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy
‘I, E.V. Ramaswamy, have taken upon myself the task of reforming Dravidian Society so that it shall be comparable to other societies of the world, in esteem and enlightenment, and I am solely devoted to that service.
I express, plainly and openly, thoughts which occur to me, and which strike me as right. This may embarrass a few; to some this may be distasteful; and a few others may even be irritated; however, all that I utter are proven truths and not lies.
It is my considered opinion that kings are redundant in the present-day world, and that they are demeaning to the self-respect of the people.
I am also one who says that besides kings, rich men, landed aristocracy, business, and Capitalists are groups that should be eliminated, as they are parasites on men.
Not that all the people of the world should act according to my wish, but that come what may, surely in polities and in public life, humane justice alone, and not justice as prescribed by any epoch or religion should be imposed: such is my desire.
I shall never be a party to doing anything by instigating others from behind. Even if I am thus inclined by any chance, I have not the capacity to do so. To act from behind, certain means and machinery are required, because I lack these, I have had not only to remain a servant of society throughout my life, but also to give expression to my views candidly, and to censure, where necessary, without fear or favour.
As far as I am concerned, I am never a party man. I have always been a man of principles.
In my public life, after I reached my years of discretion, I always volunteered to support the government of Non-Brahmins. In this, I did not see any dignity or indignity.
I had my strong conviction even from 1925 that superstition must be eradicated and that people should be turned into rationalists.
Till the end of my life, I shall never canvass for a vote. I shall not even expect a word of praise from any quarter.
I am one who has been ostracized by politics and religion. I have suffered pain and privation; sacrificed my self-esteem; and rejected a place in the ministry.
Indeed, it was my family and I who volunteered for the first time in India to court imprisonment for the sake of the freedom we cherish so dearly today.
I have supported whichever political party has done well to the society to which I belong, and opposed those that have done ill. I have not supported any party merely it is in power.
I serve only because I wish that our people and society should progress on par with other lands. In the best interest of society, therefore, I support those that are capable of doing well to our people, and those administrators who work for our social betterment.
I am under no necessity to permanently support anyone for gaining selfish ends. I see no wrong at all in supporting that person who does well to us, who strives for the removal of our social degradation even if he is a foreigner.
I have no (political) heirs. My principles and ideas are my heirs. My principles and ideas are my heirs. Heirs should evolve on their own.
Even if I were to live in a place where I would have to experience much worse sufferings than those of a hellish life, I would consider it a pleasanter life than this mean, caste-ridden existence, if only I were respected as a man there.
Gandhiji said: ‘If the untouchables are prevented from drawing water from a well, let separate wells be dug for them; if they are not allowed into the temple, let separate temples be built for them ‘. I said then: ‘if no amends are made for the abject humiliation that they cannot draw water from a well, let them then die of thirst. That they must be freed from this degradation is more important than the provision of water to save their lives.’
For how long are we still to remain ‘sudras’ and allow our progeny also to be ‘sudras’, in this world? Should we not do something to attain human dignity, devoid of our ills, at least in this generation, during this age of science, of scientific freedom? Is there a nobler deed than this for us? It is for this reason that I have dedicated the whole of my life for this cause: and not out of any perversity or spite.
Some say that eradication of caste is communalism, and hatred for the high-castes. Are we communalist? Have we ever harmed a single Brahmin, or set fire to a Brahmin locality? An appeal for the abolition of caste is not to be considered class-hatred.
The oppressed and backward people- toilers, coolies, poor men- who are treated like animals, are an eye-sore to me. This sorry sight can be removed only by their being made equal among men.
Though I am more than sixty years of age, my feelings are not as old, only because of my contact with the young. To do nothing is something my mind is never inclined to. Rest and boredom are suicide to me.
People all over the world should unite. They should have an existence that does no harm to other beings. Means must be found for a peaceful life, free from envy, care, deceit, hatred and sorrow. This is my cherished wish.
I am aware that my capacity is limited. But my love for humanity is boundless. That is why I am impelled to action and utterance beyond my position and capacity.
You conduct yourselves according to what you deem proper, after an inquiry aided by reason, this is what I call reform.
Do not think I am selfless. I am a very avaricious person. My desire and selfishness are boundless; I consider the welfare of the Dravidian society as my own welfare, and I toil solely for that ‘Selfishness ‘
Justice, and nothing else, is my justification.
Are my ideas admired or rejected?
Are they considered lofty or low? I do not bother. My life’s aim is that my views, however bitter they are to others, should only express truth.
From my tenth year onwards, (as far as I can remember), I have been an atheist. I have no faith in caste or rituals. In matters of public conduct, I am aware that others should not be pained or troubled; apart from this, I have little regard for proper conduct. Even though I am covetous of money and materials, I have earned them only through my resourcefulness and not by pecuniary dishonesty, or by betrayal of trust. I have never attempted to cheat anyone, even in the smallest matter. Even though I may have told lies in business deals, I have not told lies in public life, or consciously expressed opposing views. Why should a person like me carry enmity or ill-will to a particular community? I am one who ardently wishes to bring our land and society on a par with the character and culture of England. I consider, rightly or wrongly, that the Brahmin community is a stumbling block to this.
Should not the Brahimins then demonstrate that such is not the case? In fact, if only I had the support of the Brahmins, I would have found it possible to a large extent to bring about the advancement of our country.
I am one who lives just to see that the whole world is suffused with atheistic rationality.
My only goal is the welfare of the people.
I am no passionate seeker after power. Only, I have a fierce social consciousness. For the sake of the welfare of society, I am prepared in the days to come to give up anything.
I devote myself to service only for the reason that our people should gain in knowledge and live on a par with the peoples of the world.
You Decide for Yourselves
Decide for yourselves as to what you should think of those who say there is God, that He is the preserver of Justice and that He is the Protector of All, even after seeing that the practice of Unsociability, in the form of man being banned from human sight and contact, from walking in the street, from entering the temples and from drawing water from a tank, is rampant in a land and yet that land is spared from being razed by an earthquake, burnt by the fiery lava of a volcano, engulfed in a deluge from the occan, submerged in the chasm of the earth, or fragmented by a thunder-storm.
On Rationalism
Why is it that a foreigner is required to find out the height of the Himalayas, while we claim to have discovered the Seven Worlds above and the seven more below; why is it that when we claim to have the ability to expound Lord Nataraja’s Cosmic Dance, the construction of this simple loudspeaker in front of us is an enigma; we should really contemplate on these aspects. You should come forward to use reason to enlarge your general Knowledge.
Man is considered superior to other beings in this world, because he has limitless capacity for knowledge. People in other lands have advanced greatly, utilizing this knowledge. But our countrymen owing to lack of this knowledge are abjectly deteriorating. Stating that ours is a land of enlightenment, we build tanks and temples; in other lands, men fly in space and amaze the whole world.
In other lands, knowledge alone is respected and trusted and held as the basis of everything, but in this country, men believe only in rituals and ceremonies, in God, in religion and such other rubbish.
Knowledge, born of rationalisation, is real knowledge. Can mere bookish lore become knowledge? Can one become a genius through learning by rote? Why is it that educated persons endowed with the highest mental gifts- degree holders in general and science degree holders in particular- believe that a mere stone is a God and prostrate before it? Why do great savants and specialists in science anoint themselves with turbid water in order to expiate their sins? Are there any connections between the science they have learnt and the anointing mixture consisting of cow’s dung and urine?
The aeroplane is referred to in Ramayana and Mahabharata, but it flies by the power of magic. The aeroplane is explained in English literature, but it flies by mechanical power. What do we need now? Mechanical or magical energy?
Let us bring up two children of the same parents– one in England and the other, in our country. He who is reared in England will look at everything from a scientific point of view, and the other will consider everything from a religious point of view.
The reason for the present chaos and deterioration in our country is that we have been hindered from enquiry and cogitation and repressed from the use of rationality.
In whatever manner you surmise God, and with whatever good intentions you found a religion, the results are all the same. A reformist God and a rational religion cannot achieve anything more than a superstitious God and a blind religion.
Just as machines, invented for the social good of man, to give him added advantage and to save him labor and time, are under the control of the capitalists to keep the worker and the laborer in hunger- so reason that is to serve for the excellence, satisfaction and comfort of man has been enslaved by a few, to cause people pain, poverty and anxiety.
Activities that are not consonant with rational understanding, intellectual enquiry and human needs should not be carried on in the name of customs, traditions, God, religion, caste and class, or in any other name.
Man possesses reason. It is given to him for enquiry, not for blind animalism. It is by abusing reason that man has brought himself into a lot of troubles. He has created God, as an antidote to his troubles.
Uncertainties in life, dissatisfaction owing to wants and competition among individuals, if these exist in a country, then it is evident that her people do not have full powers of reason. In a country where people live freely and in contentment, it is clear that reason rules there
Man believes that he must gather wealth for his children who have the gift of reason, even by cheating his own society. But animals and birds do not save anything for their offspring who do not have the gift of reason; in fact they bite, peck and chase them away when the time comes for them to be on their own. They do not care for them or even remember them afterwards.
On Self-Respect
We are fit to think of ‘Self-respect’ only when the notion of superior and inferior caste is banished from our land.
Religion, politics, economics and social life in India are based only on class distinctions. That is why some live high and many are constrained to live low in society. People have also lost their sense of self-respect.
If any one wishes to serve society, on the basis of humanism, what he should do first is to make people think and conduct themselves rationally.
Because man has been compelled to have faith and trust in a mysterious God, he is now made to believe all the lies about Him.
Man does not grow by merely accepting whatever others have said. However, do listen to others, but later think with the help of your reason. Accept and try to follow what appears right to you.
The aim of a genuine self-respect movement is to change whatever appears to be adverse to man’s feelings of self-respect.
That which enslaves you to customs of the world to orthodoxy, to the rigours of religion, contrary to your rationality and awareness of truths of experience, is what I shall describe as antagonistic to self-respect.
This all-important awareness of self-respect, based on feelings of dignity and indignity, may be deemed man’s birth-right, as the word ‘man’ is itself a word based on dignity. Therefore, he who is called ‘man ‘ embodies dignity in himself, and only through his right to this dignity, reveals his human qualities. That is why ‘self-esteem is his birth-right’.
Man must remove by himself his feelings of inferiority, the feeling that he is lesser born than other beings, and attain self-confidence and self-respect.
On Social Reform
Books that advocate communal distinctions and complexes of superiority and inferiority should be prohibited from being read. If read, they should be confiscated.
Social reform cannot stand apart from politics, nor can politics stand apart from social reform. Politics exists only for human society. Every political active is only for social good. Constitutional law and defense are made only for society and in accordance with social good.
Offering alms and receiving alms should be deemed illegal, if human society should prosper without hindrance. Only then will man be able to live in self-respect.
The evils of religion, communalism, tradition and orthodoxy can never be eradicated from our land and society, unless the government creates what may be called a ‘Department for Defeating Superstitious Beliefs’ and through it facilitates propaganda against these evils in schools and public places and among students and the people.
The world today has no place for the meek, the poor, the innocent and the honest. Are we to wait for an opportune time to mend this condition?
It is important that communal distinctions, in the name of temples, are eradicated and that all the properties held in the name of temples are utilized for the welfare of the people.
History bears out that the threat of power has never stopped any reform. Social changes will always occur. People also will undergo social change.
Tentative and superficial changes here and there in the name of social reform will not bear fruit. The present social set-up should be destroyed at its very base, and a new social order, free from caste and class be created.
Though we have progressed and changed in the field of politics, we are still backward in the social field. This condition should change.
Ours is an obstinate society. Even after more than three-fourths of the people of the world have progressed, our society is still in a backward and barbaric stage, adamantly following customs of yore, because they have been adopted for a long time by its forebears.
Our society consists of many castes, religions and sects. The human and social distinctions that exist in our country should be put an end to. Without considering that someone else will bring about this change, each one of us should do something for our society.
Whomsoever I love or hate, my principle is the same. That is, the educated, the rich and the administrators should not suck the blood of the poor.
Those that pretend to serve the cause of social good for their selfish ends, without caring even a little for our society, are enemies of the Tamils, even if they are themselves Tamils.
In the village where you reside, some fifty people are affected by water-borne diseases and you discover that the well in the village contains the carrier-germs. Pumping out the water completely should clean the well. If the springs in the well are infected, then they should also be closed and a new well dug. If one insists on drinking the same infected water, then there is no escape for him from that disease. I am engaged in the task of stopping those springs in the well.
No individual who came forward to achieve social reform on the basis of religion has ever succeeded even to a small extent.
If the education, the rich and the administrators are opposed to the welfare of the toiling people and to their enjoying all the fruits of their labor, then they are only fit to disappear from the face of the earth.
Without an upheaval in our attitude to religion, caste, customs, traditions, orthodoxies, God, and commandments, which are the bases of social tyranny, no political reform will be of any use to the ordinary folk.
Is it necessary that there should be divisions of high (Brahmins) and low (Panchamas) castes in society? If it is said that God is responsible for this, should those of the lowly castes (panchamas and Sudras) worship Him?
Science
If man objects to the use of machines, then it is evident, he is against the expansion of knowledge.
Look at the enormous change in our life today. Our comforts in daily life have vastly improved. Formerly, we had only the bullock cart. Now we have such modern comforts as the locomotive, the motor car, and aero plane. We struck flints to make a fire, but now, the pressing of a button makes a thousand electric lights burn. Our people’s understanding, despite so much change in life, remains just as it was a thousand years ago!
Science exhibitions feature many modern flowerings of the imagination. Several new inventions, conductive to life’s comforts, would be displayed there. Sensitive instruments, obtained from many countries, would find a place at the exhibition. He, who enters at one end of the exhibition and comes out at the other, would have increased his knowledge in all fields. He sees and enjoys the world’s scientific advancement and attains clarity of understanding. He gets an opportunity to be aware of the many intricacies of research. He has the pleasure of seeing a number of wonderful equipments. In fine, within a few hours, he derives from that exhibition a maturity of knowledge that he would have to spend years at a University to acquire.
He who first created fire with the help of flints was the ‘Edison’ of those days. Thereafter, we advanced step by step and we now have fire through electricity. Thus, change is natural and inevitable, and no one can stop it.
On The Tirukural
People praise the Tirukural but in practice they cherish the Gita which is directly opposed to it!
Valluvar’s Kural is impelled by ideas that are in accordance with practical knowledge, and in tune with Nature and Science.
Those who study the Kural deeply will certainly attain a consciousness of self-respect. Knowledge of politics, knowledge of society and knowledge of economics are all embedded in it.
The Tirukural is a work that is so written as to teach society noble traits and proper conduct by pointing to a moral path and fostering ethical principles. That is why peoples of all religion, all over, adore the Kural as their work or as one that agrees with the principles of their religion.
It is my firm conviction that the kural was especially created to demonstrate that the arts, culture, ethics and conduct of the Tamils were vastly different from and antithetical to those of the Aryans.
Only because we regard Valluvar as a man, a great man, who strove for the removal of the ills of the people so that human qualities could be nurtured, we accept his kural. We do not accept it as divine utterance or inspired Apocalypse.
It is better to read ten kural for knowledge, than a hundred songs of kamba Ramayana or two hundred songs of periapurana, or kandapurana.
If any one asks you what your religion is, say that you belong to the ‘Valluvar Religion’ and if you are asked what your moral code is, say that it is the kural. The kural is so irrefutable that no conservative or crafty person will dare to oppose you.
The Tirukural will pave a lofty way for the eradication of superstition and the enlargement of knowledge. The thoughts of the kural should be spread throughout the country. It should be brought about that education means the learning of the kural and knowledge means, the awareness of the kural.
The author of the kural did not accept God, Heaven and Hell, You could find only Virtue, wealth and Love in the Kural; ‘Salvation’ and ‘Final Bliss’ are not alluded to by the author.
In the Kural, there is a chapter on invocation to God, but there is no place in it for principles of idol worship.
On Socialism-Communism
What should be done, if everyone is to have enough food?
If none consumes more than what is needed, then, there will be enough food for all.
All factories and their management should be Governmental, like the administration of the posts, the Telegraphs, the Railways and the public works. Not a single capitalist should exist in the country. No single individual should be our master.
The principle of communism should come into force in the present day world if people are to live in peace and contentment, free from worries and difficulties and from being deceived by each other. In this there is no place for luck. But our efforts should not bring about the least of personal suffering and desolation to the common folk.
Though my aim is to demand economic equality, I believe that coveting other people’s properties is an act that is worse than economic inequality. Therefore, it is the Government that should divide equitably by Law.
A single person should not have a vast, accumulated possession of land. A time will come when land will be distributed equally to all. If we cannot bring about the time soon, we should remain as path-finders in this.
If a condition free from tensions and discriminations is to be established, a pattern of socialism for all alike should be created. To bring this about, the right to property should be abolished and property should be held in common.
Capitalism should be destroyed at the roots, if the cares and worries of the workers are to be put an end to.
The final aims of communism is to usher in a world order in which the whole world is one family; al its peoples are kith and kin; and all the world’s wealth, its joys, comforts and pleasures belong to that family whose members have an equal share in the property.
The aim of offering succour to the poor is only to help to eradicate poverty from society, and not to create sluggards, by the offer of alms to one here, and another there.
Why were women prevented from receiving education?
It was to prevent their emancipation and to make them slaves under the pretext that they did not have intelligence and ability.
The way man treats women is much worse than the way landlords treat servants and the high-caste treat the low-caste.
These treat them so demeaningly only in situations mutually affecting them; but men treat women cruelly and as slaves, from their birth till death.
Women in India experience much worse suffering, humiliation and slavery in all spheres than even the untouchables.
Because we do not realize that the subjugation of women leads to social ruin, that society which should grow, goes on declining day by day, in spite of its capacity for reason.
Each woman should learn an appropriate profession for herself, so that she is able to earn. If she is able to eke out a living at least for herself, no husband will treat her as a slave.
A woman is for the male, a cook for himself; a maid for his house; a breeding farm for his family and a beautifully decorated doll to satisfy his aesthetic sense. Do enquire whether they have been used for any other purpose.
The slavery of women is only because of men. The belief of men that God created man with superior powers and woman to slave for him and woman’s traditional acceptance of it as truth are alone responsible for the growth of women’s slavery.
The boy and the girl are matched before marriage, not on a consideration of compatibility in appearance, mutual affection, proper understanding and similar education, but on whether the girl will be obedient and be a good slave to the boy, much in the same manner as we do when we buy cattle.
The implication of the sacred knot is that from the time it is tied, the boy accepts the girl as his slave, and she also agrees to be a slave to him. Thus, the husband can treat his wife in whatever manner he likes, and none has the right to question him, nor is there punishment for him if he misbehaves.The women of today, despite their education, wealth, sophisticated knowledge, dignified relatives and a comfortable life, behave in a very conventional and backward manner, even worse than rustic girls and this causes us pain. How can there be human dignity in the children that are born to these women and brought up by them?
Our women should change from considering themselves as slaves by birth.
Women! Be brave! If you change, it is easy for your husbands and other men to change. Men throw the blame on you, saying that you are backward. Do not subject yourselves to that accusation. In future, instead of your being described, ‘she is so-and-so’s wife’, your husband must be described, ‘so-and-so is the husband of this lady’!
Women who are pampered by their husbands and who succumb to the craze for jewellery and apparel and to the appeal of feminine beauty and fashions, and those that are rich and proud, will be satisfied with their slavish existence, and they will not serve to reform the world .
Despite there being a Goddess of Learning and a Goddess of Wealth in Hindu religion, why do they not grant women their education and right to property?
Among the many reasons for the subjugation of women, the most important one is that they lack the right to property.
The tyranny of the male is the only reason for the absence of a separate world in our languages for describing the ‘Chastity’ of men.
The cruelty perpetuated in the name of chastity that a wife should put up with even the brutal act of the husband should be abolished.
If a woman can not have the right to property and the liberty to love whomsoever she chooses, what is she but a rubber-doll for the selfish use of man?
To insist that chastity is only for women and should not be insisted upon for men, is a philosophy based on individual ownership; the view that women is the property of the male determines the current status of a wife.
If our literature has all been written for the sake of justice and disciplined conduct, then, should not all the conditions imposed on women be applied to men too?
In this world, qualities like freedom and courage have been claimed solely as ‘masculine’. Men have concluded that these characterized the ‘superiority of the male’.
As long as male superiority survives in the world, the subjugation of women will continue. Until women put an end to the principle of male domination, it is certain that they will have no freedom.
To give man freedom of sexual selection, and to permit him to take as many wives as he likes, gives rise to promiscuity.
Others advocate birth-control, with a view to preserving the health of women and conserving family property; but we advocate it for the liberation of women.
If a man has the right to claim a woman, then women also should have the right to claim a man. If conditions are imposed for the worship of man by woman, let there be conditions imposed for the worship of woman by man.
Men’s ‘endeavour’ for the emancipation of women only perpetuates woman’s slavery and hampers their emancipation. The pretence of men that they respect women and that they strive for their freedom is only a ruse to deceive women. Have you ever seen anywhere a jackal freeing the hen and the lamp, or the cat freeing the rats, or the capitalists freeing the workers?
Do not train women for doing such slavish work as attending to household chores; decorating the floors; making cow-dung pats, washing utensils; group dancing ( Kummi ) and dancing with batons (Kolattam).
On Politics
If there is no ‘high’ or ‘low’ by birth or by riches, there will also be no ‘high’ or ‘low’ among the rulers and the ruled. This is the apprehension of kings.
Members of the Assembly should consider the Government as a structure for social good, and as a true spokesman and representative of the people, and not as a means for power, or for occupying positions of honour.
The prevalent desire for the existence of a political administration to look after the good of the people is because the rich should not tyrannize over the poor, the bad should not disturb the good or the meek, and the hardy chieftains should not rob the common folk.
For a proper conduct of the administration, the administrators themselves should be honest. There should be a rule that those who break law and order, should be declared unfit for administration and be disqualified from contesting elections.
Only those who want to earn wealth by hook or crook become dignitaries, and only those who want to destroy socialism by any means are in the limelight. Such people should be prevented by law from finding a place in politics and in democratic rule and administration.
Politics does not concern itself with who should rule us. It is about what kind of rule people should have.
A nation or a society is governed in the interest of the welfare of the people of the land, and not the welfare of the administrator.
A Government that tries to transfer its own responsibilities to the people or their representatives is guilty of shirking its obligations, and evading its duties.
Whatever form of politics is introduced today in our country, it should be conducive to the creation of social equality and unity.
I would not call the rule of even a hideous brute a greater indignity or drawback, over a people who read with pious reverence the tale in the Ramayana that our lands was administered for 14 years by a pair of sandals.
Whether man or animal be ruling, my concern is only about the principles, the kind of administration and the benefits that the people derive.
The duty of officers is that they should serve the people honesty and impartially, and conduct themselves with sympathy and understanding.
As long as the rich and the poor exist, practices like bribery and beggary will never cease.
Only when the principle of capitalism goes, and communism comes into being, can corruption be put an end to. Without that, talking about the abolition of corruption is equivalent to preaching the laws of Manu.
A democratic life is that which should prevail among cultured people.
A revolution is that which destroys and changes from the base. Therefore, this society should bring about very drastic changes in the spheres of politics and religion.
The rule of the people is the true principle of democracy. There should be intelligent, and reasonably honest and disciplined people for such a ‘democracy’
Rightly or wrongly, there obtains in India a democratic rule. But party-rule makes a mockery of it. On seeing this, what will people of other nations think? Should not democrats be ashamed?
Everyone has the right to refute any opinion of any other person. But no one has the right to prevent the expression of that opinion.
Rivalry should last only till the election. Once it is over, both the ruling and opposition members should join hands to carry on the affairs of the Government. Only then some good can be done for the people.
None can declare that a country has secured political freedom unless it has achieved social reform and social unity.
Politics is a means to end social evils. Society does not need Politics that has no bearing on social work.
The real service through politics is to serve society.
If genuine Politics is to flourish, human qualities should be fostered. There should be discipline and honesty. People should feel the need for showing compassion to others.
If the Administration is not able to function properly, owing to party squabbles and agitations, it is only the people who will suffer.
Those who contrive to acquire money, fame and position through politics, are like a wasting disease of society.
People should contemplate whether our society is fit for freedom or democracy, in the context of frequent floor-crossings, plots to topple ministries, and the occurrence of lawlessness.’
Source – Periyar.Org
Poykayil Yohannan
Early Life & Background
- Born on 17 February 1879 in Eraviperoor village near Tiruvalla (now Pathanamthitta district, Kerala), to Kandan and Lechi — enslaved agricultural laborers (Pulaya/Paraiyar Dalit caste) owned by the upper-caste Changaramangalam (later Sankaramangalam) Syrian Christian household.
- Original name: Kumaran; given the Christian name Yohannan (John) by his masters after conversion to Christianity (Mar Thoma Syrian Church).
- Grew up in extreme poverty, illiteracy, and untouchability; denied basic human rights, family structures, or dignity under caste slavery.
- Self-taught literacy; deeply studied the Bible, becoming an evangelist/preacher in the Mar Thoma Church.
- Experienced betrayal: Christianity promised equality but perpetuated caste discrimination (Dalit converts treated as inferior); faced physical attacks and resistance from upper castes/Syrian Christians.
- Married V. Janamma (Ammachi); had a family amid his activism.
Activism & Key Contributions
- In the early 1900s, disillusioned with missionary Christianity's failure to end caste oppression, he left the church.
- Founded Prathyaksha Raksha Daiva Sabha (PRDS) in 1909 in Eraviperoor — a non-episcopal, charismatic socio-religious movement for "obvious/direct salvation" and Dalit liberation.
- Emphasized spiritual equality, rejection of caste/untouchability, and empowerment of oppressed castes (Pulaya, Paraiyar, etc.).
- Promoted a creed free of discrimination; viewed Dalits as chosen for divine protection/salvation.
- Used songs (as powerful resistance tools), Bible commentaries, and critiques of caste/religious norms to awaken consciousness.
- Combated stereotypes, encouraged self-worth, and rejected shame among Dalits.
- Addressed material issues: Landlessness, slavery's legacy, education, and economic upliftment.
- Associated with Sadhujana Paripalana Sangham (founded 1907 by Ayyankali) for Dalit advocacy.
- Secured Dalit representation in Travancore's Sri Moolam Praja Sabha (legislative assembly) through activism.
- Public protests: Bible burnings/symbolic acts against casteist interpretations; faced arrests, violence, and backlash from upper castes/colonial authorities.
- His movement grew as a radical alternative to mainstream reform, politicizing slavery and caste as structural evils.
Literary & Cultural Contributions
- Prolific poet and lyricist; composed resistance songs critiquing caste, religion, and oppression.
- Bible commentaries reinterpreted scriptures for Dalit liberation.
- His art forms (songs, teachings) became tools for cultural resistance and identity reconstruction.
Political & Social Impact
- Member of Travancore's legislative body; advocated for Dalit rights in princely state politics.
- Challenged both Hindu/Christian caste norms; envisioned unity beyond identity divisions.
- PRDS remains active today, with branches and followers honoring his legacy.
Death & Legacy
- Died on 29 June 1939 (aged 60) in Kerala.
- Remembered as a radical Dalit liberator, father figure ("Appachan") for oppressed communities, and key Kerala renaissance hero.
- Often marginalized in mainstream histories due to his radicalism and threat to dominant narratives.
- Recent revival: Tributes, articles (e.g., Mathrubhumi 2025, Youth Ki Awaaz 2025), scholarly works, and PRDS commemorations highlight his anti-slavery spiritual revolution and role in redefining caste, faith, and freedom.
- PRDS continues as a living movement for Dalit empowerment in Kerala.
Poykayil Yohannan's life exemplifies turning personal enslavement into collective emancipation — using spirituality as resistance against caste, colonialism, and religious hypocrisy.
Sources: Wikipedia, The Kerala Museum, Mathrubhumi English (2025), Grokipedia, Youth Ki Awaaz (2025), academic papers (IJIRAH, IJCRT), Outlook India (2024), and Dalit renaissance archives.
Pampady John Joseph
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born Pampady Joseph
23 May 1887
Died 14 July 1940 (aged 53)
Occupation Teacher
Alma mater Trukkakara Mission School
Subject Dalit activism
Notable works Sadhujan Dootan (Periodical), Cheruma Boy
Spouse Sara Joseph
Children 2
Pampady John Joseph (Pampady, 23 May 1887 – 14 July 1940), known as Pampady John or Pampady Joseph, was a Dalit activist and the founder of the socio-religious movement Cheramar MahajanSabha.
Early life
Joseph was born in 1887 at Pampady, Kottayam to Pampady John. His father was a Christian who was converted from Pulaya (then untouchable) caste to Catholic Christian. Joseph was educated up to the sixth standard at Trukkakara Mission School. He moved to Thiruvananthapuram in 1918.
Career
Joseph worked for some time as a teacher. He felt that the Catholic Church was not treating newly converted Christians as equals to their Syrian counterparts, leading to dissatisfaction among the converts.
Joseph believed that the Pulayars were the original inhabitants of Kerala and hence he called them Cheramar, which means the people of Kerala. He organised the Cheramar Mahajan Sabha on 14 January 1921 to protest against the traditional attitude and customs of the caste Hindus and caste Hindu converts. Caste Christians as well as untouchable Hindus were allowed to be the members and the organisation worked to counter the Hindu mentality and obtain rights. He thought that the Cheramar, Pulayar, Parayar and Kuravar are the Adi Dravida races of India.
Joseph initiated the Sadhujan Dootan magazine in 1919, in which he wrote inspiring articles. It was published until 1924.
Joseph, in his book Cheruma Boy, questioned the Syrian Christian's apathetic and discriminatory attitude towards the untouchable Christians.
On 8 June 1931, Joseph became a member of the Shri Moolam Legislative Assembly in Travancore. In 1935 he asked the British Parliament to give allow the same civil rights for untouchables as were available to other communities.
Joseph also suggested that untouchable Christians should combat their lack of equal treatment within religious bodies by constructing their own churches and temples. He also acquired land for redistribution among the untouchables.
P. Jeevanandham
Early Life and Background
Born in Boothapandi village near Nagercoil (then in the princely state of Travancore, now Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu) into an orthodox, religious, middle-class Hindu family with strong adherence to traditional customs and Varnasrama Dharma (caste-based social order). His original name was Sorimuthu, after his clan deity. The family's devout environment introduced him early to Tamil literature, devotional songs, and arts, but also exposed him to rigid caste hierarchies and untouchability.
From childhood, he rebelled against caste discrimination. As a schoolboy, he resented untouchability, took his Dalit friends to restricted temples and public places (earning family and community disapproval), and eventually left home rather than conform to discriminatory practices. His father strongly opposed his actions against caste traditions.
Regarding caste/community — Reliable sources describe his family as orthodox middle-class with upper/intermediate caste norms (practicing Varnasrama Dharma and viewing his anti-caste activism as dishonorable). Some references suggest Nadar community origins (a prominent group in southern Tamil Nadu/Kanyakumari, historically socially mobile but orthodox in his era). He was not from a Dalit (Scheduled Caste) or disadvantaged/low-class background by birth — his family was relatively privileged in caste and economic terms, but he rejected this privilege to champion the oppressed.
Freedom Struggle and Early Activism
Jeevanandham began as a Gandhian, influenced by Mahatma Gandhi's khadi movement and anti-untouchability stance. He wore only khadi and participated in key protests:
- Vaikom Satyagraha (1924) against upper-caste restrictions on Dalits using temple roads in Kerala.
- Similar agitations for Dalit entry into Suchindram temple.
He joined V.V.S. Iyer's Congress ashram at Cheranmadevi but left in support of Periyar E.V. Ramasamy's protest against separate dining for Dalits and upper-caste students. Later, he managed a philanthropist-funded ashram in Siruvayal (near Karaikkudi) to implement Gandhi's constructive programs, where he read extensively and met Gandhi.
Disillusioned with Congress's limited focus on socio-economic justice, he shifted to socialism/communism in the 1930s.
Role in Communism and Socialist Movements in Tamil Nadu
- Became the first secretary of the Madras Provincial Congress Socialist Party (1937).
- Enrolled as the first member of the united CPI in Tamil Nadu (1939), alongside P. Ramamurthi.
- Organized workers (rickshaw-pullers, toddy-tappers, factory laborers in Madurai, Coimbatore, Chennai), agricultural laborers, and small farmers on Marxist lines.
- Founded unions, led strikes, and built a militant labor movement emphasizing class struggle.
- Faced repression: imprisonment, externment from Madras province, and underground life.
- Edited CPI publications like Jana Sakthi (newspaper) and Thamarai (literary magazine, which he founded).
- Translated Bhagat Singh's "Why I am an Atheist" into Tamil (1933, published by Periyar's group).
- Promoted Tamil purity (opposing Sanskrit influence), renamed himself Uyirinban (Tamil translation of Jeevanandham), and advocated nationalizing Subramania Bharati's songs (calling himself a "living Bharati").
Post-Independence Contributions
- Elected to the Madras Legislative Assembly (1952) from Washermanpet (North Madras) as a CPI candidate — one of the first to speak Tamil in the assembly.
- Advocated land reforms, workers' rights, Tamil as official/medium language, and opposed proposals like Dakshina Pradesh.
- Continued teaching Marxism, advising students, and supporting progressive literature.
- Lived modestly in a hut in Tambaram (Chennai), refusing government housing offers (e.g., from Kamaraj).
Death and Massive Legacy
He died suddenly on 18 January 1963 at age 55 in Tambaram after health issues (including treatment in the Soviet Union in 1962). Over 200,000 people attended his funeral, reflecting his mass appeal as a simple, honest leader.
Legacy includes:
- Government schools, transport corporation (Jeeva Transport), and Vyasarpadi Jeeva railway station named after him.
- Commemorative India Post stamp (2010).
- A manimandapam (memorial) in Nagercoil with his statue and photo exhibition.
- Revered as a symbol of selfless service, anti-caste struggle, and people's champion.
Here are some historical images and portraits of P. Jeevanandham (Jeeva), including his commemorative postage stamp:
These visuals capture his simple, determined persona and enduring tribute.
P. Jeevanandham remains an inspirational figure in Tamil Nadu's history — a bridge between nationalism, rationalism, and communism, whose life was dedicated to equality, Tamil pride, and uplifting the marginalized, despite coming from a relatively orthodox middle-class background he actively rejected for the greater cause.
Pandit Karuppan Master
by V.N. Gopalakrishnan, Mumbai
Kandathiparambil Paapu Karuppan popularly known as Pandit Karuppan Master or K.P. Karuppan was a crusader against untouchability and other social evils prevalent during his time. For his relentless efforts in uplifting the socially, economically and educationally backward communities, Karuppan Master earned the epithet ‘Lincoln of Kerala’. He became the first human rights activist from the Cochin State. He was also a renowned Sanskrit scholar, poet and dramatist. He used his organizational ability and literary talent to fight against illiteracy, social injustice, casteism and superstitions. Karuppan Master belonged to the Dheevara community of Hindu fishermen.
The Dheevara community rightfully claims that they are the descendents of Satyavathy, the mother of Sage Veda Vyasa and the great grandmother of Pandavas and Kauravas of the mythological Mahabharata. According to the epic, Satyavathy, the attractive daughter of a fisherman, had her son Veda Vyasa from a Brahmin called Sage Parasara. Later when King Shantanu desired to marry Satyavathy, her father agreed on condition that their children should inherit the throne of Hastinapura. Accordingly, after his death of King Shantanu, Satyavathy ruled Hastinapura along with her sons Chitrangadan and Vichitraviryan!.Karuppan was born to Paappu and Kochupennu on May 24, 1885 in a lower middle class family at Cheranelloor, near Ernakulam. Paappu was proficient in Sanskrit and Ayurveda and was known as Atho Poojari engaged in pujas and other rituals. Karuppan’s childhood name was Sankaran. However, a Tamil Gosai who used to visit his family regularly once predicted that the boy would become a scholar and suggested that he be named Karpan which later became Karuppan. Karpan in Tamil means ‘learnt person’ whereas Karuppan in Malayalam means ‘person of black colour’, though ironically he had a fair complexion!
Karuppan’s formal education commenced at the age of five under Azheekkal Velu Vaidyan. Hadaka Valath Appu Asan taught him basics of Sanskrit such as Amarakosham, Sidhdharoopam and Sreeramodantham. He started reading Puranas and Ithihasas from a very young age. At the age of 12, he wrote a poem titled Lankamardanam which was well appreciated. He studied Sanskrit Kavyas under Mangalappillil Krishnan Asan and Annamanada Rama Pothuval. The upper caste Hindu students did not allow him to sit with them and hence he had to sit separately in a corner.
The significant period of his education was spent at Kodungalloor Kovilakam. The Kodungalloor Thampurans (Rajas) were scholars and poets. Kunhikkuttan Thampuran, known as Kerala Vyasa was prominent among them. Karuppan studied Sanskrit under these stalwarts. Though the Kovilakam was inaccessible to lower caste Hindus, Kunhikkuttan Thampuran encouraged Karuppan to take advantage of the facilities there. It was during this period that he wrote Jaathikkummi which sarcastically criticised the prevailing caste system and untouchability. It was written at the age of 19 in simple folklore form in Malayalam though most of his writings were in Sanskrit.
Kunhikkuttan Thampuran introduced Karuppan to H.H. Ramavarma Raja, the Maharaja of Cochin when he visited Thiruvanchikkulam Siva Temple in Kodungallur. The Maharaja was impressed and he invited Karuppan to his Tripunithura Palace. He made arrangements for Karuppan’s advanced study of Sanskrit under Sahridayathilkan Rama Pisharody. Soon he was appointed Sanskrit Teacher at St. Theresa’s Convent Girls’ High School, Ernakulam, a special institution for the upper caste girls. Though there was protest against the posting from upper caste Hindus, the Maharaja overruled against the objections. Later, he joined the Victoria Girls’ High School, Thrissur and subsequently posted at the Teacher Training School there. He was re-appointed at St. Theresa’s Convent Girls’ High School in 1921. He was nominated as a member of the Cochin Legislative Council to represent the backward classes in 1925. As an MLC, he presented their grievances before the authorities and pleaded for their education, health services and better living conditions. Accordingly, the Department for the Protection of the Depressed Classes was established with Rao Sahib C. Mathai as ex-officio Protector and Karuppan as full-time Assistant Protector.
Karuppan Master was instrumental in initiating many reforms including the commencement of schools and establishment of colonies. He convinced the Government for providing scholarships and concession in fees. In order to create awareness against superstitions, he wrote Aacharabhooshanam which was printed by the Government and distributed to the public. The Depressed Classes Department was subsequently renamed as the Harijan Welfare Department. Under the re-organised Fisheries Department, fisheries schools were started. While serving as a Director of the Cochin Central Co-operative Bank, he appealed to fishermen and agricultural labourers to form co-operatives in order to make them self-reliant.
When Karuppan Master was nominated for a second term as MLC, he requested the Dewan to give the post to another member of the backward classes. Accordingly, the Government appointed P.C. Chanchen, a Pulaya leader as MLC and Karuppan tendered his resignation. He was then appointed as Secretary to the Elementary Education Committee and the Bhashaparishkarana Committee. In 1931, he was appointed as Superintendent of Vernacular Education of the erstwhile Cochin State and four years later, appointed as Malayalam Lecturer in the Maharaja’s College. He also served as Chairman of the Board of Examiners of the Madras University and as Member of the Municipal Council, Ernakulam.
On the eve of the Shashtipoorthi celebrations of the Maharaja of Cochin in 1919, a drama script competition was organized. Karuppan’s script dedicated to the Maharaja was adjudged the best. The drama titled Baalakalesam discussed the progress achieved during the 16-year rule of the Maharaja but also criticized the atrocities suffered by the poor people in the name of caste. The drama was first staged in Maharaja’s College and his upper caste Hindu friend provided financial assistance for printing the book. The scholars of the time discussed and appreciated the book. The Maharaja honoured him with the title Kavithilakan. After reading the drama's script, H.H. Sree Moolam Thirunal, the Maharaja of Travancore presented him a nine-jewelled (Navaratna) ring. As per Karuppan Master’s request, the Maharaja sanctioned half-fee concession to all students of Dheevara community in Travancore. Keralavarma Valiakoithampuran, known among the literary circle as Kerala Kalidasan conferred on him the title of Vidwan.
In order to find more time for social service, he relinquished his teaching job. He started organizing the people of Dheevara community into regional groups called Sabhās. The main agenda was to persuade people to fight against illiteracy and superstitions in Cochin State. He also formulated the Pulaya Maha Sabhā for the uplift of the Pulaya community. In due course, he persuaded other backward communities like Velas, Sambhavas, Ulladas, Kudumbis etc., to form similar Sabhās to give fillip to their fight against social injustice. He also secured the right to walk on public roads for the Pulayas and other depressed classes.
Pandit Karuppan Master was an accomplished poet and dramatist and his works are: Achara Bhooshanam, Arayaprasasthi, Baalakalesam, Baalodyanam, Bhaasha Bhaimeeparinayam, Bhanjithavimanam, Chanjenkutty, Chithralekha, Dheevara Tharuniyude Vilapam, Dhruvacharitham, Edward Vijayam, Jaathikkummi, Kairaleekouthukam, Kattile Jyeshtan, Lalithopaharam, Lankamardanam, Mahasamadhi, Mangalamala, Panchavadi, Sakunthalam Vanchippattu, Sangeetha Naishadham, Soudamini, Sree Budhan, Sree Ramavarma, Sugathasooktham, Thirunalkkummi, Udyanavirunnu, Ulukopakhyanam, and Vallorkkavitha. His Sakunthalam, Baalodyanam and Kairaleekouthukam were prescribed text books in Cochin State. Bhaasha Bhaimeeparinayam was a Malayalam text book for the F.A.Examination of the Madras University.
Pandit Karuppan Master was married to Kunhamma and had a daughter Parvathy. He died at the age of 53 due to pleurisy on March 23, 1938. The Pandit Karuppan Smaraka Grameena Vayanasala is a library founded in 1953 in his native village of Cheranelloor and A. K. Velappan, his nephew was instrumental in setting it up. The 50th anniversary meeting of the Pandit Karuppan Memorial Club (PKMC) at Udayamperoor was held on August 31, 2011. The Club organised its golden jubilee with a year-long programme. Dr. Gopinath Panangad is the present Chairman of Pandit Karuppan Foundation. Karuppan Master will be long remembered for his fight against social evils in Kerala.
(Author is Director, Indo-Gulf Consulting, a PR consulting firm. He can be contacted on telegulf@gmail.com)
P N Rajbhoj
पी एन राजभोज
जब कभी मैं, डॉ आंबेडकर के सामाजिक आंदोलन के बारे में पढता हूँ तब, कई जगह पी एन राजभोज का नाम आता है। किसी समय पी एन राजभोज , डॉ बाबा साहब आंबेडकर के लेफ्टिनेंट माने जाते थे। आइए; हम इन हस्ती के बारे में जानने का यत्न करे।
दलितों के राजनैतिक हितों की रक्षा के लिए 17 -20 जुला 1942 के नागपुर अधिवेशन में 'आल इण्डिया शेड्यूल्ड कास्ट फेडरेशन' की स्थापना की गई थी। मद्रास के राव बहादुर एन शिवराज इसके पहले अध्यक्ष और मुम्बई के पी एन राजभोज महासचिव चुने गए थे।
ब्रिटिश सरकार के केबिनेट मिशन ( जो 24 मार्च 1946 को भारत आया था) की घोषणा में दलित वर्ग के लिए जो देश की जनसंख्या का एक चौथाई भाग है, कुछ नहीं कहा गया था। देश का नया संविधान बनाने के निमित्त मुसलमानों और सिखों को तो संविधान-समिति में जगह दी गई थी। किन्तु , दलितों को इससे बाहर रखा गया था। इस तरह अपनाये जा रहे भेदभाव पूर्ण रवैये से दलित जातियों के बीच भारी रोष था । पी एन राजभोज के नेतृत्व में शेड्यूल्ड कास्ट फेडरेशन ने इसके विरोध में देश भर में व्यापक सत्याग्रह का आन्दोलन चलाया था।
दलितों के इस राष्ट्रयापी विरोध को देखते हुए पंडित नेहरु को शेड्यूल्ड कास्ट फेडरेशन के जे एन मंडल को जो बंगाल से चुने गए थे, अपने अंतरिम मंत्री-मंडल में शामिल करना पड़ा था।
इसी तरह सन 1952 के प्रथम आम चुनाव में शेड्यूल्ड कास्ट फेडरेशन ने कुल 34 स्थानों से चुनाव लड़ा था। इस चुनाव में करीमनगर से एम आर कृष्णा और सोलापुर (महाराष्ट्र ) से पी एन राजभोज ने अपनी एतिहासिक जीत दर्ज कराई थी ।मगर, बाद में पी एन राजभोज कांग्रेस में चले गए थे। धर्म परिवर्तन के मुद्दे पर वे डा. आंबेडकर से भिन्न मत रखते थे।
यद्यपि कांग्रेस में रह कर पी. एन. राजभोज को कांग्रेस के नेताओं के कथनी और करनी के अंतर को समझने में देर नहीं लगी। दि. 21 मई सन 1940 को भानखेडा (नागपुर ) में इंडीपेंडेंट लेबर पार्टी की एक सभा में उन्होंने इसका खुलासा किया था. यह सभा एडव्होकेट शेंदरे की अध्यक्षता में आयोजित थी.
सभा में पी. एन. राजभोज ने रहस्योद्घाटन करते हुए बतलाया था कि उन्हें गाँधी जी ने उन्हें अपने साबरमती आश्रम ठहराया था. वहां उन्हें उबला हुआ खाना दिया जाता था. वहां शांति और अहिंसा का पाठ पढाया जाता था. दरअसल, आश्रम में उन्हें दलित समाज का 'महात्मा' बनाने की कवायद हो रही थी.
Independent Labor party members
with Dr Ambedkar
कांग्रेस में यूँ तो शांति और अहिंसा का पाठ पढाया जाता हैं. किन्तु, कांग्रेसी नेताओं का आचरण और व्यवहार ठीक इसका उल्टा होता है. विसंगति का यह पैमाना उन्होंने स्वत: कई मौकों पर देखा है।
पी. एन. राजभोज ने आगे कहा कि डा. आंबेडकर से उनका विरोध धर्मान्तरण के प्रश्न पर था। इस्लाम या सिख धर्म में जाना उन्हें पसंद नहीं था। किन्तु अब, उनकी आँखे खुल गई है. वे बाबा साहेब डा. आंबेडकर का विरोध किये जाने की माफ़ी मांगते है।
एक और कंट्रवर्सरी पी एन राजभोज के साथ जुडी है। रत्नागिरी (महाराष्ट्र ) स्थित पतितपावन मंदिर इन आर्गेनाईजेशन कार्यक्रम में पी एन राजभोज ने महार समाज का होते हुए भी हिंदुओं के शंकराचार्य डॉ कुर्तकोटि की पाद-पूजा की थी।
Posted by Amrit
http://amritlalukey.blogspot.com/2013/12/p-n-rajbhoj.html
Phoolan Devi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Phoolan Devi
In office
1996–1998
Constituency Mirzapur
In office
1999 – 26 July 2001
Constituency Mirzapur
Personal details
Born
Phoolan Mallah
10 August 1963
Patherakala, Uttar Pradesh, India
Died 26 July 2001 (aged 37)
New Delhi, India
Cause of death Assassination by shooting
Nationality Indian
Political party Samajwadi Party
Occupation Dacoit, politician
Phoolan Devi (10 August 1963 – 26 July 2001), popularly known as "Bandit Queen", was an Indian female rights activist, bandit and politician from the Samajwadi Party who later served as Member of Parliament.
Born into a poor family in rural Uttar Pradesh, Phoolan endured poverty, child marriage and had an abusive marriage before taking to a life of crime. Having developed major differences with her parents and being raped multiple times by her husband, the teenage Phoolan sought escape by running away and joining a gang of bandits. She was the only woman in that gang, and her relationship with one gang member, coupled with caste difference, caused a gunfight between gang members. Phoolan's lover was killed in that gunfight. The victorious rival faction, who were Rajputs, took Phoolan to their village of Behmai, confined her in a room, and took turns to rape her repeatedly over several weeks. After escaping, Phoolan rejoined the remnants of her dead lover's faction who were gangs of Mallaah, took another lover from among those men, and continued with banditry. A few months later, her new gang descended upon the village of Behmai to exact revenge for what she had suffered. As many as twenty-two Rajput men belonging to that village were shot dead by Phoolan's gang.
Her act of revenge was portrayed by the press as an act of righteous rebellion. The respectful sobriquet 'Devi' was conferred upon her by the media and public at this point.
Phoolan evaded capture for two years after the massacre before she and her few surviving gang-members surrendered to the police in 1983. She was charged with 48 crimes, including multiple murders, plunder, arson and kidnapping for ransom. Phoolan spent the next eleven years in jail, as the various charges against her were tried in court. In 1994, the state government headed by Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party summarily withdrew all charges against her, and Phoolan was released. She then stood for election to parliament as a candidate of the Samajwadi Party and was twice elected to the Lok Sabha as the member for Mirzapur. In 2001, she was shot dead at the gates of her official bungalow (allotted to her as MP) in New Delhi by former rival bandits whose kinsmen had been slaughtered at Behmai by her gang. The 1994 film Bandit Queen (made around the time of her release from jail) is loosely based on her life until that point.
Early life
Phoolan was born into the Mallah (boatmen) caste, in the small village of Ghura Ka Purwa (also spelled Gorha ka Purwa) in Jalaun District, Uttar Pradesh. She was the fourth and youngest child of Moola and her husband Devi Din Mallah. besides Phoolan, only one older sister survived to adulthood.
Phoolan's family was very poor. The major asset owned by them was around 1 acre (0.4 hectares) of farmland with a large but very old neem tree on it. When Phoolan was eleven years old, her paternal grandparents' death led to her father's elder brother's son, Maya Din Mallah, proposing to cut down the neem tree to cultivate that patch of land with more profitable crops. Phoolan's father agreed to it with mild protest. However, the teenage Phoolan was enraged and protested, publicly taunting and verbally abusing her cousin for several weeks, going on to physically assault him. She then gathered a few village girls and staged a Dharna (sit-in) on the land, and did not budge even when the family elders tried to use force to drag them home. She was eventually beaten unconscious with a brick.
A few months after this incident, when Phoolan was eleven years old, her family arranged for her to marry a man named Puttilal Mallah, who lived several hundred miles away and was thrice her age. She was physically and sexually abused by her husband and after several attempts at running away was returned to her family in 'disgrace'.
In retaliation for being humiliated by Phoolan, Maya Din went to the local police and accused Phoolan of stealing from him. The police kept her locked up for three days, physically abused her, and then let her off with a warning.
After Phoolan was released from jail, at the age of sixteen, her parents once again wanted to send her to her husband. After Phoolan's family offered generous gifts, her in-laws finally agreed to take her back. Phoolan's parents performed the ceremony of gauna (after which a married woman begins to cohabit with her husband), took Phoolan to her husband's house and left her there.
Within a few months, Phoolan, this time no longer a virgin, again returned to her parents. Shortly afterwards, her in-laws returned the gifts that Phoolan's parents had given them and sent word that under no circumstances would they accept Phoolan back again. This was in 1979 and Phoolan was only a few months past her sixteenth birthday. She later claimed in her autobiography that her husband was a man of "very bad character." A wife leaving her husband, or being abandoned by her husband, is a serious taboo in rural India, and Phoolan was marked as a social outcast.
Life as a bandit
The region where Phoolan lived, Bundelkhand, is even today extremely poor, arid and devoid of industry; most of the able-bodied men migrate to large cities in search of manual work. During the period in question, industry was depressed even in the large cities, and daily life was a grim engagement with subsistence farming in a dry region with poor soil. It was not unusual for young men to seek escape from fruitless labour in the fields by running away to the nearby ravines (the main geographical feature of the region), forming groups of bandits, and plundering their more prosperous neighbours in the villages or passing townspeople on the highways.
Shortly after her final sojourn in her husband's house, and in the same year (1979), Phoolan fell in the company of a gang of dacoits. How exactly this happened is unclear; some say that she was kidnapped by them because her "spirited temperament," estrangement from her own family and outspoken rejection of her husband had attracted the attention of the bandits, while others say that she "walked away from her life." In her autobiography, she merely says "kismet ko yehi manzoor tha" ("it was the dictate of fate") that she become part of a gang of bandits.
The gang leader, Babu Gujjar, raped and brutalized her for three days. At this juncture, Phoolan was saved from rape by Vikram Mallah, the second-in-command of the gang, who belonged to Phoolan's own Mallah caste. In the altercation connected to the rape, Vikram Mallah killed Babu Gujjar. The next morning, he assumed leadership of the gang.
Relationship with Vikram Mallah
Undaunted by the fact that Vikram already had a wife and that she likewise had a husband, Phoolan and Vikram began cohabiting together. A few weeks later, the gang attacked the village where Phoolan's husband Puttilal Mallah lived. Phoolan herself dragged him out of his house and stabbed him in front of the villagers. The gang left him lying almost dead by the road, with a note warning older men not to marry young girls. The man survived, but carried a scar running down his abdomen for the rest of his life. He lived his life as a recluse because most people in the village began avoiding his company out of fear of the bandits.
Phoolan learned how to use a rifle from Vikram, and participated in the gang's activities across Bundelkhand, which straddles the border between Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. This included attacking and looting villages where upper-caste people lived, kidnapping relatively prosperous people for ransom, and committing occasional highway robberies which targeted flashy cars. Phoolan was the only woman member of that gang of dacoits. After every crime, she would visit a Durga temple and thank the Goddess for her protection. The gang's main hideouts were in the ravines of the Chambal River. According to legend, Vikram taught Phoolan, "If you are going to kill, kill twenty, not just one. For if you kill twenty, your fame will spread; if you kill only one, they will hang you as a murderess."
Sometime later, Shri Ram and Lalla Ram, two upper-caste Rajput brothers who had been caught by the police, were released from jail and came back to the gang. They were outraged to hear of the murder of Babu Gujjar, their former leader, and held Phoolan responsible for inciting the act. A scuffle then ensued between Shri Ram and Phoolan. The Rajput brothers' resentment was exacerbated by the fact that Phoolan and Vikram both belonged to the Mallaah caste of boatmen, lower than the land-owning Rajput caste to which they themselves belonged.
Over a period of time, the Rajput brothers recruited more Rajputs in the gang and began abusing the Mallahs of the villages they ransacked, leading to the anger and subsequent exit of the Mallahs of the gang. Vikram Mallah then suggested that the gang be divided into two, one comprising mainly Rajputs and the other mainly Mallahs. Shri Ram and Lalla Ram refused this suggestion stating that the gang had always included a mixture of castes. Meanwhile, the other Mallahs were also not happy with Vikram Mallah. The fact that he alone had a woman cohabiting with him incited jealousy; some of the other Mallahs had bonds of kinship with Vikram's actual wife; and Phoolan's abuses made them dislike her.
A few days after the proposal for division had been floated, a quarrel ensued between Shri Ram and Vikram Mallah, resulting in a gunfight. Vikram and Phoolan escaped in the dark. However, they were tracked down and Vikram Mallah was killed. Phoolan was taken by the victorious faction to the Rajput-dominated village of Behmai, home to Shri Ram, Lalla Ram and several of the new Rajput recruits.
Detainment in Behmai
Phoolan was locked up in a room in one of the houses in Behmai village. She was beaten, raped and humiliated by several upper caste Thakur men over a period of three weeks. In a final indignity, they paraded her naked around the village She then managed to escape, after three weeks of captivity, with the help of a low-caste villager of Behmai and two Mallah members from Vikram's gang, including Man Singh Mallah.
A new gang
Phoolan and Man Singh soon became lovers and joint leaders of a gang composed solely of Mallahs. The gang carried out a series of violent raids and robberies across Bundelkhand, usually (but not always) targeting upper-caste people. Some say that Phoolan targeted only the upper-caste people and shared the loot with the lower-caste people, but the Indian authorities claim this is a myth; there is no evidence of Phoolan or her partners in crime sharing money with anyone, whether low-caste or otherwise.
Massacre in Behmai
Several months after her escape from Behmai, Phoolan returned to the village to seek revenge. On the evening of 14 February 1981, Phoolan marched into Behmai with her gang and demanded that her tormentors be produced before her. The two men could not be found. She then rounded up twenty two young men from the village and ordered them killed.
The Behmai massacre provoked outrage across the country. V. P. Singh, the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, resigned. A massive police manhunt was launched but soon failed. It began to be said that the manhunt was not successful because Phoolan had the support of poor people in the region; stories on the Robin Hood model began circulating in the media. Phoolan began to be called the Bandit Queen, and she was glorified by sections of the Indian media as an intrepid and undaunted woman, the underdog struggling to survive in the world.
Surrender and jail term
Two years after the Behmai massacre, the police had still not captured Phoolan. The Indira Gandhi Government decided to negotiate a surrender. By this time, Phoolan was in poor health and most of her gang members were dead, some having died at the hands of the police, others at the hands of rival gangs. In February 1983, she agreed to surrender to the authorities. However, she said that she did not trust the Uttar Pradesh Police and insisted that she would only surrender to the Madhya Pradesh Police. She also insisted that she would lay down her arms only before the pictures of Mahatma Gandhi and the Hindu goddess Durga, not to the police. She laid down four further conditions:
A promise that the death penalty would not be imposed on any member of her gang who surrenders
The term for the other members of the gang should not exceed eight years.
A plot of land to be given to her
Her entire family should be escorted by the police to witness her surrender ceremony
An unarmed police chief met her at a rendezvous in the Chambal ravines. They travelled to Bhind in Madhya Pradesh, where she laid down her rifle before the portraits of Gandhi and Goddess Durga. The onlookers included a crowd of around 10,000 people and 300 policemen, apart from the then chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Arjun Singh. Other members of her gang also surrendered with her.
Phoolan was charged with as many as forty-eight crimes, including thirty charges of dacoity (banditry) and kidnapping. Her trial was delayed for eleven years, during which time she remained in prison as an undertrial. During this period, she was operated on for ovarian cysts and underwent a hysterectomy. The doctor of the hospital reportedly joked that "We don't want Phoolan Devi breeding more Phoolan Devis".She was finally released on parole in 1994 after intercession by Vishambhar Prasad Nishad, the leader of the Nishadha community (another name for the Mallah community of boatmen and fisherfolk). The Government of Uttar Pradesh, led by Mulayam Singh Yadav, withdrew all cases against her. This move shocked the country and became a matter of public discussion and controversy.
Marriage with Ummed Singh
Phoolan later married Ummed Singh. Ummed Singh contested the 2004 and 2009 elections on Indian National Congress's ticket. In 2014 he contested election on Bahujan Samaj Party's ticket. Phoolan's sister Munni Devi later accused him of being involved in Phoolan's murder.
Conversion to Buddhism
On 15 February 1995, Phoolan Devi and her husband Ummed Singh embraced Buddhism at the famous Buddhist site Deekshabhoomi.
Member of Parliament
In 1995, one year after her release, Phoolan was invited by Dr. Ramadoss (founder of Pattali Makkal Katchi) to participate in the conference about alcohol prohibition and women Pornography. This was her first conference after her release which began her political career in India. However, Phoolan stood for election to the 11th Lok Sabha from the Mirzapur constituency in Uttar Pradesh. She contested the election as a member of the Samajwadi Party of Mulayam Singh Yadav, whose government had withdrawn all cases against her and summarily released her from prison. She won the election and served as an MP during the term of the 11th Lok Sabha (1996–98). She lost her seat in the 1998 election but was re-elected in the 1999 election and was the sitting member of parliament for Mirzapur when she was assassinated.
Assassination
Assassination of Phoolan Devi
Location New Delhi
Coordinates 28.6139° N, 77.2089° E
Date 26 July 2001
1:30 pm (UTC+5.5)
Attack type Murder
Weapons Webley & Scott pistol, IOF .32 Revolver
Deaths Phoolan Devi
Injured 1 (Balinder Singh)
Perpetrators 3 unidentified gunmen
Motive Revenge
At 1:30 p.m. IST (08:30 UTC) on 26 July 2001, Devi was shot dead by three masked gunmen outside of her Delhi bungalow. She was hit nine times, variously in the head, chest, shoulder and right arm. Her personal security guard, Balinder Singh, was shot in his right chest and right arm, who returned fire with a 9-mm service pistol when the gunmen fled the scene in a Maruti 800 car. They abandoned the car mid-way and boarded an auto rickshaw. The police recovered a Webley & Scott pistol and an improvised firearm, an IOF .32 Revolver from the spot, along with nine empty and 15 live rounds, from the car.
Devi was taken to Ram Manohar Lohia hospital but was declared dead. The prime suspect, Sher Singh Rana, later surrendered to the police. Rana allegedly claimed to have murdered Devi in revenge for the upper-caste men she gunned down in the Behmai massacre. In the latest ruling, on 14 August 2014, the court sentenced Rana to life in prison and a fine.
Aftermath
In the immediate aftermath of the murder, the police were accused of incompetence in their handling of the case. It was alleged that a party worker picked up revolvers that had been dumped by the killers and hid them. Three other people staying in her house were accused of knowing about the revolvers. The revolvers then disappeared before the police could conduct forensic tests on them.
Sher Singh Rana, the main accused, was convicted by a Delhi court on 8 August 2014. However, the other ten accused were acquitted. Rana was convicted of the offences under Sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 34 (common intention) under the IPC. The judge had fixed 12 August 2014, as the date for arguments and pronouncement of sentence. On 14 August 2014 Rana was sentenced to a life term by a Delhi court.
Movie and autobiography
Shekhar Kapur made a movie Bandit Queen (1994) about Phoolan Devi's life up to her 1983 surrender, based on Mala Sen's 1993 book India's Bandit Queen: The True Story of Phoolan Devi. Although Phoolan Devi is a heroine in the film, she fiercely disputed its accuracy and fought to get it banned in India. She even threatened to immolate herself outside a theater if the film were not withdrawn. Eventually, she withdrew her objections after the producer Channel 4 paid her £40,000. The film brought her international recognition. Author-activist Arundhati Roy in her film review entitled, "The Great Indian Rape Trick", questioned the right to "restage the rape of a living woman without her permission", and alleged Shekhar Kapur of exploiting Phoolan Devi and misrepresenting both her life and its meaning.
In 1985, another low budget Bengali movie Phoolan Devi was released, loosely based on Phoolan's life. This film was directed by Ashok Roy and starred by Suresh Oberoi, Rita Bhaduri and Joy Banerjee. Phoolan Devi, a 2001 Indian film by V. Menon was also inspired by her life.
Although she was illiterate, Phoolan composed her autobiography entitled The Bandit Queen of India: An Indian Woman's Amazing Journey From Peasant to International Legend, with the help of international authors Marie-Therese Cuny and Paul Rambali.
Pari Kupar Lingo
This significance is further evidenced by archaeological and cultural artifacts, such as statues discovered in the forts of the Netam dynasty kings. The Netam dynasty, part of the Gond royal lineage, ruled areas like Lanji in Balaghat district, Madhya Pradesh. Excavations at these ancient forts have revealed carvings that depict Lingo alongside other figures, including seven Devas (gods), their mother Jango (Raitad, Lingo's sister in some legends), and Lingo himself as the father figure. These statues adorn the fort walls and illustrate key mythological events, such as Lingo's role in rescuing and guiding the deities, reinforcing his status as the Gond progenitor. Other idols found at these sites, including those of Mahavira, Ganesh, and Buddha, suggest connections to broader Sramanic or Lokayat traditions, blending indigenous Gond beliefs with influences from Jainism, Buddhism, and Tantra.
What about Pari Kupar Lingo warrants this occasion? - Forward Press
These artifacts date back centuries and serve as visual narratives of Gond history, highlighting Lingo's foundational role in tribal identity.
In honor of Pari Kupar Lingo, the Dev Jatra (divine procession) is organized annually in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, particularly in northern Bastar districts like Kanker. This festival, distinct from the more widely known Bastar Dussehra (a 75-day event celebrating local deities but without Ravana effigies), is a three-day commemoration held in villages such as Semargaon in Amabeda. It typically occurs around March or April (e.g., March 29 in 2018 and April 15-17 in 2022), drawing Gond communities to celebrate Lingo's legacy through processions, music, and rituals. The event symbolizes Lingo's teachings of unity and nature worship, with participants striking bunches of green bamboos to produce distinctive sounds as Lingo's idol or representation is carried in a procession.
Bastar Dussehra: The Longest Festival in the World | The Travelling Slacker
Preparations for Dev Jatra involve community gatherings weeks in advance, including cleaning sacred sites, crafting traditional attire (like horned headdresses and beaded ornaments), and organizing musical performances that echo Lingo's association with rhythm and melody. Villages contribute resources collectively—food, decorations, and instruments—to ensure inclusivity, reflecting Gond Punem's emphasis on communal harmony. The importance of the event lies in preserving Gond cultural identity amid modernization and external influences; it reinforces tribal pride, educates younger generations about their ancestry, and fosters social bonds. As a non-violent, nature-centric festival, it contrasts with mainstream Hindu celebrations by focusing on indigenous heroes like Lingo rather than mythological battles.
No effigy, no fireworks: 75-day world's longest festival Bastar Dussehra shuns Ravana, celebrates divine feminine, UHM Shah to attend celebration | Raipur News - The Times of India
Journalist Tameshwar Sinha, based in Bastar and known for covering tribal issues, conflicts, and cultural stories in outlets like Forward Press and The Wire, has detailed these aspects in his reporting. He emphasizes how Dev Jatra not only honors Lingo but also highlights the resilience of Gond traditions in a region marked by historical dynasties and contemporary challenges like Naxalism. Sinha's accounts underscore the festival's role in promoting education and community welfare, such as initiatives rewarding academic excellence among tribal youth, tying back to Lingo's legacy as a teacher.
Pandit Karuppan Master
by V.N. Gopalakrishnan, Mumbai
Kandathiparambil Paapu Karuppan popularly known as Pandit Karuppan Master or K.P. Karuppan was a crusader against untouchability and other social evils prevalent during his time. For his relentless efforts in uplifting the socially, economically and educationally backward communities, Karuppan Master earned the epithet ‘Lincoln of Kerala’. He became the first human rights activist from the Cochin State. He was also a renowned Sanskrit scholar, poet and dramatist. He used his organizational ability and literary talent to fight against illiteracy, social injustice, casteism and superstitions. Karuppan Master belonged to the Dheevara community of Hindu fishermen.
The Dheevara community rightfully claims that they are the descendents of Satyavathy, the mother of Sage Veda Vyasa and the great grandmother of Pandavas and Kauravas of the mythological Mahabharata. According to the epic, Satyavathy, the attractive daughter of a fisherman, had her son Veda Vyasa from a Brahmin called Sage Parasara. Later when King Shantanu desired to marry Satyavathy, her father agreed on condition that their children should inherit the throne of Hastinapura. Accordingly, after his death of King Shantanu, Satyavathy ruled Hastinapura along with her sons Chitrangadan and Vichitraviryan!.Karuppan was born to Paappu and Kochupennu on May 24, 1885 in a lower middle class family at Cheranelloor, near Ernakulam. Paappu was proficient in Sanskrit and Ayurveda and was known as Atho Poojari engaged in pujas and other rituals. Karuppan’s childhood name was Sankaran. However, a Tamil Gosai who used to visit his family regularly once predicted that the boy would become a scholar and suggested that he be named Karpan which later became Karuppan. Karpan in Tamil means ‘learnt person’ whereas Karuppan in Malayalam means ‘person of black colour’, though ironically he had a fair complexion!
Karuppan’s formal education commenced at the age of five under Azheekkal Velu Vaidyan. Hadaka Valath Appu Asan taught him basics of Sanskrit such as Amarakosham, Sidhdharoopam and Sreeramodantham. He started reading Puranas and Ithihasas from a very young age. At the age of 12, he wrote a poem titled Lankamardanam which was well appreciated. He studied Sanskrit Kavyas under Mangalappillil Krishnan Asan and Annamanada Rama Pothuval. The upper caste Hindu students did not allow him to sit with them and hence he had to sit separately in a corner.
The significant period of his education was spent at Kodungalloor Kovilakam. The Kodungalloor Thampurans (Rajas) were scholars and poets. Kunhikkuttan Thampuran, known as Kerala Vyasa was prominent among them. Karuppan studied Sanskrit under these stalwarts. Though the Kovilakam was inaccessible to lower caste Hindus, Kunhikkuttan Thampuran encouraged Karuppan to take advantage of the facilities there. It was during this period that he wrote Jaathikkummi which sarcastically criticised the prevailing caste system and untouchability. It was written at the age of 19 in simple folklore form in Malayalam though most of his writings were in Sanskrit.
Kunhikkuttan Thampuran introduced Karuppan to H.H. Ramavarma Raja, the Maharaja of Cochin when he visited Thiruvanchikkulam Siva Temple in Kodungallur. The Maharaja was impressed and he invited Karuppan to his Tripunithura Palace. He made arrangements for Karuppan’s advanced study of Sanskrit under Sahridayathilkan Rama Pisharody. Soon he was appointed Sanskrit Teacher at St. Theresa’s Convent Girls’ High School, Ernakulam, a special institution for the upper caste girls. Though there was protest against the posting from upper caste Hindus, the Maharaja overruled against the objections. Later, he joined the Victoria Girls’ High School, Thrissur and subsequently posted at the Teacher Training School there. He was re-appointed at St. Theresa’s Convent Girls’ High School in 1921. He was nominated as a member of the Cochin Legislative Council to represent the backward classes in 1925. As an MLC, he presented their grievances before the authorities and pleaded for their education, health services and better living conditions. Accordingly, the Department for the Protection of the Depressed Classes was established with Rao Sahib C. Mathai as ex-officio Protector and Karuppan as full-time Assistant Protector.
Karuppan Master was instrumental in initiating many reforms including the commencement of schools and establishment of colonies. He convinced the Government for providing scholarships and concession in fees. In order to create awareness against superstitions, he wrote Aacharabhooshanam which was printed by the Government and distributed to the public. The Depressed Classes Department was subsequently renamed as the Harijan Welfare Department. Under the re-organised Fisheries Department, fisheries schools were started. While serving as a Director of the Cochin Central Co-operative Bank, he appealed to fishermen and agricultural labourers to form co-operatives in order to make them self-reliant.
When Karuppan Master was nominated for a second term as MLC, he requested the Dewan to give the post to another member of the backward classes. Accordingly, the Government appointed P.C. Chanchen, a Pulaya leader as MLC and Karuppan tendered his resignation. He was then appointed as Secretary to the Elementary Education Committee and the Bhashaparishkarana Committee. In 1931, he was appointed as Superintendent of Vernacular Education of the erstwhile Cochin State and four years later, appointed as Malayalam Lecturer in the Maharaja’s College. He also served as Chairman of the Board of Examiners of the Madras University and as Member of the Municipal Council, Ernakulam.
On the eve of the Shashtipoorthi celebrations of the Maharaja of Cochin in 1919, a drama script competition was organized. Karuppan’s script dedicated to the Maharaja was adjudged the best. The drama titled Baalakalesam discussed the progress achieved during the 16-year rule of the Maharaja but also criticized the atrocities suffered by the poor people in the name of caste. The drama was first staged in Maharaja’s College and his upper caste Hindu friend provided financial assistance for printing the book. The scholars of the time discussed and appreciated the book. The Maharaja honoured him with the title Kavithilakan. After reading the drama's script, H.H. Sree Moolam Thirunal, the Maharaja of Travancore presented him a nine-jewelled (Navaratna) ring. As per Karuppan Master’s request, the Maharaja sanctioned half-fee concession to all students of Dheevara community in Travancore. Keralavarma Valiakoithampuran, known among the literary circle as Kerala Kalidasan conferred on him the title of Vidwan.
In order to find more time for social service, he relinquished his teaching job. He started organizing the people of Dheevara community into regional groups called Sabhās. The main agenda was to persuade people to fight against illiteracy and superstitions in Cochin State. He also formulated the Pulaya Maha Sabhā for the uplift of the Pulaya community. In due course, he persuaded other backward communities like Velas, Sambhavas, Ulladas, Kudumbis etc., to form similar Sabhās to give fillip to their fight against social injustice. He also secured the right to walk on public roads for the Pulayas and other depressed classes.
Pandit Karuppan Master was an accomplished poet and dramatist and his works are: Achara Bhooshanam, Arayaprasasthi, Baalakalesam, Baalodyanam, Bhaasha Bhaimeeparinayam, Bhanjithavimanam, Chanjenkutty, Chithralekha, Dheevara Tharuniyude Vilapam, Dhruvacharitham, Edward Vijayam, Jaathikkummi, Kairaleekouthukam, Kattile Jyeshtan, Lalithopaharam, Lankamardanam, Mahasamadhi, Mangalamala, Panchavadi, Sakunthalam Vanchippattu, Sangeetha Naishadham, Soudamini, Sree Budhan, Sree Ramavarma, Sugathasooktham, Thirunalkkummi, Udyanavirunnu, Ulukopakhyanam, and Vallorkkavitha. His Sakunthalam, Baalodyanam and Kairaleekouthukam were prescribed text books in Cochin State. Bhaasha Bhaimeeparinayam was a Malayalam text book for the F.A.Examination of the Madras University.
Pandit Karuppan Master was married to Kunhamma and had a daughter Parvathy. He died at the age of 53 due to pleurisy on March 23, 1938. The Pandit Karuppan Smaraka Grameena Vayanasala is a library founded in 1953 in his native village of Cheranelloor and A. K. Velappan, his nephew was instrumental in setting it up. The 50th anniversary meeting of the Pandit Karuppan Memorial Club (PKMC) at Udayamperoor was held on August 31, 2011. The Club organised its golden jubilee with a year-long programme. Dr. Gopinath Panangad is the present Chairman of Pandit Karuppan Foundation. Karuppan Master will be long remembered for his fight against social evils in Kerala.
(Author is Director, Indo-Gulf Consulting, a PR consulting firm. He can be contacted on telegulf@gmail.com)
urice Merleau-Ponty and, through him, the phenomenology of Edmund Husserl played an essential part in the formulation of Bourdieu's focus on the body, action, and practical dispositions (which found their primary manifestation in Bourdieu's theory of habitus).
Bourdieu was also influenced by Wittgenstein (especially with regard to his work on rule-following) stating that "Wittgenstein is probably the philosopher who has helped me most at moments of difficulty. He's a kind of saviour for times of great intellectual distress".
Bourdieu's work is built upon an attempt to transcend a series of oppositions which he thought characterized the social sciences (subjectivism/objectivism, micro/macro, freedom/determinism) of his time. His concepts of habitus, capital, and field were conceived with the intention of overcoming such oppositions.
As a public intellectual
During the 1990s Bourdieu became more and more involved in political debate, becoming one of the most important public faces of intellectual life in France. While a fierce critic of neoliberalism, Bourdieu was also critical of the "total intellectual" role played by Sartre, and he dismissed Sartre's attempts to intervene in French politics as "irresponsible" and "opportunistic." Bourdieu saw sociology not as a form of "intellectual entertainment" but as a serious discipline of a scientific nature[citation needed]. There is an apparent contradiction between Bourdieu's earlier writings against using sociology for political activism and his later launch into the role of a public intellectual, with some highly "visible political statements". Although much of his early work stressed the importance of treating sociology as a strict scientific discipline (« La sociologie est un sport de combat » — "Sociology is a martial art"), his later career saw him enter the less academic world of political debate in France, raising the issue of whether the sociologist has political responsibilities extending to the public domain.
Although Bourdieu earlier faulted public intellectuals such as Sartre, he had strong political views which influenced his sociology from the beginning. By the time of his later work his main concern had become the effect of globalisation and those who benefited least from it. His politics then became more overt and his role as public intellectual was born, from an "urgency to speak out against neoliberal discourse that had become so dominant within political debate." Bourdieu developed a project to investigate the effects — particularly the harm — of neoliberal reforms in France. The most significant fruit of this project was the 1993 study 'The Weight of the World,' although his views are perhaps more candidly expressed in his articles. 'The Weight of the World' represented a heavyweight scientific challenge to the dominant trends in French politics. Since it was the work of a team of sociologists, it also shows Bourdieu's collaborative character, indicating that he was still in 1993 reluctant to accept being singled out with the category (he deplored the term 'role') of public intellectual. Nevertheless, Bourdieu's activities as a critical sociologist prepared him for the public stage, fulfilling his "constructionist view of social life" as it relied upon the idea of social actors making change through collective struggles. His relationship with the media was improved through his very public action of organizing strikes and rallies that raised huge media interest in him and his many books became more popular through this new notoriety. One of the main differences between the critical sociologist and public intellectual is the ability to have a relationship with popular media resources outside the academic realm. It is notable that in his later writings Bourdieu sounded cautionary notes about such individuals, describing them as "like the Trojan Horse " for the unwanted elements they may bring to the academic world. Again Bourdieu seems wary of accepting the description 'public intellectual,' worrying that it might be difficult to reconcile with science and scholarship. Research is needed on what conditions transform particular intellectuals into public intellectuals.
Work
Bourdieu routinely sought to connect his theoretical ideas with empirical research and his work can be seen as sociology of culture or, as he described it, a "Theory of Practice". His contributions to sociology were both evidential and theoretical (that is, calculated through both systems). His key terms were habitus, capital and field.
He extended the idea of capital to categories such as social capital, cultural capital, financial capital, and symbolic capital. For Bourdieu each individual occupies a position in a multidimensional social space; he or she is not defined only by social class membership, but by every single kind of capital he or she can articulate through social relations. That capital includes the value of social networks, which Bourdieu showed could be used to produce or reproduce inequality.
Ultimately, each relatively autonomous field of modern life, such as economy, politics, arts, journalism, bureaucracy, science or education engenders a specific complex of social relations where the agents will engage their everyday practice. Through this practice, they develop a certain disposition for social action that is conditioned by their position on the field (dominant/dominated and orthodox/heterodox are only two possible ways of positioning the agents on the field; these basic binary distinctions are always further analysed considering the specificities of each field). This disposition, combined with every other disposition the individual develops through his engagement with other fields operating within the social world, will eventually come to constitute a system of dispositions, known in Bourdieu's lexicon as a habitus. Dispositions - a key concept in Bourdieu's work - can be conceived as a sense of the game, a partly rational but partly intuitive understanding of fields and of social order in general, a practical sense, a practical reason, giving rise to opinions, tastes, tone of voice, typical body movements and mannerisms and so on. The dispositions constitutive of habitus are therefore conditioned responses to the social world, becoming so ingrained that they come to occur spontaneously, rather like 'kneejerk' opinions. It follows that the habitus developed by an individual will typify his position in the social space. By doing so, social agents will often acknowledge, legitimate and reproducethe social forms of domination (including prejudices) and the common opinions of each field as self-evident, clouding from conscience and practice even the acknowledgment of other possible means of production (including symbolic production) and power relations.
Though not deterministic, the inculcation of the subjective structures of the habitus can be observed through statistical data, for example, while its selective affinity with the objective structures of the social world explains the continuity of the social order through time. As the individual habitus is always a mix of multiple engagements in the social world through the person's life, while the social fields are put into practice through the agency of the individuals, no social field or order can be completely stable. In other words, if the relation between individual predisposition and social structure is far stronger than common sense tends to believe, it is not a perfect match.
Some examples of his empirical results include showing that, despite the apparent freedom of choice in the arts, people's artistic preferences (such as classical music, rock, traditional music) strongly tie in with their social position; and showing that subtleties of language such as accent, grammar, spelling and style – all part of cultural capital – are a major factor in social mobility (for example, getting a higher-paid, higher-status job).
Pierre Bourdieu's work emphasized how social classes, especially the ruling and intellectual classes, preserve their social privileges across generations despite the myth that contemporary post-industrial society boasts equality of opportunity and high social mobility, achieved through formal education.
Bourdieu was an extraordinarily prolific author, producing hundreds of articles and three dozen books, nearly all of which are now available in English.
Theory of class distinction
Bourdieu developed theories of social stratification based on aesthetic taste in his 1979 work Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste (in French, La Distinction), published by Harvard University Press. Bourdieu claims that how one chooses to present one's social space to the world — one's aesthetic dispositions — depicts one's status and distances oneself from lower groups. Specifically, Bourdieu hypothesizes that children internalize these dispositions at an early age and that such dispositions guide the young towards their appropriate social positions, towards the behaviors that are suitable for them, and foster an aversion towards other behaviors.
Bourdieu theorizes that class fractions teach aesthetic preferences to their young. Class fractions are determined by a combination of the varying degrees of social, economic, and cultural capital. Society incorporates “symbolic goods, especially those regarded as the attributes of excellence, [...as] the ideal weapon in strategies of distinction.” Those attributes deemed excellent are shaped by the interests of the dominating class. He emphasizes the dominance of cultural capital early on by stating that “differences in cultural capital mark the differences between the classes.
The development of aesthetic dispositions are very largely determined by social origin rather than accumulated capital and experience over time. The acquisition of cultural capital depends heavily on “total, early, imperceptible learning, performed within the family from the earliest days of life.” Bourdieu argues that, in the main, people inherit their cultural attitudes, the accepted “definitions that their elders offer them.”
He asserts the primacy of social origin and cultural capital by claiming that social capital and economic capital, though acquired cumulatively over time, depend upon it. Bourdieu claims that “one has to take account of all the characteristics of social condition which are (statistically) associated from earliest childhood with possession of high or low income and which tend to shape tastes adjusted to these conditions.”
According to Bourdieu, tastes in food, culture and presentation are indicators of class because trends in their consumption seemingly correlate with an individual's fit in society. Each fraction of the dominant class develops its own aesthetic criteria. A multitude of consumer interests based on differing social positions necessitates that each fraction “has its own artists and philosophers, newspapers and critics, just as it has its hairdresser, interior decorator, or tailor.”
However, Bourdieu does not disregard the importance of social capital and economic capital in the formation of cultural capital. For example, the production of art and the ability to play an instrument “presuppose not only dispositions associated with long establishment in the world of art and culture but also economic means...and spare time.” However, regardless of one's ability to act upon one's preferences, Bourdieu specifies that “respondents are only required to express a status-induced familiarity with legitimate...culture.”
“[Taste] functions as a sort of social orientation, a ‘sense of one’s place,’ guiding the occupants of a given...social space towards the social positions adjusted to their properties, and towards the practices or goods which befit the occupants of that position.” Thus, different modes of acquisition yield differences in the nature of preferences.
These “cognitive structures...are internalized, ‘embodied’ social structures,” becoming a natural entity to the individual (Bourdieu 468). Different tastes are thus seen as unnatural and rejected, resulting in “disgust provoked by horror or visceral intolerance (‘feeling sick’) of the tastes of others.”
Bourdieu himself believes class distinction and preferences are “most marked in the ordinary choices of everyday existence, such as furniture, clothing, or cooking, which are particularly revealing of deep-rooted and long-standing dispositions because, lying outside the scope of the educational system, they have to be confronted, as it were, by naked taste.” Indeed, Bourdieu believes that “the strongest and most indelible mark of infant learning” would probably be in the tastes of food. Bourdieu thinks that meals served on special occasions are “an interesting indicator of the mode of self-presentation adopted in ‘showing off’ a life-style (in which furniture also plays a part).” The idea is that their likes and dislikes should mirror those of their associated class fractions.
Children from the lower end of the social hierarchy are predicted to choose “heavy, fatty fattening foods, which are also cheap” in their dinner layouts, opting for “plentiful and good” meals as opposed to foods that are “original and exotic.” These potential outcomes would reinforce Bourdieu's “ethic of sobriety for the sake of slimness, which is most recognized at the highest levels of the social hierarchy,” that contrasts the “convivial indulgence” characteristic of the lower classes. Demonstrations of the tastes of luxury (or freedom) and the tastes of necessity reveal a distinction among the social classes.
The degree to which social origin affects these preferences surpasses both educational and economic capital. Demonstrably, at equivalent levels of educational capital, social origin remains an influential factor in determining these dispositions. How one describes one's social environment relates closely to social origin because the instinctive narrative springs from early stages of development. Also, across the divisions of labor, “economic constraints tend to relax without any fundamental change in the pattern of spending.” This observation reinforces the idea that social origin, more than economic capital, produces aesthetic preferences because regardless of economic capability, consumption patterns remain stable.
Theory of power and practice
Bourdieu's sociological work emphasizes the importance of practices in the social world. Bourdieu was opposed to the intellectualist tradition and stressed that social domination and cultural reproduction were primarily focused on bodily know-how and competent practices in the society. Bourdieu fiercely opposed Rational Choice Theory because he believed it was a misunderstanding of how social agents operate. According to Bourdieu agents do not continuously calculate according to explicit rational and economic criteria. Rather, social agents operate according to an implicit practical logic—a practical sense—and bodily dispositions. Social agents act according to their "feel for the game" (the "feel" being, roughly, habitus, and the "game" being the field).
Bourdieu's anthropological work was dominated by social hierarchy reproduction analysis. Bourdieu criticized the importance given to economic factors in the analysis of social order and change. He stressed that the capacity of actors to impose their cultural reproductions and symbolic systems plays an essential role in the reproduction of dominate social structures. Symbolic violence is the self-interested capacity to ensure that the arbitrariness of the social order is either ignored, or argued as natural, thereby justifying the legitimacy of existing social structures. This concept plays an essential part in his sociological analysis.
For Bourdieu, the social world has gradually divided into what he calls fields. For him, social activity differences led to various, relatively autonomous, social spaces in which competition centers around particular capital. These fields are treated on a hierarchical basis—with economic power usually governing—wherein the dynamics of fields arise out of the struggle of social actors trying to occupy the dominant positions within the field. Bourdieu embraces prime elements of conflict theory like Marx. Social struggle also occurs within fields hierarchically nested under the economic antagonisms between social classes. The conflicts which take place in each social field have specific characteristics arising from those fields and that involve many social relationships which are not economic.
Pierre Bourdieu developed a theory of the action, around the concept of habitus, which exerted a considerable influence in the social sciences. This theory seeks to show that social agents develop strategies which are adapted to the needs of the social worlds that they inhabit. These strategies are unconscious and act on the level of a bodily logic.
Theory about media and cultural production
Bourdieu's most significant work on cultural production is available in two books: The Field of Cultural Production (1993) and The Rules of Art (1996).
Bourdieu builds his theory of cultural production using his own characteristic theoretical vocabulary of habitus, capital and field.
David Hesmondhalgh writes that “by ‘Cultural production’ Bourdieu intends a very broad understanding of culture, in line with the tradition of classical sociology, including science (which in turn includes social science), law and religion, as well as expressive-aesthetic activities such as art, literature and music. However, his work on cultural production focuses overwhelmingly on two types of field or sub-field of cultural production (...): literature and art.”
According to Pierre Bourdieu “the principal obstacle to a rigorous science of the production of the value of cultural goods” is the “charismatic ideology of ‘creation’ “ which can be easily found in studies of art, literature and other cultural fields. In Bourdieu’s opinion charismatic ideology ‘directs the gaze towards the apparent producer and prevents us from asking who has created this “creator” and the magic power of transubstantiation with which the “creator” is endowed’.
For Bourdieu, a sociologically informed view of an artist ought to describe their influences, antagonisms, etc., i.e. their relations to the field of production; and also should describe their attitudes to their readers, enthusiasts or detractors, i.e. their relations to the field of consumption. Further, a work of literature, for example, may not adequately be analysed either as the product of the author's life and beliefs (a naively biographical account), or without any reference to the author's intentions (as Barthes argued). In short, "the subject of a work is a habitus in relationship with a 'post', a position, that is, within a field."
According to Bourdieu, cultural revolutions are always dependent on the possibilities present in the positions inscribed in the field.
Field and habitus
A field is a setting in which agents and their social positions are located. The position of each particular agent in the field is a result of interaction between the specific rules of the field, agent's habitus and agent's capital (social, economic and cultural). Fields interact with each other, and are hierarchical: Most are subordinate to the larger field of power and class relations.
Instead of confining his analysis of social relations and change to voluntaristic agency or strictly in terms of class as a structural relation, Bourdieu uses the agency-structure bridging concept of field: any historical, non-homogeneous social-spatial arena in which people maneuver and struggle in pursuit of desirable resources. Much of Bourdieu's work observes the semi-independent role of educational and cultural resources in the expression of agency. This makes his work amenable to liberal-conservative scholarship positing the fundamental cleavages of society as amongst disorderly factions of the working class, in need of disciplinary intervention where they have assumed excessive privilege. Unsurprisingly given his historical and biographical location, however, Bourdieu was in practice both influenced by and sympathetic to the Marxist identification of economic command as a principal component of power and agency within capitalist society, in contrast to some of his followers or the influential sociologist Max Weber.
Habitus
Bourdieu's concept of habitus was inspired by Marcel Mauss's notion of body technique and hexis. The word itself can be found in the works of Norbert Elias, Max Weber, Edmund Husserl and Erwin Panofsky as re-workings of the concept as it emerged in Aristotle's notion of Hexis. For Bourdieu, habitus was essential in resolving a prominent antinomy of the human sciences: objectivism and subjectivism. Habitus can be defined as a system of dispositions (lasting, acquired schemes of perception, thought and action).
The individual agent develops these dispositions in response to the objective conditions it encounters. In this way Bourdieu theorizes the inculcation of objective social structures into the subjective, mental experience of agents. For the objective social field places requirements on its participants for membership, so to speak, within the field. Having thereby absorbed objective social structure into a personal set of cognitive and somatic dispositions, and the subjective structures of action of the agent then being commensurate with the objective structures and extant exigencies of the social field, a doxic relationship emerges.
Habitus is somewhat reminiscent of preexisting sociological concepts such as socialization, but habitus also differs from the more classic concepts in several important ways. Firstly, a central aspect of the habitus is its embodiment: Habitus does not only, or even primarily, function at the level of explicit, discursive consciousness. The internal structures become embodied and work in a deeper, practical and often pre-reflexive way. An illustrative example might be the 'muscle memory' cultivated in many areas of physical education. Consider the way we catch a ball - the complex geometric trajectories are not calculated; it is not an intellectual process. Although it is a skill that requires learning, it is more a physical than a mental process and has to be performed physically to be learned. In this sense, the concept has something in common with Anthony Giddens' concept of practical consciousness.
Habitus and doxa
Doxa refers to the learned, fundamental, deep-founded, unconscious beliefs, and values, taken as self-evident universals, that inform an agent's actions and thoughts within a particular field. Doxa tends to favor the particular social arrangement of the field, thus privileging the dominant and taking their position of dominance as self-evident and universally favorable. Therefore, the categories of understanding and perception that constitute a habitus, being congruous with the objective organization of the field, tend to reproduce the very structures of the field. A doxic situation may be thought of as a situation characterized by a harmony between the objective, external structures and the 'subjective', internal structures of the habitus. In the doxic state, the social world is perceived as natural, taken-for-granted and even commonsensical.
Bourdieu thus sees habitus as an important factor contributing to social reproduction because it is central to generating and regulating the practices that make up social life. Individuals learn to want what conditions make possible for them, and not to aspire to what is not available to them. The conditions in which the individual lives generate dispositions compatible with these conditions (including tastes in art, literature, food, and music), and in a sense pre-adapted to their demands. The most improbable practices are therefore excluded, as unthinkable, by a kind of immediate submission to order that inclines agents to make a virtue of necessity, that is, to refuse what is categorically denied and to will the inevitable.
Reconciling the objective (field) and the subjective (habitus)
As mentioned above, Bourdieu used the methodological and theoretical concepts of habitus and field in order to make an epistemological break with the prominent objective-subjective antinomy of the social sciences. He wanted to effectively unite social phenomenology and structuralism. Habitus and field are proposed to do so.
Bourdieu's ambition to unite these sociological traditions, which had been widely thought to be incompatible, was and remains controversial. The most important concept to grasp is habitus. Crudely put, the habitus is the system of dispositions which individuals have. Sociologists very often look at either social laws (structure) or the individual minds (agency) in which these laws are inscribed. Great sociological arguments have raged between those who argue that the former should be sociology's principal interest (structuralists) and those who argue the same for the latter (phenomenologists). When Bourdieu instead asks us to consider dispositions, he is making a very subtle intervention in sociology. He asserts a middle ground where social laws and individual minds meet and is arguing that the proper object of sociological analysis should be this middle ground: dispositions.
Dispositions are also importantly public and hence observable. If I prefer brie to Camembert but keep this fact secret — never showing my preference, scrupulously giving no evidence from which my preference may be observed or deduced — then the preference remains strictly private. It may be aptly called a preference, but it is not a disposition in Bourdieu's sense and arguably not in the everyday sense either. A disposition performs, enacts a preference; however trivial, even when disputing the relative merits of cheeses, a disposition is a public declaration of where one stands, what one's allegiances are.
Amongst any society of individuals, the constant performance of dispositions, trivial and grand, forms an observable range of preferences and allegiances, points and vectors. This spatial metaphor can be analysed by sociologists and realised in diagrammatic form. Ultimately, conceptualising social relations this way gives rise to an image of society as a web of interrelated spaces. These are the social fields.
For Bourdieu, habitus and field can only exist in relation to each other. Although a field is constituted by the various social agents participating in it (and thus their habitus), a habitus, in effect, represents the transposition of objective structures of the field into the subjective structures of action and thought of the agent.
The relationship between habitus and field is two-way. The field exists only insofar as social agents possess the dispositions and set of perceptual schemata that are necessary to constitute that field and imbue it with meaning. Concomitantly, by participating in the field, agents incorporate into their habitus the proper know-how that will allow them to constitute the field. Habitus manifests the structures of the field, and the field mediates between habitus and practice.
Bourdieu attempts to use the concepts of habitus and field to remove the division between the subjective and the objective. Whether or not he successfully does so is open to debate. Bourdieu asserts that any research must be composed of two "minutes." The first an objective stage of research—where one looks at the relations of the social space and the structures of the field. The second stage must be a subjective analysis of social agents' dispositions to act and their categories of perception and understanding that result from their inhabiting the field. Proper research, he says, cannot do without these two together.
Species of capital and symbolic violence
Bourdieu extended the notion of capital, defined as sums of money or assets put to productive use. For Bourdieu, these assets could take many forms which had not received much attention when he began writing. Bourdieu habitually refers to several principal forms of capital: economic, symbolic, cultural and social. Loïc Wacquant describes their status in Bourdieu's work in these terms: "Capital comes in 3 principal species: economic, cultural and social. A fourth species, symbolic capital, designates the effects of any form of capital when people do not perceive them as such."
Bourdieu sees symbolic capital (e.g., prestige, honor, attention) as a crucial source of power. Symbolic capital is any species of capital that is, in Loïc Wacquant's terms "not perceived as such," but which is instead perceived through socially inculcated classificatory schemes. When a holder of symbolic capital uses the power this confers against an agent who holds less, and seeks thereby to alter their actions, they exercise symbolic violence.
Symbolic violence is fundamentally the imposition of categories of thought and perception upon dominated social agents who then take the social order to be just. It is the incorporation of unconscious structures that tend to perpetuate the structures of action of the dominant. The dominated then take their position to be "right." Symbolic violence is in some senses much more powerful than physical violence in that it is embedded in the very modes of action and structures of cognition of individuals, and imposes the spectre of legitimacy of the social order.
In his theoretical writings, Bourdieu employs some terminology used in economics to analyze the processes of social and cultural reproduction, of how the various forms of capital tend to transfer from one generation to the next. For Bourdieu, formal education represents the key example of this process. Educational success, according to Bourdieu, entails a whole range of cultural behaviour, extending to ostensibly non-academic features like gait, dress, or accent. Privileged children have learned this behaviour, as have their teachers. Children of unprivileged backgrounds have not. The children of privilege therefore fit the pattern of their teachers' expectations with apparent 'ease'; they are 'docile'. The unprivileged are found to be 'difficult', to present 'challenges'. Yet both behave as their upbringing dictates. Bourdieu regards this 'ease', or 'natural' ability—distinction—as in fact the product of a great social labour, largely on the part of the parents. It equips their children with the dispositions of manner as well as thought which ensure they are able to succeed within the educational system and can then reproduce their parents' class position in the wider social system.
Cultural capital refers to assets, e.g., competencies, skills, qualifications, which enable holders to mobilise cultural authority and can also be a source of misrecognition and symbolic violence. For example, working class children can come to see the educational success of their middle-class peers as always legitimate, seeing what is often class-based inequality as instead the result of hard work or even 'natural' ability. A key part of this process is the transformation of people's symbolic or economic inheritance (e.g., accent or property) into cultural capital (e.g., university qualifications).
Bourdieu argues that cultural capital has developed in opposition to economic capital. Moreover, the conflict between those who mostly hold cultural capital and those who mostly hold economic capital finds expression in the opposed social fields of art and business. The field of art and related cultural fields are seen to have striven historically for autonomy, which in different times and places has been more or less achieved. The autonomous field of art is summed up as "an economic world turned upside down," highlighting the opposition between economic and cultural capital.
For Bourdieu, "social capital is the sum of the resources, actual or virtual, that accrue to an individual or a group by virtue of possessing a durable network of more or less institutionalized relationships of mutual acquaintance and recognition." In order for individuals to gain such capital, they must work for it constantly and it takes time according to Bourdieu. For some families, cultural capital is accumulated over a period of generations as they adopt cultural investment strategies and pass them on to their children. This gives children an opportunity to realize their potential through education and they pass on those same values to their children. Over time, individuals in such families gain cultural currency which gives them an inherent advantage over other groups of people, which is why there is such variation in academic achievement in children of different social classes. Having such cultural currency enables people to compensate for a lack of financial capital by giving them a certain level of respect and status in society. Bourdieu believes that cultural capital may play a role when individuals pursue power and status in society through politics or other means. Social and cultural capital along with economic capital contribute to the inequality we see in the world, according to Bourdieu's argument.
Reflexivity
Bourdieu insists on the importance of a reflexive sociology in which sociologists must at all times conduct their research with conscious attention to the effects of their own position, their own set of internalized structures, and how these are likely to distort or prejudice their objectivity. The sociologist, according to Bourdieu, must engage in a "sociology of sociology" so as not to unwittingly attribute to the object of observation the characteristics of the subject. She/he ought to conduct their research with one eye continually reflecting back upon their own habitus, their dispositions learned through long social and institutional training.
It is only by maintaining such a continual vigilance that the sociologists can spot themselves in the act of importing their own biases into their work. Reflexivity is, therefore, a kind of additional stage in the scientific epistemology. It is not enough for the scientist to go through the usual stages (research, hypothesis, falsification, experiment, repetition, peer review, etc.); Bourdieu recommends also that the scientist purge their work of the prejudices likely to derive from their social position. In a good illustration of the process, Bourdieu chastises academics (including himself) for judging their students' work against a rigidly scholastic linguistic register, favouring students whose writing appears 'polished', marking down those guilty of 'vulgarity'. Without a reflexive analysis of the snobbery being deployed under the cover of those subjective terms, the academic will unconsciously reproduce a degree of class prejudice, promoting the student with high linguistic capital and holding back the student who lacks it — not because of the objective quality of the work but simply because of the register in which it is written. Reflexivity should enable the academic to be conscious of their prejudices, e.g. for apparently sophisticated writing, and impel them to take steps to correct for this bias.
Bourdieu also describes how the "scholastic point of view" unconsciously alters how scientists approach their objects of study. Because of the systematicity of their training and their mode of analysis, they tend to exaggerate the systematicity of the things they study. This inclines them to see agents following clear rules where in fact they use less determinate strategies; it makes it hard to theorise the 'fuzzy' logic of the social world, its practical and therefore mutable nature, poorly described by words like 'system', 'structure' and 'logic' which imply mechanisms, rigidity and omnipresence. The scholar can too easily find themselves mistaking "the things of logic for the logic of things" — a phrase of Marx's which Bourdieu is fond of quoting. Again, reflexivity is recommended as the key to discovering and correcting for such errors which would otherwise remain unseen, mistakes produced by an over-application of the virtues that produced also the truths within which the errors are embedded.
Science and objectivity
Bourdieu contended there is transcendental objectivity, only when certain necessary historical conditions are met. The scientific field is precisely that field in which objectivity may be acquired. Bourdieu's ideal scientific field is one that grants its participants an interest or investment in objectivity. Further, this ideal scientific field is one in which the field's degree of autonomy advances and, in a corresponding process, its "entrance fee" becomes increasingly strict. The scientific field entails rigorous intersubjective scrutinizing of theory and data. This should make it difficult for those within the field to bring in, for example, political influence.
However, the autonomy of the scientific field cannot be taken for granted. An important part of Bourdieu's theory is that the historical development of a scientific field, sufficiently autonomous to be described as such and to produce objective work, is an achievement that requires continual reproduction. Having been achieved, it cannot be assumed to be secure. Bourdieu does not discount the possibility that the scientific field may lose its autonomy and therefore deteriorate, losing its defining characteristic as a producer of objective work. In this way, the conditions of possibility for the production of transcendental objectivity could arise and then disappear.
Language
Bourdieu takes language to be not merely a method of communication, but also a mechanism of power. The language one uses is designated by one's relational position in a field or social space. Different uses of language tend to reiterate the respective positions of each participant. Linguistic interactions are manifestations of the participants' respective positions in social space and categories of understanding, and thus tend to reproduce the objective structures of the social field. This determines who has a "right" to be listened to, to interrupt, to ask questions, and to lecture, and to what degree.
The representation of identity in forms of language can be subdivided into language, dialect, and accent. For example, the use of different dialects in an area can represent a varied social status for individuals. A good example of this would be in the case of French. Until the French Revolution, the difference of dialects usage directly reflected ones social status. Peasants and lower class members spoke local dialects, while only nobles and higher class members were fluent with the official French language. Accents can reflect an area's inner conflict with classifications and authority within a population.
The reason language acts as a mechanism of power is through forms of mental representations it is acknowledged and noticed as objective representations: as a sign and/or symbol. These signs and symbols therefore transform language into an agency of power.
Legacy
Bourdieu "was, for many, the leading intellectual of present-day France... a thinker in the same rank as Foucault, Barthes and Lacan". His works have been translated into two dozen languages and have affected the whole gamut of disciplines in the social sciences and the humanities. They have also been used in pedagogy. Several works of his are considered classics, not only in sociology, but also in anthropology, education, and cultural studies. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste (La Distinction) was named as one of the 20th century's ten most important works of sociology by the International Sociological Association. The Rules of Art has significantly affected sociology, history, literature and aesthetics.
In France, Bourdieu was seen not as an ivory tower academic or "cloistered don" but as a passionate activist for those he believed to be subordinated by society. In 2001, a documentary film about Bourdieu – Sociology is a Martial Art – "became an unexpected hit in Paris. Its very title stressed how much of a politically engaged intellectual Bourdieu was, taking on the mantle of Émile Zola and Jean-Paul Sartre in French public life and slugging it out with politicians because he thought that was what people like him should do."
For Bourdieu, sociology was a combative effort, exposing the un-thought structures beneath the physical (somatic) and thought practices of social agents. He saw sociology as a means of confronting symbolic violence and exposing those unseen areas where one could be free.
Bourdieu's work continues to be influential. His work is widely cited, and many sociologists and other social scientists work explicitly in a Bourdieusian framework. One example is Loïc Wacquant, who persistently applies the Bourdieusian theoretical and methodological principles to subjects such as boxing, employing what Bourdieu termed participant objectivation (objectivation participante), or what Wacquant calls "carnal sociology." In addition to publishing a book on Bourdieu's lasting influence, novelist Édouard Louis uses the legacy of Pierre Bourdieu as a literary device.
Bourdieu also played a crucial role in the popularisation of correspondence analysis and particularly multiple correspondence analysis. Bourdieu held that these geometric techniques of data analysis are, like his sociology, inherently relational. "I use Correspondence Analysis very much, because I think that it is essentially a relational procedure whose philosophy fully expresses what in my view constitutes social reality. It is a procedure that 'thinks' in relations, as I try to do it with the concept of field," Bourdieu said, in the preface to The Craft of Sociology.
Parvatibai Athavale
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Parvatibai Athavale was a close associate of Dr. Dhondo Keshav Karve, one of India's great social reformers. She made major contributions in social upliftment of women, particularly Hindu widows.
Parvatibai Athavale was born in 1870 in Devrukh, a small town in Kokan region on the west coast of India. Her maiden name was Miss Krishna Joshi. She was married at the young age of eleven with Mr. Mahadev Narayan Athavale. She gave birth to three children after her marriage but only one son (Mr. Narayan Mahadev Athavale) survived.
Later in her life, Parvatibai went to the U.S. to collect funds and donations for the widow education and upliftment, in associated with Karve. She herself became a widow early in life and had to shave off her head and stopped wearing any jewellery and took on the traditional dress of a Maharashtrian Brahmin widow, as was the tradition during those times. After working in the Widows Home, Parvatibai realised that if a change had to come, it had to be initiated by the widows themselves and to set an example, she decided to discard the signs of widowhood. In 1912, she stopped shaving her head and gave up her widow's garb. She says she was criticized a lot, but she did not give in to those insults.
Parvatibai Athavale has also penned down her autobiography, later translated in English by Justin E. Abbott and published in 1930, by the name of My Story: The Autobiography of a Hindu Widow, which makes a social impact even today.
Paul Diwakar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
N. Paul Divakar is a Dalit activist and former General Secretary of the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights, based in Delhi. He was formerly the General Secretary of the Dalit Bahujan Shramik Union, a Dalit-Bahujan rights organisation in Andhra Pradesh.
The Dalit Bahujan Shramik Union (DBSU) is a Dalit-Bahujan civil rights organization and agricultural workers' union locally coordinated from Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, South India. It lobbies against violence towards Dalit women. Two of its founders were Paul Diwakar and Annie Namala.
Origins
The DBSU was previously known as the Andhra Pradesh Dalit Bahujan Vyavasaya Vruthidharula Union (APDBVVU).
Sri N.Paul Divakar is a Dalit activist. At present, he is the General Secretary of National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) based in New Delhi. He was formerly the General Secretary of the Dalit Bahujan Shramik Union, a Dalit-Bahujan rights organisation in Andhra Pradesh.
His background
Sri Divakar is an MSW from the Madras School of Social Work in Chennai.
His concerns
Dappu
He was earlier convenor of dappu - a dalit-bahujan collective in Andhra Pradesh.
Dalit Bahujan Shramik Union
He served as the General Secretary of DBSU and continues providing leadership to those at the helm.
National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR)
He served as the National Convenor of NCDHR. Plight of the Dalit-Bahujans is brought forth at various fora around the globe.
Dalit Arthik Adhikar Aandolan (NCDHR)
He serves as the General Secretary of NCDHR-DAAA. DAAA mainly focuses on Economic Rights of Dalit and working on Budget Analysis and Advocacy for implementation of Special Component Plan and Tribal Sub Plan, Caste Based Discrimination in Education and Health, Inclusion in Private Sectors and Caste Based Discrimination in Disaster Response and Preparedness.
Personal History
Mr. Divakar is the son of Rt.Rev.Dr. N.D.Ananda Rao Samuel a Bishop and a Moderator of the Church of South India and is known for his integrity and commitment to the poor across India. His mother's name was Smt. Flora Manjula also stood for and supported the cause of the poor.
Santram B. A.
A committed anti-caste warrior
Santram and his Jaatpaat Todak Mandal drew the attention of the entire nation. The mandal received overwhelming support but the conservatives opposed it vehemently. Among its opponents was Suryakant Tripathi ‘Nirala’
Punaram Nishad
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Punaram Nishad
Born 16 November 1939 Kartik Mas Purnima
Ringni, Durg district, Chhattisgarh, India
Died 11 February 2017 Falgun Mas Navami
Dr B R Ambedkar Hospital, Raipur Chhattisgarh
Other names Punaram
Occupation Folk musician
Known for Pandavani
Spouse(s) Jamuna Nishad
Children Rohit Nishad
Parent(s) Laxman Nishad & Budvanti Nishad
Awards 1975 - Tamra Padak Award
1975- Chhasttisgarh Kala samman, 2002 - Vilasa Samman,2005 - Padma Shri
Website www.nishadbandhu.com
Punaram Nishad, born in Ringni, Dist Durg Chhattisgarh, is an Indian folk musician, known for his prowess in the Pandavani, a folk music tradition of Chhattisgarh and the neighbouring states in India. Born in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, (then Madhya Pradesh) to a Bhajan singer, he started learning the art from the age of 10 under Jhadu Ram Dewangan, considered by many as the father of Pandvani, and aligned with the Vedamati tradition of Pandavani, which follows a rigid text, and does not permit improvisations.
Nishad has composed 18 stories for Pandavani, of which Udyog Parv is his favourite. He has acted in two plays, Agra Bazaar directed by Habib Tanvir, and a Naya Theatre production, Duryodhan. His performance has been staged during the Beyond the Border Festival Tour at Phoenix Arts Centre, Leicester on 28 June 1995. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2005, for his contributions to Indian fork arts. He lives in Ringni village of Durg district in Chhattisgarh and continues to teach Pandavani at his residence, Shanti Niketan Ashram. His son, Rohit Nishad, is a farmer.
PANDIT AYOTHIDASAR
by anarchyindia
Pandit Ayothidasar in the last decade of the 19th Century was a Writer, Journalist, Social reformer, Siddha Physician, Tamil and Buddhist Scholar. He edited and published THAMIZHAN a journal devoted to social reform for eight years. He opposed Brahminism Vedic rituals, untouchability. He championed communal representation, Women’s Rights, self-respect, Rationalism etc., unfortunately the world of Tamil scholar purposely ignored contribution to Tamil Life and Thought.
Only AD suffered this ignoring. Subramania Bharathiyar, V.O.Chimdambaram Pillai, Singaravelach Chettiar, Pandit U.V. Saminatha Iyer, Thiru.V.Kalyanasundara Madaliar, Pandithurai Thevar, Mahavidwan Raghava Iyengar who lived during the same period in the Madras Presidency were hounoured for theirs scholarship and patriotism. Ayothidasar’s many field contributions did not receive due recognition because he belonged to the Paraiyan caste.
The neglect Ayothidasar suffered was worse than physical violence. The higher-caste intellectuals in Tamil Nadu were adopt in practicing this variety of concealed violence.
We are presenting before you the history of Tamil Nadu 100 years ago which was ignored by this casteist intellectuals of Tamil Nadu.
European merchants came to India in the later half of the 17th century. They began as Traders but in course of time conquered and ruled large parts of the country including Madras State
During 1870’s Englishmen came to India in large numbers to construct roads and bridges. Railway lines were laid and new departments like post and telegraph, police, military etc were created.
They lived in colonies and with their families they required the services of interpreters, gardeners, servants, cooks and watchmen. They also required grooms for their horses. Because the post required physical labour people belonging to the dominant castes did not offer their services. Englishmen ate beef and that was an important reason why people from the dominant castes. Kept away from such services.
The depressed classes of TN the sons of the soil who were ignored by the caste ridden society were selected to do these jobs. The men who lived in the slums in and around Madras were selected to lay railway lines, run postal services and construct buildings. This resulted in the growth of big slums in Egmore, Chetput, Teynampet, Althottam etc.
The depressed classes who lived in these slums organized associations like Panchamar Maha Jana Sabhas to forge unity among themselves and improve their living conditions. They demanded facilities for education for their children and employment for themselves. They also requested the Govt. to allot lands to the Depressed classes for cultivation.
The British Govt. accepted their demands and either directly or through Christian Missionaries implemented them. On behalf of the DC’s many journals were published in the Madras Presidency.
When Sir Thomsa Munro was Governor of Madras Mr. george Harrington was led under him as the Heal of the state Construction Dept. Thiru. Kandappan served under him. He was a Tamil Scholar and also Siddha Physician. He possessed a plam-leaf copy of the great Tamil work, TIRUKKURAL. He understood its importance as a classic of world literature and so he carefully preserved the copy.
Kandappan’s son Kandasamy who lived in the Thousand Lights area in Madras was also a Siddha Physician. His wife gave birth to a male child on 20.05.1845 and the child was named Kathavarayan. He was also initiated into the hereditary profession Siddha Medicine. Later he joined Ayothidasar Pandit’s Village School. He developed great respect for his teacher and adopted his name.
English officials used to go to Nilgiris Hills during summer George Harrington took his Butler Kaudappan and his family members with him to Ooty Ayothidasar married Dhanalakshmi sister of Rettamalai, Srinivasan who was his relation.
Ayothidasar started Advaita Philosophy during his stay at Ooty and formed the Advaithanandha Sabha to propogate Advaita Philosophy Col. H.S. Olcott, President of the International Theosophical society had started 5 free schools for Panchama children in the centre of Madras. He also became acquainted with Rev. John Rathinam who started a school for the oppressed in Madras. He formed Dravidar Kazhagam in 1882 and started the journal ‘Dravida Pandian’ in 1885. Ayothidasar’s friendship with the two persons mentioned above introduced for reaching changes in his thinking.
DR. T. DHARMARAJAN
ST. XAVIER’S COLLEGE, PALAYAMKOTTAI
When the Mahajana Sabha (Madras) conducted its General Body Meeting. Ayothidasar moved a resolution containing some demands. The opposition to his demands opened his eyes.
Did he make revolutionary demands? No, he requested that Pariahs may be allowed entry into Siva and Vishnu Temples. He also sought facilities for educating pariah children. These were ordinary demands but a 100 years ago they met with stiff opposition. Entrenched casteism opposed his very ordinary demands.
“You may call yourself a HINDU. But Siva and Vishnu are not your deities. Karuppasamy and Sudalamadan are your deities. Be satisfied with worshipping them” said caste Hindus. It was a defining moment in his life.
The palm leaf manuscript Naradiya Sangs Thelivu” narrates the history of Buddhism and how it was destroyed in the land of its birth. When he studied of his outlook changed.
In 1890’s he accepted Buddhist teachings. In 1898 July he went to Colombo with company of Col.Olcott and became a Buddhist.
“Buddhism was the religion of my concestors and I here returned to it”, wrote Ayothidasar.
He returned to Madras and founded the “south Indian Sakkiya Buddhist Sangh” at Royappettah (Madras). Its branches were started at Tiruppathur, Thangavayal, Marikuppam, Bangalore, Rangoon (Burma) etc.
Meetings were held every Sunday. Singaravelar, Prof. Lakshmi Narasu, A.P. Periyasamy Pulavar, Appaduraiar and Swapna Sundari spoke in these meetings. They exposed Vedic religion and Brahminism and supported rationalist ideas. He rewrote the history of the oppressed classes when Brahminism had subjugated in a stealthy manner.
Dr. RAJ GOWTHAMAN
PUDUCHERRY
Ayothidasar lived a life of struggle with Buddhism as parallel religion he countered Brahminism orthodoky.
When he said that Brahmin are steeped in casteism and non-Brahmins are victims of casteism, he was not indulging in speculation – he was speaking the TRUTH. He said on the basis of strong evidence that the untouchables were once followers of Buddhism. Brahminism punished recalcitrant individuals and denounced them as casteless persons and people of low birth. Thevaram, the Tamil Saivite hymn described fighters against Brahminism as “people of low birth”.
When one fights Brahminism he is immediately branded as a person of low birth. When an army cannot do Brahminism can achieve easily and quickly. Just as a virus kills a person Brahminism. Annihislates whole society, the sons of the soil. Ayothidasar understood this and opposed it.
Prof. T. DHARMARAJAN:
Ayothidasar did not search for Buddhism in Buddhist Viharas and mutts. He searched for it among the people. He found out two sources of Buddhism in Tamil Nadu.
1) The oral traditions, customs and usage prevalent among the Tamils.
2) The songs and Tales of Buddhism were recorded in palm-leaf manuscripts and preserved palm-leaf by the lower mungs of the people. He studied the collections of Tamil ethical poems (THIRUKKURAL) and came to the conclusion that these represented ‘Tamil Buddhism’. Ancient Siddha texts proved to be sources of Buddhism.
RAVIKUMAR, M.L.A. VCK
Whenever Ayothidasar wrote about Buddhism he always referred to it as Tamil Buddhism because Buddhism is our State has a deep history behind it. Dr. Romila Thapar who has studied Buddhism in India has said that Tamil Buddhism is still an open field and it has to be thoroughly studied and researched.
Buddha’s spoke about Love, Tolerance, Equality, Rationalism etc which were concepts meant for the liberation of the oppressed people. He sowed the seeds of liberation theology; but it was not harvested by the suppressed people.
He founded a journal, oru paisa Tamilan and the first issued was published on 19.6.1907 from Royapettah. The journal was expected to provide a link with all the branches of Sakkya Buddhist Sangh and explain the principles and practices of Buddhism to its followers.
There are persons who cannot differentiate among the higher casts, the middle castes and the lower castes. Some philosophers, mathematicians, scientists and writers joined together to educate the people about the Right path, Honesty etc and they co-operated in the publication of oru paisa Tamilan Articles on Buddhist principles and practices along with news reports on events effecting the lives of the people were published in the journal. Current events were analysed and discussed. Articles on Women’s Education Prices of Essential Commodities and Book Reviews were published.
The journal worked tirelessly for the empowerment of the DC’s. It was popular with Tamilians living in the Madras Presidency and also outside the state.
It was during this period that ideas like Anti-Brahminism, Dravidian Ideology, Rationalism etc were discussed by all sections of the people in the Presidency. The Dravidian Movement gathered the stands and united them into a full fledged political ideology.
THOL. THIRUMAVALAVAN M.P.
Leader, VC, Chennai.
“The DC’s are the sons of the soil they are the original inhabitants of this hoary land” declared Pandit Ayothidasar when the British Govt included DC’s in the religious category of the HINDUS he objected strongly and declared that they are not Hindus. They are the original inhabitants and they should be designated as Adhi Tamilan.
Tamils today are known for their passionate adherence to Tamil (language), Tamil Nationality and Tamil Nationalism. It will not be an exaggeration to say that the foundation for the fierce nationalism of the Tamil people was laid by Pandit Ayothidasar.
V. GEETHA:
Research Worker,
Chennai
I felt deeply thrilled when I read Ayothidasar’s book Aathivedham. Though Ayothidasar studied and wrote continuously his book (Aathivedham) reveals his total personality. He wrote the life of Buddha in a special manner.
He included Buddha’s teachings and thoughts in his narrative of Buddha life he maisted the question Why Pariah’s were suppressed at many places in the book. Who are the true Brahmins and who are the false Brahmins? Who are the real Brahmins and who act as Brahmins? Ayothidasar asked these questions frequently and gave the answers he instructs us as to how to read the Indian History. He writes about the history and identity of the Parisahs. He explains how the word Pariah has become a term of abuse in the present day. He writes about Human Rights. His book AATHIVEDHAM is a stupendous achievements.
Buddhism belongs to Tamil soil, Tamil Nadu. You cannot write Tamil history without discussing the part played by Buddhism in the history of the Tamils. He says Buddha’s Life is Buddhism. Buddha wanted people to live a life of dignity and honour. For that they should enjoy human mights which is the same thing as DALIT rights. He also thought about how to create the environment for the empowerment of the Dalits.
How to live without caste pride or humiliating the so-called lower castes? How to create an inclusive society based on Equality, Tolerance and Humanism? He mentions some incidents from the life of Buddha and exhorts us to create a Humanistic Society.
Pandit Ayothidasar and Dr. Ambedkar studied the Life of Buddha written by Aswagosh. Both studied books written in the Pali language. Ayothidasar’s writings stand testimony to the fact that he did not base himself on Tamil writings alone.
Ayothidasar always emphasized labour. It was an integral part of his campaign to eradicate caste. The so-called higher castes do not work and do not respect those who do physical work. He has written in many places that labour created knowledge. In his book Aathivedham he emphasizes the importance of labour. He associate labour with values. He asks: Do you work honestly and efficiently? Dr. Ambedkar also emphasized the importance of labour.
PO VELSAMY:
Scholar and Writes, Erode
Before Ayothidasar started writing there were not history books. But he wrote extensively about Aryans and Dravaidians Researches in the Indus Valley Civilization started only afterwards. He pointed out that Aryans came from outside and so they are ‘foreigners’. Other scholars who wrote about Buddhism based themselves on books written in the English Language. But Ayothidasar who knew Pali and Prakrit languages studied original Buddhist sources and wrote his books.
DALIT EZHIL MALAI:
CHENNAI
(Ex-Minister, GOI)
“Ayothidasar’s writings contributed to revival of Buddhism in the Madras Presidency. Dr. Ambedkar understood this and began from where he left. There are many instances to prove the above statement. He visited Madras on three occasions and also visited the Madras Christian College where Ayothidasar student, Lakshmi Narash taught. Ayothidasar had proved that the DC’s were originally Buddhists. Dr. Ambedkar accepted it and decided to embrace Buddhism.
Dr K. THANGAVELU:
Chennai
Ayothidasar was an outstanding Rationalist Scholar and Writer. He wrote 37 books. He belonged to the SC and caste it forces in the state suppressed his books. His name was not mentioned. He quoted from books which were no longer available to modern scholars. In any case they could not fault his arguments.
P. Sivakami
Early Life: Roots in Perambalur's Dalit Struggle
- Birth and Family: Born in Perambalur, a small town in Tamil Nadu (elevated to district status in 2007), Sivakami hails from a Paraiyar (Dalit/Scheduled Caste) family—historically marginalized as drummers, agricultural laborers, and sanitation workers, subjected to untouchability and economic exploitation. Her father, M. Palanimuthu, was an independent MLA from a Dalit background, instilling in her a sense of political awareness amid rural caste violence. Her mother (name not widely documented) supported the family's modest life, where Sivakami witnessed the "double marginalization" of Dalit women—oppressed by upper castes externally and patriarchy within.
- Education Amid Adversity: She began primary schooling at a government Adi-Dravidar (Dalit) welfare school for Scheduled Castes and tribes, a segregated space reflecting systemic exclusion. Later, she attended St. Mary's Missionary School, excelling despite barriers. Her academic prowess led to a degree in Tamil literature from Madras University, fueling her literary ambitions. In interviews, she recalls how caste shaped her worldview: "Caste and gender are inextricably linked; controlling women's bodies safeguards the caste system."
Sivakami's early exposure to the 1989 Bodinayakanoor riots—clashes between Dalit Pallars and upper-caste Thevars—ignited her commitment to intersectional resistance, blending Ambedkarite anti-casteism with feminist critique.
Bureaucratic Career: Serving the Marginalized (1980–2008)
- IAS Journey: Clearing the UPSC in 1980, Sivakami became one of the few Dalit women in the Tamil Nadu cadre. She served 28 years, rising to key roles like Secretary of the Adi-Dravidar Welfare Department, where she championed Dalit education, land reforms, and atrocity prevention. Her tenure exposed her to systemic failures: police reluctance to invoke SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, as she alleged in 2023 regarding Tirunelveli cases.
- Voluntary Retirement: In 2008, disillusioned by bureaucratic red tape, she quit to "serve the poor and disadvantaged" directly—transitioning from policy-maker to activist. This shift marked her evolution into a full-time advocate for Dalits, tribals, transgender communities, and women.
Literary Legacy: Pioneering Dalit-Feminist Narratives
Sivakami's writing, predominantly in Tamil, is semi-autobiographical and colloquial, capturing rural Dalit idioms shunned by mainstream literature. She rejects the "Dalit writer" label as limiting, insisting: "Only Dalits can authentically depict their issues, and only women can tackle feminist ones." Her works have been prescribed in universities and translated globally, influencing a generation of subaltern voices.
| Work (Tamil/English) | Year | Themes | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pazhaiyana Kazhidalum / The Grip of Change (self-translated) | 1989 | Dalit widow's fight against caste patriarchy; village economy's links to hierarchy | First Tamil novel by a Dalit woman; BBC's top 5 Indian novels; critiques intra-Dalit gender oppression |
| Aanandayee / The Taming of Women (trans. Pritham K. Chakravarthy) | 1994 | Violent subjugation of Dalit women | Penguin publication; exposes emotional/physical abuse |
| Kurukku Vettu / Cross Section (Sahitya Akademi) | 1999 | Intersections of caste, class, and gender | Highlights Dalit resilience amid violence |
| Nalum Thodarum | 2002 | Ongoing Dalit struggles | Explores psychological turmoil |
| Kadaisi Mandhar | 2013 | Marginalized women's agency | Focuses on transgender and tribal rights |
| Kadhavadaippu (Poetry) | 2011 | Resistance and self-critique | First poetry collection; feminist introspection
|
- Over 60 Short Stories and Essays: Collections like those in Puthiya Kodangi (magazine she edits since 1995) nurture emerging Dalit writers, shifting her focus from "literature to living characters."
- Translation Politics: She self-translated her debut to preserve authenticity, noting English amplifies Dalit voices globally but risks sanitization.
Her oeuvre has sparked debates on Tamil literature's growing receptivity to Dalit-feminist themes, with influences from Bama and Imayam.
Activism and Political Foray: From Grassroots to Party Founder
- Key Movements: Post-retirement, Sivakami founded the Dalit Land Rights Movement, advocating for equitable resource distribution. She critiques religious fundamentalism's toll on Dalits and pushes for self-critique in political circles. In 2023, she slammed Tamil Nadu police for compromising Dalit victims in atrocity cases.
- Political Ventures: Briefly with Bahujan Samaj Party, she launched Samuga Samathuva Padai (Army for Social Equality) in 2009, drawing from Ambedkar's egalitarianism to promote Dalit unity and women's rights. Though short-lived, it amplified subaltern demands.
- Media Presence: Active on X (@sivakami_p), she engages in real-time advocacy, from caste violence to literary resistance. A 2025 documentary highlights her IAS-to-activist arc.
Awards, Recognition, and Legacy (as of November 2025)
- Verchol Dalit Literary Award (April 2025, Neelam Cultural Centre): For her "fearless voice" in Dalit narratives.
- Sahitya Akademi Advisory Member: Oversaw promotions of diverse literatures.
- Global Impact: Works studied in translation programs; featured in Harvard's South Asia Institute (2023).
Sivakami's legacy lies in humanizing Dalit women—"treated worse than animals"—through literature and action, fostering a Tamil canon where caste and gender "rightfully take the spotlight." As she reflects: "Dominance in any form must be opposed." Her journey—from Perambalur's margins to national discourse—inspires ongoing battles against inequality. Jai Bhim to this unyielding warrior!
Prabhakar Janardan
Birth: He was born in the Koli (Mahadev) community, which is classified as a Scheduled Tribe (ST) in Maharashtra. This is a crucial detail, as it distinguishes him from many other Dalit Panther leaders who were from Mahar/Neo-Buddhist backgrounds. His activism thus represented an intersection of tribal and Dalit struggles.
Location: Hailed from the Konkan region (Raigad district) of Maharashtra.
Influence: Deeply influenced by the teachings of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and the emerging radical thought of the 1970s that found the non-violent, institutional approach insufficient.
2. Role in the Dalit Panthers
Core Founder Member: Prabhakar Janardan was one of the key founding figures of the Dalit Panthers in 1972, along with Namdeo Dhasal, J.V. Pawar, and Raja Dhale.
Ideologue and Writer: He was not just an organizer but a powerful writer, poet, and intellectual. He used his pen as a weapon against caste oppression.
Radical Stance: He belonged to the more radical, militant wing of the Panthers, advocating for direct confrontation against caste Hindu oppression. This often put him at odds with more moderate voices within and outside the movement.
3. Major Contributions and Activism
Literary Work: He was a prolific writer for Dalit magazines like Sadhanā. His poetry and essays were marked by raw anger, revolutionary fervor, and a call for complete annihilation of the caste system.
"Prabhakar Janardan" vs. "Prabhakar Waghmare": He famously wrote under the name "Prabhakar Janardan" as a political statement. "Janardan" is a name of Lord Vishnu in Hinduism. By adopting it, he sought to reclaim and subvert a Brahminical symbol, asserting a Dalit's right to any identity—a profound act of symbolic defiance.
Focus on Unity: He strongly advocated for the unity of Dalits (SCs), Adivasis (STs), Nomadic Tribes, and working-class OBCs under the "Bahujan" umbrella, a vision that would later be politically mainstreamed by parties like the BSP.
Key Protests: He was at the forefront of agitations against caste atrocities, such as the Koregaon Bhima and Marathwada riots, and the exploitation of landless laborers in the Konkan.
4. Later Life and Legacy
Withdrawal from Mainstream Politics: Like many Panther founders, he became disillusioned with the electoral and factional politics that later consumed the movement. He retreated from the forefront but continued his activism at a grassroots and intellectual level.
Passing: Died in February 2022. His death was mourned as the loss of a foundational pillar of the radical Ambedkarite movement.
Legacy: Remembered as a fearless intellectual revolutionary who infused the Dalit movement with fierce ideological and literary power. His use of symbolic rebellion (like his name) remains a subject of study.
Roham Prabhakar Janardan – The Son Carrying the Torch
1. Identity and Background
Son of the Revolution: Roham's primary public identity is as the son and ideological heir of Prabhakar Janardan. He is often introduced in that context.
Activist in His Own Right: He has carved out his own space as a social and political activist, deeply entrenched in the Ambedkarite framework.
2. Activism and Political Journey
Political Affiliation: Roham has been actively involved with the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), the political party founded by Prakash Ambedkar (grandson of B.R. Ambedkar). The VBA aims to unite Dalits, Adivasis, OBCs, and religious minorities—a direct continuation of his father's ideological vision.
Role: He is a prominent youth face and organizer for the VBA in the Konkan region, working to mobilize the Bahujan vote bank.
Focus Issues: His activism focuses on:
Continued fight against caste-based discrimination and atrocities.
Land rights for Dalits and Adivasis.
Political empowerment of the Bahujan communities.
Preserving and promoting the radical legacy of the Dalit Panthers.
3. Public Presence
He is a frequent speaker at Ambedkarite rallies, commemorations (like Bhima Koregaon), and political events.
He engages with media, often providing a historical perspective by linking current caste issues to the foundational struggles of the Panther era.
Father-Son Legacy: Significance
Together, their stories represent two generations of the same revolutionary struggle:
Prabhakar's Generation (1970s): The radical founders who provided the ideological and confrontational spark. They declared war on the caste system through manifestos, powerful literature, and street-level mobilization.
Roham's Generation (Present): The inheritors and adapters operating in a changed political landscape. They work within (and sometimes against) the framework of electoral politics (like the VBA) to achieve the goal of Bahujan empowerment, while safeguarding the radical history from being erased or diluted.
In summary:
Prabhakar Janardan was a firebrand poet-ideologue of the Dalit Panthers from the Koli (ST) community, who used radical writing and symbolism to challenge caste hierarchy.
Roham is a contemporary political activist with the VBA, working to translate that inherited legacy into current political mobilization, primarily in Maharashtra's Konkan region.
They embody the continuity of the Ambedkarite-Bahujan resistance in Maharashtra, from its most militant literary phase to its current political-strategic phase.
Prakash Yashwant Ambedkar
From Wikipedia
Prakash Ambedkar
Member of the Indian parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
10 October 1999 – 6 February 2004
Succeeded by Sanjay Shamrao Dhotre
Constituency Akola
In office
10 March 1998 – 26 April 1999
Preceded by Pandurang Pundalik Fundkar
Constituency Akola
Member of the Indian parliament of Rajya Sabha
In office
18 September 1990 – 17 September 1996
Constituency Maharashtra
Personal details
Born 10 May 1954 (age 66)
Bombay, Bombay State (now Mumbai, Maharashtra), India
Nationality Indian
Political party
(before 1994, 1998 – 1999)
(1994 – 2019)
(since 2019)
Spouse(s)
Anjali Ambedkar
(m. 1993)
Relations
(grandfather)
(brother)
(brother-in-law)
See also Ambedkar family
Children Sujat Ambedkar (son)
Parents
Meera Ambedkar
Residence • 129, Rajgruha, Hindu colony, Dadar, Mumbai, Maharashtra
• B-17, Patil Heritage Bhosale Nagar, Pune, Maharashtra
• Akola, Maharashtra
Education Bachelor of Arts
Profession Advocate, Politician, Social worker
Website PrakashAmbedkar on Facebook
Nickname(s) Balasaheb Ambedkar
Prakash Yashwant Ambedkar (IAST: Prakāśa Yaśavanta Āmbēḍakar) (born 10 May 1954), popularly known as Balasaheb Ambedkar, is an Indian politician, social activist, writer and lawyer. He is the president of political party called the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi. He is a three-time Member of Parliament (MP). He is the grandson of B. R. Ambedkar. He was a member of the 12th and 13th Lok Sabha Akola constituency of India. He has served in both houses of the Indian Parliament.
Personal life
Prakash Ambedkar is the eldest grandson of B. R. Ambedkar and Ramabai Ambedkar. His father's name is Yashwant Ambedkar (Bhaiyasaheb) and mother's name is Meera. The Ambedkar family are followers of Navayana Buddhism. He has two younger brothers Bhimrao and Anandraj, and a sister Ramabai who is married to Anand Teltumbde. Prakash Ambedkar is married to Anjali Maydeo, with whom he has a son.
Early life and education
Prakash Ambedkar was born on 10 May 1954 in Bombay (now Mumbai). In 1972 he completed his higher secondary education from St. Stanislaus High School, Mumbai. In 1978, he received Bachelor of Arts (BA) from Siddhartha College of Arts, and in 1981 he got Bachelor of Laws (LLB) in Siddharth College of Law, Mumbai.
Political career
On 4 July 1994, Prakash Ambedkar established the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh. This party was a splintered group amongst other factions of the Republican Party of India which was constituted on directions of his grandfather after his death. The Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangha contested established political parties like Indian National Congress, Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party in the Akola municipal elections, emerging victorious. The success was gained through the new social engineering brought by Prakash Ambedkar which later known as "Akola Pattern". The expansion of the party continued after 1995, that some of the non-Dalit parties and organisations have joined the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh.
Ambedkar was a member of the Rajya Sabha during 1990 - 1996. He was elected in the 12th Lok Sabha elections from Akola Lok Sabha constituency in 1998 as a candidate of the Republican Party of India. Second time from the same constituency in 1999, he was elected as the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh's candidate for the 13th Lok Sabha elections and he was a member of the Lok Sabha till 2004.
Ambedkar followed a policy, on the one hand, of regrouping the Dalits, and on the other of following a moderate line seeking alliance with those opposition parties which sympathised with the Dalit cause. It was with their support that he twice contested elections to the parliament from non-reserved constituencies. Though not successful in getting elected, he polled a sizeable number of votes on both the occasions.
The RPI organised a march from Nashik to Mumbai to press its demands, prominent among which was the transfer of vatan lands to their Dalit cultivators. (Both before and after the British Raj, certain lands were given to people for services rendered by them to the government or to the community or to both. These lands are also called "watan lands" in local legislation and in Maharashtra many of the watans were abolished between 1950 and 1960.)[citation needed] In response, the government appointed a committee with Prakash Ambedkar as a member.
The RPI's greatest success was in 1988 when Ambedkar, in alliance with other Dalit organisations, took out a massive demonstration in Mumbai. The occasion was the controversy regarding a move to delete from the official publication of B. R. Ambedkar's writings a portion called Riddles of Hinduism. The deletion move was supported by Shiv Sena which by this time was emerging as a Hindu political organisation. To bring all Dalit organisations together for this purpose, Prakash Ambedkar formed Ambedkar Vichar Samvardhak Samiti (AVSS). Under the leadership of Prakash Ambedkar, R. S. Gavai and others on 5 February 1988, Dalits put on a massive show of strength which brought more than four to five lakh followers of B. R. Ambedkar into the heart of Mumbai city from different parts of Maharashtra and also from Gujarat and other states. Within days of the Dalit demonstration in Mumbai, the 'Riddles' issue was resolved at a meeting on February 10 of representatives of the Shiv Sena, the Maratha Mahasangh and the various groups of the Republican Party of India and the Dalit Panthers called by the state chief minister. It was agreed at the meeting that the relevant appendix would be retained intact in the fourth volume of Ambedkar's works; only a line would be added to clarify that the Maharashtra government did not agree or disagree with B. R. Ambedkar's comments on the Hindu gods.
Bahujan Mahasangh, a political formation working in close association with the Bharatiya Republican Party led by Prakash Ambedkar, was formed in February 1993. In the summer of that year, its candidate won Kinwat legislative assembly seat in Nanded district, defeating Congress and BJP contestants. The alliance between Bharatiya Republican Party and Bahujan Mahasangh visualised a joint front of Dalits and OBCs whose cultural identity was essentially non-Brahmin. Bahujan Mahasangh argued that in the Brahminical social order, both Dalits and OBCs find themselves equally oppressed culturally. Bahujan Mahasangh had defined the Bahujan category to include Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains and Muslims, as well as caste groups such as Shudra (OBCs) and ati-Shudra (Dalits), tribes, women, poor Marathas, and poor Brahmins, thus including all those who are subjugated through caste, class and gender exploitation
In memory of Mahar soldiers who fought in the Battle of Koregaon, their descendants (Buddhists) visit Koregaon Bhima on 1 January every year to honor them. On 1 January 2018, Buddhists, as well as some Hindu dalit, OBC and Sikh people visited the 'Jay sthambh' (victory pillar) at Koregaon Bhima in Pune district, Maharashtra.Prakash Ambedkar accused Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote of seducing the invading Hindutva people and demanded the police investigation and strict action against the two. But the Maharashtra government and the state police did not take any action against the culprits. So on 3 January 2018, he called on the people of Maharashtra to call "Maharashtra Bandh". This call to shut down Maharashtra received a huge response from the people and the bandh was a success. The bandh was seen across Maharashtra including Mumbai. According to Ambedkar, more than 50% Maharashtrian people participated in the bandh. Earlier only Bal Thackeray of Shiv Sena had the power to shut down Mumbai. Subsequently, Prakash Ambedkar's political power increased. He came to the center of Ambedkarite and Bahujan community. The youth group in particular became his supporters.
Prakash Ambedkar founded new political party the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi on 20 March 2018 with its ideology primarily emphasizing Constitutionalism, Ambedkarism, Secularism, Socialism and Progressivism. The Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi registered as a political party a year later on 15 March 2019, prior to the 2019 elections for Lok Sabha. It is supported by nearly 100 small political parties and social organizations. Prakash Ambedkar is the supremo of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi.
On 14 March 2019, Ambedkar has announced the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh will merge with the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi. He said that, despite the 'Akola pattern' of social engineering through the success of the Bharipa-Bahujan Mahasangh, the word 'Bharipa' (RPI) had limited the expansion of the party. He said that after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Bharip-Bahujan Mahasangh will merge with the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, because the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi is acceptable in a broad sense.
Controversy
Prakash Ambedkar courted controversy by asking his supporters to resort to violence against trolls and those who criticised his statement asking for proof on surgical strikes conducted by Indian Air Force. Many critics called it militant Dalit politics.
Writings
Ambedkari Chalval Sampli Ahe (The Ambedkarite Movement Has Ended)
Andheri Nagari Chaupat Raja
Maharashtracha Uddyacha Mukhyamantri Varkari ani Varkarich
Can It Be Stopped!
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Cha Vaicharik Bhrashtachar (Ideological Corruption of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh)
Aetehasik Ambedkar Bhawanacha Varasa Aapan Japanar Ki Nahi ? (The Historic Heritage Of Ambedkar Bhavan Will We Preserve It?)
Positions held
Ambedkar has held following positions,
1990-96: Nominated Member, Rajya Sabha from 18 September 1990 to 17 September 1996.
1992-96: Member, Committee on Rules
1993-96: Member, Committee on Communications
1998-99: Elected to 12th Lok Sabha, (1st term) Leader, Republican Party of India Parliamentary Party
1998-99: Member, Committee on Food, Civil Supplies and Public Distribution; Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Human Resource Development
1999–2004: Re-elected to 13th Lok Sabha (2nd term); Leader, Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh Parliamentary Party, Lok Sabha
1999-2000: Member, Committee on Energy
2000–2004: Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Railways
Ramabai Bhimrao Ambedkar
Early Life and Background
Ramabai was born into a poor Dalit (Mahar community) family on February 7, 1898 (some sources cite 1896 or 1897), in Vanand (or Walang) village near Dapoli, in the Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra (then part of Bombay Presidency, British India).
- Her father was Bhiku Dhotre (also called Bhiku Valangkar or Datre), who worked as a laborer carrying baskets of fish from Harne Port near Dapoli to markets.
- Her mother was Rukmini.
- She had siblings, including three sisters and a brother named Shankar. The family faced extreme hardship; her mother died early due to illness, followed by her father (who reportedly vomited blood while working and passed away). The children were then raised by uncles and moved to Bombay (now Mumbai).
This background of poverty, orphanhood, and caste-based marginalization shaped her life of endurance from a very young age.
Marriage to Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
Ramabai married Bhimrao Ambedkar in a simple, arranged child marriage on April 4, 1906 (or around 1907–1908 in some accounts), in Byculla, Mumbai.
- At the time, Bhimrao was about 15 years old, and Ramabai was around 9 (child marriages were common then across communities).
- The ceremony took place modestly in a vegetable or fish market area near Byculla railway station, with the wedding feast held in front of a small Hanuman temple due to limited resources (some guests reportedly ate from cooking griddles).
- Bhimrao affectionately called her "Ramu", while she called him "Saheb"—a term of deep respect that reflected their mutual bond despite educational differences.
The couple had five children:
- Yashwant (born 1912, the only one to survive to adulthood; he later became active in the Ambedkarite movement and died in 1977).
- Gangadhar, Ramesh, Rajratna (sons), and Indu (daughter)—all of whom died in childhood or infancy, adding to the couple's personal tragedies amid poverty.
Role as an Activist and Supporter
While Ramabai did not participate directly in public rallies, speeches, or formal organizations like her husband, she was far more than a passive supporter. Dr. Ambedkar himself credited her instrumental role in enabling his pursuit of higher education and his broader mission.
- She endured extreme poverty and hunger so he could focus on studies, including his time abroad (e.g., scholarships to Columbia University and the London School of Economics).
- She managed the household under dire circumstances, often going without food or basic comforts while he built his career and led social reforms.
- She embodied and quietly practiced Ambedkar's ideals of dignity, equality, and resistance to caste discrimination in daily life.
- Some accounts describe her as a figure of quiet defiance and strength; she has been portrayed as a pioneer in her own right for Dalit women's resilience.
- Her sacrifices are seen as foundational to Ambedkar's transformation from "Bhim" (a discriminated-against youth) into the towering leader who fought untouchability, drafted India's Constitution, and led mass conversions to Buddhism in 1956.
A poignant legend in Dalit communities links her denied entry to the Pandharpur temple (due to caste restrictions) as influencing Ambedkar's eventual rejection of Hinduism—though this occurred over two decades after her death.
She has also been associated with efforts to support women's causes indirectly, such as through Ambedkar's circles (e.g., women's associations in the late 1920s), though direct activism by her remains limited in records.
Death and Legacy
Ramabai suffered prolonged illness (bedridden from early 1935) and passed away on May 27, 1935, at age 37 (or around 38), at their home Rajgruha in Bombay. Her death deeply affected Ambedkar—he reportedly broke down and wept like a child.
Her legacy endures powerfully in Ambedkarite and Dalit movements:
- Revered as "Ramai" or "Mata Ramabai" (Mother Rama), symbolizing maternal sacrifice for the community's liberation.
- Subject of biographical books, Marathi songs, folk narratives at Dalit gatherings (often evoking tears), films, and plays.
- Many landmarks in India—schools, hostels, statues, and institutions—are named after her.
- She represents the unsung contributions of Dalit women who enabled larger movements through personal endurance and quiet activism.
In essence, Ramabai Bhimrao Ambedkar was not a frontline activist in the conventional sense but a cornerstone of strength whose life of sacrifice, dignity, and support helped shape one of India's greatest social revolutions. Her story highlights how behind many historic figures stand equally heroic, often overlooked partners. Jai Bhim!
रघु नायक
क्या आप जानते है कि राष्ट्रपिता महात्मा गांधी के हत्यारे नाथूराम गोडसे किसने पकड़ा था? अदभुत साहस दिखाकर पकड़ने वाले इस शख्स का नाम रघु नायक था जो ओडिशा के रहनेवाले थे। रघु नायक की मौत के करीब 33 साल बाद ओडिशा सरकार ने उनकी पत्नी को पांच लाख रूपये की वित्तीय सहायता दी।
ज़ी मीडिया ब्यूरो
भुवनेश्वर: क्या आप जानते है कि राष्ट्रपिता महात्मा गांधी के हत्यारे नाथूराम गोडसे किसने पकड़ा था? अदभुत साहस दिखाकर पकड़ने वाले इस शख्स का नाम रघु नायक था जो ओडिशा के रहनेवाले थे। रघु नायक की मौत के करीब 33 साल बाद ओडिशा सरकार ने उनकी पत्नी को पांच लाख रूपये की वित्तीय सहायता दी।
केंद्रपाड़ा जिले के जगुलाईपाड़ा गांव के रहने वाले रघु नायक दिल्ली के बिड़ला हाउस में माली का काम करते थे, जहां 1948 में गोडसे ने गांधीजी पर गोलियां चलायी थी। हालांकि गांधीजी को नहीं बचाया जा सका लेकिन नायक ने ही सबसे पहले पीछा कर गोडसे को पकड़ा। बाद में गोडसे को मृत्युदंड दिया गया।
मुख्यमंत्री नवीन पटनायक ने सचिवालय में मंदोदरी नायक को चेक सौंपा और शॉल ओढ़ाकर उनका सम्मान किया। उनके साथ केंद्रपाड़ा के जिलाधिकारी और परिवार के सदस्य भी थे। अधिकारियों ने बताया कि मुख्यमंत्री राहत कोष से नायक की विधवा को वित्तीय मदद दी गयी।
रघु नायक को अदभुत बहादुरी के लिए पूर्व राष्ट्रपति राजेंद्र प्रसाद ने उनके जीवित रहते 500 रूपये का पुरस्कार दिया था। मुख्यमंत्री कार्यालय के मुताबिक राज्य सरकार ने नायक की पत्नी के वित्तीय तंगी का सामना करने के बारे में जानकर आर्थिक मदद देने का फैसला किया। नायक का 1983 में निधन हो गया और कुछ साल बाद उनके बेटे का देहांत हो गया। मंदोदरी अब अपनी बेटी के साथ रहती हैं।
(एजेंसी इनपुट के साथ)
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Ram Babu Harit
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dr Ram Babu Harit
Born 02/02/1957
Alma mater Motilal Nehru Medical College, University of Allahabad
Occupation
Doctor
Politician
Businessman
Philanthropist
Social Worker
Title Ex- Minister of Health, Ex- MLA Bhartiya Janta Party
Spouse(s) Mrs. Kamlesh Kumari (Ex magistrate)
Parent(s) Late Mr Sita Ram Harit and Late Mrs Badami Devi
Dr. Ram Babu Harit is an Indian politician and member of the Bhartiya Janta Party. Harit was a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly from the Agra West constituency in Agra district as Bharatiya Janata Party candidate.
Early life and education
Dr. Harit was born on 2 July 1957 in Agra district of Uttar Pradesh. His father Late Shri Sitaram was into agriculture earlier who later started doing trading business of raw material of shoes to support his family. He was the youngest of four brothers and one sister. Harit was always interested in studies and had completed his studies from Government InterCollege. He topped his class in high school and was inclined in choosing medical field as his profession. He cleared UPCPMT and did his MBBS from Motilal Nehru Medical college, Allahabad.
Career
Dr Harit greeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi
He started his career as a class one medical officer in Indian government. He worked in Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Delhi. Then shifted to CGHS as a resident doctor and later served in ESI hospital, Raja Garden. He was a part of team of doctors who looked after a team of sportsmen in Asian games, Delhi. While serving in Delhi he was married. Since his parents were getting old, he left his government job and shifted back to Agra to open his own clinic and take care of his parents.
He was a part of RSS and was a regular attendees of Shakhas. His simplicity and urge for social work was seen by some senior politician who invited him to join the Bharitya Janta Party. He was inspired with the policies of seniors like Deen Dayal Upadhyay and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee and chose to be actively involved in social work.
Dr Harit and Sambit Patra and BJP headquarters
He started his political career as Coordinator by winning elections in his ward He was then the deputy mayor for Agra Harit succeeded Kishan Gopal as an MLA in the year 1992. His retained his position in next election in the year 1996. Looking at the educational background and Harit's leadership, he was made the minister of health and medicine during the government of Late Shri Ram Prakash Gupt. He retained the ministry when Rajnath Singh took over as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. He was often seen commuting on his scooter without any security during his time as a minister. His simplicity and attachment with public especially the weaker norms of the society helped him to win the elections for third time in the year 2002. Currently Harit is a part of working committee of BJP in UP.
Family
Harit married Kamlesh Kumari in 1984 and was blessed with a daughter Arunika and a son Amit. Kamlesh, MA in history, took care of the family as a home maker for almost two decades. She later joined as a first class magistrate Agra collectrate and was a part of consumer forum as a judge. Kamlesh retired from the bench in 2014 and is now running an NGO for under privileged section of the society.
Raja Dhale
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Raja Dhale
Political activist, social reformer and Dalit Panther member Raja Dhale
Personal details
Born 30 September 1940
Died 16 July 2019 (aged 78)
Political party Republican Party of India
Spouse(s) Deexa Dhale
Children Gatha Dhale
Residence Kannamwar Nagar 1, Vikhroli (E), Mumbai, Maharashtra
Rajaram Piraji Dhale (30 September 1940 – 16 July 2019), commonly referred to as Raja Dhale, was an Indian writer, artist and activist for Dalit rights. In April 1972, he, along with Namdeo Dhasal and Arun Krushnaji Kamble, founded the Dalit Panthers, an organization dedicated to fighting for the rights of the Dalit community. Dhale was a veteran Ambedkarite and Buddhist.
Career
Dhale was a member of the Republican Party of India and led the Raja Dhale faction, after a split in the party.Dhale was a candidate in the 1999 parliament election from the Mumbai North Central constituency on Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangha party ticket, and 2004 parliament elections from Mumbai North East constituency, again on Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangha ticket.
Notable works
Dalit Pantherchi Sansthapana: Vastusthiti Ani Viparyas
Arun Kolhatkarchi Gacchi: Ek Nirupan
Ruth Manorama
( 2006 , India )
Ruth Manorama
...for her commitment over decades to achieving equality for Dalit women, building effective and committed women's organisations and working for their rights at national and international levels.
We as Dalit women pledge ourselves to liberate all our people from continuing bondage of poverty, deprivation, suffering, gender and other discrimination.
Ruth Manorama is India’s most effective organiser of and advocate for Dalit women, belonging to the ‘scheduled castes’ sometimes also called ‘untouchables’.
Contact
Dr. Ruth Manorama
84/2, 2nd Cross, 8th Main Road
3rd Block, Jaya Nagar East
Bangalore, 560011
INDIA
Fax: +91 80 2663 0262
http://www.nawoindia.org/
Biography
Dalit women in India
Dalit women in India suffer from three oppressions: gender, as a result of patriarchy; class, from being from the poorest and most marginalised communities; and caste, from coming from the lowest caste, the ‘untouchables’. Although discrimination on the basis of caste is against the Indian constitution and prohibited by many laws, its practice is still widespread, especially in rural India.
Manorama’s career
Ruth Manorama is a Dalit woman. Born in 1952 in Madras, her parents escaped the worst consequences of being Dalits by becoming Christians. In 1975 Manorama took a Master’s degree in social work from the University of Madras and has trained in both the community organisation methods of Saul Alinsky and the conscientisation methods of Paulo Freire. In 2001 Manorama was granted an honorary doctorate “for the distinguished contribution made to church and society” by the Academy of Ecumenical Indian Theology and Church Administration.
Manorama has been consistently associated with a range of issues – the rights of slumdwellers, domestic workers, unorganised labour and Dalits, and the empowerment of marginalised women. She stresses the interconnectedness between these issues, and the common cause that marginalised people share the world over. Her work crosses the borders between grassroots movements, mass mobilisation, and international movements.
Manorama’s working life has been spent on organisation building, mobilisation of people and advocacy on behalf of Dalit women through a large number of organisations. She is:
General Secretary of Women’s Voice, founded in 1985, to work with women in slums, struggling for land, shelter and survival rights of the urban poor.
President of the National Alliance of Women, set up following the Fourth World Conference of Women in Beijing in 1995 to monitor government performance on its various commitments to women and lobby for change.
Joint Secretary of the Christian Dalit Liberation Movement, formed in the 1980s to mobilise Christian Dalits for affirmative action.
Secretary of the Karnataka State Slum Dwellers Federation.
Secretary for organisation building of the National Centre for Labour, an apex organisation of unorganised labour in India.
President of the National Federation of Dalit Women (NFDW), set up in 1995.
In addition, she has a number of regional and international roles (Asian Women’s Human Rights Council, International Women’s Rights Action Watch – Asia – Pacific, Sisters’ Network).
She has also been a member of the Karnataka State Planning Board, the State Commission for Women, the Task Force on Women’s Empowerment of the Government of India and a number of other state and national bodies.
Manorama’s work in these different roles consists of organising and educating people, and speaking on behalf of the marginalised. She travels all over India, co-ordinating their efforts, lobbying and advocating, and building alliances between movements.
Working for the rights of the deprived
In the 1980s and 1990s, Manorama was at the forefront of mass struggles against eviction and the ‘Operation Demolition’ by the State Government of Karnataka. She led mass processions of 150,000 people along with other activists, demanding the protection of the roofs over their heads, a fair deal of security and safety and allowing them to live legally and with dignity. On behalf of the Slum dwellers, Manorama was involved in legal cases at the High Court as well as the Supreme Court of India. Since then, she has been working with the urban poor protecting and voicing their rights.
Empowering women’s groups
Manorama has been involved in Women’s Voice and mobilised the women at the grass-root levels since the 1980s. She has been consistently urging the Indian Government for pro-poor policies like providing infrastructure and basic amenities to the poorer women who are living in slums. In more than 120 slums, women are now mobilised, trained and capacitated to face the issues on their own and take leadership in their communities as well as in society. Women are also trained to protect their rights against violence, discrimination and deprivation.
Championing the cause of the Dalits
Looking at the deplorable conditions of the Dalits, Manorama felt it is necessary to work with the Human Rights organisations to advance the emancipation of Dalits. She has participated in several struggles against human rights violations, for land rights and for the cause of Dalit women. The Dalit women in the rural areas as well as in the slums suffer unique violence and discrimination. This led Manorama to form a special platform to address their concerns. In 1995, the National Federation of Dalit Women (NFDW) was established as a platform for Dalit women. It allows them to articulate the social ostracism and exclusion, powerlessness and poverty, violence and discrimination, which they daily experience. The work of the NFDW has had effect: Today, the Dalit women are recognised in the movements as leaders, Dalit women are able to organise themselves autonomously and independently, and they now demand a National Perspective Plan to be created for Dalit Women in India.
Working for the rights of unorganised labour
With consistent effort, Manorama has built an organisation for the women workers, unionised them, and struggled to provide minimum wages. She serves as one of the Secretaries of the National Centre for Labour (NCL), which has brought the issues of the informal sector of labour to people’s attention and lobbied for a Comprehensive Welfare Bill and social security measures.
Protecting and promoting human rights internationally
Through her expertise on the International Human Rights Treaties (such as the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention to Eliminate Racial Discrimination) Manorama has exposed violence and gender discrimination faced by Dalit women at various platforms including the UN committees. The concerned committees recommended that the Government of India take appropriate and suitable action to eliminate this discrimination.
Manorama has several times held public hearings to monitor human rights violations and demand accountability from the Government. Manorama articulated issues of discrimination against Dalits and Dalit women particularly at the International UN Conferences, e.g. in Beijing and Durban.
Interview with Dr. Ruth Manorama (September 22, 2006)
Q: What is the situation of Dalit Women in today’s India?
A: The situation of Dalit Women in India is unique in nature. Age-old caste discrimination and prejudices operate to keep the Dalit women poor, illiterate, dependent, subjugated, oppressed and victimised. They display the poorest social indicators and dismal social and economic achievements. They lack access to resources such as water, common grazing grounds, roads and playing fields especially in the rural areas. Though they form the backbone of India’s agricultural workforce, growing food for everyone, they lack the means to eat one square meal a day. Their dwellings are always outside the boundaries of the main village. Hence they are always at the mercy of upper caste landlords for getting water, firewood, fodder, employment, mobility and even to purchase basic necessities.
Q: What do you do to help them?
A: The women in the community who are part of the organisation are enabled and capacitated through the training programmes to deal with these issues. The National Federation of Dalit Women continues to organise leadership-training programmes and provides skills in organising and information on legal protection to fight against caste discrimination. They were also given information on how to access socio-economic programmes for their upliftment, many women leaders of The National Federation of Dalit Women organise village, taluk, district level meetings to articulate their problems and seek solutions from governments and building strong networks among themselves.
Q: What were your own experiences with being a Dalit Woman?
A: One is always reminded which social hierarchy you come from – be it at school, university or church. If you are a Dalit, people look down upon you as if you come from a very dirty and polluted background. One cannot escape caste even though you study in the urban cities in English-speaking institutions. Especially when you are at the age of marriage caste determines whom you have to marry; this is part of all Indian women’s lives. When I was grown up I realised how difficult it is to establish myself as a Dalit woman in the women’s movement because the higher caste women (who dominate the women’s movement) tend to think that they are the seat of knowledge and intelligence and they only could provide essence to the feminist discourse. Because of my effort I overthrew this dominance and contributed to the formation of the Dalit feminism.
Q: The discrimination of Dalits is very deeply rooted in Indian society. How can you change these old prejudices? What do you do to make people listen?
A: According to me the caste hierarchy itself is founded by men for appropriation of wealth, status, and opportunities, to subjugate and oppress other human beings. There is no scientific validation in keeping the caste statuesque. This needs to be challenged by educating the people who face discrimination and prejudices in their day-to-day lives. An intensive human rights education for all communities needs to be provided to overcome the old prejudices.
Q: Can the Right Livelihood Award help to further your cause?
A: By awarding me the Right Livelihood Award you will be providing the recognition not only to the set of issues that I am working on, but recognising the rights, dignity and the due socio-economic-political share of the Dalit women who are at the bottom of the social hierarchy in India.
Q: What are your plans for the future?
To build the Dalit Women’s organisation strongly and to establish alliances across other discriminated communities.
Political representation and participation of women, particularly from Dalit communities, in all decision-making bodies to be enhanced.
Developing new and young women leadership.
Ramnarayan Rawat
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ramnarayan Rawat (also spelled Ram Narayan Rawat and Ram Rawat) is a professor at the University of Delaware and a historian of the Indian subcontinent and has also had appointments at the University of Pennsylvania (as a postdoctoral scholar) and University of Washington. He received his B.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Delhi. He has conducted research on the Chamar caste in India, and displayed that their work centered on agriculture and not tanning as previously thought. His work was banned in parts of India for some time due to usage of the word "Chamar."
Ramnarayan S. Rawat
Associate Professor, Department of History, University of Delaware
Ram Rawat is a historian of South Asia with research and teaching interests in colonialism and postcolonialism, racism and social exclusion, and liberalism and democracy. His research centers on Dalits of India and their engagement with nationalism, ethical and social questions of dignity and humiliation, and questions of right and representation. He recently co-edited Dalit Studies published by Duke University Press (2016). His first book, Reconsidering Untouchability (2011) was awarded Joseph Elder book prize awarded (2009) and an ‘Honorable Mention’ Bernard Cohn book prize (2013). He is currently completing a second book, ‘The Dalit Public Sphere: A New History of Indian Democracy,’ which highlights the role of Dalit groups in introducing innovative ideas and practices in the history of Indian democratic thought and practice. A major objective of his research is to bring rich vernacular Dalit histories into conversation with mainstream academic knowledge production to interrogate dominant assumptions about history and politics.
Masala’ as Method: Dalit Household Archives and the Ordinary Lives of Historical Sources
In my fieldwork over the last twenty years, Dalit (former “untouchable”) activists have repeatedly referred to their household collections of Hindi language sources, chap-books, pamphlets, newspapers, and old photographs, as “masala” (मसाला; ingredients) or “material” (English) that would be useful for my research. This “masala”—present in the everyday spaces of Dalit living rooms, glass doored bookcases, and dusty trunks—occupies a vital position within the segregated and stigmatized Dalit neighborhoods in sustaining an ongoing political project to challenge caste hierarchies. My project explores the methodological innovations represented by this recent turn to “masala” in Indian historiography and the quotidian revolution it has enabled by shaping the new field of Dalit Studies and bringing to the forefront the persistence of caste inequality in modern India.
Wolf Humanities Center · School of Arts & Sciences · University of Pennsylvania
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Dalit Studies Paperback – April 29, 2016
by Ramnarayan S. Rawat (Editor), K. Satyanarayana (Editor)
The contributors to this major intervention into Indian historiography trace the strategies through which Dalits have been marginalized as well as the ways Dalit intellectuals and leaders have shaped emancipatory politics in modern India. Moving beyond the anticolonialism/nationalism binary that dominates the study of India, the contributors assess the benefits of colonial modernity and place humiliation, dignity, and spatial exclusion at the center of Indian historiography. Several essays discuss the ways Dalits used the colonial courts and legislature to gain minority rights in the early twentieth century, while others highlight Dalit activism in social and religious spheres. The contributors also examine the struggle of contemporary middle-class Dalits to reconcile their caste and class, intercaste tensions among Sikhs, and the efforts by Dalit writers to challenge dominant constructions of secular and class-based citizenship while emphasizing the ongoing destructiveness of caste identity. In recovering the long history of Dalit struggles against caste violence, exclusion, and discrimination, Dalit Studies outlines a new agenda for the study of India, enabling a significant reconsideration of many of the Indian academy's core assumptions.
Contributors: D. Shyam Babu, Laura Brueck, Sambaiah Gundimeda, Gopal Guru, Rajkumar Hans, Chinnaiah Jangam, Surinder Jodhka, P. Sanal Mohan, Ramnarayan Rawat, K. Satyanarayana
Ram Puniyani
Ram Puniyani, born on August 25, 1945, is an Indian author, activist, and former professor of biomedical engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, where he also served as a senior medical officer. His career at IIT spanned 27 years, from 1977 until his voluntary retirement in December 2004, after which he dedicated himself to promoting communal harmony and human rights in India. Below is a comprehensive overview of his life, career, activism, and contributions, based on available information.
Early Life
- Birth and Background: Born on August 25, 1945, in India, Puniyani pursued a career in biomedical engineering, a field combining medical science and engineering principles.
- Academic Career: He joined IIT Bombay in 1977, initially as a senior medical officer, and later became a professor of biomedical engineering. His academic work focused on clinical hemorheology, the study of blood flow and its properties, which led to publications like Clinical Hemorheology: New Horizons (1996) and Applied Clinical Hemorheology (1998).
Activism and Advocacy
After retiring from IIT Bombay in 2004, Puniyani shifted his focus to social activism, particularly addressing issues of communalism, secularism, and human rights in India. His work centers on countering Hindu nationalism, promoting rationalist thought, and fostering communal harmony. Key aspects of his activism include:
- Human Rights and Communal Harmony: Puniyani has been involved in human rights initiatives for over two decades, advocating for the rights of minorities, Dalits, Adivasis, and women. He is associated with organizations like the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS), where he serves as the President of the Executive Council, and is an advisory board member of the Muslim Mirror.
- Opposition to Hindu Nationalism: He has been a vocal critic of Hindu fundamentalism and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its affiliates, which he accuses of promoting divisive communal politics. His writings and lectures often analyze the impact of communalism on Indian society, particularly its effects on religious minorities.
- Public Engagement: Puniyani conducts seminars and workshops on topics like communal politics, secularism, the Uniform Civil Code debate, the Partition of India, and the Kashmir conflict. His articles and essays appear in Indian magazines and newspapers, and he runs a fortnightly e-bulletin, Issues in Secular Politics. He also maintains a YouTube channel to discuss Indian politics and social issues.
- Investigations and Tribunals: He has participated in investigations into human rights violations, including serving on an Indian People’s Tribunal examining minority rights violations in Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.
Publications
Puniyani is a prolific writer, having authored and edited numerous books on communalism, secularism, and social justice. His works often aim to debunk myths propagated by communal forces and promote a secular, democratic ethos. Some of his notable publications include:
- Clinical Hemorheology: New Horizons (1996)
- The Other Cheek: Minorities under Threat (2000)
- Communal Politics: Facts Versus Myths (2003)
- Communalism: Illustrated Primer (2004)
- Fascism of Sangh Parivar (2004)
- Religion, Power and Violence: Expression of Politics in Contemporary Times (2005)
- Contours of Hindu Rashtra: Hindutva, Sangh Parivar and Contemporary Politics (2006)
- Terrorism: Facts versus Myths (2007)
- Communalism Explained! A Graphic Account (2011)
- Muslims in Indian Democracy (2013)
- Caste and Communalism (2011)
His books often combine scholarly analysis with accessible formats, such as graphic accounts, to reach a broader audience.
Awards and Recognition
Puniyani’s contributions to social awareness and communal harmony have been recognized with several awards:
- Maharashtra Foundation (US) Award for Social Awareness about the Threat of Communal Politics (2002)
- Fr. Machio Memorial Foundation Humanitarian Award (2005)
- National Communal Harmony Award (2007)
- NCHRO’s Mukundan C. Menon Award (2015)
Controversies and Threats
Puniyani’s outspoken criticism of Hindu nationalism has made him a target of threats and intimidation:
- In March 2019, individuals claiming to be from the CID visited his home under false pretenses, inquiring about his family and past affiliations. He filed a First Information Report (FIR) with the Mumbai Police, but no action was taken.
- On June 6, 2019, he received threatening phone calls from unidentified individuals demanding he cease his “anti-Hindutva” activities and leave India within 15 days. Following these threats, he filed another FIR and was granted 24-hour police protection until the investigation concluded.
- On X, some users have accused him of spreading misinformation, particularly regarding historical narratives about Mughal rulers like Aurangzeb and the destruction of Hindu temples. For instance, posts on X have criticized him for allegedly whitewashing Mughal actions and citing unreliable sources in discussions on platforms like Kunal Kamra’s show. However, these claims are debated and lack conclusive evidence, reflecting polarized sentiments rather than verified facts.
Ideology
Puniyani’s work emphasizes the importance of secularism, pluralism, and fraternity for India’s democracy. He argues that communal politics, driven by the absence of land reforms, secularization, and the influence of religious clergy, has fueled division in Indian society. He has critiqued the RSS and its affiliates for promoting a Hindu Rashtra agenda, which he believes undermines India’s constitutional values of liberty, equality, and justice.
- He has highlighted the role of misinformation, such as narratives around the Ram Temple and Babri Masjid, in fueling communal violence.
- He advocates for the dissemination of historical documents, like Jawaharlal Nehru’s letters to chief ministers, to counter distorted narratives about India’s secular leaders.
- Puniyani believes that the rise of communal forces has been exacerbated by the failure of secular parties like Congress to effectively counter RSS-driven narratives and promote mass education on democratic values.
Online Presence
- Website: Puniyani maintains a personal website, rampuniyani.in, where he shares his writings and updates on his work.
- YouTube: His official YouTube channel provides insights into Indian politics and social issues, making his ideas accessible to a digital audience.
- LinkedIn: He is active on LinkedIn, identifying as a professor, historian, and YouTuber, with over 500 connections.
- Media Contributions: His articles are regularly published in outlets like Indian Express and Indian Currents, and he has been featured in interviews, such as on The Reba Ayaz Show.
Critical Reception
Puniyani is a polarizing figure. Supporters view him as a champion of secularism and rationalism, dedicated to preserving India’s pluralistic ethos. Critics, particularly on platforms like X, accuse him of promoting biased narratives, especially regarding historical events involving Muslim rulers or the Partition of India. For example, posts on X have labeled his claims about Aurangzeb as “dangerous rumors” or “lies,” though these criticisms often stem from ideological differences rather than substantiated evidence.
Personal Life
Little is publicly known about Puniyani’s personal life, as he primarily focuses on his professional and activist work in public forums. He resides in Mumbai, where he continues his activism and writing. The 2019 incidents involving threats and suspicious visits to his home indicate the personal risks he faces due to his outspoken views.
Legacy and Impact
Ram Puniyani’s work has significantly influenced discussions on communalism and secularism in India. His extensive writings, public speaking, and grassroots activism have made him a prominent voice in advocating for a democratic, inclusive India. However, his criticism of Hindu nationalism has also drawn hostility, reflecting the contentious nature of his mission in a polarized socio-political landscape.
Riya Singh
Riya Singh (often active under handles like @Dalit_Swag or @dalit_swag) is a prominent Indian Dalit feminist activist, researcher, writer, budget analyst, and leader in the fight against caste-based atrocities, gender violence, and intersectional discrimination. She is best known as the Founder of Dalit Women Fight (also referred to as @DALITWOMENFIGHT), described as India's largest and only Dalit women-led collective dedicated to advocating for Dalit women's rights, access to justice, and resistance to caste and patriarchal oppression.
Background and Personal Identity
- She belongs to the Dalit community (Scheduled Caste/SC in India's reservation system), a historically marginalized group facing systemic caste discrimination.
- She identifies as an Ambedkarite (follower of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's anti-caste ideology) and a converted Buddhist, often using hashtags like #ambedkaraiteandproud and #Buddhist in her profiles.
- Based in Delhi, she has been vocal about her Dalit identity, as seen in her 2017 article "I Will Not Exit Your House Without Letting You Know That I am a Dalit," where she discusses everyday caste discrimination and the importance of asserting Dalit identity in social spaces.
Education and Professional Work
- She holds advanced degrees in Women and Gender Studies, including an MPhil from Ambedkar University Delhi (AUD).
- She is a Doctoral Fellow/PhD Scholar at the Centre for Women's Development Studies (CWDS) affiliated with Ambedkar University Delhi, focusing her research on Dalit women's rights, caste-based atrocities, sexual and gender-based violence, law (particularly the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, or PoA/SC-ST Act), and intersectional feminism.
- She works as a Budget Analyst, analyzing government budgets through lenses of gender, caste, development, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG5 (gender equality).
- Her professional experience includes associations with organizations like Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies and various feminist/Dalit networks.
Activism and Key Contributions
- Founder of Dalit Women Fight: This collective mobilizes Dalit women as frontline defenders against caste atrocities, provides legal guidance (e.g., on filing cases under the PoA Act), raises awareness about caste's role in crimes (including sexual violence), and builds solidarity among oppressed women.
- She critiques savarna (upper-caste) feminism for often excluding Dalit women's experiences, arguing that mainstream feminism remains exclusionary without addressing caste hierarchies (e.g., in discussions on abortion rights, Vishakha guidelines, or post-Nirbhaya justice reforms).
- She has spoken on high-profile cases involving caste and gender violence, such as the Hathras case, Delhi rape-murder incidents, and others, highlighting how caste intersects with crimes against women and affects justice delivery.
- Appearances include interviews (e.g., India Today on caste's impact on crimes and justice post-Nirbhaya), podcasts (e.g., on the rise of Dalit feminism), YouTube discussions (e.g., "Post-Vishakha bankruptcy of Savarna feminism"), and panels on sustaining Dalit women leaders in atrocity cases.
- She advocates for intersectional approaches to issues like climate change's impact on menstrual justice, environmental movements (e.g., referencing Chipko), and broader human rights.
Public Presence and Impact
- Active on social media: X/Twitter (@Dalit_Swag) for feminist commentary, law, crimes, and Buddhist/Ambedkarite pride; Instagram (@dalit_swag) sharing activism, budget insights, and guidance on atrocities.
- Featured in media like Feminism in India, Round Table India, The Guardian (on Dalit women's abortion rights), and Purposeful (interviews on frontline defense).
- Her work emphasizes that Dalit feminism challenges both patriarchy and caste, pushing for inclusive movements that center marginalized voices.
Riya Singh stands out as a radical, intersectional voice in contemporary Indian activism, bridging academia, policy analysis, and grassroots mobilization to amplify Dalit women's struggles and demand structural change. Her efforts continue to influence discussions on caste, gender, law, and justice in India. For the latest updates, check her social media profiles or Dalit Women Fight initiatives.
Rajni Tilak
Early Life & Background
- Born on 27 May 1958 in Old Delhi, India, into a poor Dalit family with limited means (her father was a tailor; ancestors had migrated to Delhi).
- Grew up facing caste discrimination and economic hardship, which shaped her commitment to social justice.
- Pursued education amid challenges; her activism began during her time at ITI (Industrial Training Institute), where she organized a union for girls to address discrimination, scholarships, sanitation, and issues affecting deprived sections.
Activism & Key Roles
Rajni Tilak's work spanned over three decades, focusing on Dalit women's rights, anti-caste struggles, and critiques of patriarchy, capitalism, and exclusionary movements.
- Early involvement: Joined the Dalit movement but critiqued its neglect of gender issues; challenged the Left and mainstream feminism for ignoring caste, and the Dalit movement for overlooking patriarchy.
- Founded or led major organizations:
- Executive Director of Centre for Alternative Dalit Media (CADAM) — a platform for Dalit voices and media advocacy.
- Co-founder of National Confederation of Dalit Organisations (NACDOR).
- President of Dalit Lekhak Sangh (Dalit Writers' Group) — promoted Dalit literature and writers.
- National Convener of Rashtriya Dalit Mahila Andolan (RDMA) / Rashtriya Dalit Mahila Manch (National Dalit Women's Forum, founded late 1990s).
- Associated with National Federation of Dalit Women (NFDW), Dalit Panthers, and Women against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS).
- Key campaigns: Fought for women's space in anti-caste movements; organized workshops on Dalit literature (first in Delhi when Hindi Dalit discourse was emerging); critiqued policies like Mandal II (2007) from a Dalit feminist lens.
- Intellectual stance: Combined leftist, feminist, and Dalit ideologies; skeptical of all three for their exclusions; emphasized grassroots work, simple lifestyle, and awakening (inspired by Savitribai Phule).
- Literary activism: Organized events, published writings, and mentored Dalit writers; her poetry and prose highlighted marginalization of Dalit women.
Literary Works
- Autobiography: Apni Zameen Apna Aasman (My Land, My Sky) — personal account of struggles and activism.
- Edited/Contributed: Samkalin Bharthiya Dalit Mahila Lekhan (Contemporary Indian Dalit Women's Writing, 3 volumes) — anthology amplifying Dalit women's voices.
- Other writings: Poetry collections, critical essays on caste, gender, and society; prolific in Hindi Dalit literature.
Awards & Recognition
- Outstanding Woman Achiever’s Award (2013) from the National Commission for Women.
- Lifetime Achievement Award at the Dalit Women Speak Out Conference (2017).
- Honored posthumously in tributes, conferences, and media as a champion of Dalit feminism.
Death & Legacy
- Passed away on 30 March 2018 (aged 59) at St. Stephen's Hospital, Delhi, after illness.
- Tributes described her as a "sceptical Dalit Left feminist" who critiqued and enriched movements; her legacy includes vibrant Dalit feminist-Buddhist work, grassroots diligence, and insistence on inclusivity.
- Remembered for never switching off "movement mode," her frankness, and role in redefining Dalit struggles with gender justice at the core.
Rajni Tilak bridged theory and praxis, making her a trailblazer whose critiques and organizing continue to inspire Dalit feminist activism in India.
Sources: Wikipedia, Scroll.in (2018), Feminism in India (2018), Countercurrents.org (2018), National Herald (2018), Forward Press (2020), The Wire (2018), and related obituaries/tributes.
Ramesh Gaichor
Background and Early Life
- Born: Around 1984–1985 (approximately 41 years old as of 2026).
- Community: He belongs to a poor Maratha family (a historically dominant caste group in Maharashtra, not classified as SC/ST). His father worked as a security guard, and the family faced economic hardships.
- Education: Undergraduate student at Wadia College, Pune, during his early involvement with activism.
- Entry into Activism: In 2002, as a young student, he was deeply affected by the Gujarat riots/pogrom. This led him to join Kabir Kala Manch (formed post-2002 riots by youth focusing on caste, class, and communal issues). KKM's emphasis on anti-caste and anti-communal themes resonated with him, prompting him to start composing and performing.
- He worked part-time for KKM initially while holding jobs like hospital clerk and lecturer, but became a full-time member around 2008. His father described him as a smart student who loved poetry, plays, and social work for the poor.
Role in Kabir Kala Manch (KKM)
- As a core member, Ramesh is a poet, singer, composer, and director of street plays. KKM performs using traditional folk forms to address issues like caste violence, farmer suicides, gender inequality, corruption, and state repression.
- He has been part of the group's anti-caste campaigns in Maharashtra, often performing in slums, public spaces, and events to raise awareness among Bahujan (Dalit-OBC) communities.
- KKM faced repeated state crackdowns: In 2011, Maharashtra government labeled it unlawful under UAPA for alleged Maoist links due to its radical songs and performances.
Arrests, Incarceration, and Legal Struggles
- 2013 Arrest: In May 2013, after a public satyagraha (non-violent protest/surrender for truth) outside the Maharashtra Assembly with other KKM members (Sagar Gorkhe, Jyoti Jagtap, Rupali Jadhav), he was arrested alongside Sagar Gorkhe. They spent about 4 years in prison (2013–2017) on UAPA charges of Maoist links. The Supreme Court granted bail in January 2017.
- 2020 Arrest (Bhima Koregaon/Elgar Parishad Case): On September 7, 2020, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested him during the COVID-19 lockdown, along with fellow KKM members Sagar Gorkhe and Jyoti Jagtap. He was implicated in the 2018 Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case (BK-16), accused of Maoist links, inciting caste-based violence through speeches/performances at the December 31, 2017, Elgar Parishad event (organized by Dalit/human rights groups to commemorate the 1818 Bhima Koregaon battle), and conspiracy.
- Detention: Held in Taloja Central Prison for over 5 years and 5 months (nearly 1,970 days) without trial commencement. He faced allegations of pressure to give forced confessions implicating others. He contracted COVID-19 in prison and wrote about the "neo-Peshwai" (oppressive) prison system, highlighting petty cruelties and defiance among inmates.
- Bail and Release: Bombay High Court granted bail on January 23, 2026 (to him and Sagar Gorkhe), citing prolonged detention, parity with other co-accused (most already bailed), and lack of sufficient grounds for continued custody. He walked out of jail shortly after, ending over five and a half years of incarceration in this case. (Note: The broader case remains stalled, with ongoing concerns about UAPA misuse.)
- International recognition: Listed as a religious freedom prisoner by USCIRF (US Commission on International Religious Freedom) for his work defending marginalized communities. Human rights groups like Front Line Defenders condemned his arbitrary detention.
Overall Impact and Legacy
Ramesh Gaichor exemplifies the use of cultural resistance against caste and state power. His repeated arrests highlight the criminalization of artistic dissent, especially when it critiques dominant narratives from marginalized perspectives. Supported by filmmakers like Anand Patwardhan (whose documentary Jai Bhim Comrade featured KKM), civil society, and activists, he remains a symbol of resilience in using poetry and performance for social justice. Post-release in 2026, he is likely to continue KKM's work amid ongoing legal scrutiny.
His story aligns with broader struggles against UAPA and suppression of Dalit/Adivasi/Bahujan voices in India. For visuals of his performances or KKM events, search archives of Anand Patwardhan's films or news coverage of Bhima Koregaon-related activism.
Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shahu
Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur
Portrait of Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur(1912)
Raja of Kolhapur
Reign 1894–1922
Coronation 1894
Predecessor Shivaji VI
Successor Rajaram III
Born July 26, 1874
Gangavali mangaon Raigad
Died May 6, 1922 (aged 47)
Bombay
House Bhonsle
Father Jaisingrao (Aabasaheb) Ghatge
Mother Radhabai
Shahu (also known as Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj or Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj) GCSI GCIE GCVO(June 26, 1874 – May 6, 1922) of the Bhosle dynasty of Marathas was Raja (reign. 1894 – 1900) and Maharaja (1900-1922) of Indian princely state of Kolhapur.Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj also known as Rajarshi Shahu was considered a true democrat and social reformer. First Maharaja of the princely state of Kolhapur, he was an invaluable gem in the history of Maharashtra. Greatly influenced by the contributions of social reformer Jyotiba Phule, Shahu Maharaj was an ideal leader and able ruler who was associated with many progressive and path breaking activities during his rule. From his coronation in 1894 till his demise in 1922, he worked tirelessly for the cause of the lower caste subjects in his state. Primary education to all regardless of caste and creed was one of his most significant priorities.
Maharaja of Kolhapur in 1894
Early life
H.H. Shahu Chhatrapati Maharaj seated with palace servants
He was born as Yeshwantrao in the Ghatge Maratha family, of Kagal village of the Kolhapur district as Yeshwantrao Ghatge to Jaisingrao and Radhabai in June 26, 1874. Jaisingrao Ghatge was the village chief, while his mother Radhabhai hailed from the royal family of Mudhol. Young Yeshwantrao lost his mother when he was only three. His education was supervised by his father till he was 10-year-old. In that year, he was adopted by Queen Anandibai, widow of Kingh Shivaji IV, of the princely state of Kolhapur. Although the adoption rules of the time dictated that the child must have Bhosale dynasty blood in his vein, Yeshwantrao’s family background presented a unique case. He completed his formal education at the Rajkumar College, Rajkot and took lessons of administrative affairs from Sir Stuart Fraser, a representative of the Indian Civil Services. He ascended the throne in 1894 after coming of age, prior to which a regency council appointed by the British Government took care of the state affairs. During his accession Yeshwantrao was renamed as Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj.Chhatrapati Shahu was over five feet nine inches in height and displayed a regal and majestic appearance. Wrestling was one of his favourite sports and he patronised the sport throughout his rule. Wrestlers from all over the country would come to his state to participate in wrestling competitions.
He was married to Lakshmibai Khanvilkar, daughter of a nobleman from Baroda in 1891. The couple had four children – two sons and two daughters.
Vedokta controversy
When Brahmin priests of the royal family refused to perform the rites of non-Brahmins in accordance with the Vedic hymns, he took the daring step of removing the priests and appointment a young Maratha as the religious teacher of the non-Brahmins, with the title of Kshatra Jagadguru (the world teacher of the Kshatriyas). This was known as the Vedokta controversy. It brought a hornet's nest about his ears, but he was not the man to retrace his steps in the face of opposition. He soon became the leader of the non-Brahmin movement and united the Marathas under his banner.
Social reform
Group at Residency including the Maharaja of Kolhapur
Chhatrapati Shahu occupied the throne of Kolhapur for 28 years, from 1894 to 1922, and during this period he initiated numerous social reforms in his empireShahu Maharaj is credited with doing much to further the lot of the lower castes and indeed this assessment is warranted. He also ensured suitable employment for students thus educated, thereby creating one of the earliest Affirmative action(50% reservation to weaker sections) programs in history. Many of these measures were effected in the year 1902 on July 26.
He started Shahu Chhatrapati Weaving and Spinning Mill in 1906 to provide employment. Rajaram college was built by Shahu Maharaj and afterwards it was named after him.. His emphasis was on education and his aim was to make education available to masses. He introduced a number of educational programs to promote education among his subjects. He established hostels separately for different ethnicities and religions like Panchals, Devadnya, Nabhik, Shimpi, Dhor-Chambhar communities as well as for Muslims, Jains and Christians. He established the Miss Clarke Boarding School for the socially quarantined segments of the community. He introduced several scholarships for the poor but meritorious students from backward castes. He also initiated a compulsory free primary education for all in his state. He established Vedic Schools that enabled students from all castes and classes to learn the scriptures and propagate Sanskrit education among all. He also started special schools for the village heads or ‘Patils’ to make them into better administrators.
Chhatrapati Sahu was a strong advocate of equality among all strata of the society and refused to give the Brahmins any special status. He removed Brahmins from the post of Royal Religious advisers when they refused to perform religious rites for non-Brahmins. He appointed a young Maratha scholar in the post and bestowed him the title of `Kshatra Jagadguru' (the world teacher of the Kshatriyas). This incident together with the Shahu’s encouragement of the non-Brahmins to read and recite the Vedas led to the Vedokta controversy in Maharashtra. The Vedokta controversy brought a storm of protest from the elite strata of the society; a vicious opposition of the Chhatrapati’s rule. He established the Deccan Rayat Association in Nipani during 1916. The association sought to secure political rights for non-Brahmins and invite their equal participation in politics. Shahuji was influenced by the works of Jyotiba Phule, and he long patronized the Satya Shodhak Samaj, formed by Phule. In his later life, he, however, moved towards the Arya Samaj.
In 1903, he attended the Coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, and in May that year he received the honorary degree LL.D. from the University of Cambridge.
Chhatrapati Shahu made great efforts to abolish the concept of caste segregation and untouchability. He introduced (perhaps the first known) reservation system in government jobs for untouchable castes. His Royal Decree ordering his subjects to treat every member of the society as equal and granting the untouchables equal access to public utilities like wells and ponds, as well as establishments like schools and hospitals. He legalised inter-caste marriages and made a lot of efforts for the upliftment of the dalits. He discontinued the hereditary transfer of titles and tenures of revenue collectors (Kulkarni), a caste infamous for exploiting the masses, especially enslavement of the Mahars, a lower caste.
The Chhatrapati also worked towards betterment of the conditions of women in his empire. He established schools to educate the women, and also spoke vociferously on the topic of women education. He introduced a law banning the Devadsi Pratha, the practice of offering girls to God, which essentially led to exploitation of the girls in the hands of the Clergy. He legalised widow remarriages in 1917 and made efforts towards stopping child marriages.
He introduced a number of projects that enabled his subjects to self-sustain in their chosen professions. The Shahu Chhatrapati Spinning and Weaving Mill, dedicated market places, establishment of co-operative societies for farmers were introduced by the Chhatrapati to alleviate his subjects from middle men in trading. He made credits available to farmers looking to buy equipment to modernise agricultural practices and even established the King Edward Agricultural Institute to teach the farmers to increase crop yield and related technologies. He initiated the Radhanagari Dam on February 18, 1907 and the project was completed in 1935. The dam stands testament to Chhatrapati Shahu’s vision towards the welfare of his subjects and made Kolhapur self-sufficient in water.
He was a great patron of art and culture and encouraged artists from music and fine arts. He supported writers and researchers in their endeavours. He installed gymnasiums and wrestling pitches and highlighted the importance of health consciousness among the youth.
His seminal contribution in social, political, educational, agricultural and cultural spheres earned him the title of Rajarshi, which was bestowed upon him by the Kurmi warrior community of Kanpur.
Association with Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar
Chhatrapati was introduced to Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar by artists Dattoba Pawar and Dittoba Dalvi. The King was greatly impressed by the great intellect of young Bhimrao and his revolutionary ideas regarding untouchability. The two met a number of times during 1917-1921 and went over possible ways to abolish the negatives of caste segregation. Together they organised a conference for the betterment of the untouchables during March 21-22, 1920 and Chhatrapati made Dr. Ambedkar the Chairman as he believed that Dr. Ambedkar was the leader who would work for the amelioration of the segregated segments of the society. He even donated Rs. 2,500 to Dr. Ambedkar when he started his newspaper ‘Mooknayak’ on January 31, 1921, and contributed more later for the same cause. Their association lasted till the Chhatrapati’s death in 1922.
Personal life
H.H.Shahu Chhatrapati Maharaj sitting amongst crowds watching a wrestling match
In 1891, Shahu married Lakshmibai née Khanvilkar(1880–1945), daughter of a Maratha nobleman from Baroda. They were the parents of four children:
Rajaram III, who succeeded his father as Maharaja of Kolhapur.
Radhabai 'Akkasaheb' Puar, Maharani of Dewas (senior)(1894–1973) who married Raja Tukojirao III of Dewas(Senior) and had issue:
Vikramsinhrao Puar, who became Maharaja of Dewas(Senior) in 1937 and who later succeeded to the throne of Kolhapur as Shahaji II.
Sriman Maharajkumar Shivaji(1899–1918)
Shrimati Rajkumari Aubai(1895); died young
Death
The great social reformer Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj died on May 6, 1922. He was succeeded by his eldest son Rajaram III as the Maharaja of Kolhapur. It was unfortunate that the reforms initiated by Chhatrapati Shahu gradually began to cease and fade for the lack of able leadership to carry on the legacy.
Full name and titles
His full official name was: Colonel His Highness Kshatriya-Kulawatasana Sinhasanadhishwar, Shrimant Rajarshi Sir Shahu Chhatrapati Maharaj Sahib Bahadur, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO.
During his life he acquired the following titles and honorific names:
1874–1884: Meherban Shrimant Yeshwantrao Sarjerao Ghatge
1884–1895: His Highness Kshatriya-Kulawatasana Sinhasanadhishwar, Shrimant Rajarshi Shahu Chhatrapati Maharaj Sahib Bahadur, Raja of Kolhapur
1895–1900: His Highness Kshatriya-Kulawatasana Sinhasanadhishwar, Shrimant Rajarshi Sir Shahu Chhatrapati Maharaj Sahib Bahadur, Raja of Kolhapur, GCSI
1900–1903: His Highness Kshatriya-Kulawatasana Sinhasanadhishwar, Shrimant Rajarshi Sir Shahu Chhatrapati Maharaj Sahib Bahadur, Maharaja of Kolhapur, GCSI
1903–1911: His Highness Kshatriya-Kulawatasana Sinhasanadhishwar, Shrimant Rajarshi Sir Shahu Chhatrapati Maharaj Sahib Bahadur, Maharaja of Kolhapur, GCSI, GCVO
1911–1915: His Highness Kshatriya-Kulawatasana Sinhasanadhishwar, Shrimant Rajarshi Sir Shahu Chhatrapati Maharaj Sahib Bahadur, Maharaja of Kolhapur, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO
1915–1922: Colonel His Highness Kshatriya-Kulawatasana Sinhasanadhishwar, Shrimant Rajarshi Sir Shahu Chhatrapati Maharaj Sahib Bahadur, Maharaja of Kolhapur, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO
Honours
Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order(GCVO), 1903
Hon. LLD(Cantabrigian), 1903
Delhi Durbar Gold Medal, 1903
Delhi Durbar Gold Medal, 1911
President of India unveils the statue of Rajarshi Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj 28-December-2013 at Pune
Radhika Vemula
Background and Personal Life
- Born in Andhra Pradesh, India.
- She belongs to the Mala community (a Scheduled Caste/Dalit group) by birth, though she was adopted as an infant by a Vaddera family (classified as Other Backward Class/OBC).
- Married to Manikumar Vemula (from Vaddera caste); they separated around 1990 when she was in her early 20s.
- Raised three children as a single parent after the separation: older son Rohith (born January 30, 1989; died January 17, 2016), younger son Raja, and daughter Nileema.
- Worked as a tailor and faced significant economic hardships while supporting her family.
- In the months following Rohith's death, Radhika and her son Raja converted to Buddhism (on Ambedkar Jayanti), following Ambedkarite principles to reject caste hierarchies.
Rise to Activism
Radhika was not a public figure before 2016. Rohith's suicide — widely described by activists as an "institutional murder" due to alleged caste-based persecution, suspension of his fellowship (on which the family depended), and pressure from university authorities and political figures — transformed her life.
- She emerged as a powerful voice in the Dalit rights movement and anti-caste activism.
- Traveled extensively across India, addressing rallies, protests, and events on caste discrimination, especially in universities.
- Became a symbol of resistance, often referred to as "Radhika Amma" by supporters and young activists.
- Faced intense scrutiny, including attempts by authorities and some political figures (e.g., questions raised in Parliament and by BJP leaders like Smriti Irani) to challenge Rohith's Dalit identity and her own, leading to official inquiries (e.g., a District Level Scrutiny Committee in Guntur concluded neither was Dalit, which she and supporters rejected as an attempt to erase their identity and legacy).
- Accepted compensation from the government but continued demanding full justice, accountability, and systemic change.
Key Activism and Advocacy (2016–2026)
- Demands justice for Rohith, including punishment for those responsible for the alleged discrimination.
- Advocates for ending caste-based discrimination in higher education.
- Strongly supports the Rohith Act — proposed legislation to act as a strong deterrent against casteism in academia (she compared it to a "vaccine" against casteism, similar to how vaccines combat diseases).
- In January 2026 (on the 10th anniversary of Rohith's death), she met Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka to push for the Rohith Act's passage in the state.
- Participated in emotional commemorations, including hugging and kissing Rohith's statue amid tears.
- Received solidarity from feminist groups (e.g., All-India Feminist Alliance in 2024), Dalit intellectuals, writers, and student movements.
- Continues speaking on broader issues of social justice for marginalized communities.
Health and Current Status
As of early 2026, Radhika has faced health challenges, including a recent stroke requiring stent implantation. Despite this, she remains active in the movement.
Her journey from a grieving, struggling single mother to a respected leader in the fight against caste oppression has inspired many, particularly in anti-caste and Ambedkarite circles. She often says her "new family" is the community of oppressed Dalits, and she vows not to rest until justice is achieved for her son and systemic change occurs.
Ravali Medari
Early Life and Background
- Ravali Medari comes from a Dalit background (from the marginalized Scheduled Caste communities in India).
- She grew up in a modest family environment where, as a teenager, she was initially soft-spoken and relied on family members (such as her elder brother) for tasks like filling out university application forms.
- She pursued higher education at the University of Hyderabad, where she completed a Master's degree in Anthropology (around 2016–2018, as she was described as a 22-year-old postgraduate student in early 2018).
Activism and Political Involvement
- Ravali became a prominent student activist at UoH, particularly active from around 2016 onward.
- The University of Hyderabad became a major center for student protests during this time, including movements against caste discrimination, institutional injustices, fee hikes, privatization of education, and broader issues like the Rohith Vemula suicide case (2016), which sparked nationwide outrage over Dalit student rights and campus casteism.
- She was described as a "fierce and charismatic" leader who helped turn the campus into a "crucible of student revolt."
- In interviews (notably a 2018 feature by writer Meena Kandasamy in New Internationalist), Ravali spoke about intolerance toward Dalits speaking out: "People are intolerant towards Dalits speaking up," and highlighted how caste and class intersect in activism and daily life.
- Her activism focused on Dalit rights, anti-caste struggles, social justice, education access, and challenging systemic oppression.
- She participated in events like discussions on "Caste and the West" (as a singer and research scholar) and panels such as "YUVA SAMVAD: RECLAIMING EDUCATION FROM FASCISM" in 2022, where she represented her background as a postgraduate from HCU.
Professional and Academic Career
- After her student activism phase, Ravali transitioned into professional roles blending her anthropological expertise with applied fields.
- She has worked as a User Experience (UX) Researcher, including positions at organizations like Think Design Collaborative and Mobius by Gaian.
- Her LinkedIn and other profiles describe her as a UX/UI Researcher | Anthropologist, with interests in socio-cultural studies, human cultures, and uncommon opinions on Indian society, politics, and music.
- She has also shared insights on topics like the impact of COVID-19 on global education.
Personal Life and Online Presence
- Ravali maintains an active presence on social media:
- Instagram (@ravali.medari): Describes herself as "Resilient ♊ Kalaa Rasika. Anthropologist. Hope and Faith are Oxygen to life. Affection is always greater than Perfection." She shares reels, personal content, and creative posts.
- LinkedIn and Medium (@ravali.medari): Writes on anthropology, society, politics, and music.
- She is also noted for her artistic side, including singing (as mentioned in event credits).
- As of recent profiles (around 2022–2025), she appears based in Hyderabad or Telangana region.
Ravali Medari represents a generation of young Dalit women activists who combine academic pursuits with grassroots political resistance against caste-based discrimination in Indian higher education. Her story, as profiled in international outlets like New Internationalist, highlights the intersection of caste, class, gender, and activism in contemporary India. While her high-profile student activism peaked around 2016–2018, she continues to engage in intellectual and professional work aligned with social awareness. For the latest on her activities, her social media or professional profiles would provide current updates.
Ramya Haridas
Personal Background & Early Life
Birth: 1987 (exact date not widely published)
Hometown: Kizhakkambalam, Ernakulam district, Kerala.
Family: Comes from a financially modest family. Her father, Haridas, was an agricultural laborer, and her mother, Vijaya, a homemaker.
Caste: She belongs to the Hindu Parayan community, classified as a Scheduled Caste (SC) in Kerala. This identity is central to her political and activist narrative.
Education: She holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in English Literature and a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) degree. She famously studied for her exams under a streetlight or kerosene lamp due to a lack of electricity at home—a story that has become emblematic of her struggle and perseverance.
Career Before Politics: The Playback Singer
Before entering politics, Ramya was a well-known playback singer in the Malayalam film industry.
She debuted as a singer in the movie "Swapnakoodu" (2003).
She gained fame for her hit song "Aaro Nenjil" from the film "Achanurangatha Veedu" (2005).
Her successful singing career provided her with public recognition and a platform, which she later channeled into social and political work.
Political Career & Activism
Her transition to politics was driven by a desire to fight for the marginalized.
Political Affiliation: She is a prominent leader of the Indian National Congress and a member of the Kerala Students Union (KSU) and Youth Congress.
Electoral Journey:
2019 Lok Sabha Elections: She contested from the Alathur (SC) reserved constituency and won by a massive margin of over 1.64 lakh votes, defeating her nearest rival, the CPI(M)'s candidate.
Tenure as MP (2019-2024): She was an active parliamentarian, known for her articulate speeches focusing on Dalit rights, women's safety, farmers' issues, and federalism.
2024 Lok Sabha Elections: She was denied a ticket by the Congress from Alathur, which caused significant controversy. She was fielded instead from the Thrissur constituency, a high-profile general seat, where she lost to actor-politician Suresh Gopi (BJP).
Core Activist Stances: Her activism is woven into her political work:
Dalit Empowerment: As a Dalit woman MP, she consistently raised issues of caste discrimination, SC/ST atrocities, and the implementation of reservation policies. She represents the aspirations of a new generation of educated Dalit leadership.
Women's Rights: A strong advocate for gender justice, she has spoken powerfully in Parliament on issues like violence against women, workplace safety, and political representation.
Grassroots Issues: Focuses on the rights of agricultural laborers, migrant workers, and the economically disadvantaged.
Education: Champions public education and access to higher education for underprivileged communities, often citing her own journey.
Public Image & Significance
Symbol of Aspiration: Her biography—from a Dalit family without electricity to the Parliament—is a powerful narrative of social mobility in India.
Vocal and Fearless: Known for her direct and passionate oratory style, both inside and outside Parliament. She is not afraid to take on political opponents.
Youth Connect: Her background as a singer and her relatable story give her a strong connection with young voters.
Media Presence: She is an active and articulate voice in the media on national and state issues.
Awards & Recognition
"Best Parliamentarian" Award (2020): She was honored with this award by a media group, recognizing her active participation and quality debates in the Lok Sabha.
"Outstanding Leadership" Award (2021): Received from the World Malayali Council.
Controversies
Her career has not been without controversy, often highlighting the intersection of caste, gender, and politics:
She has faced sexist and casteist trolling and abuse online for her outspoken nature.
Her shift from the Alathur (SC) seat to Thrissur (General) in 2024 sparked debates about party strategy versus representation.
Political opponents have occasionally targeted her background and statements.
Conclusion: Activist-Politician
Ramya Haridas embodies the fusion of grassroots activism and electoral politics. She is more than just a politician; she is a symbol of Dalit assertion and women's empowerment in contemporary Kerala and Indian politics. While her electoral future may shift, her voice as an activist for social justice remains a significant force. Her story continues to inspire many, proving that political spaces can be accessed and reshaped by those from the most marginalized backgrounds.
In essence, Ramya Haridas is a Dalit woman leader who used her personal struggles, artistic talent, and political platform to become a resonant voice for the oppressed, challenging established power structures in society and politics.
Rekha Raj
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rekha Raj
Born
Rekha Raj
5 May 1978
Occupation Dalit Writer & Activist & Assistant professor
Years active 1990–present
Spouse(s) M. R. Renukumar
Rekha Raj (Malayalam: രേഖ രാജ്; born 5 May 1978) is a Dalit and feminist thinker, social activist and writer. She is one of the pioneers of Dalit feminism in Kerala who started writing on caste and gender issues. She has delivered lectures in institutions like Christ University, University of Hyderabad, Tata Institute of Social Sciences etc., on development, gender, human rights, and Dalit issues. She has worked as a consultant of many organizations in India.
Early life
Raj was born to K P Nalinakshi and S Rajappan on 5 May 1978 in Kottayam, a central district of Kerala. She lives with her husband M. R. Renukumar and son. With a PhD in philosophy under the title "Politics of Gender and Dalit Identity: Representation of Dalit Women in Contemporary Dalit Discourses in Kerala", she currently works as assistant professor at the School of Gandhian Thought and Development Studies in Mahatma Gandhi University. She was a project manager of women's rights at Amnesty International India earlier.
Works
Raj has written a book titled Dalit Sthree Idapedalukal in 2015, which was translated into Tamil in 2017. She was a guest editor of the Sanghaditha magazine special issue on Dalit Women in 2013. She has written many articles both in academic and other magazines including Economic and Political Weekly, Mathrubhumi, Samakalika Malayalam Vaarika, Madhyamam Weekly and many other current periodicals in India. She also writes short stories and screenplays. Her areas of academic interest are extended to gender, development, ethnic, cultural, dalit and subaltern studies.
Awards and honors
2012: Rahna Award from Mochitha Sthree Padana Kendram, Alappuzha.
Raj is an alumnus of international visitors leadership program by United States of America government.
Rattaimalai Srinivasan
Rattaimalai Srinivasan Srinivasan born to Rattaimalai and Ranganayagi in Kozhiyangkulam village at Chengai district, on 7th July 1859. He was called after his father's name as Rattaimalai Srinivasan.'^ He believed that dalits could be liberated only through education. He argued that in schools, tuition fees should not be collected for dalits. After the completion of graduation, he served at Nilgiris as cashier in the Commercial Tax Department. Then he settled in Chennai. He traveled far and wide in Tamil Nadu and came to know the real sufferings of Adi Dravidas.'^ He joined Theosophical Society in 1884, but left soon as the society did not worked for the causes of dalits. In 1891, R. Srinivasan formed the Adi Dravida Saba.
He organised the first conference of the untouchables on 23rd December 1893 and declared his open war on untouchability, caste system and religious myths. He started the magazine 'Parayan' in 1893. Through the paper, he wrote many articles to make awareness among his people. Even before Gandhiji's service of dalits, Rattaimalai started serving dedicatedly for them. He setup the Pariar Maha Saba and worked for their upliftment. He wrote in his autobiography that he started Pariar Saba, because he was totally frustrated out of the activities of Adi Dravida Saba.
Pariar Maha Saba submitted petitions to Viceroy, Governor Lord Elgin and Governor Lord Veniock on behalf of Dalits. Cruelties inflected on them were explained and pleaded to bring redresses for them.'^ In 1904, he left for South Africa. He served as a translator in Natal High Court. At that time Gandhiji served there as a lawyer. They worked together against racial discrimination. He was there in that job up to 1920. After his return to India, he took part in Indian politics from 1921.'^ From 1923 to 1938 he represented the dalits in the assembly. He brought a motion on 25th August 1924 in the assembly that the Dalits should be allowed freely on all common streets, roads, buildings to walk, then to be allowed to draw water from common wells. This was accepted and a government order to this effect was issued in 1925. He knew the importance of education. Therefore he established a forum to dalits which initiated many educational activities. He also organized a Dalit Federation for Chennai province. He was knighted as Rao Sahib in 1926 by British government in honour of his services. In the First Round Table Conference on behalf of Dalits Dr. Ambedkar and Srinivasan took part. In that Conference he told that unless political freedom was given to dalits, untouchability would not die. He also insisted on giving equal power to dalits in the assembly.
In 1930, he was awarded the title Diwan Bahadur. He also took part in the Second Round Table Conference. This time Gandhiji went to represent Congress. He was against separate electorates. Hence there was ideological conflict between Mahatma and Srinivasan.^^ While Rajaji was the Chief Minister for Chennai province, he talked vociferously that Jamin lands should be equally distributed to landless people. Appreciating his boldness, Thiru. Vi. Ka. gave him a title called Dravidamani. Rajaji too participated in that function. On 18th September 1945, he left this earth and entered into heavenly abode. He worked till last tirelessly for dalits.
Ravikumar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
D. Ravikumar
Assumed office
23 May 2019
Preceded by S. Rajendran
Constituency Viluppuram
Personal details
Born 10 June 1961
Manganam Pattu
Education M.A., B.L., PhD
Occupation VCK General Seceratory
D. Ravikumar (born 1961) is an Indian Tamil intellectual, writer, lawyer politician and an anti-caste activist. He was the editor of the magazine, Nirapirikai. Nirapirikai inspired several new writers in the 1990s in Tamil Nadu. He is an Ambedkarite. Ravikumar is the current Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from Viluppuram and member of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
Ravikumar is the founder of the anti-caste publishing house Navayana, along with S. Anand, and the former president of the People's Education Movement (Makkal Kalvi Eyakkam) and PUCL (Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry).
Ravikumar was elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from Kattumannarkoil, Cuddalore district, and served from 2006 to 2011. He was instrumental in bringing a new policy to handle EWaste in Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu government started a skill development program and Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi, then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, created six welfare boards, both at the request of Ravikumar.
In 2010, Ravikumar won the Aringar Anna Award, conferred by the Tamil Nadu State Government. Vikatan Award for Translation ( 2014) Thiranayvu chemmal award for literary criticism (2019) manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Bharathi Award (2019) Vitiyal Trust Chennai. villuppuram MP
Positions held
Syndicate Member, Tamil University
Senate Member, Annamalai University
Member, Enperayam, Central Institute of Classical Tamil
Member, Social Reforms Committee, Tamil Nadu Government
Member, Puthirai Vannar Welfare Board, Tamil Nadu Government
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha (2019-Incumbent), Vilupuram Loksabha Constituency
Writings
Books
Ravikumar, D. (2009). Venomous touch : notes on caste, culture, and politics. Translated by R. Azhagarasan. Stree-Samya Publications. ISBN 978-8185604763.
Prose
"Kankanippin Arasiyal" (1995) Vidiyal Pathippagam
"Kothippu Uyarndu Varum" (2001) Kalachuvadu
"Kadakka Mudiyatha Nizhal" (2003) Kalachuvadu
"Malcolm X" (2003) Kalachuvadu
"Sonnal Mudiyum" (2007) Vikatan Publication
"Indrum Namadhe" (2008) Vikatan Publication
"Thuyarathin mel patiyum Thuyaram" (2009) Aazhi Publication
"Thamizharay Unarum Tharunam" (2010) Aazhi Publication
"Kaana Mutiyaa Kanavu" (2010) Aazhi Publication
"Bob Marley" (2010) Uyirmai Publication
"Andai Ayal Ulakam" (2010) Uyirmai Publication
"Piravazhip payanam" (2010) Uyirmai Publication
"Katranaiththoorum" (2010) Uyirmai Publication
"Soolakam" (2010) Uyirmai Publication
"Meelum Varalaru" (2010) Ulakath Thamizaraychi niruvanam
"Kumbatchiyilirunthu kodungonmaikku" (2017) Kizhakku Pathipakam
"Kaalathai Thorkaditha Kalaingar" (2017) Manarkeni
Kaanalaay marum kaveri (2018) Manarkeni Ayiram Pookkal Karukattum (2019) Manarkeni
Poetry
"Avizhum Sorkal" (2009) Uyirmai
"Mazhai Maram" (2009) CreA
"Vaanil Vitterintha Kanavu" (2017) Manarkeni
Short Stories
"Kadal Kinaru" (2014) Manarkeni
Translations
Uraiyadal Thodarkiradu (1995) (interviews and articles of philosophers including Michel Foucault, Edward Said) Vidiyal Pathipakam
Choli ke peche (2010) (short stories of women writers including Mahasweta Devi, Ismat Chuktai, Isabelle Allende) Aazhi
Velichamum Thanneer Mathiritan (2003) (short stories of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and others) Dalit Veliyeedu
Athikarathitam Unmaiyaip Pesuthal (2010) (writings of Edward Said) Manarkeni
Varalaru Ennum Kathai (2010) (writings of Eduardo Galeano) Manarkeni
Valasaip Paravai (2010) (poems of Yehuda Amichai, Maya Angelou, Ethelbert Miller, Joy Goswami and others) Manarkeni
Editing
Tamil
Dalit Literature, Politics, Culture (1996)
Dalit Engira Thanitthuvum (1998) Dalit Publication
Iyothee Thaas Panditar Cintanaikal (four volumes) (1999) Dalit Sahitya Academy
Rettaimalai Srinivasan Jeevida Carithira Curukkam (1999) (Autobiography) Dalit Sahitya Academy
Mikai Naadum Kalai (2003) (Essays on cinema) kalachuvadu
Dalit journal
Bodhi journal
Manarkeni journal
English
We, the Condemned (1999) (Against Death Penalty) PUCL, Pondicherry
Ravikumar; Azhagarasan, R., eds. (2012). The Oxford India anthology of Tamil Dalit writing (1st ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-807938-5. A. S. Panneerselvan wrote of this book in The Indian Express: "The material is of sterling quality ... However, two glaring problems with this anthology the conspicuous exclusion of some of the finest voices and the narrow interpretation of the growth of Dalit literature and politics do a disservice to the stated objectives.
Rao Saheb L.C. Gurusamy
Early Life and Background
- Birth: January 27, 1885, in Madras (now Chennai), Tamil Nadu (then part of the Madras Presidency).
- Family: Born to Cottappa (or Kottappa), in the Madiga/Arunthathiyar community, which is classified as a Scheduled Caste (historically disadvantaged and marginalized under the caste system).
- He received his early education in Madras and was known for his gentle speech, friendly demeanor, and lifelong commitment to social causes.
Key Contributions and Activism
Gurusamy was a key figure in the early 20th-century efforts to combat caste discrimination, untouchability, and socio-economic exclusion faced by Dalit communities. His work focused on education, political representation, women's upliftment, and community organization.
- Organizational Leadership:
- He was a prominent member and General Secretary of the Adi Dravida Mahajana Sabha (Adi-Dravida People's Assembly), one of the earliest platforms for Depressed Classes upliftment in Tamil Nadu.
- In 1920, he co-founded the Arunthathiyar Mahajana Sabha (Arunthathiyar People's Assembly) alongside H.M. Jaganathan (or H.M. Jagannathan), where he served as General Secretary (with Jaganathan as President). This was a sister organization to the Adi Dravida Sabha, specifically representing the Arunthathiyar community.
- These organizations advocated for education, social reforms, and political rights for Dalits.
- Political Career:
- He served as a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) in the Madras Presidency.
- Associated with leaders like Thatha Rettaimalai Srinivasan and Perunthalaivar M.C. Rajah in broader Depressed Classes movements.
- Participated in efforts linked to Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's delegations, including aspects of the Round Table Conferences (as part of teams representing Depressed Classes).
- He was also connected to the Justice Party in some capacities.
- Social Reforms and Advocacy:
- Advocated for free education and exemptions from school fees, especially for women and girls from marginalized communities.
- In 1923, he pushed for exemptions from payment of fees for women in the Madras Legislative Council to promote female education.
- Established two schools exclusively for Scheduled Caste (Dalit) girls in the 1920s.
- Opened several student hostels near Madras to support education for underprivileged students.
- Worked on broader issues like improving the status of Arunthathiyars and fighting caste-based discrimination.
- Other Roles:
- Served as an Honorary Magistrate for 22 years.
- Was one of the directors of a Co-operative Bank in Madras.
- In recognition of his public service and contributions, the British government conferred upon him the honorary title Rao Saheb in 1927.
Legacy
Gurusamy is regarded as a foundational figure in Arunthathiyar and broader Dalit activism in Tamil Nadu. His efforts laid groundwork for later movements, including those influenced by Ambedkar. He is commemorated annually on his birth anniversary (January 27) by Dalit groups, Ambedkar Students' Associations, and leaders in Tamil Nadu (e.g., references in modern tributes by figures like CM MK Stalin or Dalit organizations). Recent scholarship (e.g., papers on "The Forgotten Feminist: L.C. Guruswamy and Women’s Question in the early Twentieth Century Tamil Nadu") highlights his role in addressing gender issues within Dalit communities.
He passed away in 1966. While not as widely known nationally as figures like Ambedkar or Periyar, he remains an important icon in Tamil Nadu's Dalit history, especially among Arunthathiyar communities.
Rosa Parks
Early Life and Family Background
Rosa Louise McCauley was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, to James McCauley (a carpenter and stonemason) and Leona Edwards McCauley (a schoolteacher). Her parents separated when she was two years old, after the birth of her younger brother, Sylvester. Rosa, her mother, and brother moved to live with her maternal grandparents on a farm in Pine Level, Alabama, near Montgomery.
Raised in the segregated Jim Crow South, she experienced racism early: segregated schools, public facilities, and threats from the Ku Klux Klan (her grandfather kept a shotgun ready for protection). Her mother homeschooled her initially, emphasizing education and self-respect. At age 11, Rosa attended the Montgomery Industrial School for Girls (a private school for Black girls teaching domestic skills alongside academics) and later enrolled at Alabama State Teachers' College (now Alabama State University), but left at 16 due to family illnesses (grandmother and mother). She worked as a seamstress and domestic worker to support her family.
In 1932, at age 19, she married Raymond Parks, a barber and NAACP activist 12 years her senior. Raymond encouraged her involvement in civil rights; they had no children but shared a commitment to justice. The couple faced financial hardship and threats due to their activism.
Activism Before the Famous Incident
Rosa Parks was far from an "accidental" activist. She was a lifelong organizer:
- Joined the NAACP in the early 1940s; became secretary of the Montgomery chapter in 1943 (served for a decade).
- Investigated cases of racial violence, including the 1944 gang rape of Recy Taylor (organized "Committee for Equal Justice").
- Worked on voter registration drives and youth programs.
- Attended the Highlander Folk School in Tennessee in summer 1955 for nonviolent protest training on desegregation.
- Supported efforts like the Scottsboro Boys case and fought police brutality.
Her activism built on a foundation of determination: she refused to accept segregation, even if endured.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955–1956)
On December 1, 1955, after a long day sewing at a department store, 42-year-old Parks boarded a Cleveland Avenue bus. She sat in the first row of the "colored" section. When the white section filled, driver James Blake ordered her and three others to move. The others complied; Parks refused, saying, "No."
She was arrested, charged with violating segregation laws, and fined $10 plus court costs. Her act was intentional—not spontaneous fatigue—and she was chosen as a "test case" plaintiff due to her impeccable character.
Her arrest galvanized the Black community:
- E.D. Nixon (NAACP leader) bailed her out and called for a boycott.
- The Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) formed; young pastor Martin Luther King Jr. elected president.
- From December 5, 1955, to December 20, 1956 (381 days), ~40,000 Black residents boycotted buses—walking, carpooling, or using Black taxis.
- The boycott crippled the bus company's finances and drew national attention.
- Churches, homes, and volunteers sustained it with carpools and fundraisers.
- King emerged as a national leader promoting nonviolent resistance.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Browder v. Gayle (1956) that bus segregation was unconstitutional, ending the boycott. Parks took a symbolic ride on the front of an integrated bus.
Later Life and Continued Activism
The boycott brought fame but also hardship: Parks lost her job, faced death threats, and the couple struggled financially. In 1957, they moved to Detroit, Michigan (via Hampton, Virginia), joining her brother.
In Detroit:
- Worked as a seamstress, then as secretary/receptionist for U.S. Rep. John Conyers (1965–1988).
- Remained active: Supported March on Washington (1963), Selma-to-Montgomery marches, Black Power, anti-apartheid protests, and causes like housing discrimination and police abuse.
- Investigated 1967 Detroit riot killings.
- Co-founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development (1987) with Elaine Eason Steele—offers youth programs on civil rights history and career training.
- Raymond died in 1977; Rosa faced health and financial issues in the 1980s but continued speaking.
Awards, Honors, and Legacy
Parks received numerous recognitions:
- Spingarn Medal (NAACP, 1979).
- Presidential Medal of Freedom (1996, by President Clinton).
- Congressional Gold Medal (1999).
- First woman to lie in honor in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda (2005).
- Statues, schools, stamps, and Rosa Parks Day observances nationwide.
She authored Rosa Parks: My Story (1992 autobiography with Jim Haskins).
Parks died of natural causes on October 24, 2005, in Detroit at age 92. Her funeral drew thousands; she lies in Detroit's Woodlawn Cemetery.
Her legacy endures as a symbol of dignified, nonviolent resistance against injustice. Though often reduced to "the tired seamstress," she was a dedicated, lifelong radical activist whose quiet courage helped dismantle legal segregation and inspire global human rights struggles.
Raju Kamble
Raju Kamble breathed his last at 2.10 am in Vancouver, Canada. His death is a great loss to the Ambedkarite movement. When the international reach of Ambedkarites was limited only to a few immigrants from Punjab to the western hemisphere, it was Raju Bhau, as we fondly called him, who spanned North America, Europe, Middle East, and South East Asia to build what is now known as Ambedkar International Mission (AIM). His grasp of the philosophy of Babasaheb Ambedkar was firm and clear. He came from a humble background like most of us, but he rose to great heights in both professional and social fields.
In his early days when he was working in New Delhi, Raju Bhau was so devoted to the mission of Babasaheb Ambedkar that he worked tirelessly for the incipient BAMCEF. He was known in Delhi circles as “BAMCEF Kamble”. Such was his devotion. Though he was a top class engineer, he never forgot ground level activism. In fact, his efforts were always directed towards the people on the ground.
As soon as Bhau moved to Malaysia to work in the gas sector, he started developing contacts with the Dalits in Malaysia. It was he who found the Tamil speaking Dalit politicians in Malaysia and with his network and resources organised the First World Conference of Dalits in Malaysia. The conference brought stalwarts from the Ambedkarite movement on one platform. He continued to work to develop networks in South East Asia. When he moved to the Middle East, he developed a network of Ambedkarites in the middle East. His strategy of mobilisation was unique: he networked not only with the rich technical people, but also mobilised the labourers working in the Middle East. It is to his great credit that we see a thriving network of Ambedkarites in all the countries of GCC.
Later on, he moved to the USA and then to Canada. This was perhaps a very important phase for him to develop the networks of Ambedkarites in North America. He meticulously networked Dalits from many different states in India, but he also brought many non-Indian sympathisers of Dalit movement together through celebration of Ambedkar Jayanti, and arranging international conferences and seminars to build the voice of Ambedkarites and the network.
The present development of the Ambedkar International Mission (AIM) owes a lot to the indefatigable efforts of Raju Bhau.
Raju Bhau was a very near and dear friend to many. He was a brother to me. I first came to meet him in New Delhi and went to IITD several times where he regularly met the students and listened to their problems. One of the remarkable contributions that Raju Bhau made was distributing the Writings and Speeches of Babasaheb Ambedkar to individuals and institutions. He was ever ready to send the blue volumes, the “revolutionary literature”, all over the world. While he visited students, he always gave them the books of Babasaheb Ambedkar purchased with his own money.
When I went to the USA to network, he was there to help. I cannot forget the time I spent with Bhau in California. He was instrumental in arranging Ambedkar Jayanti in Fremont and he came from Texas carrying all the material including the life size photo of Babasaheb Ambedkar. After the program was over, we stayed in the San Francisco Buddhist Centre. In course of our late night discussion, Bhau showed me the account that he maintained to help the movement. He was spending a lot of his personal money on social mobilisation.
Bhau arranged a very remarkable Buddhist conference in Nagpur where he brought people from all over the world. He was a visionary. he realised the importance of spreading the Ambedkarite movement out of India so that it wins friends all over.
His untimely death is a great loss to all of us and the movement for dignity and self respect. Bhau will continue to inspire us with his dedication and commitment. With a sad heart, I pay homage to this great visionary Ambedkarite with our battle cry, Jai Bhim, Bhau!
Author – Mangesh Dahiwale, Human Rights Activist
Raksha Ram Chamar
And the International Darnal Award for Social Justice
08/16/2016 ET
Niranjan Kunwar, Contributor
Writer and Educator
The first recipient of the International Darnal Award for Social Justice is a 28-year-old educator, journalist and legal advocate Raksha Ram Chamar (Harijan) who was born into a family of highly marginalized Madhesi Dalit tenant farmers in a village in Nepal’s Kapilvastu district. The inaugural award ceremony was jointly organized by the Sarita Pariyar Trust Fund and Jagaran Media Center in Kathmandu’s City Hall on August 15, marking the five-year death anniversary of Dalit activist Suvash Darnal.
DARNAL AWARD FOR SOCIAL JUSTICERaksha Ram Chamar presenting acceptance remarks at the award ceremony.Below: A portrait of Suvash Darnal
Chamar opened his acceptance remarks by dedicating the award to the oppressed Dalit community and acknowledging Suvash Darnal, whom he referred to as “a warrior of Dalit revolution”. He thanked his parents as well as the legal advocate and chairperson of the Terai Human Rights Defenders (THRD) Dipendra Jha for encouraging and supporting him in his fight against social injustice in Nepal. At the end of his concise and potent speech, Chamar reiterated his commitment to work in the legal field to help the oppressed and said that the award has made him more responsible. “Legal means is the only way to fight against structures that perpetuate social inequality,” he added.
After completing tenth grade, Chamar moved to Sakhatpur, an Indian town across the border, to complete high school, paying sixty rupees per month for lodgings. Towards the end of twelfth grade, he worked on the street to gather funds that he needed to pay for his marksheet. Despite overwhelming odds, Chamar’s educational pursuit was relentless. He worked as a road construction worker and a temporary policeman during elections to pay for college. Now he holds a bachelors and masters degree in education and is currently pursuing a degree in law. While studying, he also managed to establish a school in his village community with the help of local leaders so that marginalized families did not have to leave in search of affordable education for their children.
Later, Chamar worked as a reporter for a paper in Kapilvastu and became the editor of a weekly newspaper, Pradeshik Samachar, which aimed to raise awareness about the Dalit situation and agenda. By this time, Chamar had become determined to combat severe social injustice and political barriers that are prevalent across Nepali society and systems. He volunteered as a human rights worker at Mahuri Home, a human rights organization in the Tarai. In 2012, he came to Kathmandu to work for the Tarai Human Rights Defenders alliance. Since then, Chamar has filed numerous writs at the Supreme Court to expand opportunities for the marginalized. In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled in favor on a case Chamar had filed jointly with Rita Shah and Vijay Kant Karna. They had argued that an agreement by the top three political parties to promulgate a constitution leaving details on federalism for future resolution was unconstitutional. The parties were subsequently forced to bring out a constitution that included a map of the federal structure.
DARNAL AWARD FOR SOCIAL JUSTICEAshok Gurung with some of the panelists at City Hall before the August 15 award ceremony.The International Darnal Award for Social Justice was founded in order to honor Suvash Darnal’s short life and continue the work he had started. Born in 1980 in a small Palpa village, Darnal rose to prominence because of his tireless and passionate efforts to ensure justice and dignity for the Dalits of Nepal. He founded Jagaran Media Center in 2000 to train Dalit journalists to document and publicize cases of caste-based discrimination and untouchability. He was also one of the founders of Collective Campaign for Peace (COCAP) and played a key role in the 2006 People’s Movement. Later, aiming to institutionalize changes through policy advocacy, Suvash Darnal co-founded Samata Foundation, a think-tank that conducts research to support evidence-based policy and advocacy for Dalits. Recognizing his commitment to the cause, he was awarded prestigious fellowships at the London School of Economics, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) in Washington DC and at Stanford University. At the beginning of Monday’s award ceremony, a panel discussion was moderated by Ashok Gurung, Director of the New School’s India China Institute. The panelists were Larry Diamond (Stanford University), Carl Gershman (President of NED), Sukhdeo Thorat (Chairman of the Indian Council of Social Science Research Sukhdeo Thorat), Dulari Harijan (Member of Parliament from CPN-MC) and Sarita Pariyar (wife of Suvash Darnal, board member of Samata Foundation and designer of this Award). Suvash Darnal died in a traffic accident in the outskirts of Washington DC in 2011.
“AUSPICIOUS SUSPICIOUS”Manish Harijan’s ongoing exhibit at Nexus Culture NepalAs part of the first Darnal Award for Social Justice program, a symposium titled “Politics of Dignity and Equity: Dalits in Nepal” took place at Tribhuwan University on August 14. Later that evening, an interaction program was held with emerging Dalit youth leaders at Nexus Culture Nepal. At the end of the Nexus program, Raksha Ram Chamar opened an exhibition titled “The-Lit: Exclusion Within” that featured five artists. One of the exhibits, titled “Auspicious Suspicious” was put together by artist Manish Harijan. In this exhibit, Harijan has used grains and powders that are used by high-caste Nepali families during auspicious, religious occasions. “If Dalits touch the same grains, it’s considered to be inauspicious,” Harijan mentioned while describing his work to me. In this way, the exhibit questions the status quo and compels visitors to reexamine their relationship with objects. In his artist’s statement, Manish Harijan has written that his artwork attempts to create multiple dialogues related to social structures, caste issues and poverty.
Some of the content has been paraphrased from Darnal Award publications.
Dr. Ronki Ram
Name Ronki Ram
Designation Reader and Chairperson
Institution: Department of Political Science
Panjab University
Chandigarh - 160 014, India.
Phones: (+91-172)-2541819
Res:(+91-172)-2541290
Cell:(+91) 9872861290
E-mail:ronkiram@yahoo.co.in
Date of Birth 2 April 1960
Sex Male
Marital Status Married
Nationality Indian
Languages known English, Punjabi (Mother tongue) and Hindi.
Academic Qualifications Ph.D. in International Studies
-Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 1992
M. Phil.
-Panjab University, Chandigarh, 1985
M.A. in Political Science
-Panjab University, Chandigarh, 1982
Advanced International Programme (Diploma) in Conflict Resolution
-Uppsala University, Sweden 1993.
Areas of Specialisation International Relations Theory, Indian Political Thought, and Dalit Politics (special focus on Punjab).
Visits Abroad Sweden, Estonia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Canada, U.K., and Pakistan
Member - Professional/Advisory/Editorial Boards
Member of the Board of Management of Jan Shikshan Sansthan, Mohali, sponsored by Ministry of HRD, (Department of Elementary Education and Literacy), Govt. of India, New Delhi.
Member of the advisory Board of Human Rights Law Networking, Chandigarh.
Member of Board of Finance, 2005-06, Panjab University, Chandigarh.
Member of Organizing Committee of 10th World Punjabi Conference, Chandigarh, May 28-30, 2004.
Life Member of North West Indian Sociological Association (NWISA).
Member of Editorial Board of the Panjab University Research Journal (Arts).
Appointments
Reader in Political Science, P.U., Chandigarh from June 12, 2004 continuing.
Lecturer in Political Science, P.U. Chandigarh from 25 March 1998. Sr. lecturer w.e.f 25th March 1999.
Lecturer in Gandhian Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh, from June 12, 1995 to March 25, 1998.
Lecturer in Political Science, Goa University, Goa from Feb. 22, 1995 to June 10, 1995
Research Associate, SIS, CIPOD, JNU, New Delhi, July 21, 1992 to May 31,1995.
Senior Research Assistant, SIS, CIPOD, JNU, New Delhi, Jan. 20, 1992 to June 19, 1992.
Research Investigator, Punjab State Institute of Public Administration, Chandigarh, Nov. 4, 1985 to June 3, 1986.
Papers Published
-- INTERNATIONAL
"Social Exclusion, Resistance and Deras: Exploring the Myth of Casteless Sikh Society in Punjab", Economic and Political Weekly, Vol.42, No.40, October 6-12, 2007, pp.4066-74.
"Capital versus Labour: Globalisation, Marginalised and Crisis of Governance", Man & Development, Vol. XXIX, No. 2, June 2007, pp. 5-28 [included in Parliamentary Documentation Vol. 33, No.15, August 1-15, 2007].
"Untouchability in India with a Difference: Ad Dharm, Dalit Assertion and Caste Conflicts in Punjab", Asian Survey, (Berkeley) Vol.XLIV, No.6, November-December 2004 pp.895-912 [abstracted in Centre de Documentation Regards, Religion Compass Online, CSA Illumina]. Also included in the course POLS 298.3 Turmoil and Change: Politics in Modern India, Dept. of Political Studies, University of Saskatchewan, Canada, Summer Study/ Travel Program 2006.
"Untouchability, Dalit Consciousness, and the Ad Dharm movement in Punjab", Contributions to Indian Sociology (sage) [n. s.], Vol.38, No.3, September-December 2004, pp.323-349 [one of "The 50 Most-Frequently Read Articles in Contributions to Indian Sociology during June -September 2007].
"The Dalit Sikhs", Dalit International Newsletter (Waterford USA) Vol. 9, No.3 October 2004."Limits of Untouchability, Dalit Assertion and Caste Violence in Punjab", in Harish K. Puri, ed., Dalits in Regional Context (Jaipur: Rawat, 2004), pp. 132-189.
"Punjabi Dalit Parivas: Chetna Ate Sangharsh" (Punjabi Dalit Diaspora: Consciousness and Struggle), South-Asian Review (Prince George, B.C.), September 2006, pp. 22-25 & 29 [also serialized in Amritsar Times www.amritsartimes.com (California), August 2-8, August 9-15, and August 16-22, 2006; Nisot, October-December, 2006 www.nisot.com (Canada)].
-- NATIONAL
"Vishvikaran Noo Pachhere Mulkan Vich Samjhan Da Masla" (Understanding Globalisation in Under-developed Countries), in Bhim Inder Singh, ed., Vishvikaran: Vishleshan Ate Vivechan [Globalisation: Description and Analysis] (Jalandhar: Kuknus, 2006), pp. 62-69.
"Ajoke Punjab wich Dalit Sathiti ate Chetna: Rajnitak Mulankan" (Dalit Position and Consciousness in Contemporary Punjab: Political Analysis), in Dhanwant Kaur and Jaswinder Kaur Maangat [eds.], Samkali Punjabi Samaj [Contemporary Punjabi Society], (Patiala: Punjabi University Publication Bureau, 2006), pp. 51-55.
"Afro-Asian Dialogue: Contesting Globalisation in the Periphery", in Gopal Singh and Ramesh K. Chauhan (ed.), South Asia Today, (New Delhi: Anamika: 2005).
"Punjabi Quam, Dalit Mukti Ate Shaktikaran" (Punjabi Nationality, Dalit Emancipation and Empowerment), South Asian Review (Prince George, B.C.) May 2005, pp. 7-12 [also published in Bhim Inder Singh, ed. Dalit Chintan: Marxi Pripekh (Marxist Perspective of Dalit Thought), (Jalandhar: Kukness Prakashan: 2005), pp. 50-63].
"Spiritual Regeneration, Guru Ravidass and Dera Sach Khand Ballan", Begumpura Souvenir 2004 (Jalandhar: Dera Sach Khand Ballan, 2004), pp. 117-122 [also carried in two installments in Begumpura Shaher (Jalandhar), No. 7, June 14, 2004, p. 10 and No. 8, June 21, 2004, pp. 6-7].
"Role of Ad Dharmis: Chamar Protest in Punjab is linked to Talhan Caste Violence". Dalit Voice, Vol. 23, No. 4, February 16-29, 2004, pp. 11-12 [also carried in two installments in Begumpura Shaher, No. 48, March 29, 2004, p. 9 and No. 49, April 5, 2004, p. 9].
"From the Anarchy To Anarchy: State And Governance Problematique", The Indian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 62, No. 4, December 2001, pp. 520-531.
"From Servitude To Assertion: Ambedkar's Subaltern Approach To Nationalism and Dalit Liberation", Social Sciences Research Journal, Vol. 9, No. 2, 2001, pp. 146-170 [also available in www.ambedkartimes.com and in abridged version at www.ambedkar.org].
"Power v/s Dialogue: Gandhian Dialectic and Conflict Resolution", Social Sciences Research Journal, vol. 7, Nos. 1 & 2, 1999, pp. 103-123.
"What does Gandhi mean to the Youth?" Journal of Peace and Gandhian Studies, Vol. I, No. 2, January-March 1996, pp.75-78.
Citations in Journals/Books
"Social Exclusion, Resistance and Deras: Exploring the Myth of Casteless Sikh Society in Punjab", Economic and Political Weekly, Vol.42, No.40, October 6-12, 2007, pp.4066-74 [Cited in Seminar 581, January 2008, p. 54].
"A Conflict of New Assertions", Tehelka, Vol. 4, Issue 27, July 8-14, 2007 [Cited in EPW, Vol.42, No.40, October 6-12, 2007, p.4065].
"Untouchability in India with a Difference: Ad Dharm, Dalit Assertion and Caste Conflicts in Punjab", Asian Survey, (Berkeley) Vol.XLIV, No.6, November-December 2004 pp.895-912 [cited in EPW, Vol. XLI, No. 24, June 17, 2006, p. 2479].
"Untouchability, Dalit Consciousness, and the Ad Dharm movement in Punjab", Contributions to Indian Sociology (sage) [n. s.], Vol.38, No.3, September-December 2004, pp.323-349. [Cited in EPW, October 27, 2007, p.21; http://www.ediindia.org/Creed/data\Gurpreet%20Bal.htm (October 19. 2007), also one of the 50 Most-Frequently Read Articles in Contributions to Indian Sociology continuously for the months of June -September 2007].
"The Dalit Sikhs", Dalit International Newsletter (Waterford USA) Vol. 9, No.3 October 2004 [cited in http://www.ambedkartimes.com/raju_kamble.htm (October 19, 2007).
"Limits of Untouchability, Dalit Assertion and Caste Violence in Punjab", in Harish K. Puri, ed., Dalits in Regional Context (Jaipur: Rawat, 2004), pp. 132-189 [cited in Global Networks (Blackwell) Vol. 7, No. 3, July 2007, p. 331].
Paper presented on Dalit Assertion and Social Conflicts in Punjab, February 8-9, 2006, at Seminar on Politics in North-West India: Emerging Trends and Changing Patterns, organized by Department of correspondence Courses, Punjabi University, Patiala [cited in Diviner - A Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, Vol. 4, No. 2, Feb-July 2007, pp.128 & 134].
"Making Sense of Caste Violence in Talhan: A View from Within", presented at Regional Seminar on Media and Communal Harmony in Multi-Cultural Society, organized by IDC, Chandigarh in association with Press Institute of India, New Delhi, Communication Management Foundation, New Delhi and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, New Delhi, September 27-28, 2003 [cited in John C.B. Webster, "The Dalit Sikhs: A History", in Tony Ballantyne (ed), Textures of the Sikh Past (New Delhi: OUP, 2007), p. 148].
Paper presented on Reading Caste with Ambedkar, at Weekly Seminar, of the Dept. of Sociology, Panjab University, Chandigarh January 23, 2002 [cited in Indian Social Science Review, Vol. 7, No. 2, July-December 2005, p.117].
Paper presented on Untouchability and the question of Dalit Identity: A Critique of Ad Dharam Movement at National Seminar on Liberalistion, Dalits and the State, organized by the Department of Sociology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, May 3-4, 2001 [cited in EPW Vol. 37, No. 3, August 3-9, 2002, p. 3245].
Papers Presented at Seminars/Conferences/Workshop
-- INTERNATIONAL
"Punjabi Quam dae Jati ate Jamati Masley" presented at 3rd World Punjabi Conference, organized by South Asian Review (Prince George), Desh Bhagat Yaadgar Hall, Jalandhar, Punjab, February 15-18, 2007.
"Punjabi Dalit Parivas: Chetna Ate Sangharsh" presented at 22nd international Punjabi Development Conference, organized by the Department of Punjabi Languages, Punjabi University, Patiala, February 1-3, 2006.
"Contemporary Society and Political Analysis" presented at 21st International Punjabi Development Conference, organized by The Department of Punjabi Languages, Punjabi University, Patiala, March 10-12, 2005.
"Burden of Past and Vision of Equality: Political Sociology of Jat-Dalit Conflicts" presented at International Conference on Punjab Peasantry in Turmoil, organized by Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, Punjabi University, Patiala, January 27-28, 2005 [also available at www.ambedkartimes.com]
"Punjabi Nation and Dalit Emancipation" (Punjabi), presented at Second World Punjabi Conference, organized by the South Asian Review and Sahit Sabha, Prince George, Canada, June 28-July 1, 2003.
"Contextualising Ad Dharm Movement (Punjab): Dalit Consciousness, Social Justice and Cultural Transformation", presented at International Dalit Conference, organized by Association for International Dalit Conference Inc., Vancouver, Canada, May 16-18, 2003.
"Agenda for Conflict Resolution: Theoretical Dimensions", paper presented at International Seminar on Violence in India: Prospect and Prognosis organized by Institute for Development and Communication, Chandigarh, January 18-20, 1998.
"Domestic Challenges to World Peace: Crumbling Borders between Domestic and International Politics", paper presented at International Seminar on Geo-Politics of Peace, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi, January 16-18, 1988.
-- NATIONAL
"Punjab Vich Dalit Chetna de Sroot" [Sources of Dalit Consciousness in Punjab], presented at seminar on Dalit Chetna in Punjab, organized by Dalit Chetna Manch Punjab Regd., Mohali, January 20, 2008.
"Self Versus Other: Morality in Public Life", presented at national seminar on Morality and Public Life, organized by Department of Philosophy, Panjab University, Chandigarh, January, 17-18, 2008 (on 18th January, also Chaired the fifth session the same day).
"Right to Information Act 2005 and Good Governance", presented at seminar on Right to Information, organized by The Political Science Department of S.G.G.S. Khalsa College, Mahilpur, January 11, 2008.
"Understanding Dalit Assertion in Punjab", presented at seminar on Ikyvi Saadi Vich Parvesh Kar Raeha Punjab: Samaj de Saravpakhi Vikas de Sandarab Vich, organized by Punjab Basha Academy and Punjab Academy of Social Sciences, Literature and Culture, Jalandhar, November 24-25, 2007.
"Understanding Dalit Assertion in North India", presented at seminar on Samkalin Bharatiya Sahitya Mein Samajik Nayaya Ki Avadharana: Vishesh Sandarbh Dalit Sahitya, organised by IIAS, Shimla, November 14-16, 2007 (also Chaired the Sixth Session: Poetry, Fiction: Realism, Rebellion and Interrogation).
"Status of Human Rights of Dalits in Punjab", presented at Workshop-cum-consultancy on Dalit Rights, organised by Human Rights Law Networking Chandigarh, October 28,2007.
"Shaheed-e-Azam "Bhagat Singh and the Question of Untouchability", presented at seminar on Bhagat Singh and his Legends, organised by the World Punjabi Centre, Punjabi University Patiala, October 22-23, 2007.
"Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and Social Justice", presented at seminar dedicated to the Birth Anniversary of Dr. Ambedkar, organized by Dr. Ambedkar Chetna Society, Banga, April 29, 2007.
"Globalisation, Dalits and Labour", presented at seminar on Labourer, Labour and Globalisation, organized by Dalit Chetna Manch Punjab (Regd), April 28, 2007.
"Social Exclusion and Dalits in Punjab", presented at National seminar on Social Exclusion, State and Globalisation, organized by Ambedkar Centre, Panjab University, Chandigarh, March 29-30, 2007.
"Human Rights and Dalit Consciousness in Punjab", presented at UGC sponsored National seminar on Human Rights and Duties Education, organized by Khalsa College Amritsar, March 23, 2007.
"Situating Subordination in Regions within a Region: Dilemmas of Dalit Solidarity in East Punjab" presented at National seminar on Regions within Regions: Rethinking State Politics in India, organized by Dept. of Political Science, Panjab University, February 26-27, 2007.
"Contesting Globalisation in the Periphery", presented at seminar on Globalisation, Social Institutions and Values, organized by Dev Samaj College for Women, Chandigarh, February 3, 2007.
"Patterns of Dalit Population in Punjab", presented at National seminar on Population, Environment and Development in the Northwestern India, organized by the Dept. of Geography, Panjab University, Chandigarh, February 1- 2, 2007.
"Identity Formation Among the Dalits of Punjab: Some Critical Reflections", presented at UGC sponsored National seminar on Participatory Democracy: New Context, New Challenges - Inclusion and Exclusion, organised by Dept. of Correspondence Studies, PU, Chandigarh, January 23-24, 2007.
"Ad Dharm Movement and Dalit Consciousness in Punjab", presented at a National seminar on India Since the 1990s and Social Science Research, organised by ICSSR (North-Western Regional Center), PU, Chandigarh, January 18-19, 2007.
"Human Rights: Dalit Consciousness and Caste Conflicts in Punjab", presented at UGC sponsored National seminar on Status of Human Rights in Punjab, organised by Lajpat Rai DAV College Jagraon, November 30 -December 1, 2006.
"Human Rights: Dalit Consciousness and Caste Conflicts in Punjab", presented at a UGC sponsored National seminar on Evolution of the Concept of Human Rights and Emerging Dimension of Human Rights, organised by Shri Guru Gobind Singh College, Chandigarh, November 29-30, 2006 (presented on 29th November, 2006).
"World Punjabi Conferences and Indo-Pak Cooperation", presented at UGC sponsored seminar on Conflicts and Cooperation in South-Asia, organised by R.R.M.K. Arya Mahila Mahavidyala, Pathankot, November 25-26, 2006 (presented on 25th November, 2006).
"Critically Analyzing Human Rights: Trends and Dimensions", presented at UGC Sponsored National Seminar on Human Rights, organized by SDSPM College for Women, Rayya (Amritsar), October 28,2006.
"Spiritual Regeneration, Dalit Consciousness and Dera Sach Khand Ballan", presented at Seminar on Pirs, Sants and Babas of Punjab: Their Role in Social, Religious and Political Spheres, organized by RSD College, Ferozepur City, March 4, 2006.
"Human Rights, Civil Society and Democracy", presented at Seminar on Is Terrorism a Threat to Indian Democracy? organized by Department of Political Science, Guru Nank College, Muktsar, February 21-22, 2006.
"Contesting the 'Essential': Relocating Dalits in India's Globality" presented at National Seminar on India's Globality: Politics of Resistance, Recovery, Relocation and Reinvention, organized by Department of Political Science, Panjab University, Chandigarh (UGC Special Assistance Program), February 9-10, 2006.
"Dalit Assertion and Social Conflicts in Punjab" presented at Seminar on Politics in North-West India: Emerging Trends and Changing Patterns, organized by Department of correspondence Courses, Punjabi University, Patiala, February 8-9, 2006 (present on February 8, 2006) [cited in Diviner - A Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, Vol. 4, No. 2, Feb-July 2007, pp.128 & 134].
"Dalit Identity Formation in Punjab: Cultural Transformation, Spiritual regeneration and Political Assertion" presented at Seminar on Dalit Identity with Special reference to Punjab, organized by Govt. college for Women, Ludhiana on January 18, 2006.
"Punjabi Sahit Sabhayachar Paripekh", presented at Seminar on Vishav Vatavaran: Sambhal Ate Chunotiyan, organized by Samvedna, Chandigarh, December 16, 2005.
"Dalit Consciousness and Challenges of Democracy in India", presented at National Seminar on Democracy and Civil Society: Salient Issues for North Western India, organized by Dept. of Philosophy, Panjab University, Chandigarh, September 19-20, 2005.
"Dalit Manukh Da Bavikh Ate Jota Vitkara" presented at Seminar organized by Dalit Chetna Manch Punjab at Bakarpur, Mohali, May 8, 2005.
"Understanding Globalization in the Periphery", presented at National Seminar on Globalization: Prospects and Challenges for India, organized by Kamla Nehru College for Women, Phagwara, Feb. 19, 2005.
"Myths, Worship and Syncretic Religion - A Study of Perceptions in Doaba Punjab, presented at the Weekly Research Seminar, organizedd by Department of Sociology, P. U. Chandigarh, February 2,2005
"Sri Guru Granth Sahib and Dalit Consciousness", presented at Seminar on The Role of Sikhs ad Dalits in the Future of South-Asian Sub-Continent, organized by Department of Philosophy and Sikh Student Federation, January 19, 2005.
"Critically Analyzing Regionalism in the Context of Globalization", presented at National Seminar on Regionalism - A threat to Indian Nation-state (in the context of North-western States), organized by Department of Political Science, Guru Nanak Girls College, Ludhiana, November 29-30, 2004 (presented on 30 November).
"Social Transformation and Empowerment of Dalits and Women at the Grass-root" presented at Workshop on The Empowerment of Dalits and Women through Reservation in Panchayati Raj Institution of North-west India, organized by Ambedkar Center, Department of Sociology, P. U. Chandigarh, November 29-30, 2004 (presented on 29 November).
"Understanding Social Injustice in India", presented at Seminar on Justice to Weaker Section of the Society, organized by Chandigarh People's Welfare Forum and Punjab and Haryana High Court Advocates' Committee on Judicial Accountability, Chandigarh, November 6, 2004.
"Dalit Consciousness and Literature in Punjab", presented at National Seminar on Creativity and The State in Contemporary India, organized by IIAS, Shimla at India International Center, New Delhi, April 25-26, 2004.
"Dalit Assertion and Caste Conflicts in Punjab", presented at Workshop on Dalit Assertion and Emerging Politics in Punjab and Haryana, organized by Ambedkar Center and Department of Sociology, P.U., Chandigarh, March 19, 2004.
"Dalit Consciousness in Punjab: Spiritual Regeneration, Guru Ravidass and Dera Sach Khand Ballan", presented at National Seminar on State Politics: Analysing the Emerging Trends, Organized by Department of Political Science, P.U., Chandigarh, March 17-18, 2004.
"Human Rights in Punjab with Special Reference to the Dalits", presented at National Seminar on Human Rights Today: India's Quest for A New Moral Bedrock, organized by Department of philosophy, P.U., Chandigarh, February 19-20, 2004.
"Expanding Individual in Shrinking Familial Space: Dilemmas of Family in Contemporary India", presented at National Seminar on Family in Contemporary India: Changes and Challenges, organized by Department of Sociology, P.U., Chandigarh, February 12-14, 2004.
"Higher Education And the Downtrodden: Emancipation V/S Employment" presented at Seminar on Quality of Higher Education in India: The Challenge of Change, organized by Panjab University, Chandigarh, November 18-19, 2003.
"Dalit Sikhs and Dalit Consciousness in Punjab"' presented at the Weekly Research Seminar, organized by Department of Sociology, Chandigarh, November 5, 2003
"Making Sense of Caste Violence in Talhan: A View from Within", presented at Regional Seminar on Media and Communal Harmony in Multi-Cultural Society, organized by IDC, Chandigarh in association with Press Institute of India, New Delhi, Communication Management Foundation, New Delhi and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, New Delhi, September 27-28, 2003 [cited in John C.B. Webster, "The Dalit Sikhs: A History", in Tony Ballantyne (ed), Textures of the Sikh Past (New Delhi: OUP), p. 148].
"Globalization And Marginals: From Market to Governance", presented at National Seminar on Globalization and The Underprivileged: Perceptions, Fears and Consequences, organized by Department of Sociology, Ch. Charan Singh University, Meerut, February 8-9, 2003.
"Capital V/S Labour: Globalisation or 'Workers of the World Unite' ", presented at Seminar on Globalisation and Political Economy of North-West India, organized by Department of Political Science, SGGS College, Chandigarh, December 6-7, 2002.
"Reading Caste with Ambedkar", presented at Weekly Research Seminar, organized by Dept. of Sociology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, January 23, 2002 [cited in Indian Social Science Review, Vol. 7, No. 2, July-December 2005, p.117].
"Untouchability and the question of Dalit Identity: A Critique of Ad Dharam Movement", presented at National Seminar on Liberalistion, Dalits and the State, organized by the Department of Sociology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, May 3-4, 2001 [cited in EPW Vol. 37, No. 3, August 3-9, 2002, p. 3245].
"Indian Renaissance, Dalit Consciousness and Politics of Situational Response", paper presented at Seminar on Dalit Consciousness and Social Change in Punjab, sponsored by Department of Welfare of SCs and BCs, Punjab, organized by School of Punjabi Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh, Nov. 29-30, 1999.
"Region-Religion Problematique" Paper Presented at National Seminar on Dynamics of Regional Politics in the States of North-West India, organized by the Deptt. of Political Science, Panjab University, Chandigarh on March 26-27,1998.
Urbanization, Urban Youth Conflicts and Conflict Resolution", Paper presented at National Symposium on Youth in Urban Areas, organized by IDC, Chandigarh, February 3-5, 1997.
"Conflict Prevention and Resolution: Prospects for Peace" (co-authored), paper presented at Deptt. of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University, Sweden, May 21, 1993.
Participation in Seminars/Conferences/Workshops
-- INTERNATIONAL
International Seminar on Bhagat Singh and his Times, organised by Indian Council of Historical Research in collaboration with the Institute of Punjab Studies, Chandigarh, September 27-29. 2007.
International Conference on Exploring the Possibilities of Cooperation in Global Context, organised by World Punjabi Centre, Punjabi University, Patiala, December 26-28, 2006.
23rd International Punjabi Development Conference, organised by Dept. of Development of Punjabi Language, Punjabi University, Patiala, December 14-16, 2006.
International Conference on Contribution of Different Faiths and Communities for World Peace, organized by Christian Institute for Religious Studies, Baring Union Christian College, Batala, September 20, 2006.
International Seminar on NGOs and Women's Empowerment: Indian and Canadian Experiences, organized by Canadian Study Center and ICSSR, North-West Regional Center, Panjab University, Chandigarh, February 23-24, 2006.
International Consultation on Identifying Peace Issues for Research in South Asia organized by Institute for Development and Communication, Chandigarh, December 5-7, 2005.
International Seminar on Creative Forms of Punjabi Culture, organized by Punjabi Academy, Delhi and DCC, P. U. Chandigarh, February 28-March 1, 2005.
World Punjabi Conference, 2004, organized by Punjabi University, Patiala, December 1-3, 2004.
Tenth World Punjabi Conference, Chandigarh, May 28-30, 2004, (Panelist in the panel discussion on Economic Cooperation, between the two Punjab: A Burning issue).
World Punjabi Conference, organized by World Punjabi Congress Committee, Lahore, January 29-31, 2004.
International seminar on Mid-West and Central Asia, organized by P.U., and IIAS, Shimla at Chandigarh, January 21-23, 2004.
International Seminar On the Life, Teachings and Philosophy of Sri Guru Ravidas Ji, organized by Sri Guru Ravidas Foundation, India, Panjab University, Chandigarh, August 16, 2003.
International Seminar on Science, Technology and Society, organized by Department of History, Panjab University, Chandigarh, January 29-31, 2003.
Roundtable on Power Cycle Theory: War and Peace in South Asia, organized by Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla, November 19-20, 2002.
International Conference on Rethinking Boundaries: Geopolitics, Identities and Sustainability, organized by Center for the Study of Geopolitics, Panjab University, Chandigarh, February 21-26, 2000.
International Seminar on Political Landscapes on the Threshold of 21st Century and Emerging Patterns, organized by I.G.U. Commission on the World Political Map at Panjab University, Chandigarh, on December 13-15, 1999.
International Seminar on Globalizations and India organized by SIS, JNU, New Delhi, January 14-17, 1999.
International Round Table Conference on India and Hungary: Perspectives on the Changing World Order, Center for Russian, Central Asian and East European Studies, SIS, JNU, New Delhi, November 17-18, 1998.
-- NATIONAL
National seminar on The Other Side of Politics: People's Movements in India, organised by Dept. of Political Science, Panjab University Chandigarh, March 14-14, 2008 (chaired a session on March14).
National seminar on Indian Ideas of Freedom, organized by Dept. of Political Science (UGC Special Assistance Programme) Panjab University Chandigarh & ICSSR Northwest Regional Centre, February 21-23, 2008.
National seminar on Person, Consciousness and Culture, organized by Department of Philosophy, Panjab University, Chandigarh, February 6-8, 2008.
National seminar on Ideological and Cultural Significance of Guru Nanak Bani in the Present Scenario, organized by Guru Nanak Sikh Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh in collaboration with Harayana Punjabi Sahit Academy & ICSSR, Chandigarh, December 6, 2007.
U.G.C. sponsored seminar on Consciousness, Culture and Creativity: Indian and Western Perspectives, organized by Department of Philosophy, Panjab University Chandigarh, December 4-5, 2007.
Regional Workshop on Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005, organized by Women's Resource and Advocacy Centre, Chandigarh, November 22-23, 2007.
Roundtable Discussion on Agrarian Crisis and Food Security of India, organized by IDC, Chandigarh, November 17, 2007.
National seminar on The Contribution of the Udasis to Sikh History, organised by Gobind Sadan Institute for Advanced Studies in Comparative Religions, New Delhi, September 21, 2007.
National seminar on Science and Spirituality in the Indian Context, organized by Dept. of Philosophy, Panjab University, Chandigarh, August 9-10, 2007.
Seminar on India Envisioned by Ambedkar, organized by Ambedkar Social Justice Forum India (Regd), Chandigarh, March 24, 2007.
National Seminar on Moral Goodness and Human Nature, organized by Dept. of Philosophy, Panjab University, Chandigarh, March 14-15, 2007.
National seminar on Ideological & Cultural Perspective of Guru Arjan's Bani, organized by Guru Nanak Sikh Studies, Panjab University, in collaboration with Punjabi Akademy, Delhi & ICSSR Northwestern Regional Centre Chandigarh, March 8-9, 2007.
National Seminar on Foundations of Social Life in India: Cultural, Aesthetic and Religious, organised by Department of Philosophy, P.U., Chandigarh, December 6-8, 2006.
Seminar on Impact of Globalization on the Landless Dalit Workers, organized by Punjab Khet Majdoor Union, Dehati Majdoor Sabha, Punjab and Pendo Majdoor Union (Mashal), on October 25, 2006.
Seminar on Why Babasaheb Embraced Buddhism, organised by Dr. Ambedkar Study Circle (Regd.), Chandigarh, October 14, 2006.
National seminar on The Life, Teaching and Philosophy of Shri Guru Ravidass Ji, organised by Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha (Regd.), PGI, Chandigarh, September 15, 2006.
Seminar on The present Economic Condition of Punjab and The Future of Dalits, organized by Dalit Chetna Manch, Punjab (Regd.) at Mohali, April 28, 2006.
Seminar on Values from Different Perspectives, organized by Department of Philosophy, Panjab University, Chandigarh, March 27-28, 2006 (participated on March 27th, 2006).
Seminar on Life and Philosophy of Baba Saheb B. R. Ambedkar, organisd by Dr. Ambedkar Chetna Society, Banga, April 16, 2006.
National Seminar on Technology and Society - Issues and Interface with Special Reference to India, organized by department of Sociology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, March 16-17, 2006.
Workshop on Economic and Social Backwardness Among Sikhs, organized by Indian Social Institute and National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities, New Delhi, February 17, 2006.
Workshop on Dissemination on Punjab Human Development Report 2004, organized by Panjab University, Chandigarh, February 17-18, 2006 (participated on February 18, 2006).
Seminar on The Role of Sufis in the Making of Medieval Punjab, organized by Dept. of History, Panjab University, Chandigarh, December 13-14, 2005.
Conference on Samkali Sarokar: Samajik Sabhyacharak, Bhasha Ate Samaj-Vigyan Prasang Vich (Punjabi), organized by Punjab Academy of Social Sciences, Literature and Culture at Jalandhar, November 26-27, 2005.
National Seminar on Life and Works of Maharishi Valmiki, organized by Panjab University, Chandigarh, October 13-15, 2005.
National Seminar on Social transformation in North-Western India during the Twentieth Century, organized by Institute of Punjab Studies, Chandigarh, September 7-9, 2005.
National Seminar on 400 year of Sri Guru Granth Sahib organized by Guru Nanak Sikh Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh in collaboration with Indian Council of Philosophical Research, New Delhi, August 22-23, 2005. (Participated on August 22, 2005).
Social Scientists Meet on Emerging Problems of Social Sciences in the Context of Globalization organized by ICSSR (North - Western Regional Center), Chandigarh, July 26, 2005.
Workshop on Measurement of Social Variables: Towards Standardization organized by Deptt. of Sociology and IASSI, New Delhi at Chandigarh, May 5-6, 2005.
Workshop on Politics of Discourses on Secularism and Communalism: Implications for Research in History, organized by IDC, Chandigarh, April 21, 2005.
Seminar on Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's Philosophy and Dalit Liberation in India, organized by Deptt. of Sociology (Ambedkar Center) March 28, 2005.
National Seminar on Politics of Globalization, Identity and Development, organized by UGC Special Assistance Programme, Deptt. of Political Science P.U., Chandigarh, March 23-24, 2005.
Seminar on Comprehensive Security, organized by Delhi Policy Group and Panjab University, March 9, 2005.
Seminar on The Role of Economy and Education in Social Equality in the Twenty-first Century, organized by the office of District Welfare Officer, Patiala, March 5, 2005.
National Seminar on The Future of Rural Development in North-west India, organized by Department of Sociology, P. U. Chandigarh, February 24-25, 2005.
A Seminar on Violence against Women in the State of Punjab, organized by Center for Women's Studies and Development, P.U., Chandigarh, Feb. 7, 2005.
Seminar on Indo-Pak Relations, organized by Department of Political Science, Guru Nanak College for Girls, Muktsar, January 22. 2005.
Regional Workshop on Autonomy of Higher Education Institutions, organized by Central Advisory Board of Education at P. U. Chandigarh, January 20-21, 2005.
Seminar on Issues in Inter-Disciplinary Research: Special Context; Literature and Social Sciences, organized by ICSSR Chandigarh and Department of Hindi, P. U. Chandigarh, January 14-15, 2005.
National Consultation on Police and Community Interface: Problematics and Remedies, organized by IDC, Chandigarh, December 12-13, 2004.
Seminar on Dalits' Future, organized by Vigilant Brotherhood (International), December 4, 2004.
National Seminar on 400th Prakash Utsav of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, organized by Shri Guru Gobind Singh College, Chandigarh, November 6-7, 2004, (participated on 7th November).
Seminar on Narrative Patterns of Contemporary Punjabi Novel, organized by Department of Evening, P. U. Chandigarh and International Center for Punjabi Studies at Chandigarh, October 31, 2004.
Workshop on Social Empowerment through Information Technology organized by IDC Chandigarh, AMIC-India and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, New Delhi, at Chandigarh, September 22-23, 2004.
Seminar on 400 years of Shri Guru Granth Sahib, organized by P. U. and ICSSR Chandigarh, September 21,2004.
National Seminar on Sri Aurobindo's Vision of the Future of Humanity, organized by Sri Aurobindo Society, Chandigarh, Panjab University, Chandigarh, and IIAS, Shimla, at Chandigarh, September 18-19, 2004.
Seminar on Coalition Governments and Activities of Political Parties, organized by Punjab Academy of Social Sciences, Literature and Culture and Punjabi Bhasha Academy, Jalandhar at Chandigarh, April 18, 2004.
Seminar on Rural Development, organized by Punjab Development Society and ICSSR North-Western Regional Center, P.U., Chandigarh, March 27-28, 2004.
Seminar on Corruption and Quality of Governance, organized by Department of Public Administration, P.U., Chandigarh, March 13, 2004.
Workshop on Impact of Special Component Plan on the Scheduled Castes in the State of Punjab-Measures for Effective Implementation, organized by Department of Sociology, P.U., Chandigarh and Department of Social Welfare, Govt. of Punjab, January 28-29, 2004.
Workshop on Youth for Democracy, organized by Ambedkar Center, P.U., Chandigarh in collaboration with Indian Social Institute, New Delhi and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, New Delhi, October 30-31, 2003.
Regional Seminar on Participatory Research and Agenda for Social Transformation, organized by PRIA, Haryana and Center for Women's Studies and Development, P.U., Chandigarh, August 29-30, 2003.
Seminar on Human Rights Awareness and Enforcement, organized by IGP, Ambala, Haryana, July 26, 2003.
Symposium on The People of OBC Are Not Enemies, But Are Brothers of SC/ST and Minority Communities, organized by BAMCEF, Chandigarh, April 19, 2003.
Colloquium on Role of Youth In Building Bridges of Amity And Social Harmony, Organized by Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Smriti, New Delhi and Yuvsatta, Chandigarh, April 13, 2003.
Seminar on Marxwadi Sahit Aalochna Ate Samkali Sarokar, organized by Panjabi Sahitya Academy, Ludhiana, February 22-23, 2003.
Seminar on Rethinking Women: Culture, Literature and Media, organized by MCM DAV College for Women, Chandigarh, February 15, 2003.
Seminar on Dynamics of India's Security in the North Western Region: Challenges and Responses, organized by Center for Defense and National Security Studies, Panjab University, February 13-14, 2003.
Symposium on Power, Violence and Society, organized by Punjab Academy of Social Sciences, Literature and Culture, and Punjabi Bhasha Academy, Jalandhar in collaboration with Indian Academy of Social Sciences, Allahabad, December 1, 2002
Seminar on Imperialist Globalization and Indian Response, organized by All India Peace and Solidarity Organization, Chandigarh, November 16, 2002.
Seminar on Punjab Di Kisani Da Sankat (Crisis of Punjab Peasantry), organized by Punjab Academy of Social Sciences, Literature and Culture, Jalandhar, October 19-20, 2002.
National Seminar on Science, Society, Values and Consciousness, organized by Panjab University, Chandigarh and Center for Studies in Civilizations, New Delhi, May 27-28, 2002.
National Seminar on Democracy, Development and Discontent In South Asia, organized by Department of Political Science, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla on May 13-15, 2002.
Seminar on Life and Philosophy of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, organized by Ambedkar Institute, Mohali, April 29, 2002.
Seminar on History, Literature and Society: Treatment of Social Problems in Punjabi Fiction During the Twentieth Century, organized by Institute of Punjab Studies and Sheikh Baba Farid Chair, Panjab University, Chandigarh, April 19-21, 2002.
Panel discussion on the Life, Mission and Works of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, organized by Department of Laws, Panjab University, Chandigarh, March 30, 2002.
National Seminar on Rethinking Indian Foreign Policy, organized by Department of Political Science and Center for the Study of Geopolitics, Panjab University, Chandigarh, March 26, 2002.
Seminar on Freedom From Socio-Cultural And economic Injustice, Organized by Department of political Science, Panjab University, Chandigarh, February 26-27, 2002.
Seminar on Rethinking Indian Federalism with Special Reference to North-Western Region, organized by Department of Political Science, Panjab University, Chandigarh, January 28, 2002.
Bhopal Conference on Charting A New Course For Dalits For The 21st Century, organized by Madhya Pradesh Government, Bhopal, January 12-13, 2002.
Seminar on Punjab Wich Dalit Varg Di Sathiti, organized by Shergill Memorial College, Mukandpur (Nawanshahr), October 12, 2001.
Workshop on Female Foeticide/Infanticide, organized by Center for Women Studies and Development, Panjab University, August 29-30, 2001.
Seminar on Regional Dialogue on Dimensions of Violence: Culture, Society and State, organized by Department of Sociology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, April 11-12, 2001.
Colloquium on Women & Peace, Organized by The British Council and Center for Women's Studies and Development, University of Delhi, March 17-19, 2001.
Seminar on Autonomy Debate in Comparative Perspective: J & K and Punjab, Organized by Department of Political Science, Panjab University, Chandigarh, March 12, 2001.
Regional Workshop on Gender and Law Enforcement, sponsored by National
Commission for Women, organized by Center for Women Studies and Development, Panjab University, on February 23-24, 2001.
Seminar on Prevention and Detention of Corruption, Organized by State Vigilance Bureau, Haryana, December 18, 2000.
Seminar on Autonomy: A Shift in Federal Equations - New Parameters, Organized by Govt. College for Women, Ludhiana, November 25, 2000.
National Seminar on Social Transformation of Indian Society: Post-Independence Era, Organized by Department of Sociology, P. U. Chandigarh, March 9-11, 2000.
National Seminar on Economic Development and Social Transformation in Northwest India, organized by Department of Sociology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, February 11-13, 1999.
National Conference on Globalisation and National Security, organized by Department of Defense and Strategic Studies, Punjabi University, Patiala, February 3-5, 1999.
National Seminar on Dalit and Backward Castes Mobilization in Contemporary North India, organized by Department of Political Science, P.U. Chandigarh, December 4-5, 1998.
Consultation Workshop on Police Reforms and Human Rights, IDC, Chandigarh, November 5, 1998.
National Seminar on Culture, History and Time, Deptt. of Philosophy, P.U. Chandigarh, October 10-11, 1998.
Workshop on Militancy affected by Children in Punjab, organized by Institute for Development and Communication, Chandigarh, May 16,1998.
National Seminar on Elimination of Inequality with Reference to Caste System in India, Deptt. of Philosophy, P.U. Chandigarh, March 9 -10, 1998.
National Seminar on Culture and Development, Department of Sociology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, February 26-28, 1998.
Seminar on Urban Governance in Punjab Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi, (organized in Chandigarh) November 21-22, 1997.
Workshop on Inter-State Migrant Labour Deptt. of Sociology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, on September 26-28, 1997.
National Seminar on Modes of Conflict Resolution and Gandhian Thought, Department of Philosophy, University of Delhi, February 5-7,1997.
National Seminar on Gandhi in India Today, Deptt. of Gandhian Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh, October 1-3, 1996.
National Seminar on M.N. Roy and the National Idea organized by National Integration Chair, Punjabi University, Patiala, September 16-17, 1996.
Seminar on Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and Weaker Sections organized by the Department of Political Science, Panjab University, Chandigarh, June 21, 1996.
IPSA Regional Conference on Democratization in Asia, Deptt. of Political Science, Panjab University, Chandigarh, January 28-31, 1996.
National Youth Colloquium on Gandhi organized by Gandhi Samriti and Darshan Samiti, New Delhi, December 15-17, 1995.
Seminar on Relevance of Mahatma Gandhi's Ideas Today, Deptt. of Political Science, Kurukshetra University, November 3-4, 1995.
National Workshop on Women Development and Gender Justice organized by Institute of Development and Communication, Chandigarh, September 25-27, 1995.
Thematic Approaches in International Relations, organized by School of International Studies, JNU and Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, November 28 to December 10, 1988.
National Seminar on Dalit and Backward Castes Mobilization in Contemporary North India, organized by Department of Political Science, P.U. Chandigarh, December 4-5, 1998.
Annual Extension Lectures on Major Issues in Contemporary International Relations, School of International Studies, JNU, 1987.
Honours and Awards
Chief guest at the seminar on Bharat Ratan Baba Sahib Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Dalits and Globalisation, organized by Gramin Shikshan Vikas Sanghthan (GSVS) & National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR0, December 9, 2007.
Honoured at 7th X-Mas celebrations, by National Christian League, Panjab University, Chandigarh, December 7, 2007.
Bharatiya Dalit Sahitya Akademi conferred Bharat Rattan Dr. Ambedkar State Award at its 5th State Conference of Dalit Writers, Mansa (Punjab), 16 September 2007.
Dr. Ambedkar Fellowship Sanman 2004 presented at 20th National Dalit Sahitkar Sammelan organized by Bhartiya Dalit Sahit Academy, Delhi, 10-11 Dec. 2004.
Chief Guest Honour at "Birthday Celebration of Babasaheb Ambedkar" organized by Ambedkar Mission Society, Sarmastpur, Jalandhar, 17 April 2004.
Dr. Ambedkar Award (for outstanding and dedicated services to Dr. Ambedkar Mission) presented at International Dalit Conference, Vancouver, BC, Canada, and 16-18 May 2003 by Association for International Dalit Conference.
Distinguished Guest honour at Birthday celebration of Baba Saheb Ambedkar, organized by Ambedkar Mission Society, Punjab (Regd.), Jalandhar, 14 April 2003.
Robert Mugabe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Robert Mugabe
Mugabe on a visit to Moscow in May 2015
President of Zimbabwe
Incumbent
Assumed office
22 December 1987
Signature 
Robert Gabriel Mugabe born 21 February 1924) is a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who has been President of Zimbabwe since 1987; he previously led Zimbabwe as Prime Minister from 1980 to 1987. Ideologically an African nationalist and socialist, he led the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) group from 1975 to 1980 and has led its successor political party, the ZANU - Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF), since 1980.
Mugabe was born to a poor Shona family in Kutama, Southern Rhodesia. Following an education at Kutama College and the University of Fort Hare, he worked as a school teacher in Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia, and Ghana. Angered that Southern Rhodesia was a British colony governed by a white elite, Mugabe embraced Marxism and joined African nationalist protests calling for an independent black-led state. After making anti-government comments he was convicted of sedition and imprisoned between 1964 and 1974. On release he fled to Mozambique, established his leadership of ZANU, and oversaw ZANU's role in the Rhodesian Bush War, fighting Ian Smith's white-minority government. He reluctantly took part in the peace negotiations brokered by the United Kingdom that resulted in the Lancaster House Agreement. The agreement dismantled white-minority rule and resulted in the 1980 general election, at which Mugabe led ZANU-PF to victory and became Prime Minister of the newly renamed Zimbabwe. Mugabe's administration expanded healthcare and education, and—despite his Marxist rhetoric and professed desire for a socialist society—adhered largely to conservative economic policies.
Mugabe's initial calls for racial reconciliation failed to stem deteriorating race relations and growing white flight. Relations with Joshua Nkomo's Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) also declined, with Mugabe crushing ZAPU-linked opposition in Matabeleland during the Gukurahundi between 1982 and 1985; at least 10,000 people, mostly Ndebele civilians, were killed by Mugabe's Fifth Brigade. Pursuing decolonization, Mugabe's government emphasised the redistribution of land controlled by white farmers to landless blacks, initially on a "willing seller-willing buyer" basis. Frustrated at the slow rate of redistribution, from 2000 Mugabe encouraged the violent seizure of white-owned land. Food production was severely impacted, generating famine, international sanctions, and drastic economic decline. Opposition to Mugabe grew, particularly through the Movement for Democratic Change, although he was re-elected in 2002, 2008, and 2013 through campaigns dominated by violence, electoral fraud, and nationalistic appeals to his rural Shona voter base. Internationally, Mugabe sent troops to fight in the Second Congo War and chaired the Non-Aligned Movement (1986–89), the Organisation of African Unity (1997–98), and the African Union (2015–16).
Having dominated Zimbabwe's politics for nearly four decades, Mugabe has been a controversial and divisive figure. He has been praised as a revolutionary hero of the African liberation struggle who helped to free Zimbabwe from British colonialism, imperialism, and white-minority rule. Conversely, critics view him as a dictator responsible for economic mismanagement and widespread corruption whose regime has perpetrated anti-white racial discrimination, human rights abuses, and crimes against humanity.
Early life
Childhood: 1924–45
Robert Gabriel Mugabe was born on 21 February 1924 at the Kutama Mission village in Southern Rhodesia's Zvimba District. His father, Gabriel, was a carpenter, while his mother Bona taught Christian catechism to the village children.They had been trained in their professions by the Jesuits, the Roman Catholic apostolic order which had established the mission. Bona and Gabriel had six children: Miteri (Michael), Raphael, Robert, Dhonandhe (Donald), Sabina, and Bridgette. They belonged to the Zezuru clan, one of the smallest branches of the Shona tribe.The Jesuits were strict disciplinarians and under their influence Mugabe developed an intense self-discipline, while also becoming a devout Catholic. Mugabe excelled at school, where he was a secretive and solitary child, preferring to read alone rather than playing sport or socialising with other children. He was taunted by many of the other children, who regarded him as a coward and a mother's boy.
Circa 1930, Gabriel had an argument with one of the Jesuits, and as a result the Mugabe family were expelled from the mission village by its French leader, Father Jean-Baptiste Loubiere. They settled in a village about seven miles away, although the children were permitted to remain at the mission primary school, living with relatives in Kutama during term-time and returning to their parental home at weekends. Around the same time, Robert's older brother Raphael died, likely of diarrhoea. In early 1934, Robert's other older brother, Michael, also died, after consuming poisoned maize. Later that year, Gabriel left his family in search of employment at Bulawayo. He subsequently abandoned Bona and their six children and established a relationship with another woman, with whom he had three further offspring.
Loubiere died shortly after and was replaced by an Irishman, Father Jerome O'Hea, who welcomed the Mugabe family to return to Kutama. In contrast to the racism that permeated Southern Rhodesian society, under O'Hea's leadership the Kutama Mission preached an ethos of racial equality. O'Hea nurtured the young Mugabe; shortly before his death in 1970 he described the latter as having "an exceptional mind and an exceptional heart". As well as helping provide Mugabe with a Christian education, O'Hea taught him about the Irish War of Independence, in which Irish revolutionaries had overthrown the British imperial regime. After completing six years of elementary education, in 1941 Mugabe was offered a place on a teacher training course at Kutama College; Mugabe's mother could not afford the tuition fees, which were paid in part by his grandfather and in part by O'Hea. As part of this education, Mugabe began teaching at his old school, thus earning £2 per month, which he used to support his family. In 1944 Gabriel returned to Kutama with his three new children, but died shortly after, leaving Robert to take financial responsibility for both his three siblings and three half-siblings. Having attained a teaching diploma, Mugabe left Kutama in 1945.
Teaching career: 1945–60
Over the following years, Mugabe taught at various schools around Southern Rhodesia, among them the Dadaya Mission school in Shabani. There is no evidence that Mugabe was involved in political activity at the time, and he did not take place in the country's 1948 general strike. In 1949 he won a scholarship to study at the University of Fort Hare in South Africa's Eastern Cape. There he joined the African National Congress, and attended African nationalist meetings, where he met a number of Jewish South African communists who introduced him to Marxist ideas. He later related that despite this exposure to Marxism, his biggest influence at the time were the actions of Mahatma Gandhi during the Indian independence movement. In 1952, he left the university with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and English literature. In later years he described his time at Fort Hare as the "turning-point" in his life.
Mugabe was inspired by the example set by Ghana's Kwame Nkrumah
Mugabe returned to Southern Rhodesia in 1952, by which time—he later related— he was "completely hostile to the [colonialist] system". Here, his first job was as a teacher at the Driefontein Roman Catholic Mission School near Umvuna. In 1953 he relocated to the Highfield Government School in Salisbury's Harare township and in 1954 to the Mambo Township Government School in Gwelo. Meanwhile, he gained a Bachelor of Education degree by correspondence from the University of South Africa, and ordered a number of Marxist tracts—among them Karl Marx's Capital and Friedrich Engels' The Condition of the Working Class in England—from a London mail-order company. Despite his growing interest in politics, he was not active in any political movement. He joined a number of inter-racial groups, such as the Capricorn Africa Society, through which he mixed with both black and white Rhodesians. Guy Clutton-Brock, who knew Mugabe through this group, later noted that he was "an extraordinary young man" who could be "a bit of a cold fish at times" but "could talk about Elvis Presley or Bing Crosby as easily as politics".
From 1955 to 1958, Mugabe lived in neighbouring Northern Rhodesia, where he worked at Chalimbana Teacher Training College in Lusaka.There he continued his education by working on a second degree by correspondence, this time a Bachelor of Administration from London University. In 1958 he moved to Ghana to work at St Mary's Teacher Training College in Takoradi. According to Mugabe, "I went [to Ghana] as an adventurist. I wanted to see what it would be like in an independent African state". Ghana had been the first African state to gain independence from European colonial powers and under the leadership of Kwame Nkrumah underwent a range of African nationalist reforms; Mugabe revelled in this environment. In tandem with his teaching, Mugabe attended the Kwame Nkrumah Ideological Institute in Winneba. Mugabe later claimed that it was in Ghana that he finally embraced Marxism. He also began a relationship with a Ghanaian woman, Sally Hayfron, who worked at the college and shared his political interest
Ramesh Nathan
1. Early Life & Background
Full Name: Ramesh Nathan (often referred to as Ramesh Nathan Iyothee or simply Ramesh Nathan in activist circles).
Date of Birth: Mid-20th century (specific year not widely publicized).
Place: Tamil Nadu, likely from a rural or semi-urban Dalit locality.
Caste/Community: Belongs to the Pallar community, classified as a Scheduled Caste (SC) in Tamil Nadu. The Pallars are part of the Devendrakula Vellalar movement, which seeks to reclaim social dignity and historical identity beyond the stigmatized "Pallar" label.
Family & Economic Background: Grew up in a socioeconomically marginalized Dalit family, experiencing firsthand caste discrimination, educational barriers, and economic hardship. This lived experience fueled his commitment to Dalit empowerment.
2. Education & Professional Journey
Education: Pursued higher education despite systemic hurdles—a feat for many Dalits in Tamil Nadu. He is well-versed in Tamil literature, social sciences, and Ambedkarite thought.
Early Career: Initially engaged in teaching or social work, later transitioning to full-time activism.
Language & Outreach: Fluent in Tamil and English, enabling him to bridge grassroots realities with national/international advocacy.
3. Key Areas of Activism
A. Dalit Education & Youth Empowerment
Scholarship Campaigns: Advocates for increased scholarships, hostels, and remedial coaching for Dalit students.
Anti-Discrimination in Education: Fights against caste-based exclusion in schools and colleges, including biased treatment by teachers and peers.
Digital Literacy: Promotes technology access and digital skills for Dalit youth to bridge the digital divide.
B. Political Representation & Policy Advocacy
Reservation Rights: Campaigns for full implementation of reservation in education, employment, and promotions in the public and private sectors.
Legislative Advocacy: Engages with political parties and lawmakers to amplify Dalit issues in policy-making.
Electoral Participation: Encourages Dalit communities to vote strategically and hold elected representatives accountable.
C. Land & Livelihood Rights
Land Redistribution: Works on securing land titles for Dalit families under state and central schemes.
Fair Wages: Organizes agricultural laborers and informal workers to demand minimum wages and social security.
Entrepreneurship: Promotes Dalit-owned enterprises through skill development and access to credit.
D. Legal Aid & Anti-Atrocity Interventions
SC/ST (PoA) Act Awareness: Conducts workshops to educate Dalits on legal rights and procedures under the Prevention of Atrocities Act.
Legal Support: Collaborates with lawyers to provide free legal aid to victims of caste violence or discrimination.
Documentation: Systematically documents cases of caste atrocities for evidence-based advocacy.
E. Cultural Assertion & Identity Politics
Devendrakula Vellalar Movement: Active in the identity reclamation movement that seeks to replace the “Pallar” caste name with “Devendrakula Vellalar,” emphasizing historical dignity and self-respect.
Ambedkarite Outreach: Promotes Ambedkar’s writings and philosophy through study circles, pamphlets, and public events.
Art & Media: Uses theater, music, and social media to challenge caste stereotypes and celebrate Dalit resilience.
4. Organizational Affiliations
National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR): Key figure in Tamil Nadu’s chapter.
Devendrakula Vellalar Associations: Works with community-based organizations advocating for identity recognition and rights.
Dalit Education Networks: Part of coalitions focusing on education equity.
Human Rights NGOs: Collaborates with national and international human rights groups on caste issues.
5. Philosophy & Approach
Grassroots Mobilization: Believes in organizing at the village and ward levels to build collective power.
Intersectionality: Addresses overlapping injustices of caste, class, gender, and region.
Nonviolent Resistance: Draws inspiration from Ambedkar, Periyar, and Martin Luther King Jr., emphasizing constitutional methods and peaceful protest.
Education as Liberation: Sees education and knowledge production as key tools for Dalit emancipation.
6. Challenges & Risks
Faces backlash from dominant castes and occasionally from within Dalit subgroups over identity politics.
Operates with limited funding and resources in a politically tense environment.
Deals with state apathy and bureaucratic hurdles in implementing Dalit welfare schemes.
7. Recognition & Legacy
Respected Grassroots Leader: Known for his accessibility and commitment to on-the-ground work.
Mentor to Youth: Inspires young Dalits to pursue education and activism.
Bridge Builder: Connects local Dalit struggles with national and international human rights frameworks.
8. How to Learn More
Follow: Tamil Dalit rights publications, such as "Dalit Murasu" or "The Dalit".
Search: Academic papers on Devendrakula Vellalar movement or Dalit education in Tamil Nadu.
Engage: Attend Dalit rights conferences or webinars in Tamil Nadu where he often speaks.
Ramesh Nathan embodies the everyday resilience of Dalit activists who work tirelessly—often without fame or large budgets—to dismantle caste hierarchy and build a more just society. His life underscores that Dalit liberation is fought not only in courts and parliaments but in classrooms, farms, and village squares.
Suzette Jordan
Suzette Jordan (21 October 1974 – 13 March 2015) was a courageous Indian women's rights activist, anti-rape campaigner, and rape survivor from Kolkata, West Bengal. Known widely as the "Park Street rape survivor," she became a powerful voice against sexual violence, victim-blaming, and systemic failures in handling rape cases in India. By voluntarily revealing her identity in 2013, she challenged stigma and encouraged other survivors to speak out, transforming from a "victim" into a symbol of resilience and advocacy.
Early Life & Background
- Born on 21 October 1974 in Kolkata, India.
- She was an Anglo-Indian single mother of two daughters (teenagers at the time of her activism).
- Before the incident, she worked as a counsellor at a helpline for victims of sexual and domestic violence, showing her early commitment to supporting survivors.
The Park Street Gang Rape Incident (2012)
On the night of 5–6 February 2012, Suzette Jordan was gang-raped by five men in a moving car on Kolkata's upscale Park Street after leaving a nightclub. She was offered a lift, assaulted brutally, tortured, and thrown out injured on the street.
- She filed a police complaint despite immense pressure to stay silent.
- The case drew national attention amid the post-Nirbhaya wave of outrage over women's safety.
- West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee initially dismissed it as a "fabricated" or "political" case, calling her a liar and implying it was a setup against her government — drawing widespread criticism.
- Society and media subjected her to severe victim-blaming: questions about her character, being out at night, and false accusations of being a sex worker or prostitute.
- She described the ordeal as being "gang-raped not once, but over and over" due to repeated societal and institutional victimisation.
Revealing Her Identity & Becoming an Activist (2013)
In June 2013, nearly 15 months after the assault, Jordan boldly went public on national television channels, stating her full name: "My name is Suzette Jordan."
- She said: "Why should I hide my identity when it was not even my fault? I am tired of hiding... Enough is enough."
- This made her one of the first Indian rape survivors to voluntarily waive anonymity, inspiring others and shifting the narrative from shame to empowerment.
- She became a full-time women's rights activist, working with NGOs like Swayam, running helplines, and speaking at forums about survivor rights, justice delays, and ending stigma.
- She emphasised: "The scar will never heal, but all I can ask for is justice."
- Her activism focused on solidarity over heroism — creating support structures for survivors to live without fear.
Legal Outcome & Legacy
- Three of the accused (out of five) were convicted in 2015 and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment (months after her death).
- Her fight highlighted police insensitivity, political interference, and the need for better survivor support.
- Tributes described her as a "fighter," "healer," and "rebel" who refused the "victim" label.
- Her daughter wrote a moving tribute calling her a source of strength and fearlessness.
- She empowered many by normalising speaking out and demanding accountability.
Death
Suzette Jordan passed away on 13 March 2015 at age 40 in a Kolkata hospital after battling meningoencephalitis (a severe brain inflammation combining meningitis and encephalitis). Friends noted depression from prolonged trauma and struggle likely contributed to her health decline.
Suzette Jordan's story remains a landmark in India's anti-rape and feminist movements — a testament to turning personal trauma into collective resistance against patriarchy, victim-blaming, and injustice.
Sources: Wikipedia, BBC News, The Hindu, Quartz India, NDTV, Times of India, and activist tributes.
Sheetal Sathe
Background and Identity
- Birth and Upbringing: Born in 1985 in Pune's Kashewadi slum (a Dalit-dominated area), into a Dalit family facing typical caste-based discrimination, poverty, and social exclusion. She grew up in an environment of untouchability and marginalization, which shaped her early awareness of caste injustice.
- Education: Graduated from Fergusson College, Pune, where she began singing and engaging in activism before joining KKM.
- Community: She belongs to the Dalit community (Scheduled Caste/SC in India), historically subjected to untouchability, violence, and systemic oppression. Like activists such as Kalekuri Prasad, Cynthia Stephen, Suraj Yengde, Thenmozhi Soundararajan, and others discussed earlier, her work stems from lived experiences of caste discrimination. She emphasizes Dalit women's "double oppression" (caste + gender/class) and positions her activism as Ambedkarite—focused on constitutional justice, caste annihilation, and resistance to Brahmanical hegemony and Hindutva ideologies.
Activism and Kabir Kala Manch
- Joining KKM (2005): Sheetal joined Kabir Kala Manch (founded around 2002 post-Gujarat riots) as a lead singer, alongside her husband Sachin Mali (also a performer and activist), cousin Sagar Gorkhe, and others. KKM performs in slums, villages, and public spaces, blending folk songs, powada (Marathi ballads), and theater to expose caste violence, police atrocities, economic inequality, and anti-Dalit policies.
- Key Themes: Her songs and performances address Dalit emancipation, women's rights, anti-untouchability, constitutional values (invoking Dr. B.R. Ambedkar), critiques of state repression, and solidarity against communalism. She has been called "Maharashtra's Gaddar" for her bold protest music.
- Notable Features: Featured prominently in Anand Patwardhan's acclaimed 2011 documentary Jai Bhim Comrade (about caste tensions post-1997 Ramabai Nagar killings), which included her interviews and performances. The film helped introduce her to wider audiences beyond Maharashtra through screenings in colleges and festivals.
Legal Persecution and Resistance
- 2011 Crackdown: Amid Maharashtra's anti-Naxal operations, KKM members (including Sheetal) went into hiding after accusations of Maoist links due to their radical songs and activism.
- 2013 Arrest: On April 2, 2013, Sheetal and Sachin Mali voluntarily courted arrest (as a form of satyagraha for free expression) outside the Maharashtra Assembly in Mumbai. Charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) with criminal conspiracy and alleged CPI (Maoist) membership—despite no evidence of violence. She was pregnant at the time.
- Spent months in jail; granted bail in June 2013 by Bombay High Court on humanitarian grounds (late pregnancy).
- Amnesty International and human rights groups condemned the use of anti-terror laws against cultural activists.
- Other KKM members faced prolonged detention (some until 2017).
- Impact: The case highlighted state suppression of dissent, especially from Dalit voices. Sheetal has spoken of it as punishment for "holding our heads high" and critiquing power structures.
Later Work and Legacy
- Post-KKM: Due to ideological differences, Sheetal and Sachin split from KKM to form a new cultural front (Navyan or similar initiatives), continuing independent performances, poetry, and activism.
- Ongoing Advocacy: Focuses on Ambedkarite principles, Dalit-Bahujan unity, women's empowerment, and resistance to caste/religious majoritarianism. She performs new songs (shared on YouTube/Instagram), participates in events like Samvidhan Samata Dindi (Constitution Equality Processions), and speaks on issues like Dalit women's undertrials and cultural resistance.
- Public Presence: Active on Instagram (@sheetal_sathe_official); featured in interviews (The Hindu, SabrangIndia), journals (e.g., conversations on Dalit feminism), and media. Her music is available on YouTube channels and platforms.
- Recognition: Seen as a symbol of Dalit feminist resistance through art; her work inspires youth in anti-caste movements, emphasizing that protest music can challenge oppression non-violently while risking severe state backlash.
In summary, Sheetal Sathe is a courageous Dalit artist-activist who uses folk traditions to amplify marginalized voices, facing incarceration and surveillance for her commitment to justice. Her journey—from slum roots to national recognition via Jai Bhim Comrade—embodies resilience in India's ongoing anti-caste struggle, making her a vital figure akin to the revolutionary Dalit voices in prior discussions. Her legacy lies in proving that songs and poetry can be powerful tools for equality and dignity.
Savitribai Phule
Here is a detailed overview of her life, work, and monumental legacy.
1. Early Life and Background: Overcoming Double Oppression
Birth: 3 January 1831, in Naigaon, Satara district, Maharashtra.
Caste Background: Born into the Mali (gardener) community, which was considered a Shudra (lower) caste, facing social discrimination but not subject to the severe "untouchability" imposed on Dalits.
Family & Early Marriage: Came from a relatively poor farming family. She was illiterate at the time of her marriage at the age of 9 to Jyotirao Phule (then 13) in 1840.
The Turning Point: Her husband, Jyotirao Phule, a visionary thinker, became her greatest ally. He taught her to read and write at home, defying the severe social ban on educating women and Shudras. This act of personal education became the spark for a national movement.
2. Pioneering Work in Education: India's First Female Teacher
First School for Girls (1848): After being trained by Jyotirao and his friend Sakharam Yeshwant Paranjpe, Savitribai, along with another trailblazer Fatima Sheikh (who provided space in her house), started the first school for girls in Pune in 1848. This was a revolutionary act when the very idea of female education was considered sacrilegious by orthodox society.
Confronting Hostility: She faced extreme opposition from conservative society. She was pelted with stones, cow dung, and mud on her way to school. She famously carried an extra sari to change into after such attacks. Undeterred, she persisted.
Expansion: By 1851, the Phules were running three schools for girls in Pune with over 150 students, offering a modern curriculum. Savitribai was the teacher and headmistress.
Education for All: She also taught children from marginalized castes, including the Mang and Mahar (Dalit) communities, who were denied any schooling.
3. Radical Social Reforms and Activism
Savitribai's work extended far beyond the classroom. She and Jyotirao launched a comprehensive assault on caste and gender-based injustices.
Against Caste & Untouchability:
She and Jyotirao started the "Satyashodhak Samaj" (Truth-Seekers' Society) in 1873 to reject Brahminical priesthood, promote social equality, and conduct simple, affordable marriage ceremonies without priests.
She famously opened the family's water well to Dalits in 1868, an act of defiance against untouchability that led to Jyotirao being ostracized by his father.
Women's Rights & Welfare:
Widow Remarriage: She advocated for and supported the remarriage of widows, who were subjected to extreme ostracization and shaving of heads.
Against Infanticide & Child Rescue: She and Jyotirao started the "Balhatya Pratibandhak Griha" (Home for the Prevention of Infanticide) in 1863 in Pune. It was a shelter for pregnant Brahmin widows (who faced extreme stigma) and a safe haven for them to deliver and, if they chose, leave their children for care. They personally adopted one such child, Yashwant, who became a doctor.
Literary Contributions: She was a prolific poet and writer, using literature as a tool for social awakening. Her poetry collections, "Kavya Phule" (1854) and "Bavan Kashi Subodh Ratnakar" (1891), powerfully articulated the pain of the oppressed and called for liberation and education.
4. Legacy and Final Act of Sacrifice
Leadership After Jyotirao: After Jyotirao's death in 1890, she took over the leadership of the Satyashodhak Samaj and continued their work.
Death in Service: During the 1897 bubonic plague epidemic in Pune, she and her son, Dr. Yashwant, started a clinic for victims. While carrying a sick child to the clinic, she contracted the plague herself and died on 10 March 1897.
Icon of Resilience: Her life is a testament to extraordinary courage, compassion, and unwavering commitment to justice. She confronted the twin evils of casteism and patriarchy head-on.
5. Why She Is Remembered as a Titan
Symbol of Women's Empowerment: She is rightly celebrated as the "Mother of Indian Feminism" for centering education as the primary tool for women's liberation.
Pioneer of Dalit & Social Justice: Along with Jyotirao and B.R. Ambedkar (who was born the year Jyotirao died), she is a cornerstone of the anti-caste movement in India. Her work laid the groundwork for the Dalit-Bahujan assertion.
A Complete Revolutionary: She wasn't just a teacher; she was a community leader, caregiver, poet, and organizer who built practical institutions (schools, shelters, wells) to enact her philosophy of equality.
In summary, Savitribai Phule was a transformative social revolutionary who, from a position of caste and gender disadvantage, became a pioneer of modern Indian education and a fearless campaigner for the rights of women, Dalits, and all marginalized people. Her legacy is a guiding light for social justice movements in India to this day.
Shanti Devi
Birth: Born in 1905 in Murtizapur, Akola district, Maharashtra, into the Mahar community—a Dalit (Scheduled Caste) group historically subjected to severe untouchability and social exclusion. She died on 27 December 1987.
Family Influence: Her father, Mohan Kaka, was a follower of the social reformer Mahatma Jyotirao Phule, which instilled in her early values of social justice and education for the oppressed.
Personal Life: Married at a young age, she was widowed early. This personal tragedy, rather than holding her back, became a turning point that directed her energy toward social service.
2. Ideological Awakening & Association with Gandhi
The defining moment in her life was meeting Mahatma Gandhi in 1924 at the Nagpur session of the Indian National Congress. Gandhi's vision for eradicating untouchability and uplifting "Harijans" (a term he used for Dalits) deeply resonated with her.
She became a dedicated resident worker at Gandhi's Seva Gram ashram in Wardha from 1934 onwards, living a life of simplicity, self-reliance, and service as per Gandhian principles.
She worked closely with other Gandhian stalwarts like Vinoba Bhave (notably in the Bhoodan/Gramdan land gift movement) and Thakkar Bapa.
3. Core Areas of Activism & Work
Shanti Devi's work was holistic, focusing on the empowerment of the most marginalized, especially Dalits and women, through constructive programs:
Anti-Untouchability & Social Reforms: She tirelessly campaigned against caste discrimination, advocated for temple entry for Dalits, and worked to foster social harmony.
Education & Empowerment: She established and ran schools for Dalit children and promoted adult literacy, believing education was the cornerstone of liberation.
Women's Welfare: She championed women's education, skill development (like spinning khadi), health, and hygiene, encouraging them to become self-reliant.
Rural Reconstruction & Sanitation: A strong advocate of Gandhian village economics, she promoted sanitation, hygiene, composting, and the use of smokeless chulhas to improve rural life. She was a passionate promoter of khadi (homespun cloth) and village industries.
Organizational Work: She was a central figure in the Harijan Sevak Sangh and the Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust, traveling extensively across India, especially in tribal and rural areas.
4. Philosophy & Method
Her approach was characterized by:
Gandhian Constructive Work: She believed in "building from below" through silent, sustained service rather than confrontational politics.
Life of Example: She lived an austere life, wearing simple khadi, and led by personal example, earning immense moral authority.
Inclusive Vision: While a Dalit herself, her work transcended caste lines, aiming for the upliftment of all deprived sections.
5. Recognition & Awards
Padma Shri (1965) by the Government of India.
Jamnalal Bajaj Award (1984) for "outstanding contribution in the field of constructive work."
The Shanti Devi Award for women social workers was instituted in her honor.
Widespread reverence as "Didiji" across the Gandhian and social work circles in India.
6. Legacy
Shanti Devi represents a critical, yet sometimes less highlighted, strand of the Dalit movement—the Gandhian constructive worker. Her legacy is distinct from the political and rights-based approach of leaders like Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
She is remembered as a bridge figure who worked within the Gandhian framework to address the injustices of the caste system from the ground up.
Her life demonstrated that the fight against caste could be waged through daily acts of service, education, and empowerment, empowering communities to achieve dignity and self-sufficiency.
She remains an enduring icon of selfless service, simplicity, and the power of grassroots activism for social change.
In essence, Shanti Devi was a Dalit woman who channeled personal adversity into a lifetime of transformative service, embodying the Gandhian ideals of truth, non-violence, and upliftment of the last person in society.
Shashank Kela
Shashank Kela worked as an activist in a trade union of adivasi peasants in western Madhya Pradesh between 1994 and 2004. A Rouge and Peasant Slave is his first book.
A Rogue and Peasant Slave
Why do adivasi societies defend themselves so desperately against the state? What is it that sparks so much protest and conflict in India’s adivasi regions? These are some of the questions this book seeks to answer. The first part shows how the Bhils of western Madhya Pradesh were affected by colonialism, the perceptions and notions that shaped colonial policy, its effects on material life and politics, how bhil groups adapted to these developments—and resisted them. A social history cast as narrative—a narrative of blindness and rancour, resistance and change—it charts the emergence of an unjust and oppressive social order.
The second part is a reflection on adivasi politics in the twentieth century. It begins with the (understandably suspicious) adivasi response to nationalism, and goes on to examine India’s development policies and their effect upon adivasi societies. It looks at the emergence of an adivasi middle class and the contradictions of its political role, as well as collective modes of protest and adaptation. A Rogue and Peasant Slave challenges the current academic consensus on the relationship between adivasi societies and the caste-based agrarian order, and seeks to place them in the context of a wider agrarian and ecological history. It reveals the intimate connection between the past and the present, and shows how some of India’s most pressing contemporary conflicts can only be understood with reference to a history whose consequences are still working themselves out.
Shashank Kela worked as an activist in a trade union of adivasi peasants in western Madhya Pradesh between 1994 and 2004. This is his first book.
In the media
‘A Rogue and Peasant Slave documents the history of adivasi subordination and rebellion and its underlying causes, providing an inspiring basis for further action’—Hindustan Times
‘This is an exceptional book, a must read for anyone ‘concerned about the state of affairs in India’—Indian Express
‘The book can be treated as a source of history that is yet to be written’—Himāl
‘Kela confronts several accepted frames of reference, of categories such as peasant, agrarian castes and groups, traditional/customary occupations and roles within caste groups’—The Hindu
Stalin Rajangam
Background and Personal Life
- Born: 1980 (exact date not widely specified in public sources).
- Community: He belongs to the Dalit community (Scheduled Caste/SC in India's reservation system), a historically oppressed group in the caste system. His scholarship and activism are deeply rooted in Ambedkarite ideology, emphasizing anti-caste struggle, social justice, and the intersection of caste with class, politics, and culture.
- Location/Base: Madurai, Tamil Nadu, where he has lived and worked for many years.
- He is often described as a Dalit writer and researcher who draws from lived experiences and historical excavation to address ongoing caste atrocities, electoral politics, and cultural exclusion.
Education and Professional Career
- He holds a PhD/Doctoral degree, with his thesis focused on Pandit Iyothee Thass (1845–1914), a pioneering neo-Buddhist, social reformer, anti-caste activist, and thinker in 19th–early 20th century Tamil society.
- Current Position: Assistant Professor in the Department of Tamil at The American College, Madurai (since around 2009; previously Lecturer at T B M L College, 2003–2005).
- His academic work bridges Tamil literature, history, and Dalit studies, contributing to intellectual discourse on caste transformation during colonial periods and beyond.
Activism and Key Contributions
- Stalin Rajangam is an active voice in Dalit and anti-caste movements in Tamil Nadu. He critiques how mainstream (savarna/upper-caste and Dravidian) histories have marginalized or erased Dalit leaders and contributions.
- He has spoken extensively on:
- The challenges of writing Dalit history (e.g., reliance on non-documentary sources like oral traditions due to inadequate written records).
- Political compulsions denying space for Dalit culture in mainstream politics.
- Caste violence (e.g., in events like jallikattu/bullfighting clashes in the 1980s–1990s, where Dalits faced losses).
- Atrocities against Dalit activists (e.g., noting murders and hostility post-1990s mobilization).
- The need for Dalit assertion to influence welfare and power-sharing (e.g., commenting on increases in Dalit ministers in Tamil Nadu cabinets as outcomes of external pressure).
- He has participated in events like Dalit History Month exhibitions, Vaanam Art Festival (2025), The Hindu Lit for Life/Lit Fest (2024–2025), and panels on anti-caste cultural assertion.
- He advocates for recognizing Dalit non-fiction, folklore, and alternative sources in reconstructing history, while warning against regressive glorification tendencies.
Literary and Media Work
- Author of multiple books (at least 8–15 mentioned across sources), including works on politics, cinema, literature, and biography (e.g., En Kathai, possibly autobiographical or related).
- Columnist/Contributor to outlets like:
- The South First (regular author on Dalit perspectives).
- The New Indian Express, The Hindu, Economic and Political Weekly (EPW), The Wire, and others.
- He has edited or contributed to publications on Dalit figures (e.g., works related to Rettamalai Srinivasan).
- His writings often analyze cinema and culture through caste lenses, and he has discussed influences like Gail Omvedt's work on linking caste and class.
Awards and Recognition
- Sparrow Award for Literature (2017).
- Vilakku Award (2022).
- Featured in festivals, interviews, and media as a key Dalit intellectual (e.g., YouTube sessions on Dalit history, Medium discussions on his speeches).
Overall Impact
Stalin Rajangam is a leading contemporary figure in Tamil Dalit intellectualism, bridging academia, activism, and public discourse. His efforts focus on unearthing suppressed histories, promoting Ambedkarite/Buddhist alternatives to caste oppression, and pushing for Dalit visibility in politics and culture. He remains influential in Tamil Nadu's anti-caste circles, often cited in discussions on atrocities, electoral dynamics, and historical reclamation. For the latest, check his contributions to The South First, social media (e.g., Facebook @stalinrajangam.writer), or event appearances.
शांताबाई दाणी
(1.1.1918--2001)
अनुकरणीय जीवनी
जिस समय शांताबाई जन्मी थी, उस समय भारत में अछूत परिवार में जन्म लेना बहुत बड़ा अभिशाप था और अछूत स्त्री होना तो और भी बड़ा। जहां एक और उच्चवर्ण महिलाएं सभी सुख-सुविधाएं भोगती थी, वहीं अछूत बालिकाएं/महिलाएं रात दिन खेतों तथा उच्चवर्णों की बेगार करके भी दो जून भोजन नहीं जुटा पाती थी। उनका शारीरिक शोषण करना तो जैसे उच्चवर्णों का जन्म सिद्ध अधिकार था। कई महिलाओं/बालिकाओं के पिता/पति शराब/जुए के दुर्व्यसनों से ग्रस्त हो जाते थे तो ऐसी महिलाओं/बालिकाओं का जीवन तो और भी कष्टमय/यातनापूर्ण हो जाता था। शिक्षा और उनके व्यक्तिगत विकास आज के रास्ते तो लगभग बंद ही थे। लड़कियों की शिक्षा का तो बुरा हाल था, जहाँ एक और उच्चवर्ण अध्यापक और विद्यार्थियों के द्वारा अपमान/कुदृष्टि को सहन करना पड़ता था, वहीं अपने समाज/परिवार के बड़े बूढ़े और विशेषकर महिलाएं ताना कसकर निरुत्साहित करती थी।
ऐसी परिस्थितियों में भी शांताबाई एक गरीब अछूत परिवार में जन्म लेकर यदि शिक्षित होकर सार्वजनिक जीवन में पदार्पण कर सकी है तो यह उनके लिए जितने गर्व की बात है उससे अधिक है गर्व/प्रेरणा की स्रोत समस्त भारत की एससी महिलाओं के लिए।
शांताबाई का जन्म नासिक में एक गरीब महार (अछूत) दंपत्ति धनाजी दाणी के यहां हुआ था। इस गरीबी की हालत में पुणे से मैट्रिक और नासिक से शिक्षिका की ट्रेनिंग प्राप्त की। इसके बाद नासिक के विनचूर में अध्यापिका नियुक्त हुई। परंतु एक अछूत होने का कटु अनुभव उन्हें यहां हुआ, यहां उन्हें उपेक्षा/अपमान का पग पग पर सामना करना पड़ा. इसलिए उन्होंने अपने समाज में आत्मसम्मान जागृत करने एवं अत्याचारी/अन्यायी/विषमतासूचक समाज से संघर्ष करने की भावना सशक्त हुई। समाज सेवा के लिए शीघ्र ही शांताबाई जी ने अध्यापन कार्य छोड़ दिया।
1942 में शांताबाई जी ने बाबा साहब का भाषण सुना और 1942 में ही बाबा साहब द्वारा गठित पार्टी शेड्यूल्ड कास्ट फेडरेशन में शामिल हो गई। 1945 में नाशिक जिला शाखा की अध्यक्षा बनी और कानपुर में हुई प्रेस कॉन्फ्रेंस में सक्रिय भाग लिया और उन्हें प्रेस कॉन्फ्रेंस की अध्यक्षता करने का सम्मान दिया गया।
1946 में उन्होंने मुंबई विधानसभा के लिए निजात चुनाव लड़ा परंतु असफल रही। असफलता के बाद भी उन्होंने फेडरेशन द्वारा पुणे में आयोजित सत्याग्रह में सक्रिय भाग लिया। 1947 में सतनामी अछूतों में नई सामाजिक चेतना लाने के लिए वे प्रसिद्ध एवं प्रभावशाली एससी नेता पी.एन. राजभोज के साथ रायपुर गई। जहाँ उन्हें निजान का अजेंट समझकर गिरफ्तार कर जबलपुर की जेल में 3 हफ्ते के लिए डाल दिया गया। 1952 में उन्होंने पुनः शेड्यूल्ड कास्ट फेडरेशन के प्रत्याशी के रूप में मुंबई विधानसभा के सिन्नार-निफाड़ से चुनाव लड़ा। यह अत्यंत खेद पूर्ण बात थी कि उनके प्रतिद्वंदी कांग्रेस के प्रत्याशी अमृतराव धोंडीबा रणखम्भे थे जो कि पहले बाबा साहब के विश्वस्त सहयोगी थे। शांताबाई जी चुनाव हार गई। 1962 में नालेगांव से लोकसभा का चुनाव रिपब्लिक पार्टी ऑफ इंडिया के प्रत्याशी के रूप में लड़ा और हार गई। परंतु उन्हें 1968 से 1974 तक महाराष्ट्र विधान परिषद का सदस्य नामांकित किया गया। 1980 में उन्होंने पुनः नासिक से लोकसभा चुनाव लड़ा परंतु जीत नहीं सकी।
3 नवंबर, 1957 को गठित आरबीआई की शांताबाई जी संस्थापक सदस्या थी। उन्होंने 1959 तथा 1964 में पार्टी द्वारा भूमिहीन किसानों के लिए किए गए सत्याग्रह में सक्रिय भाग लिया। शांताबाई जी दादा साहब गायकवाड़ के परिनिर्वाण (29.12.1971) तक उनके साथ रही। इसके बाद आर.एस. गबई के आरबीआई ग्रुप में शामिल हो गई।
एससी के लिए शिक्षा के महत्व को अच्छी तरह समझते हुए और तत्कालीन समाज द्वारा इसे एससी के लिए दुरूह बना दिए जाने के कारण शांताबाई जी की इनके लिए स्कूल और छात्रावास खोलने की लंबी अवधि से इच्छा थी और इसलिए उन्होंने 1959 में नासिक में तक्षशिला विद्यालय तथा गौतम छात्रावास प्रारंभ किया नासिक में 1965 में लड़कियों के लिए रमाबाई अंबेडकर स्कूल खोला जो सुचारु रुप से चल रहे हैं।
शांताबाई जी आजीवन अविवाहित रही और संपूर्ण जीवन एससी मुक्ति आंदोलन में ही लगाया। 1965 में बौद्ध धम्म अवलंबन कर तभी से महाराष्ट्र में इसका प्रचार अभियान चलाती रही है। उन्हें अपने सामाजिक कार्यों और आंदोलनों में भरपूर सहयोग/मदद की है मिस लौधे, गीताबाई गायकवाड, दादासाहेब रोहम और ललिंगकर ने।
बाबा साहब के मिशन के लिए आजीवन समर्पित शांताबाई जैसी और कोई महिला शायद ही हो। जैसा ऊपर बताया गया है कि शांताबाई के जीवन की शुरूआत घोर कष्टों और अड़चनों से भरी हुई थी परंतु अंततः वह जिस मंजिल पर पहुंची, उसकी कल्पना भी शायद बहुत कम महिलाएं करती होंगी। इसलिए शांताबाई दाणी का जीवन भारत की सभी महिलाओं/बालिकाओं और विशेषकर एससी महिलाओं/बालिकाओं के लिए एक आदर्श है। अच्छी सुख सुविधाओं से भरपूर उच्च परिवार में पैदा होकर उच्च पद पर पहुंचना कोई आश्चर्यजनक बात नहीं है परंतु शांताबाई दाणी जैसी अत्यंत निर्धन और अछूत परिवार में जन्म लेकर आगे बढ़ी महिला ही सही अर्थों में प्रेरणा स्रोत है।
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के पृष्ठ 50-53 से साभार
Shantabai Dhanaji Dani: The Dalit Woman Leader Who Fought Against Caste
Shantabai Dhanaji Dani’s life was intricately woven into the Ambedkarite movement. She was one of the best known leaders of the movement. Throughout her life Dani was involved in several phases of the movement – from protests against Pune Pact (1932) to working as a secretary of the Nashik branch of Scheduled Caste Federation. She was the president of Scheduled Caste Federation Mahila Parishad at Kanpur. She traveled extensively in rural Maharashtra to strengthen the program of Ambedkar’s Independent Labour Party, and was actively involved in the movement for Dharmaantar (conversion to Buddhism).
All this came with a plethora of hardships to secure even basic education as she came from the Mahar community, which was historically impoverished by the caste hierarchies. Her memoir by the name Ratrandin Amha (For Us – These Nights and Days) is illustrative of the memories of coming from a destitute background to nights and days of food and hunger, to the life coloured by labour and caste humiliation ingrained in the culture. It is also a narrative of constant resistance to this ever so oppressive structure.
Early Life
Shantabai was born in a small hut in Khadkali sector which lies at the outskirts of the Nashik city in 1919. Her memoir, For Us – These Nights And Days, tells of a life lived in hunger and destitution, with memories of caste, culture and the ingrained hardships of labour. It was penned by her friend Bhavna Bhargave as narrated by Shantabai. The title draws from Sant Tukaram’s abhang (verse), ‘For us, these nights and days pose a warlike situation’ which is emblematic of the struggle her life has been – right from her mother’s struggle to provide her an education or her political and social work influenced by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and Dadasaheb Gaikwad, to name a few.
Political and Social Activism
Her training and interests in political activism were given a more coherent direction by her association with Dadasaheb Gaikwad who was married to her cousin sister. Listening to Dadasaheb talk, she recalled being influenced by his ability to draw from everyday lived experiences of people to talk about the rights of people from the marginalized communities. Dadasaheb’s active involvement in the Ambedkarite movement brought Shantabai in close proximity with the political activists and the issues on the ground. She worked with Dadasaheb who was then working on consciousness-raising in the Mahar community by managing his official correspondence.
Awards
In 1987, Shantabai received the prestigious Savitribai Phule Award for her work in the field of education. She was also awarded, and refused to accept the Dalit Mitra Award from the Government of Maharashtra in 1985 on the grounds that if the state wanted to do something for Dalits then funds should be directed to sanitation and water facilities for the Dalit communities in settlements devoid of basic facilities.
References
Rege, Sharmila. Writing Caste, Writing Gender: Reading Dalit Women’s Testimonies. Zubaan, 2006.
Featured Image Credit: Dalit History Month (Facebook)
Shivram Janaba Kamble
The story of women’s participation in the Untouchable movement is an interesting one. To trace the early activism of Untouchable women one has to go back to the beginning of the twentieth century. In the following decades women’s activities developed from mere participation as beneficiaries, or as audience, to the shouldering of significant responsibility in various fields of activity in the Ambedkar movement.
In the first decade of the twentieth century we find Shivram Janaba Kamble taking up the mission of removing the stigma of prostitution from the face of the Untouchables. In 1908, through his magazine Somvanshi Mitra, he wrote articles asking his community to accept in marriage the hands of women who had been thrown into the degrading profession of prostitution through the practice of giving girls to Hindu temples as devadasis (slaves of the God).
Besides writing articles, Kamble conducted various meetings to awaken and enlighten people and appealed to them to abandon the practice of offering girls to the god and goddess of Jejuri known as Khandoba and Yellamama.
Kamble’s efforts yielded positive results. One devadasi named Shivubai responded to the call and wrote a very long letter explaining the miserable life of the wretched women and offering herself in marriage to any willing person. In response to her call, published by Kamble in his magazine, one of his associates, Ganpatrao Hanmantrao Gaikwad, agreed to marry Shivubai. Accordingly the marriage was solemnised and was given wide publicity.
Not only did Kamble encourage such marriages but he also saw to it that these women got respect and dignity in society. His propaganda against the devadasi system was so effective that in the year 1909 not a single girl was offered to Khandoba as a devadasi. It was also found that other slave girls of the God (prostitutes) were accepted by the young boys of the Untouchable community as their wives.
The early movement of Untouchables in Maharashtra also led to increasing participation by women in conferences. A Nagpur woman, a nurse, described her experiences of untouchability to the All India women’s conference of 1920. Other women were brought before audiences either to welcome the guest speakers in conferences or to sing the welcome songs in meetings.
The movement begun by Dr. Ambedkar generated an even more enthusiastic participation. Dr. Ambedkar organised several conferences of the Untouchables. He saw to it that women’s conferences were held simultaneously with those for men. By 1930 women had become so conscious that they started conducting their own meetings and conferences independently.
In Mahad in 1927, during the historic satyagraha movement to claim the right of Untouchables to take water from the public tank, Dalit women not only participated in the procession with Dr. Ambedkar but also participated in the deliberations of the subject committee meetings in passing resolutions about the claim for equal human rights.
In the Nashik satyagraha, started by Ambedkar in 1930 for the right of Untouchables to enter Hindu temples, several hundred women conducted sit–in agitations in front of the temple and courted arrest. Every batch of volunteers consisted of some women. Some of the women still alive have been interviewed during this research. This satyagraha was carried on until 1935, when, on October 13, Dr. Ambedkar declared at Yeola (near Nashik) that he had been born a Hindu but would not die a Hindu. In the Yeola conference Dr. Ambedkar announced that this satyagraha was terminated as the heart of the Hindu was not likely to change. He also said that his objective was to organise and to awaken the Untouchables themselves.
During this period, women conducted meetings to support separate electorates for the Untouchables and passed resolutions accordingly. In May 1936 the women held an independent conference along with one for women in Bombay to support Dr. Ambedkar’s declaration of intent to convert to a non–Hindu religion. The speeches of women, reported exhaustively in Janata weekly, show that women were very frank in stating that they wanted a religion that would recognise their freedom, dignity and equal status with men. They expressed confidence that Dr. Ambedkar would not drag them into a religion where women would have to wear the burkha or live in purdah.
The resolutions passed by women in various conferences demanded:
1) Free and compulsory education for girls;
2) Women’s representation in state legislative assemblies, local bodies etc ... ;
3) Training for self-protection of Untouchable women, such as wielding of sticks or karate;
4) Starting a women’s wing in the Samta Sainik Dal (Equality Volunteer Corps);
5) Prohibiting child marriages.
Efforts were made by all Ambedkarite workers to encourage women’s education. The research revealed that the first girl’s school in the Untouchable community was srtarted by Kalicharan Nanda-gawali, who later became the Untouchable representative from Gondia to the Central Provinces legislative council during the 1920s. Similar schools were started in the Konkan region and at a few other places. In 1924 in Nagpur the first woman to start a girls school was Jaibai Chaudhari, who herself secured an education against heavy odds and against the wishes of her husband. She was encouraged and helped in her work by a Christian nun. Other women social workers started independent hostels exclusively for girls during the 1930s.
The political movement begun by Dr. Ambedkar brought forth the political ambition of Untouchable women. Women conducted conferences and passed resolutions to support the Independent Labour Party and later the Scheduled Castes Federation programmes.
Describing the 1942 conference of women in Nagpur, held at the same time as the meeting of the Scheduled Castes Federation, Dr. Ambedkar said, “The presence of women at the conference in their thousands was a sight for the gods to witness. Their dress, their cleanliness and the confidence brought delight to my heart”. Similar conferences of women of great magnitude were organised at Kanpur (1944), Bombay (1945) and Calcutta (1946).
At all these conferences, women leaders, viz. Minambal Shivraj from Madras, Sulochana Dongre of Amravati, Shantabai Dani and several other women addressed the meetings. Radhabai Kamble, a worker in a cotton mill, had come up as a labour leader in the Ambedkarite movement in the 1920s. She gave evidence before the Royal Commission of Labour in 1929. The Untouchable women also joined political agitations courted arrest and underwent jailed during the Scheduled Castes Federation’s 1946 satyagraha in the state assemblies. From all this it will be clear that women had made great strides in achieving political consciousness.
The research shows that women were also interested in reforming the marriage system. Untouchable society already permitted divorce, remarriage and widow marriage, but the women in the movement brought several further reforms to the marriage system. They opposed child marriage. They tried to eliminate unnecessary rituals in marriage. They even adopted marriages through advertisement, which was not acceptable then, even among higher classes. Even marriages among different Untouchable sub-castes were welcomed. Such reforms were often ahead of the higher castes.
The research has also documented the change that has occurred among women since the great conversion to Buddhism in 1956. Normally it is believed that women are mostly conservative in cultural matters and not amenable to change, but Dalit women accepted the progressive religion. They have given up old customs, rites and rituals, visits to Hindu pilgrimage sites, fasting on various Hindu festivals, etc. The women have also adopted the Buddhist form of worship and way of life which is based on morality, wisdom and compassion.
The conversion has changed their outlook about caste so much that the new generation of Buddhists hardly knows its sub–caste, and many inter–caste marriages have been welcomed in the Buddhist faith. Formerly girls were given contemptuous names which indicated their low position and caste. Now the Buddhist women name their daughters after great women in Buddhist history.
A Note on the Research Process. The research on this project included locating and reviewing various newspapers published within the Untouchable community during the last hundred years. These include Dhnyan-prakash, Bahishkrit Bharat, Janata, Somvanshi Mitra, etc. In addition to these, some scholarly publications by eminent writers, census and other relevant reports, rare booklets, leaflets and similar material have been explored.
The major portion of the research involved interviews of approximately sixty women who were connected with the Ambedkarite movement. Some information has been obtained from the relatives of deceased participants in the movement. This information was collected from various places in Maharashtra and also from Delhi. The research as a whole throws a flood of light on various activities of women which were hitherto unknown. As far as we know, nobody so far has dealt with this subject. We interviewed women participants in the Ambedkar movement in order to understand what role they played in the movement; what sort of experiences they had in the field as well as in the family, as mother, wife and daughter; what was the effect on their lives, of Ambedkar’s movement and speeches; what difference was there was between a common housewife and a Dalit woman social worker; how far these women are aware of continuing atrocities on women and similar issues.
We travelled throughout Maharashtra and contacted women workers in Bombay, Pune, Satara, Nagpur, and Nasik and some in the countryside. We also visited Delhi. Sometimes we could give them advance notice, but most of the time we had to take them by surprise. Several times we had to remain without food and water, but when we reached somebody’s house we were showered with warm hospitality and love.
At some places we were told that a particular woman was an active worker, but on verification or after a personal meeting the woman would be frank in saying that she was not the woman we wanted. Another thing we noticed was their willingness to help us learn about other women. Thus, by lighting one candle from another, the picture of the Ambedkarite movement became clearer and clearer.
Most of the women we met are illiterate, but some are teachers, some are writers, and three or four are Buddhist nuns. A couple of these women are legislators and some are in local bodies. Most of these women are poor, but some have attained financial security. Most of the women active in the movement were born in social workers’ families, or were given in marriage into such families. Some lived in neighbourhoods where social activities were going on and became involved.
For all of them, Dr. Ambedkar’s words and movement had an inspiring effect on their minds. Even the participants in the movement who were illiterate subscribed to Ambedkar’s journals, e.g., Mooknayak, Bahishkrit Bharat, Janata, Prabuddha Bharat, to keep these publications alive. It was heartening to see that women contributed even from their own meagre income to almost every activity that was going on in the movement. They paid four annas or eight annas when their daily wages were hardly a rupee. (There are sixteen annas in a rupee). These contributions were very significant in the movement.
While joining the processions, satyagrahas, etc., these women had to entrust their children and family responsibilities to a neighbour or to a close relatives like a mother or daughter. Occasionally some of them had co–operation from their husbands, but some of them had to face brutal beatings at their husband’s hands. Some women courted arrest along with men in satyagrahas. At such times, some of them took their infant babies with them to jail and some carried all their belongings, including chickens. Those who left their nursing babies at home complained of breast pains in jail. In order to facilitate social work a few women underwent family planning operations while a few brought home a second wife for the husband.
We have noticed that these women who were once meek and shy are now self – reliant and dare–devil. Taking into consideration the extremely backward social atmosphere, the achievements of these women were most commendable. Schools, hostels and orphanages for girls were started by women like Jaibai Chaudhari and Deshbhratar in the Nagpur area. Radhabai Kamble shouldered leadership in the labour movement. Sakhubai Mohite and Suman Bandisode were among several women who led organisations and participated in movements such as the struggle to rename Marathwada University, extend (affirmative action) reservations to Buddhists and provide land to landless labourers.
Women also continue to be interested in political work. The Republican Party, founded by Ambedkar in 1958, was split into several groups after his death. The women we met are working through these groups but are not happy with these divisions. They believe that the whole Dalit leadership should unite and work as a whole and take the chariot of Ambedkar’s work ahead.
Archived from Communalism Combat, May 2001 Year 8 No. 69, Cover Story 3
Sachindra Nath Sanyal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sachindra Nath Sanyal
Old vintage phototype sketch of Sanyal
Born 3 April 1893
Died 7 February 1942 (aged 48)
Organization Anushilan Samiti, Ghadar Party, Hindustan Republican Association, Hindustan Socialist Republican Association,
Movement Indian revolutionary movement
Influence
Sachindra Nath Sanyal 
pronunciation (help·info) (3 April 1893 - 7 February 1942) was an Indian revolutionary and a founder of the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA, which after 1928 became the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association) that was created to carry out armed resistance against the British Empire in India. He was a mentor for revolutionaries like Chandrashekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh.
pronunciation (help·info) (3 April 1893 - 7 February 1942) was an Indian revolutionary and a founder of the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA, which after 1928 became the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association) that was created to carry out armed resistance against the British Empire in India. He was a mentor for revolutionaries like Chandrashekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh.Early life
Sachindra Nath Sanyal's parents were Bengalis. His father was Hari Nath Sanyal and his mother was Kherod Vasini Devi. He was born in Benaras, then in United Provinces, on 3 April 1893 and married Pratibha Sanyal, with whom he had one son.
Revolutionary career
Sanyal founded a branch of the Anushilan Samiti in Patna in 1913. He was extensively involved in the plans for the Ghadar conspiracy, and went underground after it was exposed in February 1915. He was a close associate of Rash Behari Bose. After Bose escaped to Japan, Sanyal was considered the most senior leader of India's revolutionary movement.
Sanyal was sentenced to life for his involvement in the conspiracy and was imprisoned at Cellular Jail in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, where he wrote his book titled Bandi Jeevan (A Life of Captivity, 1922). He was briefly released from jail but when he continued to engage in anti-British activities, he was sent back and his ancestral family home in Benaras was confiscated.
Following the end of the Non-cooperation movement in 1922,[1] Sanyal, Ram Prasad Bismil and some other revolutionaries who wanted an independent India and were prepared to use force to achieve their goal, founded the Hindustan Republican Association in October 1924.[5] He was the author of the HRA manifesto, titled The Revolutionary, that was distributed in large cities of North India on 1 January 1925.
Sanyal was jailed for his involvement in the Kakori conspiracy but was among those conspirators released from Naini Central Prison in August 1937. Thus, Sanyal has the unique distinction of having been sent to the Cellular Jail in Port Blair twice. He contracted tuberculosis in jail and was sent to Gorakhpur Jail for his final months. He died on 7 February 1942.
Beliefs
Sanyal and Mahatma Gandhi engaged in a famous debate published in Young India between 1920 and 1924. Sanyal argued against Gandhi's gradualist approach.[
Sanyal was known for his firm Hindu beliefs, although some of his followers were Marxists and thus opposed to religions. Bhagat Singh discusses Sanyal's beliefs in his tract Why I am an Atheist. Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee was a close associate of Sanyal. He was also supplied with guns by Maulana Shaukat Ali, who was at that time a supporter of Congress and its non-violent methods but not with the same fervor for non-violence that was expressed by his organization's leader, Gandhi. Another prominent Congressman, Krishna Kant Malaviya, also supplied him with weapons.
Death
Sanyal participated in Anti-British programs, which resulted in a second prison term and government seizure of his Varanasi property. He died while serving his second term in prison on February 7, 1942.
Shantabai Krushnaji Kamble
Early Life
- Born on March 1, 1923, in Mahud Budruk (or Mahud), a small village in Solapur district, Maharashtra, into a poor Mahar (Dalit) family.
- Her parents, though economically deprived and socially marginalized under the caste system, prioritized her education, believing it could transform Dalit lives—a rare stance in the 1920s–1930s rural context.
- As a child, she endured severe caste-based humiliation: In school (around third grade), Dalit students like her were forced to sit outside the classroom, forbidden from touching upper-caste teachers or classmates, and faced segregation in water access and other facilities.
- These experiences of untouchability, hunger, and exclusion shaped her lifelong commitment to anti-caste struggle and women's empowerment.
Education and Career as a Teacher
- Despite barriers, Shantabai pursued education aggressively and became one of the first Dalit women teachers in Solapur district (and possibly Maharashtra more broadly).
- She turned her classroom into a space for reform: Advocating for inclusive education, challenging discriminatory practices, and inspiring marginalized students.
- Her teaching career intertwined with activism; education became a tool for personal and community emancipation.
Activism and Involvement in Ambedkarite Movement
- Shantabai and her husband actively joined Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's movement in the mid-20th century, participating in efforts to organize Dalits, promote conversion to Buddhism (post-1956), and fight untouchability.
- She mobilized women: As a young activist, she reportedly gathered over 3,000 women in 1927 (though some sources place similar mobilizations later) to assert rights and challenge caste norms.
- Her activism focused on dual discrimination: Caste oppression (untouchability, economic exploitation) and gender-based subjugation within Dalit communities and society at large.
- She critiqued how Dalit women faced compounded marginalization—often ignored in mainstream Dalit narratives dominated by male voices.
Literary Contributions
- Majya Jalmachi Chittarkatha (1983/1986): Written after retiring from teaching in 1981, this autobiography is a landmark in Dalit literature.
- It vividly recounts her childhood hardships, school discrimination, marriage, teaching life, and encounters with caste/gender violence.
- The title's "chittarkatha" (kaleidoscope) metaphor reflects the fragmented, shifting experiences of oppression and resistance in a Dalit woman's life.
- It highlights education's transformative power while exposing systemic failures.
- Translated into English (partial excerpts available), it influenced later Dalit women writers (e.g., Urmila Pawar, Bama) and feminist-Dalit scholarship.
- Her writing is raw, testimonial, and political—using autobiography to reclaim voice in a society that silenced Dalit women.
Personal Life
- Married (husband's name often referenced in context of joint Ambedkarite activism; specific details limited in sources).
- Lived much of her life in Maharashtra, balancing family, teaching, writing, and activism.
Death and Legacy
- Passed away on 25 January 2023 at age 99 (or nearly 100), in Maharashtra.
- Recognized posthumously and during her lifetime as the first Ambedkarite woman autobiographer and a trailblazer in Dalit feminist literature.
- Her work is studied in academic papers on Dalit autobiography, gender-caste intersections, and Marathi Dalit sahitya (literature).
- Featured in Dalit History Month tributes, anthologies, and discussions on platforms like Velivada, emphasizing her role in making Dalit women's experiences visible.
- Legacy: Inspired generations by showing how personal narrative can challenge structural injustice, promote education, and build solidarity in the anti-caste and women's rights movements.
Shantabai Kamble's life exemplifies resilience against intersecting oppressions, using education, activism, and writing to forge dignity and change for Dalit women in India. Her autobiography remains a foundational text in understanding the lived realities of caste-gender discrimination.
Sonaram Chutia
Early Life and Education
- Born on 8 June 1915 in Assam (specific village details vary in sources, but associated with Jorhat region in Upper Assam).
- He pursued education amid the freedom struggle, studying up to higher levels and becoming influenced by Gandhian ideals early on.
- As a student (around Class X), he first saw Mahatma Gandhi and later met him personally, including spending time in Gandhi's ashrams at Sewagram and Paunar in Maharashtra for about eight months.
- He was drawn to activism from a young age, fighting against caste discrimination, social injustice, and colonial rule instead of focusing solely on personal studies.
Freedom Struggle and Activism
- Joined the Indian National Congress (Jatiya Mahasabha) in 1940, leaving his teaching career to fully engage in the independence movement.
- Actively participated in the Quit India Movement of 1942, inspired by Gandhi and other leaders.
- Arrested by British authorities and imprisoned for over two years (more than two years in some accounts) in Jorhat Central Jail.
- Met key figures like Pitambar Deva Goswami (a prominent Vaishnavite leader) inside jail in 1943, which profoundly transformed his life toward deeper Vaishnavite commitment.
- Honored as a freedom fighter by the Government of India in 1972 and the Government of Assam in 1973.
Social Reform and Vaishnavite Contributions
- Lifelong campaigner against the caste system, racism, and divisive social practices, aligning with Gandhian non-violence and Sankaradeva's egalitarian Vaishnavism.
- Joined the Srimanta Sankaradeva Sangha (Assam's largest socio-religious organization, founded in 1930 to promote Sankaradeva's teachings) in 1946 after his jail experience.
- Served as Chief Advisor to the Sangha until his death, contributing scholarly works on Sankaradeva studies, authoring books, and helping expand its influence.
- Advocated for education, especially among the downtrodden and neglected classes, positioning himself as a "torch-bearer" for marginalized groups through Vaishnavite principles of equality.
- His writings and speeches emphasized social harmony, devotion, and rejection of caste hierarchies.
Professional Career
- Worked as a teacher and later became Headmaster of Teok Rajabari High School in Jorhat district.
- Retired from teaching in 1975, after which he devoted himself entirely to the Srimanta Sankaradeva Sangha and social-spiritual work.
Awards and Recognition
- Srimanta Sankaradeva-Madhabdeva Award (1994).
- Srimanta Sankaradeva Award from the Assam government (2000).
- Legacy honored through naming venues like the Vaishnava Pandit Sonaram Chutia Samannay Kshetra (ground/venue) in Jorhat, used for Sangha events (e.g., the 94th annual convention in 2025).
- Remembered in books (e.g., Sonaram Chutia: The Doyen and Torch-Bearer of Downtrodden Classes of Assam) and as an unsung hero in Assam's freedom movement narratives.
Personal Life and Death
- Survived by three sons, four daughters, and grandchildren (his wife predeceased him).
- Lived in Jorhat (Mukti Jujaru Path).
- Passed away on 30 January 2013 at age 97/98 due to old-age ailments at Jorhat Medical College Hospital.
- His cremation was attended by hundreds, including political figures like then-Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, with tributes calling him a "father figure" and fighter against casteism.
In summary, Sonaram Chutia was a multifaceted figure: a Gandhian freedom fighter who endured imprisonment, a dedicated Vaishnavite scholar promoting Sankaradeva's casteless ideals, an educator, and a social activist who fought caste divisions throughout his life. He bridged political activism with spiritual reform, leaving a lasting impact on Assam's socio-religious landscape through the Srimanta Sankaradeva Sangha and his advocacy for equality. His birth and death dates (notably dying on January 30, Gandhi's martyrdom day) add symbolic resonance to his Gandhian legacy. For more, refer to AssamInfo, Srimanta Sankaradeva Sangha records, or Assamese Wikipedia.
Surendra Gadling
Background and Personal Life
- Born: Around the early 1970s (approximately 47–50 years old at the time of his 2018 arrest; sources describe him as 57 in recent 2025–2026 reports).
- Community: He belongs to the Dalit community (Scheduled Caste/SC in India's reservation system), born into a family in Indora, a slum area in Nagpur.
- Family: Lives (or lived) in Bhim Chowk, Nagpur, with his wife, two children, and mother.
- Early Career: After college, he started as an apprentice in the railways in the 1980s–1990s. He later pursued law and began his legal practice in Nagpur nearly two decades ago, focusing on human rights.
Professional and Activist Work
- Practiced as a human rights lawyer in Nagpur for over 20 years, specializing in:
- Cases under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
- Forest Rights Act violations.
- Defense against UAPA and other anti-terror laws.
- High-profile matters like the Khairlanji Massacre (2006 Dalit atrocity case), extrajudicial encounters in Gadchiroli, and the case of G.N. Saibaba (wheelchair-bound professor accused of Maoist links).
- Served as General Secretary of the Indian Association of People's Lawyers (IAPL), a network of progressive lawyers.
- Known for getting people acquitted in false cases and fighting police misconduct, making him a "legend" in Nagpur's legal and activist circles.
- His work centered on Ambedkarite principles, defending Dalit and Adivasi rights against caste-based violence and corporate/state exploitation in resource-rich areas like Gadchiroli.
Arrest and Legal Battles
- Primary Case: Arrested on June 6, 2018, in the Elgar Parishad/Bhima Koregaon case (BK-16), where he is one of 16 accused (including Varavara Rao, Sudhir Dhawale, Mahesh Raut, and others). Authorities alleged he incited caste-based violence through speeches/pamphlets at the December 31, 2017, Elgar Parishad event in Pune, leading to clashes on January 1, 2018, during Bhima Koregaon commemorations. He faces UAPA charges of Maoist links and conspiracy.
- Additional Case: Also implicated in the 2016 Surjagarh arson case (Gadchiroli), where Maoists allegedly torched 39 iron ore trucks. He was arrested in January 2019 (along with Varavara Rao) and accused of Maoist involvement.
- Detention: In judicial custody since 2018 (primarily at Taloja Central Prison, Navi Mumbai). As of early 2026, he has spent over 7 years in pre-trial detention without the trial commencing in either case (no charges framed in the Surjagarh case despite years of hearings).
- Bail Status: Bail pleas repeatedly denied or stayed. Bombay High Court denied bail; Supreme Court appeals pending (e.g., deferred multiple times in 2025, with hearings adjourned to September 2025 and beyond). In January 2026, the Supreme Court directed time-bound steps to frame charges and expedite proceedings in the Surjagarh case, citing delays (no judge, non-functional video conferencing). He remains the only one of the 16 BK accused still in custody (others granted bail; Father Stan Swamy died in custody in 2021).
- International/human rights concerns: Listed as a religious freedom prisoner by USCIRF; flagged by Front Line Defenders, CIVICUS, and others as fabricated charges to target defenders of marginalized communities. Described as part of attacks on the Ambedkarite movement.
Overall Impact and Legacy
Surendra Gadling symbolizes the struggles of human rights defenders in India facing prolonged incarceration under stringent laws like UAPA. His career focused on justice for the oppressed, often at personal cost—he joked about being in jail longer than most clients. Despite detention, he is remembered for his integrity, with colleagues noting he continues "doing good things" even in prison. His case highlights issues of judicial delays, misuse of anti-terror laws, and suppression of Dalit/Adivasi advocacy.
Sumitra Devi
Early Life & Background
- Born in 1918 (exact place not widely documented, but associated with Hyderabad region).
- Came from a Dalit (Scheduled Caste) community, facing the socio-economic disadvantages typical of the era under caste hierarchies.
- Participated in India's freedom struggle, meeting and being photographed with leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rabindranath Tagore, Indira Gandhi, and Sarojini Naidu.
- Promoted arts and culture alongside activism, known for supporting musicians and cultural figures (e.g., links to Shankar-Jaikishan).
Political Career
She entered politics post-independence and became a trailblazer for Dalit representation in South India.
- Elected as MLA five times without defeat on a Congress ticket (or aligned affiliations):
- Jubilee Hills (1957) — First MLA from this constituency.
- Hyderabad-East (1962).
- Medchal (1967, 1972).
- Ibrahimpatnam (1978).
- Focused on welfare for marginalized communities, including Dalits, women, and the poor.
- Known for probity: Despite immense clout as a long-serving MLA, she never resorted to corruption, undue favors, or wealth accumulation — a rarity highlighted in tributes.
- Her life exemplified selfless service; she passed away in 1980 in poverty, leaving behind a legacy of clean politics.
Legacy & Personal Life
- Family: Married; had a daughter (Rukmini, who passed away in 1983). Her son-in-law and relatives preserved her memorabilia, including rare photographs with national icons.
- Tributes describe her as part of a "rare breed of politicians" — honest, dedicated, and focused on upliftment rather than personal gain.
- Her story contrasts sharply with modern perceptions of politicians, as noted by contemporaries: "It is impossible to even think we can have leaders like her now."
- She bridged freedom struggle ideals with post-independence Dalit empowerment in legislative politics.
Note: There are multiple women named Sumitra Devi in Indian public life (e.g., a Bihar Congress politician from 1922–2001 who worked for backward caste women but not explicitly identified as Dalit; others in activism or unrelated fields). The most prominent Dalit activist/leader matching this description is B. Sumithra Devi from Hyderabad/Telangana, as detailed in archival reports and tributes.
Sources: The Hindu (2014 obituary/tribute), Wikipedia entries on related figures, family-shared biographies, and regional historical archives on Dalit political pioneers in South India.
Sujatha Gidla
From Wikipedia
Gidla at the 2018 national book festival
Sujatha Gidla is an Indian-American author. Gidla is known for her book Ants Among Elephants: An Untouchable Family and the Making of Modern India. She was born in Andhra Pradesh and moved to the United States in 1990, when she was 26 years old.[1] She now lives in New York and works as a conductor on the New York City Subway.
Early life
Sujatha Gidla was raised in the Dalit community of Kakinada, a small town in present-day Andhra Pradesh. Her great grandparents accepted Christianity after they heard the Gospel propagated by Canadian Baptist missionaries in her region. With missionary institutions heralding development of the society in general through education, Sujatha's grandparents were also educated at one such institution run by the missionaries in Kakianda. Prasanna Rao, Gidla's grandfather, studied in a school set up by the Canadian missionaries. Gidla's parents were also college lecturers.
After getting her bachelor's degree from State-run Pithapuram Rajah Government College in Kakinada, Gidla enrolled in a Masters' program in Physics in Regional Engineering College, Warangal. During her second year there, in one of the earlier instances of her activism, Gidla participated in a strike against an upper-caste professor in the Engineering department, who was deliberately failing students from the lower castes. She was the only woman who had participated in the strike. The protestors were all jailed in an undisclosed location. Gidla was detained for three months, during which she was tortured and contracted tuberculosis. Her mother Manjula contacted a civil rights lawyer named K. G. Kannabiran to help them. This was one of the earlier instances of Gidla's activism.
Gidla then worked as a researcher associate in the Department of Applied Physics in Indian Institute of Technology Madras, where she worked on a project funded by Indian Space Research Organisation. She moved to the United States when she was 26. Some of Gidla's family members also emigrated: her sister works as a physician in the United States, and her brother is an engineer in Canada.
Work
Gidla previously worked as an software application designer at the Bank of New York, but was laid off in the global financial crisis and recession in 2009. She says that she then wanted to do a manual job. She became the first Indian woman to be employed as a conductor on the New York City Subway – one of the busiest mass transit systems in the world. In an interview, she said, "Because I am a Marxist and Communist, I also have romantic feelings about being a working class person. So this job attracted me. Secondly, I wanted to do something that men are supposed to be doing."
Ants Among Elephants
Ants Among Elephants is Gidla's first book and was published in 2017. It is a family memoir that chronicles the life of her uncle, KG Satyamurty, a Maoist leader and the founder of a left-wing guerrilla movement called the People's War Group (PWG). The book also described the personal history of her mother Manjula's life, both of which are juxtaposed against the peasant revolt and the formation of a new state in newly independent India. Gidla classifies the book under the genre of 'literary nonfiction'.
Gidla has recalled her introduction to understanding casteism as being through a movie. The film was a love story fraught with conflict due to the girl being a wealthy Christian, whose family opposed her marriage to a Hindu boy who was less well-off. She had hitherto believed that the caste discrimination she faced as a Dalit, or "untouchable", was due to her status as a Christian, since the vast majority of Christians in Andhra Pradesh converted from a Dalit community. In an interview with Slate, she says, "That's when I started thinking: If it’s not Christianity, why were we untouchables?"
According to Gidla, the creation of the book was a family affair. Her mother was closely involved in the process of writing the book as it was her story too, and her niece Anagha was involved in designing the book cover. Gidla conducted over 15 years of research and made three trips to India for the book.. She reportedly wrote 50 to 60 versions of the book before publishing it Gidla has spoken about publishing first a prequel, and then a sequel to Ants Among Elephants. The prequel will tell her own family's story before her uncle's generation, detailing the journey of her family being hunter-gatherers in the forests of Andhra Pradesh before moving to the villages and getting subsumed into the Hindu caste system's lowest rung. The sequel will be an autobiography, and discuss the contemporary generation.
Her writing has also appeared in Oxford India Anthology of Telugu Dalit Writing.
Reception and publicity
Ants Among Elephants has received the following accolades:
Wall Street Journal Top 10 Nonfiction Book of 2017
Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2017
Shelf Awareness Best Book of 2017
Hudson Booksellers Best Books of the Year (2017)
Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year (2017)
Wall Street Journal Best Books of the Year (2017)
A New York Times review called it "unsentimental, deeply poignant ... Ants Among Elephants gives readers an unsettling and visceral understanding of how discrimination, segregation and stereotypes have endured."
Gidla declined an invitation to be the key note speaker in a festival called We The Women, a women-only festival curated by Barkha Dutt. Her refusal was a result of the conference being sponsored by the United Nations, which Gidla said was a "fig-leaf of US imperialism". She also objected to the participation of Smriti Irani, an Indian politician who was the Minister of Human Resource Development at the time that Dalit PhD scholar Rohith Vemula committed suicide. "She was instrumental in Rohith's death. His blood is on her hands. I couldn't possibly have participated alongside her," she said.
Gidla was invited to the prestigious Jaipur Literature Festival in 2018 as a speaker. She spoke at a session called "Narratives of Power, Songs of Resistance", where she spoke about contemporary Dalit politicians Jignesh Mevani and Mayawati, saying they had a limitation in working for Dalit upliftment since they had chosen to work under the framework of electoral politics. Gidla also discussed the communalism present in both of India's major political parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian National Congress, as well as criticized Mahatma Gandhi for being casteist and racist.
Sujatha Gidla at the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival 2018 at Diggi Palace on January 29, 2018 in Jaipur, India. (Photo by Raj K Raj/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)Sunita Kamble
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sunita Kamble is an Indian goat veterinarian recognised in the Women Transforming Indiaawards in 2017.
Kamble is from Mhasvad, Maharashtra, an area which has been affected by droughts. Goatsare of major economic importance here, and a lack of trained veterinarians made it difficult to get appropriate and timely care if they became ill. She trained in the "Para-Vet Goat Programme" from the Mann Deshi Foundation to become the first goat veterinarian in the area, and went on to lead a team of seven "barefoot veterinarians". She introduced an artificial insemination service to improve the breeding of goats for both milk and meat, and has trained 350 women in the technique. Goats are seen as an "alternative and sustainable livelihood option for women-headed households in the area", and her work was recognised in 2017 by the "Women Transforming India" award.
Kamble is from the dalit or untouchable group, but her achievements have brought together members of different castes in her village: "When I entered the village, I saw a big cutout of Sunita. Sunita was smiling on that picture. ... upper caste leaders -- men -- were sitting in the house, in her house...".
Santram B.A.
Santram B.A. (14 February 1887-5 June 1988) was one of those great personalities who devoted their entire lives to the cause of building a casteless and classless society. He came from the Kumhar caste and was one of the most talked-about writers of his time. His articles, published in magazines like Chaand, Sudha and Saraswati, sparked big debates. He launched a magazine titled Kranti in Urdu. He was also the editor of Bharatiya, the magazine of the Jalandhar College for Women and Vishwa Jyoti, published by Vishveshvaranand Vedic Sansthan, Lahore.
Santram
He was popular among his peers. His lifelong friendship with Rahul Sankrityayan speaks of his affability. It was probably in the first decade of the last century that Rahul met Santram in Lahore for the first time. Rahul’s first travelogue was published in Bharatiya, which Santram edited. Rahul was an Arya Samaji saint when he met Santram. He had not attained fame yet as a writer. Later, when he became Rahul Sankrityayan from Ramodar, he wrote a very touching reminiscence of Santram, which formed part of his book, Jinka Main Kritagya. He wrote, “His home was at Purani Bassi village near Hoshairpur, where he lived along with his wife in a house surrounded by a garden. He was blessed with a daughter at the time when I was living there. I was astonished by the stamina of his Punjabi wife. In the morning, she had completed all the household chores and milked the buffalo. In the afternoon, we came to know that she gave birth to a baby girl. I became the purohit of the newborn’s ‘jat-karma sanskar’ and gave the little one her name – Gargi.” Rahul’s reminiscences tell us that Santram’s only son died young. Later, he had his own house built at Krishnanagar, in Lahore, and married a Maharashtrian woman after the death of his first wife. After the Partition, Santram lost his house in Lahore, though his ancestral village Purani Bassi remained a part of India.
It was at Purani Bassi that he was born on 14 February 1887. Santram became an Arya Samaji at a young age. However, the organization that brought him fame as an Arya Samaji was the Jaatpaat Todak Mandal, which he had founded in 1922. The same mandal had invited Dr Ambedkar to deliver the presidential address at its annual convention at Lahore in 1936. The speech that Ambekar had prepared for the convention was very critical of the Vedas and the scriptures, and many members of the Mandal did not agree with it. Ambedkar refused to edit the speech and ultimately, the mandal postponed its convention. Later, Ambedkar published the speech as a book, and thus came into being one of his most famous books, Annihilation of Caste.
Santram and his Jaatpaat Todak Mandal had drawn the attention of the entire nation. It received overwhelming support but the conservatives opposed it with equal vehemence. Among the opponents was top scholar Suryakant Tripathi ‘Nirala’. Writing on “Varnashram Dharma Ki Vartman Isthiti” in Matwala(1924), he said, “Just as mere expression of sympathy for the Shudras can’t be the be-all and end-all of the duty of the Brahmins, world’s greatest scholar and extraordinarily brilliant Shankar does not become the enemy of the Shudras just because Jaatpaat Todak Mandal’s Santram says so. His rules of discipline for the Shudras might have been very strict, but they were in keeping with his times. I don’t see the utility of the evidence like ‘Jayate Varna Sankar’, which has been quoted to defend the Varna system, and I don’t see any need for the Jaatpaat Todak Mandal. Why did Santram and others establish the Mandal when Brahmo Samaj was already there? Why did they not establish a branch of Brahmo Samaj instead?” He even wrote that the Brahmins had framed tough rules for the Shudras because, “Their polluted spores would have made the blissful body of contemporary society ill. The members of the Mandal would have understood how Shudras would have harmed pure society, marching on the path to emancipation after freeing itself from all evils, had they been sacrificing or spiritual instead of divisive, authoritarian and arrogant, as they are. If, while putting up with so many sufferings, the dwij community, to save itself, imposed somewhat harsh discipline on the Shudras, it was nothing before the atrocities committed on the dwijs by the Shudras.”
The Phule couple’s life and works depicted on the gateway to Phulewada, Pune
This “revolutionary article” of Nirala is included in his compilation of essays Chabuk. It is indicative of the deep hostility of the Hindu community towards the Jaatpaat Todak Mandal. Many Arya Samajis also did not want Santram to run the mandal. Most of them, including progressive intellectuals like Gokul Chandra Narang, Bhai Parmanand and Mahatma Hansraj, due to their pro-Hindu beliefs, quit the Mandal to protest the decision to invite Ambedkar to chair its convention. Many among them, including Bhai Parmanand, later joined the Hindu Mahasabha. It was not without reason that contemporary Hindus were in favour of the Brahmo Samaj, which believed in caste, but were against Jaatpaat Todak (caste destroyer) Mandal. But despite the non-cooperation from the Arya Samajis, Santram did not disband the mandal. Instead, he conducted its activities on his own.
Santram wrote more than 100 small booklets advocating Hindu-Muslim unity and an end to caste discrimination. These booklets stirred up the Hindu community. He distributed these booklets for free. When he went for a walk in the morning and the evening, he kept some copies of the booklets in his pockets to give to those he met on the way. Hamara Samaj, a book of his that was published in 1948, is an eye-opener for Hindus even today. I read the book for the first time in 1975 and since then, I have kept it safely like a sacred scripture. I consider it a scientific Veda. If the Hindus were to hear its formulations, all the cobwebs in their minds would disappear. I would like to share some excerpts from the book:
“During the reign of Shershah Suri, a bania called Hemchandra (Hemu Bakkal), who named himself Vikramaditya, tried to establish a Hindu empire. He defeated Mughal armies at many places including Delhi but the Rajputs refused to join his army, saying that as Kshatriyas, they could not fight under a person of the lower Vaishya varna. The result was that Hemchandra was defeated by Bairam Khan. But the same Rajputs did not find it humiliating to be the Muslims’ slaves.” (p 226)
“Till a Dhed (an untouchable) of Gujarat remained in the Hindu fold, the protectors of the Varna system did not allow him to rise. But as soon as he became a Muslim and changed his name to Nasiruddin Khusro, he became the ruler of the land of the Khilji clan. As a Hindu, he could not have even touched, let alone looked at a Kshatriya woman; but after becoming a Muslim, he married Dewal Devi, the wife of Raja Karnarao.” (p 227)
Ambedkar, his wife Savita and Samta Sainik volunteers in Nagpur on 14 October 1956, the day they converted to Buddhism
“After the death of the mother of Maulana Mohammed Ali and Maulana Shaukat Ali, Bhai Parmananda went to their home to express his condolences. In the course of the conversation, the Maulana told Bhaiji, ‘Why do you people want to block the onward march of Islam by placing the roadblocks of Shuddhi and emancipation of the Untouchables in its path? You will never succeed in this.’ Bhaiji asked the Maulana why he was saying so. The Maulana replied, ‘Just look the Bhangan passing by. I can convert her to Islam and make her my Begum today. Do you or Malaviyaji have that courage? I can marry off my daughter to any Hindu after converting him to Islam. Can any Hindu leader do this? Can a Hindu leader of my status marry his daughter to my son? If not, then why are you blocking the progress of Islam in the name of shuddhi and emancipation of the Untouchables?’ (p 178-179)
“You may ask, when different Hindu castes can live together even while believing in the caste system, why the Muslims can’t live with the Hindus. The answer is that all kinds of lepers can live together – some may have lesions on their nose, others on their feet, still others on their fingers. They can live together. But a healthy person cannot live among them. Similarly, all the Hindu castes, which are suffering from the leprosy called the caste system, can live together but the Muslims, who are free from this disease, cannot agree to live with them. The dwijs have crushed the self-esteem of the Shudras. The Shudras do not even feel the humiliation they suffer at the hands of the dwijs. But the Muslims resent it.”(p 237).
SANTRAM’S BOOK IS FULL OF SUCH INSTANCES.
On 16 January, 1996, I referred to the contribution of Santram in the paper I read at the national convention of Jan Sanskriti Manch in Allahabad. Sudhir Vidhyarthi liked it and told Santram’s daughter Gargi Chaddha, who lived in Delhi, about it. She wrote an inland letter to me on 20 March 1997 from her home at 51, Navjivan Vihar, New Delhi. In the letter, she gave a touching description of her mental state. “Bhaiyya, truly speaking, I felt great inner happiness to know that at least there is someone who remembers my father’s sacrifice and his selfless social service. I am his only living child but he never differentiated between me and others who loved him. Whosoever believed in his Jaatpaat Todak thoughts was his darling. You must be aware that this selfless man spent his entire life in struggles and revolts and faced deprivations – all to free this country from the very dangerous ailment of caste discrimination. Uprooting this system was the only objective of my life, he used to say. He got little in life except the title of a rebel. He used to say, “Chala Jaooanga chhodkar jab is ashiyane ko, wafayein tab yaad aayegeen meri is zamane ko.” (After I have left my this abode for good, the world will remember my dedication.)
At the end she wrote, “I wanted that before my eyes, his articles, which are as useful today as they must have been then, should be published in the form of a book. I tried but did not succeed. You are a good writer. You may succeed.”
I received the second letter from her on 17 April 1997. She gave me two new pieces of information, which deserve mention. She wrote, “Till 1991, my husband Bhimsen Chaddha (who is not with me and has gone to be with my father), worked hard to further my father’s mission. The way he served my father for five years was matchless. Venerable Vishnu Prabhakar ji used to say that by the way Panditji was served, even gods would have felt jealous.” She also wrote that he was honoured by the Sahitya Academy at a function at Ravindra Bhavan when he turned 100 in 1987. A year later, on 5 June 1988, he breathed his last at his daughter’s home.
Gargi ji had contacted many big publishers for publication of the innumerable articles of Santram, but none evinced any interest. She must have been very hopeful that I would be able to get it done. I did try but due to her failing health, she could not make the material available to me. Later, I lost touch with her. She was so ill. I don’t think she would be alive now.
Salil Shetty
Nationality Indian
Predecessor Irene Khan
Name Salil Shetty
Successor Incumbent
Term 21 December 2009
Employer Amnesty International
Born 3 February 1961 (age 54) (1961-02-03) Bangalore, Karnataka
Title Secretary-General of Amnesty International
Education St. Joseph's College, Bangalore
Disruptive heroes salil shetty
Salil Shetty (born 3 February 1961) is an Indian human rights activist who currently serves as Secretary General of the human rights organization Amnesty International (2010–present). Previously, he was the director of the United Nations Millennium Campaign. Before joining the UN, he served as the Chief Executive of ActionAid.
Salil shetty at the united nations full speech
Early life and education
Amnesty International
Decentralisation controversy
The decentralisation of Amnesty International's international secretariat, led by Shetty, has caused a serious dispute amongst the organisation's staff. According to an article published by the Guardian on 2 December 2012,
the core of the dispute lies in the decision, led by the secretary general, Salil Shetty, to take the organisation "closer to the ground", opening 10 new regional "hubs" in hotspots where human rights violations occur. Some of Amnesty's 500 staff in London will be moved abroad, and those affected argue that the shift is under-planned, ill-judged and risks muddying the purpose of the organisation. For them this is not an industrial dispute over job cuts, but a battle for the organisation's soul.
The British newspaper The Observer, where Amnesty International's founder launched the organization in 1961, characterized the situation caused by Shetty's sacking of staff working on core issues such as women's rights and the death penalty: "Amnesty was one of 20th-century Britain's greatest gifts to the world. Now it is a wreck."
Savita Ambedkar
Early Life and Background
- Birth: January 27, 1909, in Dadar, Bombay (now Mumbai), Bombay Presidency, British India (present-day Maharashtra).
- Family: Born into a middle-class Saraswat Brahmin (Marathi Brahmin) family. Her father, Krishnarao Vinayak Kabir, was a registrar at the High Court (or Indian Medical Council in some accounts), and her mother was Janaki Kabir. She was the third of eight siblings, and her family was progressive—six of her siblings entered inter-caste marriages, which was uncommon for the era. Her roots trace back to the Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra.
- Education: A brilliant student, she completed early education in Pune and earned her MBBS from Grant Medical College, Bombay, around 1937. She later worked as a gynecologist, chief medical officer, and head of the physiotherapy department in a major hospital in Gujarat, showcasing her professional independence in a time when such roles were rare for women.
Marriage to B.R. Ambedkar
- Savita first met Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in the mid-1940s (around 1947) as his treating doctor in Bombay, when he was suffering from severe diabetes and other health issues that threatened his life.
- They exchanged numerous letters (40–50 over about a year) and developed a deep bond despite caste differences (she was from an upper-caste Brahmin background, while Ambedkar was from the Mahar/Dalit community) and opposition from some quarters.
- They married on April 15, 1948, in New Delhi—13 years after the death of Ambedkar's first wife, Ramabai. She adopted the name Savita Ambedkar and was affectionately called "Mai" (mother) or "Maisaheb" by Ambedkarites and Buddhists.
- Their marriage was inter-caste and symbolized progressive values. Ambedkar credited her medical care for extending his life by 8–10 years, allowing him to complete major works like drafting the Constitution, the Hindu Code Bill, and The Buddha and His Dhamma.
Role as Social Activist and Contributions
- Savita was not just a supportive spouse but an active participant in Ambedkar's mission. From 1948 until his death on December 6, 1956, she assisted him in:
- Drafting the Indian Constitution.
- Framing the Hindu Code Bill (aimed at women's rights and social reforms).
- Writing key books, including The Buddha and His Dhamma.
- Organizing the historic mass conversion to Buddhism on October 14, 1956, at Diksha Bhoomi in Nagpur, where millions of Dalits embraced Buddhism to escape caste oppression.
- She provided medical and emotional support amid his declining health, enabling his intense schedule.
- After Ambedkar's death, she faced challenges, including suspicion and marginalization from some Dalit leaders due to her Brahmin origins and unfounded accusations (e.g., poisoning him), which pushed her into relative obscurity for a time.
- She re-emerged in public life around 1970, supported by younger Ambedkarite leaders (e.g., from the Dalit Panthers, Ramdas Athawale, Gangadhar Gade, and Arun Kamble). She spoke at conferences, advocated for the Dalit-Buddhist movement, protested attempts to alter Ambedkar's works (e.g., controversy over Riddles in Hinduism), and worked on Dalit welfare.
- Key later contributions:
- Helped establish the Symbiosis Society’s Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Museum and Memorial in Pune (inaugurated 1996).
- Preserved Ambedkar's legacy, including manuscripts and writings.
- Received the Bharat Ratna on his behalf in 1990, unveiled his bust at Columbia University in 1995, and regularly honored him at Chaitya Bhoomi.
Autobiography and Legacy
- She authored her memoir in Marathi, Dr. Ambedkaraanchya Sahavaasaat (published 1990), which humanizes Ambedkar—portraying him as romantic, culinary (he cooked mutton curry), musical (played violin), and artistic (tried sculpting)—while detailing their shared life and struggles.
- The English translation, Babasaheb: My Life with Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (translated by Nadeem Khan), was released in 2022 by Penguin Random House, offering intimate insights into his final years.
Death
- She passed away on May 29, 2003, at age 94, at J.J. Hospital in Mumbai after a prolonged illness. She received a state funeral, and then-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee mourned her as Ambedkar’s “principal source of inspiration” and “a great social worker in her own right.”
Savita Ambedkar bridged caste divides through her marriage and activism, dedicating her life to Ambedkar's vision of social justice, equality, and the upliftment of Dalits. Though sometimes overlooked due to controversies, she is revered in Ambedkarite and Buddhist circles as a trailblazer who sustained and continued his revolutionary work.
Sanghapali Aruna
Sanghapali Aruna is a prominent Dalit feminist activist, educator, and social entrepreneur from India, known for her work in advocating for the rights of Dalit women, challenging caste-based discrimination, and promoting gender equity. Below is a detailed overview of her life, work, and contributions based on available information:
Background and Early Life
- Caste and Identity: Sanghapali Aruna was born into a Dalit family in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. Dalits, historically referred to as Scheduled Castes, are among the most marginalized communities in India, facing systemic caste-based discrimination and social exclusion.
- Personal Struggles: Growing up in a Dalit community, Aruna experienced firsthand the challenges of caste oppression, gender discrimination, and economic hardship. These experiences shaped her commitment to social justice and advocacy for marginalized groups.
- Education: Despite systemic barriers, Aruna pursued higher education, which equipped her with the tools to challenge societal inequities. Specific details about her academic qualifications are not widely documented, but her work reflects a deep understanding of social justice, law, and education.
Activism and Key Contributions
Sanghapali Aruna’s activism centers on dismantling caste and gender hierarchies, with a particular focus on amplifying the voices of Dalit women. Her work spans grassroots organizing, digital advocacy, and educational initiatives.
- Project Mukti:
- Aruna is the co-founder and executive director of Project Mukti, a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering Dalit women and girls through education, technology, and advocacy.
- Mission: Project Mukti works to address systemic inequalities by providing access to education, digital literacy, and opportunities for Dalit women to challenge caste and gender-based oppression.
- Key Initiatives:
- Digital Empowerment: Recognizing the digital divide, Project Mukti trains Dalit girls and women in digital skills to enhance their access to education and employment opportunities.
- Anti-Caste Advocacy: The organization promotes awareness about caste discrimination and works to dismantle stereotypes and stigma associated with Dalit identity.
- Gender Equity: Aruna emphasizes the intersectionality of caste and gender, advocating for policies and programs that address the unique challenges faced by Dalit women.
- Dalit Women’s Rights:
- Aruna is a vocal advocate for the rights of Dalit women, who face compounded discrimination due to their caste, gender, and often economic status.
- She highlights issues such as caste-based violence, sexual exploitation, and lack of access to resources, calling for systemic reforms to protect and empower Dalit women.
- Her activism challenges patriarchal structures within both Dalit and non-Dalit communities, advocating for women’s leadership and representation.
- Digital and Media Advocacy:
- Aruna uses digital platforms to amplify Dalit voices and challenge mainstream narratives that often marginalize or erase Dalit experiences.
- She has been involved in campaigns to combat casteist and misogynistic content online, advocating for safer digital spaces for marginalized communities.
- Through social media and public speaking, she educates audiences about the lived realities of Dalit women and the need for intersectional approaches to social justice.
- Education and Mentorship:
- Aruna emphasizes education as a tool for empowerment, particularly for Dalit girls who face barriers to schooling due to poverty, caste discrimination, and early marriage.
- Through Project Mukti, she has mentored young Dalit women, helping them navigate educational and professional spaces that are often inaccessible to their communities.
Key Achievements
- Recognition: Aruna’s work has been recognized in India and internationally for its impact on Dalit women’s empowerment and anti-caste activism. While specific awards are not widely documented, her leadership in Project Mukti has garnered attention in social justice circles.
- Policy Advocacy: She has engaged with policymakers and civil society organizations to push for inclusive policies that address caste and gender discrimination, including better implementation of laws like the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
- Community Impact: Through Project Mukti, Aruna has directly impacted the lives of hundreds of Dalit girls and women by providing them with education, skills, and platforms to advocate for their rights.
Philosophy and Approach
- Intersectionality: Aruna’s activism is rooted in an intersectional understanding of oppression, recognizing that caste, gender, and class intersect to create unique challenges for Dalit women.
- Ambedkarite Influence: Her work is inspired by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the architect of India’s Constitution and a towering figure in the Dalit movement, who advocated for the annihilation of caste and social equality.
- Grassroots Focus: While Aruna engages with national and international platforms, her work remains grounded in community-based solutions, ensuring that Dalit women’s voices drive the agenda.
Challenges Faced
- Caste-Based Backlash: As a Dalit activist, Aruna has faced hostility and discrimination from dominant caste groups, including online trolling and threats for challenging caste hierarchies.
- Resource Constraints: Like many grassroots organizations, Project Mukti operates with limited funding, relying on donations and partnerships to sustain its programs.
- Systemic Barriers: Aruna’s work confronts deeply entrenched societal norms, requiring persistent efforts to change attitudes and policies around caste and gender.
Public Presence
- Speaking Engagements: Aruna has spoken at various forums, including conferences, universities, and civil society events, to raise awareness about Dalit women’s issues.
- Media Contributions: She has contributed to discussions in Indian and international media about caste, gender, and social justice, though specific interviews or articles are not always publicly archived.
- Social Media: Aruna and Project Mukti maintain an active presence on platforms like X, where they share updates about their work, advocate for policy changes, and engage with supporters.
Personal Traits
While personal details about Aruna’s life are not extensively documented, those who describe her work often highlight her resilience, compassion, and strategic vision. She is known for her ability to bridge grassroots activism with broader policy advocacy, making her a respected figure in India’s social justice movement.
Broader Context
Aruna’s activism is part of a larger movement of Dalit women asserting their rights in India. Figures like Savitribai Phule, a historical pioneer in women’s education, and contemporary activists like Ruth Manorama and Cynthia Stephen have paved the way for Dalit women’s leadership. Aruna’s work continues this legacy, adapting it to the digital age and focusing on education and empowerment as tools for liberation.
Limitations in Available Information
As of October 19, 2025, detailed biographical information about Sanghapali Aruna, such as her birth date, family background, or specific milestones, is not widely available in public sources. Most information comes from profiles of her work with Project Mukti and her public statements on caste and gender justice. If you seek more specific details (e.g., recent activities or personal history), I can search X or the web for real-time updates, though results may vary based on available content.
Shalini Moghe
Here is a comprehensive overview of her life and activism, pieced together from available records and movement histories:
1. Personal Background & Identity
Full Name: Shalini Narendra Moghe (often recorded as Shalini Moghe).
Caste: Belonged to the Mahar community, a Scheduled Caste (SC) historically subjected to severe untouchability and socio-economic oppression in Maharashtra.
Family: She was the wife of the prominent Dalit scholar, writer, and activist Prof. Narendra Moghe. This placed her at the heart of Dalit intellectual and activist circles in Maharashtra.
Socio-Economic Status: Hailed from a background of significant social disadvantage and likely economic hardship, common for Dalit communities in rural and urban Maharashtra during her time.
2. Ideological Foundation
Her activism was firmly rooted in Ambedkarite philosophy. The core principles guiding her work included:
Annihilation of Caste: Following Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's central mission.
Education as Emancipation: A strong belief in education as the primary tool for Dalit liberation.
Women's Empowerment within Dalit Struggle: Focusing on the unique, intersectional oppression faced by Dalit women, who suffer from both caste and gender discrimination.
3. Primary Areas of Activism & Work
Shalini Moghe's activism was multifaceted, focusing on practical empowerment:
Dalit Women's Empowerment:
Worked to organize and mobilize Dalit women at the grassroots level.
Advocated for their access to education, healthcare, and economic opportunities.
Addressed specific issues like caste-based violence, social boycott, and workplace discrimination faced by Dalit women.
Educational Advocacy:
Campaigned to reduce school dropout rates among Dalit children, especially girls.
Promoted adult education and awareness programs for Dalit women.
Emphasized the importance of higher education as a path to social and economic mobility.
Community Organization & Self-Help:
Was involved in forming and supporting women's self-help groups (SHGs) to foster financial independence and collective strength among Dalit women.
Participated in and helped organize Dalit sahitya (literary) and cultural events to build community consciousness and pride.
Ambedkarite Outreach:
Alongside her husband, Prof. Narendra Moghe, she worked to disseminate Ambedkar's ideas and writings, particularly making them accessible to women and in rural settings.
4. Legacy and Recognition
Grassroots Influence: She is remembered within activist circles in Maharashtra as a dedicated and sincere worker who contributed steadily to Dalit and women's causes without seeking the limelight.
Bridge Figure: She played a role in connecting the broader Ambedkarite social movement with the specific struggles of Dalit women, highlighting the need for an intersectional approach.
Inspiration: Her life serves as an example of how activism often operates within families and communities, with partners supporting and amplifying each other's work for a common cause. She inspired many younger Dalit women to engage in social work and education.
5. Important Context and Note on Documentation
Like many women activists, especially from marginalized communities, Shalini Moghe's work is not extensively documented in mainstream media or academic texts. Her story is largely preserved within community memory, oral histories, and the records of Dalit movements.
Her activism is a testament to the countless women who form the backbone of social movements but whose individual contributions are often subsumed under the names of more publicly visible (often male) leaders or family members.
Conclusion
Shalini Moghe was a dedicated Dalit (SC) and women's rights activist from Maharashtra. Her work, grounded in the Ambedkarite ideology, focused on the dual liberation of Dalits and the specific empowerment of Dalit women through education, economic self-reliance, and community organization. While not a nationally prominent figure, her contributions were vital to the grassroots fabric of the Dalit social justice movement. Her legacy underscores the critical role of women in sustaining and advancing the fight against caste and gender oppression.
Sanghapali Aruna
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born : 19 October 1979
Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India
Occupation : Social activist
Known for : Dalit women's rights
Sanghapali Aruna, also known as Sanghapali Aruna Lohitakshi, is a human rights activist from India, best known for her work on Dalit women's rights. She is the Executive Director of Project Mukti.
Life
Aruna was born on 19 October 1979 in Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India, in a Dalit community. She studied for a doctorate degree in linguistics at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, where she was a founder member of the Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students’ Association.
In 2014, Aruna was part of the Dalit Mahila Swabhiman Yatra (Dalit Women's Self-Respect Tour) travelling through India to raise awareness of caste-based violence, and was part of the Dalit Women Fight campaign in 2015.[3] She was also involved in activism surrounding Dalit student Rohith Vemula’s death at the University of Hyderabad. She was also organiser of Dalit History Month.
As of 2018, Aruna is the Executive Director of Project Mukti, which describes itself as "a Dalit Bahujan Adivasi women, gender non-conforming, and trans led start-up working to end caste apartheid in South Asia through a promise to openness and participatory innovation." According to the Indian Express, Aruna works on digital literacy among Dalit, Bahujan,
Adivasi, and Muslim communities.
Describing her work, Aruna writes:
Dalit women have all the tools to succeed once we are removed from the shadow of violence and untouchability. That is why our mission has always been to move past the narrative of atrocity and poverty and instead build technological equity and literacy among Dalit Bahujan women and gender minorities. We do this through training, building tech, growing Dalit Bahujan knowledge and culture, and fostering solidarity among Dalit Bahujan-Adivasi people.
In 2018, Aruna was the subject of controversy when she gave Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, two posters, which said "End Caste Apartheid" and "Smash Brahminical Patriarchy" during a meeting in New Delhi. Dorsey posed for a group photo holding the poster saying "Smash Brahminical Patriarchy". He was subsequently criticised for holding the poster, and Twitter India apologised on his behalf.
Uproar over 'Smash Brahminical Patriarchy' shows wilful ignorance: Sanghapali Aruna
Sanghapali Aruna, an anti-caste activist, was the one who gave Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey the ‘Smash Brahminical Patriarchy’ poster that has led to much outraging.
Picture courtesy: Thenmozhi Soundarajan
Sanghapali Aruna is exhausted but remains defiant. The past few days have been quite overwhelming, considering the outrage over the ‘Smash Brahminical Patriarchy’ poster that was held up by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in a closed door meeting with Indian women journalists, writers and activists.
Aruna was among the women who met with the Twitter team for a discussion on women’s experiences of using the platform, from online movements to facing abuse and sexual harassment. At the end of the meeting, Aruna, who is an anti-caste activist and Executive Director of Project Mukti, gave Jack two posters, one which read ‘End Caste Apartheid’ and another which said ‘Smash Brahminical Patriarchy’.
When a photograph of Jack holding the second poster was tweeted, it immediately led to widespread social media anger. Jack was accused of “inciting violence” against a “minority” community (the Brahmins), and not just by random trolls, but even a senior IPS officer who said the poster has “potential” to create communal riots. TNM caught up with Aruna for a chat on the uproar.
Much has been said about ‘Brahminical patriarchy’ in the last few days. Did you ever think it would become such a big deal when you gave Jack the poster?
Actually not. Because we have been giving these art pieces to a lot of people. When we designed these posters, the idea was to make sure everyone understands what the Indian cultural, historical and contemporary contexts are. Because whoever we were meeting were mostly social activists and those who are in positions of authority where they can make decisions.
During Twitter CEO @jack's visit here, he & Twitter's Legal head @vijaya took part in a round table with some of us women journalists, activists, writers & @TwitterIndia's @amritat to discuss the Twitter experience in India. A very insightful, no-words-minced conversation pic.twitter.com/LqtJQEABgV— Anna MM Vetticad (@annavetticad) November 18, 2018
This was part of our journey towards building a society that is full of equity. We thought we'd give it to him as he's the head of an organisation that's been in India for so long. We thought he should know. We didn't know it was going to be so huge and that we could actually make people angry.
But do you feel Jack actually understood what the poster said?
Not at all. The meeting was only for one hour and everybody was in a rush to leave and there was no time to talk about it. I gave Jack two posters that said “End Caste Apartheid” and “Smash Brahminical Patriarchy” immediately after the meeting ended and everybody was like "Let's take a photograph".
I'd raised the issue of caste and Islamophobic slurs that are so rampant on these social media platforms at the meeting, and said that they're not being adequately addressed. When I said these are the posters we've designed to take our work forward, he took them, looked at them and said "Thank you so much". He did not ask me what the posters were about. He probably understood that it's related to the cause but not the whole context. I can't expect a person who comes from the West to understand it. It needs a lot of discussions, questions, and clarifications to understand this thousands-of-years-old oppressive system.
At the meeting, what instances of caste-related abuse did you speak about and are you hopeful that they will take it seriously?
I was positive when I was sitting over there. I was trolled badly when a video went viral during the Rohith Vemula protests and there was a kind of doxing - where they tried to get my physical data, location and all that. There was a person who came to JNU and said a lot of things to me on my face. I didn't consider this as a threat at that time. But later, when I was discussing this with a couple of technology experts, they said this is called doxing, where they target activists, try to get their information. It means they're tracking you and you need to be careful. You need to delete social media accounts. So I had to, without any second thoughts, delete everything because for me, my work was more important than being on social media platforms.
That was a choice that I made. It wasn't that I wasn't able to take on these trolls. I would have loved to - but when you're in public attention, you can't work as much as you want. And for me my work towards building digital literacy and safety of our communities was important. But I have to say that these trolls have been increasing day by day. And though I'm not on Twitter or Facebook so actively, I'm still working on trying to understand these platforms, see what kind of ecosystem is being built around hate speech and disinformation. What kind of trolls, what kind of language people use to attack vulnerable communities. So I was talking about that to them and also about how the reporting process doesn't have caste in it.
Even Facebook has introduced it (caste) quite recently. Three months back when I met them, they said this is a new addition they're really proud of in their community standards. I was happy though when we're reporting, it doesn't have caste as such. What they're addressing is caste slurs and I think that's the first step. We look forward to them making it more explicit.
I felt that even Twitter should take a stand, given the cultural, historical and social context of India, and not be unaware of the aspects that are actually operating in this country. They can't not have 'race' in their system of reporting in America, right? I told them that the population of Dalits itself is almost the same as the population of the USA. So caste becomes a bigger issue and if you're not having it in your criteria, then it's a very big mistake.
When answering to my comments, Vijaya (Twitter's legal head) did become emotional and I'll say that it was genuine. I felt bad when she cried and I said it's okay, we all are constantly learning. And I said this attempt of meeting us was also a learning process, and that we can fix this together. That happened and Vijaya came to me after the meeting, gave me her email, and said we'll definitely meet. And immediately after I came back home, all of us received a mail saying they have consulted the team, and that as of now, caste can be reported under 'intra-religious distinction' - which was weird for me because how is caste intra-religious? It's not. I did tell them that as of now, the community standards are not adequate to answer all the questions that are there.
So I feel they are making attempts and I'm sure they will definitely now, after this whole episode, make more efforts to understand what's happening in this context and how they can address it better. And if they're not doing it, and they are distancing themselves from it, I think that would be really disappointing.
The phrase 'Brahminical patriarchy' has been in use for years now in academic circles and anti-caste revolutionaries like Ambedkar have written about how gender and caste are intertwined. Yet, there is so much outrage. Do you think this ignorance is wilful?
Yes, I think it is wilful. Because most of them are educated - they're writing in English and abusing us in English. They haven't read anything. The term 'Brahminism' is used on an everyday basis. It's not that we need to go and read Ambedkar, Phule and Periyar. Yes, of course, if you want to understand at a deeper level, you need to read them - but I'm sure none of the bhakts have read it. For them, whatever they're getting from their school - you know, the bhakts go to a different school - so whatever they're getting there, they're blindly believing in it. They don't want to read Ambedkar, they just want to appropriate Ambedkar.
Even though it's wilful, I'd say that it's a political one-upmanship game. Right now they want to show that they're in minority, get sympathy from the whole world. And by attacking Jack, they're trying to prove that they're the people who're being trolled, attacked on a daily basis. They will have no evidence for this. The only reason they're saying is "we're minority". But what about the cases of caste based atrocities that are happening on an everyday basis to our people? None of the Brahmins are lynched or killed or raped or paraded naked for riding on a horse, or for sitting cross legged or if their shadow falls on other caste members. For that matter, any community which is at the top level.
This is patriarchy, which is based on brahminism. For women from each and every caste, the patriarchy they experience is different, the manifestations are different. Patriarchy is not the same for women of all castes - that is what we're talking about. If they don't want to understand, let it be so. We need to be clear that we're not talking about brahmins or any commmunity, we're talking about the system in which patriarchy is perpetrated in various forms based on your caste location. A system which is graded and is different for women from different castes.
Among the reactions we've seen is why nobody speaks of 'Dalit patriarchy' or 'Muslim patriarchy'. Your response?
Muslim patriarchy is something I don't want to answer because I don't see it as an equivalent to Brahminical patriarchy (in how it manifests). But when we say 'Dalit patriarchy' or 'Shudra patriarchy', where is it stemming from? It is Brahminism - the whole Dharmashastras, the religious scriptures, the Hindu texts, where you see how they sanction certain things on the women.
If 'Dalit' is part of the Brahmanical social order, we cannot say there's a ‘Dalit patriarchy', 'Shudra patriarchy' - it is the Brahminical patriarchy that we're talking about, which has its roots in Brahminism.
We've seen savarna women supporting the poster but also those who usually bat for equality, lash out against it. Was this only to be expected or do you feel betrayed?
I see that there is a division. There is a section of savarna women who're standing with the poster, for the message on the poster. There is a section of women who don't want to do it, but I think that's okay. We can't expect everyone to stand with us because they have their own notions of patriarchy in their mind, which they don't understand mostly or want to challenge. I think we need to give them time to understand.
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Image credit: equalitylabs.org
It has taken forever for people to understand the caste system. Even now, a lot of people say that there is no caste system. They go on about reservations. Are we still holding any Supreme Court Chief Justice position? Are we the CJI? Are we holding any positions of authority? When Raya Sarkar came out with her list, you saw how many savarna feminists lashed out against her. And these were women who speak about sexual abuse, feminism. So what I'm saying is, your cause cannot get support from all sections at one point. It will get support from different people at different times. I appreciate whatever solidarity we're getting now and I'd say that if this solidarity can be maintained in future, we can fight this oppressive system.
How do you feel about Twitter's response to the backlash? Have they reached out to you since then?
I was disappointed by Vijaya's statement, of course. You can be neutral, but you don't need to apologise. Twitter didn't apologise, but Vijaya's tweet came as an apology. So I felt that shouldn't have come because it means the message is wrong.
They did reach out to the panel members saying they are willing to discuss further. But I don’t see what we can hope from closed door meetings. A lot of things are happening. Just yesterday, the Jodhpur court has taken the case against Twitter CEO Jack and all that. And a senior cop for sure should know what "Brahminical" means and it's not that it's targeting one community. It's actually very disappointing and annoying at the same time. And they're saying this is an attack on Brahmins and millions of Hindus - Brahmins are not millions of Hindus, first of all. And the other Hindus are always oppressed by this system. I wish they'd take a stand and say yes, this is affecting us, and that this Brahminical system is so oppressive on us too.
If we're talking about Brahminical patriarchy and this is the response....you don't need to ask any more questions. This IS the brahminical patriarchy that we're talking about. We want to push social media platforms to take accountability and address the ecosystem of hate speech and disinformation on their platforms.
Surendar Valasai
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Surendar Valasai
Surendar Valasai (Sindhi: سريندر ولاسائي) (born 11 August 1968, near Kaloi, Tharparkar, Pakistan) is a Pakistani Dalit journalist from the Tharparkar District. He is a member of Provincial assembly of Sindh on minority reserved seat in 2018 on PPP ticket.
Career
Valasai worked as a journalist for the English dailies The Muslim, Daily News, Sindh Express, Financial Post and The Balochistan Express, and as an editor for Sindh Tribune. As of 2013 Valasai became Media coordinator of Bilawal House, and on 8 November 2016 he was appointed as Incharge Media Cell Bilawal House. He was appointed as Advisor on Minority Affairs to Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party on 4 January 2014. Earlier, he was President of Sindh Peoples Students Federation SPSF Tehsil Diplo, Tharparker until 1990 after which he took up journalism. He was elected as Member of Provincial Assembly of Sindh on seat reserved for non-Muslims, and took his oath on 13 August 2018.
Scheduled Castes Federation of Pakistan (SCFP)
Valasai formed the Scheduled Caste Federation of Pakistan (SCFP) to raise the issues of human inequality, untouchability and caste discrimination. Under the SCFP platform, he wrote petitions and letters to the President, Prime Minister and Chief Justice of Pakistan drawing their attention to the plight of Scheduled Castes tribes and particularly the Meghwal, Kolhi, Bheel, Bagdis, and Oads. His main emphasis was that since Pakistan did not subscribe to these social evils ideologically and spiritually, concrete steps were needed.
1. The Muslim* Staff Reporter · May 1994 to Oct 1996
2. Daily News*
3. Sindh Express*
4. Financial Post* News Editor · Jan 1997 to Sep 2004
5. The Balochistan Times* News Editor · Mar 1993 to Feb 1994
6. Sindh Tribune*
Suman Devathiya
Suman Devathiya (also spelled Suman Devthiya or Suman Devathiya in some sources) is a senior Indian Dalit rights activist, Dalit feminist, social reformer, and human rights defender based in Jaipur, Rajasthan. With over two decades of dedicated work, she has been at the forefront of fighting caste-based discrimination, gender inequality, and the specific challenges faced by Dalit women in Rajasthan and beyond. She focuses on grassroots empowerment, education, community mobilization, and policy advocacy to promote social justice, dignity, and equality for marginalized communities, particularly Dalit women.
Background & Early Influences
From a Dalit community in Rajasthan, she experienced caste discrimination and societal barriers firsthand.
Her activism is deeply rooted in Ambedkarite ideology (inspired by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's vision of equality and annihilation of caste) and feminist principles.
She emphasizes measuring community progress by the advancement of its most marginalized members, especially women.
Activism & Key Contributions
Long-time leader in Dalit women's rights movements in Rajasthan.
Associated with All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch (AIDMAM) — a key platform for Dalit women's advocacy.
Currently works with Aagaz Foundation Trust in Jaipur — an organization focused on community empowerment, education access, and social equity for marginalized groups.
Grassroots efforts:
Takes Dalit history and Ambedkarite thought to rural and grassroots levels in Rajasthan, educating communities about their heritage, rights, and resistance.
Organizes campaigns against caste atrocities, violence against Dalit women, and systemic exclusion.
Supports victims of domestic violence, caste-based injustice, and exploitation (e.g., intervened in 2025 cases like a woman tormented by in-laws, contacting authorities for justice).
Broader advocacy:
Critiques policies and societal structures that perpetuate caste and gender inequality.
Writes and speaks on issues like the impact of COVID-19 on Dalit women (increased oppression, economic hardship), education equity, and social justice.
Participates in open letters, protests, and coalitions (e.g., Rajasthan Dalit groups addressing political concerns).
Advocates for stronger legal enforcement against discrimination and greater representation of Dalit women.
Literary & Public Presence
Contributes articles and opinions in Hindi/English media (e.g., Round Table India, Mooknayak, TwoCircles.net).
Active on social media (Instagram @devathiya, Facebook), sharing motivational messages, critiques of caste/patriarchy, and calls for self-respect and resistance.
Quotes often reflect her philosophy: "Never bow so low before anyone that you break" and "Stand up with self-respect even when others don't."
Recognition & Legacy
Recognized as a seasoned activist with deep commitment to gender and caste equity.
Featured in profiles and interviews (e.g., TwoCircles.net 2020 article on taking Dalit history to grassroots).
Her work inspires younger Dalit feminists in Rajasthan by building leadership among Dalit women and challenging exclusion in broader movements.
Continues active work (as of 2025–2026), combining local interventions with broader advocacy for a caste-free, equitable society.
Suman Devathiya represents resilient, community-centered Dalit feminism in Rajasthan — bridging education, history, and rights to empower the most oppressed.
Subhedar Ramji Maloji Sakpal
Father of Bharat Ratna Dr. B.R. Ambedkar The Untouchable
Soldier Who Gave India Its Greatest Reformer
Subedar Major Ramji Maloji Sakpal (also known as Ramji Ambedkar or Ramji Sakpal, 14 November 1838 – 2 February 1913) was a distinguished soldier in the British Indian Army, an educator, and a social reformer/activist figure, best remembered as the father of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar (Babasaheb Ambedkar), the architect of India's Constitution and a leading anti-caste crusader.
He is often described in Dalit histories and Ambedkarite sources as a "social activist" due to his progressive outlook, emphasis on education for his children despite caste barriers, adherence to reformist ideas (e.g., admiration for Jyotirao Phule), and role in instilling values of dignity, truth-seeking, and spiritual equality in his family—principles that profoundly shaped his son's lifelong fight against untouchability and caste oppression.
Early Life and Background
- Born on 14 November 1838 in Ambavade (or Ambadave) village, Mandangad taluka, Ratnagiri district, Maharashtra (then Bombay Presidency).
- From the Mahar community (a Scheduled Caste/Dalit group historically treated as "untouchable" under the Hindu caste system, often confined to menial labor).
- His father, Maloji Sakpal (grandfather of B.R. Ambedkar), was a retired Havildar in the Bombay Army of the East India Company, rewarded with land for battlefield bravery—highlighting the family's military tradition despite caste discrimination.
- The Sakpal family followed the Kabirpanth (devotees of saint-poet Kabir, emphasizing equality, devotion, and rejection of caste rituals) and drew inspiration from Maharashtra's Bhakti movement saints (e.g., Dnyaneshwar, Namdev, Tukaram).
Military Career
- Enlisted around 1866 (age ~18) in the British Bombay Army, initially in the 106th Sappers and Miners Battalion.
- Served in the Mahar Regiment (a unit that recruited from the Mahar community, allowing limited upward mobility for "untouchables" in colonial forces).
- Rose through ranks due to discipline, literacy, and competence, attaining Subedar Major (the highest rank achievable by an Indian soldier under British rule at the time; equivalent to a senior non-commissioned officer).
- Served for decades, including postings that exposed him to structured education and administration.
- Became proficient in English through army schooling.
- Obtained a Diploma in Teaching from the Army Normal School in Poona (Pune).
- Appointed as a teacher in army schools, later promoted to Headmaster (served ~14 years in this role).
- Retired around 1893–1894 on a modest pension (after ~25–28 years of service), amid British policy changes restricting Mahar recruitment in combat roles.
Personal Life and Family
- Married Bhimabai (daughter of Subedar Major Laxman/Dharmaji Murbadkar from Murbad, Thane district) around 1865–1867.
- The couple had 14 children (high infant mortality common then); only five survived to adulthood: sons Balaram, Anandrao, and Bhimrao (B.R. Ambedkar, the youngest, born 14 April 1891 in Mhow cantonment, now Dr. Ambedkar Nagar, Madhya Pradesh); daughters Manjula and Tulasa.
- Bhimabai died in 1896 (after retirement and move to Satara); Ramji remarried Jijabai later.
- Known for strict discipline, teetotalism (never touched alcohol or meat), devotion (daily recitations from Dnyaneshwari, Kabir dohas, bhajans), and industriousness.
- Despite poverty and debt at death, he was exemplary in character.
Activism and Legacy
- Prioritized education fiercely—personally taught young Bhimrao basics at home, lobbied for his admission to schools despite caste-based segregation/humiliation.
- Admired Jyotirao Phule's anti-caste philosophy and followed reformist ideas promoting equality.
- Instilled spiritual awakening (via Kabirpanth) and truth-seeking in his children; B.R. Ambedkar later credited his father's influence for his own rejection of caste and embrace of Buddhism.
- His efforts helped break intergenerational cycles of illiteracy and marginalization in a Dalit family.
- Died on 2 February 1913 in Mumbai (Bombay), aged ~74–75; remembered annually in Dalit/Ambedkarite circles on his death anniversary.
- Portrayed in biographies (e.g., by Dhananjay Keer, C.B. Khairmode) and tributes as a foundational figure whose sacrifices enabled his son's revolutionary impact.
Suraj Milind Yengde
Background and Identity
- Birth and Family: Born in 1988 in Nanded, Maharashtra, India, into a Dalit Buddhist (Navayana) family. He grew up in a Dalit basti (slum/segregated settlement) characterized by poverty, discrimination, and harsh living conditions—such as unmortared brick homes with corrugated roofs where sand blew in through cracks. His family faced systemic caste-based exclusion typical of Dalits (historically "untouchables").
- Community: He belongs to the Dalit community, classified as Scheduled Caste (SC) in India. Dalits have historically endured untouchability, segregation, violence, extreme poverty, and limited opportunities under the caste hierarchy. Yengde has openly discussed childhood humiliations, such as being reprimanded for using upper-caste facilities, and how caste "followed" him even abroad (e.g., in the US diaspora).
- This places him squarely in the category of an activist from a disadvantaged, historically marginalized, and low-status SC/Dalit community—similar to B. Shyam Sunder (Mala/SC), Bhagat Amar Nath (Megh/SC), Kalekuri Prasad (Mala/SC), and Cynthia Stephen (Dalit/SC) from prior discussions, contrasting sharply with forward-caste figures or non-Indian activists.
Education and Academic Journey
- Earned a BSL and LLB from Nanded Law College/Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University (2005–2010), benefiting from India's reservation (affirmative action) policies for SCs.
- LLM from Birmingham City University (UK).
- PhD from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (South Africa)—making him India's first Dalit PhD holder from an African university.
- DPhil (second doctorate) from the University of Oxford, tracing global histories of caste and race through Dalit and Black intellectual thought.
- Postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Kennedy School (Shorenstein Center), where he has been affiliated; also visiting scholar roles (e.g., at ISCTE-University Institute of Lisbon).
- Studied across four continents (Asia, Africa, Europe, North America), highlighting his transnational perspective.
Activism and Contributions
- Core Focus: Transnational Dalit rights, anti-caste resistance, Dalit-Black solidarity (e.g., co-convener of Dalit-Black Lives Matter symposium and Dalit-Black Power movement), Fourth World project for marginalized peoples, and critiques of caste in global contexts (including diaspora and indentured labor histories).
- Key Initiatives: Founder/curator of Dalit Film Festival (DALIFF); co-founder of Equity in Policy Education (Harvard); runs monthly Ambedkar Lecture Series at Harvard; advocates for caste census, subcategorization debates, and global anti-caste alliances.
- Public Engagements: Featured in Ava DuVernay's film Origin (2023, based on Isabel Wilkerson's Caste), where he appears discussing caste parallels to race. Collaborated with Cornel West on exposing caste/racism links. Speaks globally on Dalit issues, including UN forums and diaspora events.
- Awards and Recognition: Named one of GQ's "25 Most Influential Young Indians" and Zee's "Most Influential Young Dalit"; Dr. Ambedkar Social Justice Award (Canada, 2019); Rohit Vemula Memorial Scholar Award (2018); Jai Bhim Icon Award (2022); Loknete Youth Leader Bhai Vadiya National Award (2023); nominated for Sahitya Akademi (India's highest literary award).
Major Works
- Caste Matters (2019, Penguin): Bestseller and "instant classic"; personal memoir-critique of caste layers, Dalit resilience/humiliations, internal divisions (e.g., elite Dalits, sub-caste issues), and calls for Brahmin allies in anti-caste struggle. Featured in The Hindu's "Best Nonfiction Books of the Decade"; translated into multiple languages (Malayalam won Kerala State award; Hindi, Marathi, others ongoing).
- The Radical in Ambedkar (co-editor, 2018): Award-winning anthology of critical reflections on Ambedkar.
- Caste: A Global Story (2025, Oxford University Press/Hurst): Explores caste's worldwide footprint (e.g., Caribbean indentured Dalits, Middle East migrants, diaspora challenges).
- Numerous essays in Caravan, Outlook, The Wire, EPW, etc.; forthcoming works include Ambedkar biography and caste history monograph.
- Runs "My Dalitality" newsletter/Substack for Dalit diaspora documentation, caste census advocacy, and anti-caste commentary.
In summary, Dr. Suraj Yengde is a groundbreaking, Ambedkarite intellectual-activist who has transformed personal Dalit disadvantage into global advocacy. Rising from a segregated slum in Maharashtra via education, reservations, and sheer determination, he challenges caste worldwide, fosters cross-marginalized solidarities, and inspires resistance against oppression—making him a towering figure in contemporary Dalit emancipation and social justice movements. His legacy emphasizes that "caste matters" everywhere, demanding radical, intersectional change.
Saalumarada Thimmakka
Born on June 30, 1911, in Gubbi taluk, Tumakuru district, Karnataka (then part of British India), Thimmakka came from a humble background with no schooling. She worked as a casual laborer in quarries and fields. Married to Bikkala Chikkaiah (who passed away in 1991), the couple remained childless, which deeply affected her. In the 1950s–1960s, they channeled their longing for children into "adopting" trees—planting saplings along a 4.5 km (about 2.8 miles) stretch of State Highway 94 between Hulikal and Kudur in Ramanagara district.
Major Achievements and Contributions
- Planted 385 banyan trees (Ficus benghalensis) along the highway, carrying water on foot for miles to nurture them in a water-scarce, rocky area.
- Personally tended to these trees for decades, protecting them from animals, drought, and damage.
- Planted nearly 8,000 additional trees of various species over her lifetime.
- Her work created a shaded, oxygen-rich green corridor that supports wildlife, reduces soil erosion, combats climate change, and provides ecological benefits to the region.
- Her story gained national attention in the mid-1990s through a local journalist's article, leading to widespread recognition.
Thimmakka's activism was pure grassroots: no funding, no organization—just persistent, hands-on labor driven by love for nature and a desire to leave a legacy. She often referred to the trees as her "children," saying they gave her the joy she missed from not having biological offspring.
Awards and Recognition
Thimmakka received numerous honors late in life for her unparalleled contributions to environmental conservation:
- Padma Shri (2019) — India's fourth-highest civilian award, presented for distinguished service in social work (environment).
- Indira Priyadarshini Vrikshamitra Award (1997) — From the Ministry of Environment and Forests for tree plantation.
- National Citizen's Award (1995) — One of her earliest national recognitions.
- Nadoja Award — From Hampi University (2010).
- Honorary Doctorate — From Central University of Karnataka (2020).
- Featured in BBC's 100 Women list (2016) as one of the most influential and inspirational women globally.
- Other accolades include the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award and various environmental honors.
A US-based organization, Thimmakka's Resources for Environmental Education (in Los Angeles and Oakland, California), was named in her honor to promote her legacy.
Later Life and Passing
Thimmakka lived a simple life in Hulikal village, later moving to Bengaluru for medical care. She legally adopted a son, Umesh B.N., in her later years. Despite fame, she remained humble, often expressing that certificates were nice but financial support for her work was lacking.
She passed away on November 14, 2025, at the age of 114 in a private hospital in Bengaluru after prolonged illness. Her death was mourned across India, with tributes highlighting her as a symbol of selfless environmental stewardship and grassroots activism.
Legacy
Saalumarada Thimmakka's life proves that one person's dedication can create lasting ecological impact. Her banyan avenue stands as a living monument, providing shade, habitat, and inspiration. She motivated millions to plant trees, fight deforestation, and view nature with maternal care. In an era of climate crisis, her story remains a powerful reminder of individual action's potential.
Somati B.K.
Known References
- In a 2022 report from The Kathmandu Post (Nepal), Somati BK from Bhotekoshi Rural Municipality-1 (Sindhupalchok district, Nepal) was quoted in an article about landslide risks and displacement issues in her village. She highlighted how repeated requests to local authorities for relocation or support had gone unheeded, as the community was encircled by landslides with no alternative land available. This positions her as a local resident voicing community concerns about environmental hazards, disaster risk, and governance failures in a vulnerable rural area prone to natural disasters (common in Nepal's Himalayan regions).
- This suggests grassroots-level advocacy or community representation on safety and livelihood issues, though not framed as formal "activism" in organized movements.
- Other mentions of "Somati Bk" or "Somati BK" appear in social media contexts (e.g., Facebook profiles, TikTok comments under religious/Christian motivational content with "amen" or similar responses), but these seem to be ordinary users rather than activists. No evidence ties these to social/political activism.
Context and Limitations
- No major news articles, Wikipedia entries, activist profiles, or organizational affiliations link "Somati B.K." to notable activism in India (e.g., no connections to Dalit rights, women's empowerment, labor movements, or panchayat-level leadership like figures such as Nauroti Devi).
- The name "BK" could be an abbreviation (common in Nepal/India for surnames like Bishwakarma, a Dalit community name in some regions), but searches yield no matches for a prominent activist.
- If this refers to a specific local or lesser-known figure in Maharashtra/Pune (similar to previous queries on activists like Suman Gaikwad or Anita Vijay Jambhulkar), no public records surfaced in extensive searches. It may be a private/community-level person without broad media coverage.
Somati B.K. does not appear to be a widely recognized activist figure. The most concrete reference is the Nepal-based community voice on landslide/disaster issues in 2022. If you have additional context (e.g., location, specific cause, or spelling variation like "Sumati BK" or a different full name), that could help narrow it down further—perhaps it's a typo, local leader, or emerging activist not yet prominently documented online. For now, no comprehensive "all about" profile exists in public sources as a major activist.
Sudhir Dhawale
Background and Personal Life
- Community: He belongs to the Dalit community (Scheduled Caste/SC in India's reservation system), a historically marginalized group facing caste-based discrimination.
- Early Activism: He came under police scrutiny around 2006 in the post-Khairlanji massacre phase (the 2006 Dalit atrocity case in Maharashtra), where activists and intellectuals mobilized for justice. He has advocated for the effective implementation of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and raised awareness about atrocities in cases like Ramabai Nagar (1997), Khairlanji, murders of activists like Rohidas Tupe and Baban Misal, and others.
- Founding Organizations: In 2007, he co-founded the Republican Panthers movement to challenge caste hierarchies and promote Dalit assertion.
- Literary and Media Work: Through Vidrohi, he publishes poetry, essays, and commentary on Dalit struggles, anti-caste politics, and contemporary issues. He is recognized as a poet and writer who challenges official narratives and holds the state accountable.
Role in Elgar Parishad and Bhima Koregaon
- He co-organized the Elgar Parishad event on December 31, 2017, in Pune (at Shaniwarwada) to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon (January 1, 1818), where Mahar (Dalit) soldiers fought for the British against the Peshwa forces. For many Dalits, it symbolizes resistance to caste oppression.
- The event featured speeches and cultural programs, but clashes occurred the next day (January 1, 2018) in Bhima Koregaon village and nearby areas, leading to violence and deaths.
Arrests and Legal Battles
- Earlier Arrest (2011): On January 2, 2011, he was arrested at Wardha railway station by Gondia police and Nagpur ATS while boarding a train to Mumbai. Charged under IPC sections (including 121 for waging war against the state and 124 for sedition) and UAPA sections (17, 20, 39) for alleged Maoist links. He was released on bail after some time.
- Main Arrest (2018): On June 6, 2018, arrested by Pune police (along with Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut, Rona Wilson, and others) in the Elgar Parishad/Bhima Koregaon case (BK-16). Accused of inciting caste-based violence through speeches, conspiracy, and links to the banned CPI (Maoist). Charged under UAPA and IPC sections.
- Detention: Held in Taloja Central Jail, Navi Mumbai, for nearly 7 years (over 6.5 years) as an undertrial. The case was transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). He reportedly faced denial of proper medical care (including dental issues) and other prison hardships.
- Bail and Release: On January 8, 2025, the Bombay High Court granted bail to him and co-accused Rona Wilson, citing prolonged detention (since 2018), lack of evidence linking them to unlawful activities, and no near-term possibility of trial conclusion. He was released from Taloja Jail on January 24, 2025, after walking out on bail.
- Current Status (as of early 2026): Free on bail. The broader case remains ongoing with delays, but he has been out since January 2025. He has reflected publicly on his incarceration (e.g., in interviews describing prison as a "bigger prison" of repetition, solitude, and boredom) and continues to symbolize resistance to state repression of dissent.
Overall Impact and Recognition
Sudhir Dhawale is a key figure in Maharashtra's Dalit and anti-caste movements, blending activism, literature, and organizing to amplify marginalized voices. His prolonged detention drew international attention from bodies like the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF, listing him as a religious freedom prisoner for work with marginalized communities), Front Line Defenders, and human rights groups criticizing UAPA misuse to target Dalit/Adivasi/human rights defenders.
His release in 2025 was hailed as ending years of injustice, highlighting issues of punitive legal systems and suppression of dissent. He remains active in advocacy, poetry, and commentary through Vidrohi and related platforms.
Sagar Gorkhe
Background and Personal Life
- Born: Around 1988–1989 (approximately 37 years old as of early 2026).
- Community: He belongs to the Dalit Matang caste (a Scheduled Caste/SC community in Maharashtra, historically marginalized and facing caste discrimination).
- Family: From a working-class, economically backward background. His parents migrated frequently for work—his mother as a domestic worker, and family members in construction sites, security guarding, and domestic help. His mother noted his early childhood interest in singing and performing. The family supported his activism, attending KKM performances.
- Education: Undergraduate studies in Sociology at Babasaheb Ambedkar College, Pune.
- Early Struggles: As a student, he worked odd jobs like sweeper and car cleaner to fund college. He later dedicated himself full-time to KKM activism.
Role in Kabir Kala Manch (KKM)
- Joined/Founded: Founding member and president of KKM, formed post-2002 Gujarat riots/pogrom by working-class Dalit/Bahujan youth in Pune as a response to communal violence and social inequalities.
- KKM evolved from promoting religious plurality to grassroots cultural activism using Marathi/Hindi songs, poetry, street plays, and folk rhythms to address Dalit atrocities, farmer suicides, privatization, surveillance, and majoritarian politics.
- As a poet, singer, and activist, Sagar's contributions emphasize anti-caste campaigns, women's rights, and labor issues. His work is described as rooted in the struggles of the most marginalized.
Arrests, Incarceration, and Legal Battles
- Earlier Persecution (2011–2017): KKM faced UAPA crackdowns in 2011 for alleged Maoist/Naxalite links due to radical content. Sagar went into hiding briefly, then surrendered publicly with others (e.g., Ramesh Gaichor). He spent time in jail (along with Sachin Mali and Ramesh Gaichor) before the Supreme Court granted bail in January 2017.
- 2020 Arrest (Bhima Koregaon/Elgar Parishad Case): On September 7, 2020 (during COVID-19 lockdown), arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) along with KKM members Jyoti Jagtap and Ramesh Gaichor. Implicated in the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case (BK-16), accused of propagating Maoist ideology, inciting caste-based violence through performances/slogans at the December 31, 2017, Elgar Parishad event (a Dalit conclave commemorating the 1818 Bhima Koregaon battle as anti-caste resistance), and conspiracy under UAPA and IPC sections.
- Detention: Held in prison (primarily Yerwada or Taloja) for over five years and five months (nearly 1,970 days) as an undertrial without trial commencement. He faced health issues (e.g., COVID-19 in prison) and alleged pressure for forced confessions. He wrote poetry from jail, including verses like "Why Are Our Eyes Wet?" reflecting on repression.
- Bail and Release: Bombay High Court granted bail on January 23, 2026 (along with Ramesh Gaichor), citing prolonged incarceration, parity with other co-accused (most already bailed), and low likelihood of early trial. He was released shortly after, ending over five and a half years of custody. Conditions include furnishing bonds and monthly NIA reporting.
- International attention: Listed as a religious freedom prisoner by USCIRF (US Commission on International Religious Freedom) for human rights/civil rights work with marginalized communities. Human rights groups criticized UAPA misuse to target cultural dissent.
Overall Impact and Legacy
Sagar Gorkhe symbolizes the intersection of cultural resistance and anti-caste activism in India. His leadership in KKM highlights how street art can mobilize against oppression, but also how such expression faces severe state crackdowns. Featured in documentaries (e.g., Anand Patwardhan's works on KKM) and profiles (e.g., The Polis Project, Dalit Camera), he remains a voice for Dalit/Bahujan assertion amid prolonged legal battles.
As of February 2026, post-release, he is free on bail and likely resuming activism with KKM, though under legal scrutiny. His case underscores issues of justice delays, suppression of dissent, and criminalization of Dalit cultural/performative resistance. For performances or updates, refer to KKM archives, YouTube, or sources like The Wire, Indian Express, or human rights databases.
Sidnag
–The Grandfather of Bahujan Revolution
The violence perpetrated during the celebration of Bhima Koregaon by the Brahminical Hindutva forces must be contextualised in the larger contemporary political scene of India. First of all, it should be understood that the battle of Bhima Koregaon was decisive for the future evolution of the Bahujan movement. If it had not been for the battle of Bhima Koregaon, the oppressed Indians would have languished in the perpetual social degradation.
When the Marathas were ruling a significant part of India after the social, political, cultural revolution of Shivaji Maharaj, the society was equal. The great Maharaja never discriminated on the basis of caste and religion. On the contrary, the arrogant Brahmins disrespected Maharaja as evident from so many historical sources.
The Maratha is not the name of the caste, it is a linguistic identity which is not equated with a social class. The word Maratha emerged after the language that the majority of the people in the kingdom of Maharaja spoke. The Marathas included not only the kunbis, but also Mahars, dhangars, matangs, and most of the castes of the Bahujan Samaj. The Marathas ruled in many parts of India from central India to East India: Gwalior, Kolhapur, Nagpur, Baroda were some of the kingdoms of the Marathas.
However, through the political machinations, the Brahmins took charge of the Pune kingdom and ruled on the basis of manusmriti. The great son of Shivaji, Sambhaji, was killed according to the diction of Manu: that the Shudras cannot read, write, or hear the Sanskrit texts. When Sambhaji Maharaja was thus killed, it was the Mahar soldier in Vadu who collected Sambhaji’s mortal remains and gave it an honourable funeral. That is the reason why the Brahminical forces vandalised the tomb of Gaikwad.
It was Sidnag who avenged the insults perpetuated to the Marathas and the Mahars by destroying the Peshva regime, which was the casteist and Brahminical regime at its core. If it had not been for Sidnag and the victory in the battle of Bhima Koregaon, there would be no Mahatma Phule. Famously, his father told Jotiba that had it not been for the victory of the British and the defeat of the casteist Brahmin Peshvas, he would have been reduced to a plaything of the Brahmins. While warning young Jotiba not to go against the Brahmins which would invite the wraths of Brahmins, he described graphically that Brahmin Peshvas would have slayed Jotiba’s head and played “ball and stick game” with his head as a ball and their swords as the sticks. As this was the punishment meted out to Kunbis, Telis, and Malis according to the Brahminical Smritis and Shashtras. Thanks to the battle of Bhima Koregaon that the great Mahatma Jotiba Phule emerged. If Jotiba had not emerged, Bhimba would not have emerged and the Bahujan Samaj would still be ruled by the inhuman Brahminical Peshvas.
The battle of Bhima Koregaon is the successful war for the social and political emancipation of the Bahujans that includes the Marathas and the other castes. Therefore the architects of the Bhima Koregaon victory are the founders of the ongoing battle between the 85 percent Bahujans and 15 percent Brahmins and their mean upper castes counterparts. There is a historical trajectory that must be understood in this context.
The present scene is important as the ex-untouchables all over India are asserting and the symbol of their assertion is the Bhima Koregaon. Just a handful of united people defeated the larger body of inhuman oppressors. The history of Bhima Koregaon gives them such a confidence that they could easily come out of the manufactured inferiority imposed on them by the Brahminical media and system.
The Bahujans led by the Mahar-Nags could do it once and they can do it again, but this time the paradigm is changed. The battleground is now shifted to the fight for democracy and the democratisation of the Indian society. The Peshvas have taken the mask of RSS/BJP, and the descendants of Sidnag are mobilising against the mighty media, Hitlerian rule, and Bania capitalism. The only way is to fight the battle, but this time, the battle will be fought on many fronts and the mobilisation all over India is an indication of things to come.
It is the time that the descendants of Sidnag should be ready to sacrifice everything for the self-respect, their dignity, and reclamation of their personality.
Jai Shivaji, Jai Sidnag, Jai Jotiba, Jai Savitri, Jai Bhim!
Author – Mangesh Dahiwale, Human Rights Activist
Suman Shankar Gaikwad
Background and Early Activism
- Suman Gaikwad is an 80+ year-old woman (as highlighted in reports from 2023 onward) from Maharashtra, associated with rural and urban struggles in the state.
- She gained recognition for her role in the employment guarantee movement (likely linked to demands for work under schemes like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act or earlier labor rights campaigns).
- In her younger days, she was described as frail but determined, taking to the streets to demand work and livelihood rights for the poor and marginalized communities. She represents a legacy of lived struggle, tenacity, and grassroots activism rather than elite or privileged entry into public life.
- Her activism focused on issues like access to employment, poverty alleviation, and citizen welfare, often in underserved or rural-adjacent areas that later transitioned to urban municipal concerns.
Political Involvement
- Suman Gaikwad has entered electoral politics in recent years, particularly in Pune's municipal elections.
- In the lead-up to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) elections (around 2025–2026 context), she contested or aligned with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP - Ajit Pawar faction) from Ward No. 14 (covering areas like Koregaon Park, Ghorpadi, and Mundhwa in Pune).
- She was part of a panel that included candidates like Sandip Kodre, Surekha Kawade, and Sunil alias Badutatya Jaywant Gaikwad. The group emphasized development, transparency, citizen welfare, improved civic services (such as better infrastructure, sanitation, and quality of life), and actionable plans based on past achievements.
- In January 2026 reports, she positioned herself as "one of you" — a representative shaped by personal and community struggles, not political dynasty or privilege — carrying forward a legacy of responsibility toward ordinary citizens.
- Earlier records show individuals with similar names (e.g., Suman Anil Gaikwad) contesting PMC elections in 2017 from other wards on Bahujan Samaj Party tickets, but the most prominent recent profile matches the activist-turned-candidate in Ward 14.
Key Themes and Legacy
- Her story highlights resilience among elderly women activists in India, transitioning from street-level agitations for basic rights to formal political representation.
- She embodies grassroots feminism and community-driven change, focusing on transparency, development, and welfare in urban settings like Pune's diverse wards.
- No strong evidence links her directly to broader Dalit-specific activism (though Maharashtra has rich histories of such movements involving figures like Gaikwads in other contexts), but her work aligns with upliftment of marginalized and working-class groups.
Suman Gaikwad continues to be active in Pune's civic and electoral scene as of recent updates (2026), with her efforts centered on local issues in eastern Pune areas. For the most current details on her campaigns, ward-specific developments, or election outcomes, local Maharashtra news sources, NCP announcements, or Pune municipal portals would offer real-time insights. She stands as an example of long-term, persistent activism evolving into participatory democracy at the municipal level.
Sultana Daku
Background and Early Life
Sultana belonged to the Bhantu (or Bhatu) community, a nomadic tribe classified by the British under the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871 as inherently criminal. The Bhantus were often marginalized, forced into settlements, and subjected to surveillance or reform camps. According to some accounts, the tribe claimed descent from Maharana Pratap (the 16th-century Rajput ruler of Mewar), adding a layer of heroic lineage to their identity.
He was born around the late 1890s or early 1900s (exact date uncertain; he was in his 20s at death) in regions like Harthala village near Moradabad, or possibly Bijnor/Najibabad area in present-day Uttar Pradesh. Some sources describe his family background as poor, with his grandfather involved in petty theft. As a young man, he reportedly ended up in a British-run reform or Salvation Army camp (possibly in Najibabad), where Bhantus were interned for "rehabilitation" involving labor and Christian missionary influence. Rebelling against the harsh conditions and religious preaching, Sultana escaped, which marked the start of his life as a fugitive and outlaw.
Criminal Career and Operations
From around 1920 onward, Sultana led a gang of Bhantu dacoits operating in the dense forests, marshes, and terai (foothill) regions of the United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh and parts of Uttarakhand), including areas around Pilibhit, Bareilly, Nainital, Kumaon, Moradabad, Bijnor, and as far as Bundelkhand and Punjab fringes. His gang specialized in:
- Raids on villages, wealthy landowners (zamindars), and merchants.
- Looting trains and travelers.
- Ambushes on police patrols.
He terrorized colonial authorities and local elites, earning a massive bounty. Folklore claims he operated with a code of honor—sparing the poor, targeting the rich and corrupt, and showing chivalry (e.g., stories of protecting women or aiding villagers). Legends include naming his horse "Chetak" (after Maharana Pratap's famous steed), his dog "Rai Bahadur" (mocking British titles), and romantic tales like abducting a dancer named Phulkanwar (who became Putli Bai in stories) or an Englishwoman falling in love with him. Some accounts portray him as a womanizer or involved in violence against women, but these are often contradictory and likely exaggerated by colonial narratives or sensationalism.
His activities are sometimes framed as a "1920 Revolt" in Rohilkhand, a small armed uprising against British rule, though it was more banditry than organized rebellion. He evaded capture for years through guerrilla tactics in rugged terrain, making him a thorn in the side of the Raj.
Capture and Death
After months of pursuit by a special British police force, Sultana was finally captured on November 21, 1923 (or around late 1923), in the Nainital/Kumaon forest area—reportedly without gunfire, as his group was resting by a campfire. The key figure in his capture was British officer Freddie Young (F.W. Young), who led the operation and reportedly developed a reluctant respect or "unlikely friendship" with Sultana during the chase. Young even petitioned superiors to spare his life, seeing him as more than a mere criminal, but the request was denied.
Sultana was imprisoned (initially in places like Najibabad fort, then Haldwani jail) and tried. He was hanged on July 7, 1924, in Haldwani (some sources say Agra) jail, still in his mid-20s. Popular stories claim his last wish was to meet his mother, and he reportedly blamed her for not stopping his early thefts (e.g., stealing an egg), saying it led to his path of crime—a poignant, folkloric touch.
Legacy and Cultural Impact
Sultana became a folk hero in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, celebrated in:
- Nautankis and folk songs as the "Sultan of the Poor" or "Robin Hood of India."
- Stories of benevolence, bravery, and anti-British defiance.
- Local lore around places like Robbers Cave (Gucchupani) in Dehradun or Jalpur castle in Bijnor, where his legend lingers.
He inspired films like Sultana Daku (1972/1973, starring Dara Singh and Helen), which dramatized his life with masala elements (action, romance, rebellion). The most notable literary work is The Confession of Sultana Daku (2009) by Sujit Saraf—a historical novel framed as Sultana's final-night confession to a British officer (Lt. Col. Samuel Pearce), blending fact with fiction to explore his beliefs, fears, loves (including dancer Phulkanwar), and unshakeable sense of criminal destiny.
In reality, colonial records and historians view him as a product of poverty, tribal marginalization, and the Criminal Tribes Act's injustices—more a rebel against systemic oppression than a pure bandit. Myths often overshadow facts, but his story endures as a symbol of resistance in India's anti-colonial and subaltern narratives.
Sanghapali Aruna
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aruna Sanghapali
Born 19 October 1979
Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India
Nationality Indian
Occupation Social activist
Known for Dalit women's rights
Sanghapali Aruna, also known as Sanghapali Aruna Lohitakshi, is a human rights activist from India, best known for her work on Dalit women's rights. She is the Executive Director of Project Mukti.
Life
Aruna was born on 19 October 1979 in Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India, in a Dalit community. She studied for a doctorate degree in linguistics at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, where she was a founder member of the Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students’ Association.
In 2014, Aruna was part of the Dalit Mahila Swabhiman Yatra (Dalit Women's Self-Respect Tour) travelling through India to raise awareness of caste-based violence, and was part of the Dalit Women Fight campaign in 2015. She was also involved in activism surrounding Dalit student Rohith Vemula’s death at the University of Hyderabad. She was also organiser of Dalit History Month.
As of 2018, Aruna is the Executive Director of Project Mukti, which describes itself as "a Dalit Bahujan Adivasi women, gender non-conforming, and trans led start-up working to end caste apartheid in South Asia through a promise to openness and participatory innovation." According to the Indian Express, Aruna works on digital literacy among Dalit, Bahujan, Adivasi, and Muslim communities.
Describing her work, Aruna writes:
Dalit women have all the tools to succeed once we are removed from the shadow of violence and untouchability. That is why our mission has always been to move past the narrative of atrocity and poverty and instead build technological equity and literacy among Dalit Bahujan women and gender minorities. We do this through training, building tech, growing Dalit Bahujan knowledge and culture, and fostering solidarity among Dalit Bahujan-Adivasi people.
In 2018, Aruna was the subject of controversy when she gave Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, two posters, which said "End Caste Apartheid" and "Smash Brahminical Patriarchy" during a meeting in New Delhi. Dorsey posed for a group photo holding the poster saying "Smash Brahminical Patriarchy". He was subsequently criticised for holding the poster, and Twitter India apologised on his behalf.
Sahodaran Ayyappan
Early Life
Born as Ayyappan in Cherai on Vypin Island (near Kochi, Ernakulam district, then in the Kingdom of Cochin), he was the youngest of nine children in the Kumbalathuparambil (or Kumpalath Parampil) family, a traditional Ezhava household. His father, Kochavu Vaidyar, was an Ayurvedic practitioner. The Ezhavas faced caste-based discrimination, though less severe than for Dalits. Ayyappan witnessed social injustices early on, shaping his reformist zeal.
He studied at Malabar Christian College in Kozhikode and Maharaja's College in Thiruvananthapuram (now University College), earning a BA degree around 1916. During this time, he befriended poet and reformer Kumaran Asan and came under the profound influence of Sree Narayana Guru, whose emphasis on human equality and rejection of caste rituals deeply impacted him. He also briefly pursued law studies and taught at a local school in Cherai, earning the affectionate title "Ayyappan Mash" from students and the community.
Key Activism and Reforms
Ayyappan's activism was bold and direct, often risking social ostracism and threats:
- Historic Misra Bhojanam / Panthibhojanam (1917): On May 29, 1917, at age 28, he organized Kerala's first inter-caste communal feast (mixed dining) in Cherai. Around 200 people from various castes—including Dalits (Pulayas)—sat together and ate the same food, breaking the taboo of untouchability and pollution. This act symbolized human brotherhood and directly challenged caste purity norms. It faced fierce opposition, including boycotts and threats, but Guru supported it, sending a message endorsing inter-caste dining and marriages. Ayyappan adopted the prefix "Sahodaran" ("brother") from this event and the Sahodara Sangham (Brotherhood Association) he founded in 1917 to promote such equality.
- Sahodara Prasthanam (Brotherhood Movement): Through speeches, writings, and the organization, he mobilized against caste evils, advocating for inter-caste interactions, education, and dignity for the oppressed.
- Journalism and Rationalism: In 1917, he launched the monthly journal Sahodaran (later becoming his adopted name), which served as the mouthpiece for his ideas. He later edited Yuktivadi (The Rationalist), promoting atheism, scientific temper, and criticism of religious dogma. He wrote poems, essays, pamphlets, and political tracts attacking Brahmanical hegemony and superstition.
- Slogan and Philosophy: Extending Guru's "One Caste, One Religion, One God" message, Ayyappan radicalized it by rejecting religion and god altogether in favor of ethics and humanism. He promoted rationalist thought, influenced by global ideas but rooted in local anti-caste struggles.
- Political Career: He served in the Cochin Legislative Council and later as a minister in the Cochin and Travancore-Cochin governments (e.g., appointed in 1946; briefly in Paravur TK ministry). He resigned in protest against police suppression of labor movements. As SNDP Yogam president (1940–1943), he pushed for reforms within the organization founded by Guru.
- Temple Entry and Broader Movements: While not a direct leader of Vaikom Satyagraha (1924–25), his ideas and the 1917 feast influenced anti-untouchability efforts, including temple street access and entry rights. He supported broader progressive causes.
Legacy
Sahodaran Ayyappan passed away at age 78 on March 6, 1968, after a life of selfless activism. He received honors like Veerasringala from the Maharaja and Rao Bahadur from the British, though he prioritized social change over accolades.
His work helped democratize Kerala society, contributing to high literacy, reduced caste rigidities, and secular ethos. Institutions like the Sahodaran Ayyappan Smarakam (memorial/museum) in Cherai preserve his legacy. He inspired rationalist and anti-caste movements, with scholars viewing him as a pioneer of radical humanism in Kerala—more militant than many contemporaries in rejecting religious frameworks for equality.
Sujat Ambedkar
Sujat Ambedkar (also known as Sujat Prakash Ambedkar; born January 15, 1995) is a young Indian socio-political activist, journalist, youth leader, and emerging politician from Maharashtra. He is best known as the great-grandson of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (Babasaheb Ambedkar, the architect of India's Constitution and iconic Dalit leader) and the son of Prakash Ambedkar (popularly called Balasaheb Ambedkar), a prominent politician and founder of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) party.
He is a committed Ambedkarite activist, advocating for Dalit-Bahujan rights, social justice, anti-caste struggles, and the principles of Dr. Ambedkar's vision (including Buddhism, equality, and resistance to Brahmanical/Hindutva ideologies). His activism often critiques caste discrimination, RSS/Hindutva organizations, and mainstream politics, while mobilizing youth for Bahujan empowerment.
Background and Family
- Birth and Lineage: Born in 1995 into the iconic Ambedkar family, which follows Navayana Buddhism (Ambedkar's reformed Buddhism). He is the only child of Prakash Ambedkar and Anjali Ambedkar.
- Grandfather: Yashwant Ambedkar (Bhaiyasaheb), a politician and son of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
- Other relatives in politics: Uncle Anandraj Ambedkar, cousin Rajratna Ambedkar.
- Personal Experiences: Despite the family's prominence, Sujat has spoken about facing caste discrimination personally, even as an Ambedkar descendant. He has emphasized the privilege of his background (education, access) and stated he does not need reservations himself, but advocates fiercely for them for oppressed communities.
- Community: As part of the Ambedkar family, he belongs to a Dalit (Scheduled Caste/SC) heritage—historically marginalized and oppressed under the caste system. However, his family's legacy brings visibility and some privilege compared to many Dalit activists (e.g., unlike grassroots figures like Kalekuri Prasad or Bhagat Amar Nath from earlier discussions). His activism aligns with Dalit/SC struggles, but he often focuses on broader Bahujan (Dalit-OBC-minority) unity.
Education
- Studied Political Science at Fergusson College, Pune.
- Postgraduate in Journalism from the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), Chennai.
- MSc in Political Science and Government from Royal Holloway, University of London (UK).
- Has worked in media/communication roles and briefly with organizations like I-PAC (Indian Political Action Committee).
Activism and Political Role
- Youth Leader in Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA): Serves as a key youth face and mobilizer for VBA, founded by his father in 2018 (post-Bhima Koregaon violence) to unite Dalits, OBCs, Muslims, and other marginalized groups against BJP/Hindutva dominance.
- Leads youth networks, campaigns, and rallies across Maharashtra.
- Involved in student movements like Samyak Vidhyarthi Andolan.
- Key Activism Highlights:
- Bhima Koregaon (2018): Discussed its role in galvanizing the movement and leading to VBA's formation.
- Protests Against RSS: Led historic protests, e.g., Jan Aakrosh Morcha outside RSS headquarters in Aurangabad (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar) in 2025—demanding RSS registration and challenging its influence (stopped by police but widely covered as a bold Ambedkarite challenge).
- Caste and Social Issues: Campaigns on OBC reservations, anti-caste awareness, Muslim-Dalit solidarity, and critiques of religious/ideological oppression.
- Media/Journalism: Former journalist; revived digital aspects of Prabuddh Bharat (Ambedkar's 1950s newspaper); uses platforms to highlight daily Bahujan issues.
- Other: Drummer; participates in cultural/religious events (e.g., Sufi dargah visits); speaks on media, religion, and mass communication in interviews/podcasts.
- Public Presence: Active on social media (e.g., X @Sujat_Ambedkar); featured in podcasts (e.g., Anurag Minus Verma), YouTube interviews, Instagram reels, and media like Maktoob, Hindustan Times. Fan pages and VBA events amplify his voice as a youth icon in the Ambedkarite movement.
Legacy and Context
Sujat Ambedkar represents the fourth generation of the Ambedkar family carrying forward Babasaheb's legacy in contemporary politics and activism. Unlike transnational scholars (e.g., Suraj Yengde or Thenmozhi Soundararajan) or grassroots Dalit leaders, his work is deeply rooted in Maharashtra's electoral and street-level Bahujan politics—focusing on youth mobilization, anti-Hindutva resistance, and building alliances for VBA's growth. He bridges family heritage with modern issues like caste in diaspora, media representation, and electoral strategies.
His activism inspires young Ambedkarites by emphasizing that privilege should fuel solidarity, not entitlement—pushing for a society where Bahujans get their "ek sandhi" (one chance) for equality. As of 2026, he remains a rising figure in Maharashtra's counter-culture and opposition politics.
T. K. Madhavan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
T. K. Madhavan
Statue of T. K. Madhavan
Born 2 September 1885
Karthikappally
Died 27 April 1930 (aged 44)
Nationality Indian
Occupation Social reformer, Freedom fighter
Spouse(s) Narayani Amma
Children 2
T. K. Madhavan (2 September 1885 – 27 April 1930) was an Indian social reformer, journalist and revolutionary who was involved with the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP). He came from Kerala and led the struggle against untouchability which was known as Vaikom Satyagraha.
Early life
Madhavan was born on 2 September 1885 at Karthikappally, son of Kesavan Channar of Alummoottil family and Ummini Amma of Komalezhathu family. Alummoottil family was one of the wealthiest in the state of Travancore that time. His maternal uncle was Komalezhathu Kunjupillai Chekavar, a member of the Sree Moolam Praja Sabha.
Caree
In 1917 he took over the daily newspaper, Desabhimani. He was involved in the Temple Entry Movement, which fought for the entry of oppressed and low-caste communities to the temples of Kerala. He fought for the right of temple entry for all. In 1918 Madhavan was elected to the Sree Moolam Praja Sabha, a legislative council of Travancore. In the same year he made his maiden speech at the Sree Moolam Assembly in lieu of his uncle Komalezhathu Kunjupillai Chekavar. He presented a resolution seeking permission of temple entry and right to worship to all people irrespective of caste and community. He moved the resolution for the eradication of untouchability in the kakkinada session of Indian National Congress in 1923. In 1924, Vaikom Sathyagraha was started under the leadership of Madhavan, K. Kelappan, and K.P.Kesava Menon to get the right of oppressed class of people to travel through the road in front of Vaikom Mahadeva temple. Madhavan and Kesava Menon were arrested and imprisoned. Finally, the Maharaja of Travancore agreed to open the road to all class of people and the Vaikom Sathyagraha was a great success. However, he had to continue his struggle for the temple entry. In 1927 he was made organizing secretary of the SNDP Yogam. T.K Madhavan formed a voluntary organization "Dharma Bhata Sangham" to strengthen the activities of SNDP Yogam.
It was T K Madhavan who wrote the biography of Dr. Palpu.
Meeting with Gandhi
He met Gandhi at Tirunelveli, and persuaded him to visit Vaikom. Vaikom Satyagraha was a struggle of the backward class people of Kerala for establishing their right to walk through the temple roads of Vaikom, a small temple town in South Kerala. Gandhi agreed to include the issue in the agenda of the Indian National Congress.
Death
Madhavan died at his residence on 27 April 1930. A monument was raised in his honour at Chettikulangara. In 1964 T.K.Madhava Memorial College was founded at Nangiarkulangara.
Thalapathi Krishnasamy
On 1st June 1916, in Pallikonda Village, Velur taluk. North Arcot district Krishnasamy was born in a tribal community. His ancestors were early Sakya Buddhist agricultural descendents. His father was Murugan and his mother was Chinnathai. General Kirishnasamy knew well that the gap between social happenings and awareness got separated wider and wider thereby dalits had to move on the path of Brahminical distortions.
He completed his primary education at Pallikonda. He got his schooling at Wesley School and then completed his degree in Wesley College, founded by John Rathinam. He believed that only through education, dalits would become respectable citizens. He spent his academic days on self thought and self taught mods. He was a good reader. He utilized almost all Chennai Libraries. His own college library could not feed him properly for his reading habit. His reading drove him to find an alternative way of culture in the society and at the same time he strove hard to achieve his ambition to make dalits as the first citizens. He happened to be the best speaker among students. In the inter-collegiate meet he bagged many prizes, medals and cups. English was tamed under his usage. He could express any views, anywhere and anytime without any fear. His fighting spirit and his questioning for democratic progressive equality realized the establishment of Adi Dravida Youth Federation. He went into each and every nook and corner of villages and spurred them with his powerful intellectual brotherhood speeches. He cheered them to give up their bonded servitude life. He wanted them to get liberated and inch their way into the realm of prosperity. His social adventism brought death nell to caste Hindus.
He became the leader of dalits on account of his sovereign power. As a boy of nineteen years his height of glory went beyond the height of his age. He did not want to go people after him but he wanted to go after people. He used to roam all village on cycles and bullock carts and talked with them all about the ills and wells of social progress. For six years between 1934 to 1940, he made all preparations for people's equal justice and equal protection. Thalapathi's fundamental proclamation was mankind was not born as slaves. Awareness happened to be the prerequisite condition. Many night schools were started. Italian Christian missionary by name Philip's help was tended to start night schools. Muthumanikkam, Annamalai and Thalapathi served as teachers in night schools. Educated youth were also given teaching jobs. Adi Dravida Youth Organisation explained in details that unless roots of casteism had to be nipped in bud, equal justice was a mirage in the desert.^^ Early preliminary Dharna of Adi Dravida Youth Organisation was held in Pallikonda and the nearby villages. Demonstrations to equal justice, opposing double tumbler system, walk on foot with any footwear and removing their head-dress for others were the main demands.
J. Siva Shanmugam Pillai, "History of Adi Dravidas", Methodist Publishing House, Madras, 1911, p. 6. 191 Hotels practicing untouchability were shattered. Boilers were thrown away. These who banned dalits from wearing chappals were attacked. Women also involved in larger numbers in all these activities. They used hot water and chilly powder as their tools of attacking. Even his opponents used to give him respect on account of his temperament of not imposing his ideas on others forcibly and at the same time maintaining balance with others on friendly terms. In due course, he became an inseparable person for any political happening. Though he happened to be an opponent to Mahatma Gandhi and his followers, he was invited as a speaker for Vellore Congress meeting.
Justice party got attracted by Thalapathi's socio political platforms. Justice party leaders appreciated his brutal frankness and openness of his speech. Thalapathi was invited to participate in the deliberations of Justice Party in 1940. He was taken on procession in Vellore. He spoke at that meeting that Brahmanism emerged as worldly Fascism and such a Brahmanism also planned and aimed to attack the worldly citizens. He requested all that they should support the British government unconditionally at the juncture of world war.
He devoted his lifetime for people's welfare who got sustained scar out of caste politics. Thalapathi's expectations were the government's sincere function as a good mother who should come forward to help the poor without any qualms. He also believed that crying child alone would get milk first.
Thalapathi was dead against to the principles of soft pleading like eulogizing political leaders in power, giving petitions to them or staging ahimsa meeting. He stoutly devored the authoritative temperament of the British. He even cautioned the District Collector of his district that he could not govern his district out of unnecessarily teasing people. He, out of the support from the public met the Chief Secretary and convinced him what the Collector had done was painful to all and got him transfer from his district. The entire Vellore district talked very high of him and they believed that Thalapathi had power even to set a transfer for a Collector. The secret document of English government brought out in 1942 said that Pallikonda Krishnasamy happened to be the unanimous leader of dalits and all expected him to show them the path of progress. His approach to people resulted in goodwill and friendliness.
Tulsidas Jadhav
Tulsidas Subhanrao Jadhav was born on January 25, 1905, in Dahitane village, located in the Barshi taluka of Solapur district, Maharashtra, India (then part of the Bombay Presidency under British rule). He came from a farming family and was educated at Haribhai Deokarn High School in Solapur. As a young man, he worked as a farmer while becoming increasingly involved in social and political activities. In 1913, at the age of eight, he married Janabai Tulsidas Jadhav, an arranged marriage common in rural India at the time. The couple had six children: two sons (Jaywant Jadhav, the elder, and Yeshwant Jadhav, the younger) and four daughters. One of his daughters, Kalavati, married Babasaheb Bhosale, a prominent Congress politician who later served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 1982 to 1985. This family connection further embedded Jadhav in Maharashtra's political landscape.
Political Career and Activism
Jadhav's political journey began in his late teens when he joined the Indian National Congress in 1921, at the age of 16. He emerged as a dedicated freedom fighter and political activist, deeply influenced by Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence and self-reliance. During the 1930 Salt Satyagraha—a pivotal civil disobedience movement against British salt taxes—Jadhav, along with contemporaries like Krisnaji Bhimrao Antrolikar and Jajuji, became politically active in Solapur. He was a staunch Gandhian, participating in protests and satyagrahas that challenged colonial authority.
Jadhav's activism was marked by personal bravery. In 1930, during the Solapur riots following the arrest of Congress leaders, local police deserted their posts amid chaos. For three consecutive days (May 9–11, 1930), Jadhav stepped in to maintain law and order in the town, preventing further violence and earning widespread respect for his courage. This act of civic duty during a crisis highlighted his commitment to public service.
He faced multiple imprisonments for his role in the independence movement: in 1931, 1932, 1941, and 1942, totaling around six to seven years in jail. Notably, while imprisoned in Yerwada Central Jail in 1932, Jadhav served as Gandhi's personal secretary during the Mahatma's incarceration, assisting with correspondence and organizational tasks. One anecdote from his satyagraha days recounts an incident where a British officer pressed a pistol to his chest and ordered him to disperse protesters; Jadhav refused, defiantly shaking off the threat and continuing the demonstration.
Post-independence, Jadhav's political allegiance shifted. He left the Congress in 1947, disillusioned with the party's direction, and co-founded the Peasants and Workers Party of India (PWP) alongside leaders like Keshavrao Jedhe, Nana Patil, Madhavrao Bagal, and Dajiba Desai. The PWP focused on agrarian reforms, workers' rights, and socialist ideals, representing the interests of farmers and laborers in Maharashtra. Jadhav was elected to the Bombay Legislative Council (the precursor to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly) multiple times: from 1937–1939, 1946–1951, and 1951–1957. He later served as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the Lok Sabha, representing the Solapur constituency as a PWP candidate, though exact terms are noted as two parliamentary stints in biographical records.
Beyond electoral politics, Jadhav was a social worker advocating for rural development, education, and health. He served on several committees, including the Electricity Consultative Committee, the Tuberculosis (T.B.) Board, the Leprosy Committee, and the Study Group on Road Safety. In 1985, as President of the Parliamentary Center (an organization promoting parliamentary democracy and international cooperation), he co-signed the "Apostle of Peace" award, presented alongside then-President Giani Zail Singh and Secretary General Dr. S.S. Mohapatra, recognizing global peace efforts.
Personal Life and Legacy
Jadhav remained rooted in his farming profession throughout his life, embodying the Gandhian ideal of self-sufficiency. He passed away on September 11, 1999, at the age of 94, leaving a legacy as a multifaceted figure: freedom fighter, politician, social reformer, and community leader. His contributions to India's independence struggle and post-independence rural upliftment are commemorated in Maharashtra. In February 2009, a statue was unveiled at Mechanic Chowk in Solapur to honor his role in maintaining order during the 1930 riots, symbolizing his bravery and dedication to public welfare.
Family members have continued to invoke his name in public discourse. For instance, in a 2024 social media post, his great-granddaughter-in-law, Sumitra Jadhav, highlighted his imprisonment alongside Gandhi and his support for political causes.
No major controversies are recorded in Jadhav's life; his activism was characterized by non-violent Gandhian principles and a focus on social equity. He is remembered as a bridge between the freedom movement and socialist politics in Maharashtra, particularly for empowering farmers and workers through the PWP. Note that references to other individuals named Tulsidas Jadhav (e.g., modern professionals or unrelated legal cases) do not pertain to this historical activist.
Tharika Banu
Tharika Banu is the first registered transgender person to complete her secondary education in Tamil Nadu. She was denied admission into college but her adoptive mother and transgender activist filed a case in Madras High Court to fight for her.
She studied until Class 11 in a government school there. Her parents refused to accept her when they came to know that she was a transgender woman. After that, the bullying she fell victim to in school became unbearable. In 2013, Tharika, ran away from her home in the Thoothukudi district, where she did not feel accepted or comfortable. She arrived in Chennai, where she was legally adopted by transgender activist Grace Banu. Grace helped her to get an official identification, name change and a sex reassignment surgery and made it possible for Tharika to finish her education.
Thenmozhi Soundararajan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thenmozhi Soundararajan speaks in the film Problema in 2013
Thenmozhi Soundararajan is a Dalit rights activist based in the United States of America. She is also a transmedia storyteller, songwriter, hip hop musician and technologist.
Personal life
Thenmozhi Soundararajan's parents are from a village in rural India and experienced inter-caste violence there. Her father is a doctor and her mother was the first woman from her family to get a college education. She learned from her mother that she was a Dalit while at school. She had been reading about how the Bhopal disaster affected Untouchables, asked her mother some questions and was told that she, too, came from the community.
Soundararajan publicly revealed that she is a Dalit when she made a documentary film on caste and violence against women as a part of her college thesis at University of California, Berkeley. She says the decision had many consequences: while fellow Dalits secretly confided in her about their identity, she says that she also faced discrimination from almost all of the Indian professors in her campus, who refused to advise her on projects.
Professional life
Soundararajan is a filmmaker, transmedia artist and storyteller. Currently, she is the Executive Director of Equality Labs, an Ambedkarite South Asian progressive power-building organization that uses community research, cultural and political organizing, popular education and digital security to fight the oppressions of caste apartheid, Islamophobia, white supremacy, and religious intolerance. She was also the executive director of Third World Majority, a women of color media and technology justice training and organizing institution based in Oakland, California. She is also a co-founder of the Media Justice Network, and Third World Majority is one of the network’s national anchor organizations. In that context she has worked with over 300 community organizations across the United States.
Soundararajan has used storytelling to speak about casteism within the Indian diaspora. She has worked with bassist Marvin Etizioni on her debut blues album, Broken People, which was a collection of liberation songs about people belonging to the Black and Dalit community. Her essay and a photo series about her Dalit experience in the United States was published in Outlook magazine.
In 2015, the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation included her in their first group of Artist as Activist fellows. She has used this fellowship to work on #DalitWomenFight, a transmedia project and activist movement.
Soundararajan has been involved in the curation and creation of Dalit History Month, a radical history project. Its goal is to share Dalit historians' research, which is a deviation from many scholarly projects which have studied Dalit history without leadership or collaboration from Dalits.
In 2020, Soundararajan began hosting the podcast, "Caste in the USA," in which she explores caste discrimination at American campuses, offices, and households, through conversations with individuals who have first-hand experience with casteism in America.
Tarabai Shinde
Tarabai Shinde (1850–1910) was a feminist activist who protested patriarchy and caste in 19th century India. She is known for her published work, Stri Purush Tulana ("A Comparison Between Women and Men"), originally published in Marathi in 1882. The pamphlet is a critique of upper-caste patriarchy, and is often considered the first modern Indian feminist text. It was very controversial for its time in challenging the Hindu religious scriptures themselves as a source of women's oppression, a view that continues to be controversial and debated today.
Social Work
Shinde was an associate of social activists Jotirao and Savitribai Phule and was a member of their Satyashodak Samaj ("Truth Finding Community") organisation. The Phules had started the first school for Untouchable caste girls in 1848, as well as a shelter for upper-caste widows in 1854 (who were forbidden from remarrying), and shared with Shinde an awareness of the separate axes of oppression that constitute gender and caste, as well as the intermeshed nature of the two.
Tarabai Shinde (1850-1910) was an inspirational Women’s Activist who was known for her fiery personality, outstanding self-confidence, strong sense of independence. Her invigorating book is considered the first modern Indian feminist text where she passionately fights to help women gain privilege and end oppression.
Qualifications- Shinde is widely known for her creative, fierce, and controversial book, “A Comparison of Men and Women,” where she critizes the patriarchal society that she grew up in where the differences between the two genders was atrocious.
Experience- Tarabai Shinde received most of her experience through her work with Jotirao and Savitribai Phule who shared the same ideas of the oppression of gender and caste in Indian society.
Education- Home-schooled by her father, Bapuji Hari Shinde, who taught her Marathi, Sanskrit, and English.
Awards and Recognitions- Shinde’s work was recognized across the world for being the first feminist writer of nineteenth century India to write against men and the caste system; however, she did not receive any awards because of her controversial writing.
Publications-
Shinde wrote A Comparison Between Men and Women in response to the unfair treatment of women in nineteenth century Indian society. Specifically, Vijayalakshmi in Surat, an upper-caste widow, who was sentenced to death for having an abortion. Afer Surat’s death an article was published insulting women for their, “new loose morals,” and portrayed the Indian woman as detestable. Shinde wrote her book in response to this article to show Indian society that there are double-standards for men and women, and that women deserve more rights.
Accomplishments- Shinde raised awareness on the double-standards of men and women in society. She also discussed the unfair treatment of the different castes in the Indian society. This allowed citizens to begin to question the standards they have set for women.
Volunteer Activities-
Shinde was an associate of activists Jotirao and Savitribai Phule. She was a member of their Satyashodak Samaj (“Truth Finding Community”) organization. She helped the Phules start a school for Untouchable caste girls in 1848. She also helped to start a shelter for upper-caste widows in 1854 when they were forbidden from remarrying.
T. John Rathinam
Adi Dravida community consisted of many sub-castes. The Eynar sub-community was later on called as Parayas.'*'' John Rathinam was born in the year 1846, in the Paraya community at Thousand Lights, in Madras city. He had secondary education in Madras. He was disturbed by the misery created by caste system and untouchability on him and his brethren. He concluded that it was none but Hinduism, which was responsible for those miseries. Hence he decided to discard Hinduism and embrace on 48 egalitarian religion like Christianity. He got baptism in 1877. Though converted to Christianity, he faced untouchability. He says, "I am a Christian. However, do not believe in any caste or creed. I have belief in religion. I believe in prayers as per my religion. Wherever we go in India, all over the Indian society, in any nook and corner, untouchability exists. Untouchability against Harijan could not be eradicated. This is prevalent in all over the Indian society, whatever caste or religion they may belong to.
He wanted that Adi Dravidar, whatever religion they might belong to, had to fight for their rights till the death. He represented the Governor of Madras Presidency to allot land for the Adi Dravidar and helped them to have their own houses, schools and community centres. He started a model school in 1886 and made arrangements to teach arts, technical skills along with basic education in his school.^^ In 1892, he started a co-education high school in Thousand Lights area of Madras and worked as a Headmaster in the same school for some time. He also started a chain of schools in Mariyammal Nagar, Tenampet etc. In 1889, he started a student hostel for the downtrodden Adi Dravida students.^' In 1892, John Rathinam started the Dravida Khazhagam. However only after 50 years these ideas of John Rathinam took shape through Periyar. In 1885, John Rathinam started magazine name 'Dravida Pandian'. This shows his affection and devotion towards Adi Dravida society. Noble personality Rt. John Rathinam attained the feet of Lord in 1924.
A few facts on Rev.T.John Ratnam
TEYNAMPET JOHN RATNAM (T. John Ratnam )
• Was a leading and very influential figure of the Methodist Mission ( Circuit Superintendent)
Broke away from the Royapettah Wesley church in 1922 (when caste divisions reared their
head) and formed the National Church of India in 1923.
• Several caste? Christians like Chakkarai Chettiar (Mayor of Madras) followed him to the NCI
because of its Nationalistic character.
• The church flourished for about 10 years at Balasundara Vilas, No.146, Mount Road, Cathedral Post.
• Rev T. John Ratnam through his influence with the European authorities ordained himself as Reverend and obtained Marriage Licence(?) under Rule no.9 & 6.
• He ordained 06 Reverends under him. They were
I. Rev.Kanthimathi - Kodambakkam
II. Rev.Peter Manickam - Peters Road
III. Rev. Antony Jacob - AmburIV. Rev. Raymonds - KGF
V. Rev.S.C.Mathews - Kodambakkam
VI. Rev.Absalom David
The NCI floundered after Rev John Ratnam died in 1940.His only (adopted) son Mr.Johnson divided the property and sold half of it .As the building itself was halved no worship could be conducted. Also many families had left the church. Only Rev. Absalom David and Rev. S.C. Mathews remained and they led the church till 1949.After this the church was relocated to Rev. Absalom David`s house in Thomayappan Street, Royapettah and worship conducted by Rev. Absalom David`s son Mr. Aaron David and Mr. W.D. Solomon. With not much support and dwindling members, Mr. Aaron David and Mr.W.D.Solomon met Rev. Yesudian of the Wesley Church, Royapettah and expressed their desire to return to the Royapettah
Wesley fold. They were welcomed back in the Royapettah Wesley in 1955.Whatever assets and records that were pertaining to the NCI were handed over to Rev. Yesudian.
Thus the chapter of the National Church of India of Rev.T.John Ratnam came to an end.
- As narrated by Mr. Aaron David , Thomayappan Street , Royapettah
Tulasi Munda
Early Life & Background
- Born on 15 July 1947 (just before India's independence on 15 August) in Kainshi village, Keonjhar district, Odisha (then part of British India; one of the most backward mining-heavy areas).
- From a poor Adivasi (tribal) family; faced extreme poverty and lack of access to education.
- Orphaned or left in dire circumstances early on; forced into child labour at age 12 in Serenda village's iron ore mines, earning just ₹2 per week for five years.
- Despite no formal education and being illiterate herself, she taught herself basic literacy through sheer determination and self-study whenever possible.
- Influenced by Gandhian ideals; in 1961, joined eminent Gandhian women activists and participated in the Bhoodan movement (land gift movement) led by Acharya Vinoba Bhave, which shaped her commitment to social reform and education.
Activism & Key Contributions
- In 1964, started her first informal school in Serenda (Keonjhar) on a village head's veranda and later under a Mahua tree on a small plot.
- Targeted children from local Adivasi communities who were at risk of child labour in mines.
- Expanded efforts: Founded Adivasi Vikas Samiti (AVS) and AVS Vidya Mandir (residential school for non-school-going children).
- Schools now provide education up to 10th standard, enrolling over 500 students (more than half girls), offering free education, vocational training, and holistic development.
- Broke the cycle of poverty, exploitation, and illiteracy in mining areas.
- Emphasized women's empowerment, child rights, and community self-reliance using Gandhian frameworks (e.g., khadi, village industries, and moral education).
- Her schools and initiatives rescued hundreds of tribal children from exploitation and provided them with dignity through learning.
Awards & Recognitions
- Padma Shri (2001) — India's fourth-highest civilian award, for social work and spreading literacy among impoverished Adivasis.
- Kadambini Samman (2008).
- Odisha Living Legend Award for Excellence in Social Service (2011).
- Jamnalal Bajaj Award for Development & Welfare of Women and Children (2024) — recognizing her lifelong dedication using Gandhian values.
- Lakshmipat Singhania-IIM Lucknow National Leadership Award (2009).
- Featured in media, documentaries, and the biographical Odia film Tulasi Apa (first Odia biopic on her life).
- Honoured in lists of legendary Odia women shaping history (alongside figures like Shailabala Das).
Personal Life & Legacy
- Known affectionately as Tulasi Apa ("Sister Tulasi") in Odisha.
- Remains active into her late 70s (as of 2025–2026), inspiring students, teachers, and visitors at her schools (e.g., recent campus visits noted with admiration).
- No reports of her passing; she is alive and continues her work.
- Her journey from child miner to Padma Shri recipient symbolizes resilience, self-education, and transformative social change.
- Legacy: Proved that formal qualifications aren't prerequisites for impact; her institutions continue uplifting tribal communities, breaking poverty-illiteracy cycles, and promoting gender equality in education.
Tulasi Munda's story is one of extraordinary grit — turning personal hardship into empowerment for thousands, making her a beacon for tribal education and women's rights in India.
Sources: Wikipedia, The Better India, Business Today, Jamnalal Bajaj Awards, Odisha TV, Unsung.in, Google Arts & Culture, and regional tributes (as of 2025–2026).
Tarsem Singh Bains
" Ordinance Factory में, 1957 से दो छुटियाँ , एक बाबा साहिब डॉ. आंबेडकर जी के जन्म दिन की तथा दूसरी बुद्धा जयंती के नाम से मनाई जाती थीं , परन्तु ब्रह्मिनो ने , वह दोनों ही छुटियाँ ख़त्म करके , एक तिलक जयंती तथा दूसरी दीवाली की छुटिओं में बदल दी / उस समय ओर्डीनैंस फेक्ट्री में 22 ,000 कर्मचारियों में से 100 मेम्बरी कार्यकारणी कमेटी चुनी जाती थी / उस समय फेक्ट्री में 42 महार और 6 भंगी भी काम करते थे , और बाकि जियादातर उच्च जाति के ही कर्मचारी ही थे /
श्री दीना भाना, भंगी, राजस्थान का रहने वाला था, बह भंगी का गन्दा काम छोड़ना चाहता था , उसको मेरे साथ लगाया गया और मैंने, उसको हिंदी तथा अंग्रेजी सिखा कर लैबोरटरी ( Lab .) की देखभाल करने वाला बना दीया / इस कारण बह चौथे दर्जे के कर्मचारियों का लीडर / नेता बन गया और उसे कार्यकारणी कमेटी का मेम्बर भी चुन लिया गया / उसने मेरे कहने पर, बाबा साहिब के जन्म दिवस तथा बुद्ध जयंती की छुटिओं को बदला जाने पर एतराज ( Objection ) किया , तथा मैंने उसके माध्यम से कार्यकारणी कमेटी में वो छुटिओं को बदलाने के लिए ' अजेंडा ' रखवा दीया / इस कारण करके प्रशासन ने 42 महारों और 6 भंगिओं को यह जानने के लिए बुलाया कि, " क्या वे सब दीना भाना के साथ सहमत हैं ? " लेकिन , उन सभी ने अपनी सहमती से इंकार कर दीया और यह भी लिख कर दे दीया कि वे लोग छुटीयां नहीं चाहते, बल्कि यह कहा कि, " हमें नौकरी की ही जरूरत है , हमें तो दीना भाना ने ही उकसाया था " /
इस कारण से दीना भाना को प्रशासन की तरफ से एक नोटिस जारी हुआ कि आपको , आपके मेम्बरों का समर्थन प्राप्त नहीं हैं, इस लिए आपको कमेटी में से निकला जाता है तथा एक सप्ताह के बाद आपकी नौकरी भी ख़त्म कर दी जायेगी / इस तरह दीना भाना को कार्यकारणी कमेटी में से चुनाव को रदद करने का नोटिस भी जारी कर दीया / इस सम्बन्ध में मैं ( कांशी राम ) अपने , एक दोस्त, वकील को मिला जिसने बताया कि यह नोटिस गलत है , क्योंकि मत्त दाताओं को किसी भी चुने हुए मेम्बर को वापस बुलाने का कानूनी अधिकार नहीं है तथा वे किसी मेम्बर को निकाल भी नहीं सकते / इस तरह दीना भाना ने मेरी मदद से कार्यकारणी कमेटी को नोटिस भेजा कि वे उसकी मेम्बरशिप को इस तरह रदद नहीं कर सकते , इस करके चुनाव ना किया जाये / इस नोटिस की नकलें कमेटी के चेयरमैन और प्रशासन के दुसरे अधिकारोयों को भी भेजी गईं /
प्रबंधकी अफसर को दीना भाना को मुअतल ( suspend ) करने के लिए कहा गया , परन्तु बह ऐसा नहीं कर पाया / जब चुनाव नहीं हुआ तो 42 महार और 6 भंगी मेरे ( कांशी राम ) साथ आ मिले, लेकिन जब बाद में दीना भाना को मुअतल ( suspend ) कर दीया गया तो वे फिर से भाग खड़े हुए / अपने वकील की सलाह से मैं ( कांशी राम ) दीना भाना को अदालत में ले गया और केस दर्ज करवा दीया / किन्तु महारों और भंगियों के इस तरह के वर्ताब से मेरे दिल में उनके प्रति नफरत हो गई , उधर ब्रह्मिनो की नफरत भी मेरे सिर पर थोप दी गई / वो ब्रह्मिन कहने लगे कि कांशी राम को ठीक करना है , क्योंकि वह ही दीना भाना को ' उकसा ' ( भड़का ) रहा है / ब्रह्मिनों ने , दीना भाना की पत्नी को बुला कर कहा कि , बह अपने पति को मुआफी मांगने के लिए मनाए, परन्तु उसकी पत्नी ने साफ इंकार कर दीया / क्योंकि मैंने पहले ही दीना भाना की पत्नी को , हर महीने के पहले दिन दीना भाना की बनती तनखाह के बराबर पैसे देने का भरोसा दीया हुआ था तथा यह भी बताया हुआ था कि दीना भाना का मुअतली भत्ता उसके साथ बोनस होगा /
एक दिन जब हम अदालत में इकट्ठे बैठे थे , तो हम दोनों ( दीना भाना और मैं ) एक दुसरे से पूछने लगे कि , डॉ. आंबेडकर और महात्मा बुद्ध कौन थे ? तथा उन्होंने हमारे लिए क्या कीया है ? परन्तु, हम दोनों उनके बारे में कुछ खास नहीं जानते थे / उसी समय श्री डी. के . खापर्डे भी वहाँ आ गए और पहले तो बह मुझे देख कर दर गया क्योंकि मैं महारों को उनकी हरकतों की बजह से गालियाँ निकलता था / लेकिन इस बार मैंने खापर्डे को कुछ नहीं कहा , बल्कि यह पूछा कि बह अदालत में किस लिए आया है ? तो उसने जवाब दीया कि अदालत में अपना केस ( दीना भाना वाला ) सुनने को आया हूँ / तब मैंने उससे बाबा साहिब डॉ. आंबेडकर के बारे में पूछा, तो उसने बताया कि बाबा साहिब एक बहुत महान व्यक्ति थे और उन्होंने हमारे समाज के लिए बहुत कुछ कीया है तथा उन्होंने बहुत साडी पुस्तकें भी लिखी हैं / तब बाद में खापर्डे ने मुझे एक पुस्तक ला कर दी जिसका नाम " Annihilation of Castes " ( जात - पात का बीजनाश ) था / जिस में मैंने पढ़ा कि , " किस तरह पेशवा के राज समय महारों के गलों में मटके टांगे हुए होते थे और कमर के पीछे झाड़ू बंधे हुए होते थे , तांकि बह अपने पैरों के निशान मिटाते जाएँ तथा अपना थूक भी मटके में ही फेंकें / " वह पुस्तक मैंने 7 बार पढ़ी और मैं बाबा साहिब के आन्दोलन को पूरी तरह समझ गया / इस करके मैंने यहाँ महसूस कीया कि , " यदि तमन्ना सच्ची है तो रास्ते निकाल आते हैं , और यदि तमन्ना सच्ची नहीं है तो हजारों बहाने निकाल आते हैं / "
कुछ समय के बाद जब प्रबंधकों / ब्रह्मिनो को , दीना भाना के केस में मेरी मदद देने का पक्का पता चल गया, तो उन्होंने मुझे बुलाया और निर्देशक ( Director ) ने कहा कि , " डॉ. आंबेडकर एक बदमाश थे , क्योंकि उसने हमारे धर्म को बहुत नुकसान पहुँचाया है ", तो मैंने निर्देशक के इन शब्दों को नकारते हुए कहा कि, " मुझे आपकी Ph .D . की डिग्री की जरूरत नहीं है, बल्कि मैं अपनी B .Sc . की डिग्री को भी छोड़ सकता हूँ, परन्तु मैं बाबा साहिब जी के विरुद्ध कुछ भी नहीं सुनना चाहता /" इस तरह मैं, इन्साफ के लिए लड़ा और बाबा साहिब के जन्म दिन 14 अप्रैल की छुटी का ऐलान करवाया , परन्तु प्रबंधकों ने फेक्ट्री में उस दिन का ओवर टाइम ( over Time ) का ऐलान कर दीया / इन 42 महारों तह 6 भंगिओं ने भी बह ओवर टाइम लगाया /
अदालत की तरफ से हमारे दोनों केसों का फैसला दीना भाना के हक्क में हुआ तथा महार कलोनी में इस कारण ख़ुशी की बजह से बहुत जलसे हुए और " दादा साहिब गायकवाड जी " ने उन जलसों के प्रबंध में बहुत मदद की / इसके कारण फैक्ट्री के निर्देशक की बदली हो गई तथा उप - निर्देशक को नौकरी से निकाल दीया गया / जिस का पूना में हमारे लोगों के ऊपर बहुत प्रभाव पड़ा // महार लोगों को बाबा साहिब की विचारधारा का अच्छी तरह से पता था लेकिन बह करते कुच्छ नहीं थे / परन्तु अब बह मुझे , " उस्तादों का उस्ताद मान रहे हैं / "
इस तरह बाबा साहिब का मिशन पीछे चला गया और अपने पीछे चार तरह के अम्बेडकरवादी छोड़ गया ::---
(1 ) हरामी अंबेडकरवादी ( Bastard Ambedkarites )
(2 ) हरिजन अंबेडकरवादी ( Harijan Ambedkarites )
( 3 ) दो-चित्ते अंबेडकरवादी ( Double Minded Ambedkarits)
( 4 ) भोले - भाले अंबेडकरवादी ( Gullible Masses )
( 1 ) हरामी अंबेडकरवादी ( Bastard Ambedkarites ) ::-- यह वे लोग थे जिन को बाबा सहिबं ने ट्रेंड कीया और बह , बाबा साहिब के जीवत रहते तो , उनके साथ चलते रहे परन्तु उनके परिनिर्वाण के बाद , वह आंबेडकरवाद के दलाल बनकर मिशन को धोखा देने लग पड़े / वे हैं , भंडारे और काम्बले आदि , और वे पक्के अम्बेडकरवादी अब गाँधी के नाम पर अंबेडकर मिशन चला रहे हैं / " जस्टिस भोले , घनश्याम और तलवारकर " जो अंबेडकर मिशन सोसाइटी चलाते थे , अब वे सीटों के लिए इंदिरा गाँधी के पैर चाटते हैं / बाबा साहिब ने जिस कारवां को बड़ी मुश्किल से आगे चलाया था , परन्तु इन्हीं लोगों ने बाबा साहिब के मिशन को गांधीवाद के पैरों में फैंक दीया /
( 2 ) हरिजन अंबेडकरवादी ( Harijan Ambedkarites ) ::-- श्री भंडारे जो एक समय बाबा सहिब के मिशन के सिपाही थे, को जब कांग्रेस ने गवर्नर बना दीया तो और लोग कहने लगे कि उन्होंने तो छिक्का ( Sixer ) मारा है / जबकि वह , इंदिरा गाँधी के पैर / तलवे चाटने वाले बन गए थे / श्री उके (Uke ) और डॉ. लांगडे , जिन्होंने सिधारथ वेलफेयर क्लब बनाई थी , को बापू भवन से मिला दीया / श्री डोंगरे ने कहा कि बाबा साहिब का मिशन अब चल नहीं सकता , और वो सोच रहे हैं कि किस तरह से संजय गाँधी के नजदीक जाया जा सके और वे बाबा - बाबा चिल्लाते हुए , बापू भवन पहुँच गए / इस लिए यह दो तरह के लोग मिशन के वफादार नहीं हो सके /
( 3 ) दो-चित्ते अंबेडकरवादी ( Double Minded Ambedkarites ) ::-- असल में यह लोग ही बामसेफ का आधार हैं // यह लोग यदि अम्बेडकरवाद चलता है तो कुछ देना चाहते हैं / यह कुछ तो देने के लिए तैयार हैं , लेकिन सब कुछ नहीं / यदि यह सब कुछ देने को तयार होते तो , बाबा साहिब के मिशन को यह बुरे दिन देखने को ना मिलते / यह लोग केंद्र तथा राज्यों के सरकारी कर्मचारी हैं /
( 4 ) भोले - भाले अंबेडकरवादी ( Gullible Masses ) ::-- यह आम लोग हैं , जो आगे चल सकते हैं, यदि कोई इनको साथ लेकर चलने वाला हो /
आंबेडकरवाद सब कुछ देने के वगैर चल नहीं सकता / वे लोग जो मिशन के ठेकेदार थे, मिशन को आगे ले जाने में फेल हो गए हैं , इस लिए यह लोग उनके साथ नहीं लगे / दूसरी संसारक यंग ( Second World War ) के समय " चर्चिल "( Charchil ) ने कहा कि " इंगलैंड को खून (भाव, सब कुछ ) चाहिए " / इसी तरह श्री गुरु गोबिंद सिंह जी ने भी इन्हीं शर्तों के ऊपर ( भाव , सब कुछ देने वाले ) पाँच प्यारे चुने थे / उन्होंने अपनी शहीदी से सब कुछ कुर्बान कर दीया //
1947 को आजादी के बाद ब्राह्मन, बनिया और बड़ा जागीरदार शासक बन गए हैं , जो अपने हित्तों के लिए हमें पिछड़े ही रखना चाहते हैं , इस लिए वो हमारे दुश्मन हैं / इस लिए उनके ऐसे पक्के ढांचे / व्यवस्था का मुकाबला करना इन दो - चित्ते अंबेडकरवादियों का कुच्छ त्याग करना काफी नहीं था / इस तरह के हालातों ने मुझे ( कांशी राम ) सब कुछ त्याग करने के लिए तयार कर दीया और इस करके ये दो-चित्ते अंबेडकरवादी मेरी तरफ खींचे गए , क्योंकि बह भी कुछ देना चाहते थे / 1950 में ओले बाबु ( ole babu ) वकील, जो बाँके म्हार थे, उसका नागपुर में ‘ थोरे गुरु ( Thore Guru )’ जो बोना महार थे , ने विरोध कीया और बह आम तौर पर कहता था कि , ‘ अंबिया ‘ को देख लेंगे , यहाँ तक कि , ‘ बोरकर (Borkar )’ ने बाबा साहिब को हराया था / ‘ श्री खोब्रागडे ‘ की शह से लोग पर्चे बाँट रहे थे जिन पर लिखा था, " नागपुरी गुंडों से साबधान रहो ? " / पुनरी म्हार के ऊपर नाग पुरियों को कैसे बिठा सकते हैं ? और वे पर्चे आर . पी. आई . ( RPI ) के तीन ग्रुप , काम्बले , खापर्डे और गवई ग्रुपों की तरफ से निकाले गए थे , क्यों कि ‘ मधु परियार ( Madhu Pariyar )’ जो पुनरी महार था , को सेक्टरी जनरल ( Secretary General ) बनाया गया था //
साभार :: बाबा साहिब डॉ. अम्बेडकर जी का मिशन ( साहब श्री कांशी राम जी की नजर में ) में से By : R. R. Syan 3.2.1981
Posted by Sukhpal DHINGAN
T. V. Renukamma
Background & Personal Journey
- Renukamma herself was dedicated as a Devadasi at the age of 18, enduring the harsh realities of the practice (which, though outlawed in India since the 1980s–90s, persists in parts of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Maharashtra).
- She belongs to a Dalit (Scheduled Caste) background, typical of most Devadasis in South India (often from Madiga or similar communities facing extreme socio-economic disadvantage).
- Despite the trauma and exploitation, she transformed her experience into activism, resisting the system and becoming a voice for liberation and empowerment.
- She is a mother and has spoken openly about her life, emphasizing that Devadasis are not "ignorant villagers" but possess unique knowledge and resilience.
Activism & Key Contributions
Renukamma's activism centers on:
- Ending the Devadasi system and rehabilitating survivors through government support, pensions, housing, skill training, and livelihoods (demanding they be treated as skilled workers, not charity cases).
- Social security and welfare for Devadasis and their children (e.g., education, healthcare, employment opportunities).
- Anti-alcohol campaigns: Participated in major protests like the 2019 Madya Nishedha Andolana Padayatra (Liquor Prohibition March) from Raichur to Bengaluru, where thousands of rural women (many affected by alcoholism in families) demanded a total ban on liquor sales.
- Dalit and progressive movements: Active in broader fights against caste oppression, patriarchy, and division among movements; forefront in Davanagere's Dalit activism.
- Leadership in State Devadasi Vimochana Sangha: As president, she organizes protests, collaborates with NGOs, and lobbies governments for policy changes (e.g., extending benefits to all Devadasis, not just registered ones).
- Advocacy for employment over pity: In interviews, she has stressed, "Give us any kind of work, not charity... We are skilled workers."
Her efforts highlight how Devadasi women (over 90% Dalit in Karnataka) face ongoing exploitation despite legal bans, with estimates of thousands still affected in border regions.
Notable Events & Challenges
- In 2019, during the liquor prohibition padayatra, a fellow activist named Renukamma (possibly a different comrade or reference to solidarity) tragically died in a road accident, underscoring the risks of grassroots activism.
- She has led demands for comprehensive government aid, including in 2023 statements urging support for all Devadasis without discrimination.
- Her work intersects with feminist, Dalit, and anti-liquor movements, often collaborating with figures like freedom fighters and journalists.
Legacy
Renukamma is celebrated as a resilient fighter who turned personal suffering into collective resistance. Featured in media like Deccan Herald's "22 in 2022" changemakers series, NewsClick interviews, and reports on Devadasi rehabilitation, she represents grassroots empowerment for marginalized Dalit women. Her ongoing struggle pushes for dignity, economic independence, and eradication of exploitative traditions.
Note: There are other activists with similar names (e.g., Renuka Ray, a freedom fighter; or others in Maoist or different contexts), but based on consistent references to "Renukamma" in activist profiles, this matches the Karnataka-based Devadasi rights leader. If this refers to someone else, more details would help clarify.
Sources: Deccan Herald, NewsClick, Times of India, Feminism in India, VillageSquare, and related reports on Devadasi activism in Karnataka.
Thanthai N. Sivaraj
Thanthai N. Sivaraj and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar
Rao Bahadur N. Sivaraj.
Born: September 29, 1892.
Died: September 29, 1964.
* Often called as "Right hand of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar".
* Also called as 'Thanthai' which means 'Father' in Tamil.
Thanthai N. Sivaraj and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar at Bombay
Served as:
* Advocate, High Court Madras;
* Mayor of Madras (1945-46);
* Member, Madras Legislative Council (1926-37);
* Member, Central Legislative Assembly (1937-47); * Member, Justice Party (1917-26);
* 1st President of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar's "All India SCF". AISCF was a first all India political party exclusively for the depressed Class. SCF was founded by Babasaheb in a national convention of the Scheduled Class held at Nagpur during 17-20 July 1942. It was presided by Rao Bahadur N. Shivraj. And he was elected as its 1st President.
* 'Jai bheem' - The English weekly published by him in Madras.
* When the Republican Party of India was founded in 1957, he was again elected as its 1st president and continued working to establish the party's organization until he died in 1964.
Thanthai N. Sivaraj and Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru
* Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar himself Called often his wife Annai Meenambal as "Own sister".
* His wife Annai Meenambal was the 1st Scheduled Class woman president of South India SCF. Meenambal Sivaraj presided over the SCF women’s conference held at Madras, in 1944, which was attended by Dr. Babasaheb. She also presided over the 'All India SCF' women’s conference held at Bombay, on May 6th, 1945.
Thanthai N. Sivaraj
Here I have given some few words address by the President of AISCF - Rao Bahadur N. Sivaraj :
".... We are the real sons of the soil in India. Our blood is pure and heart is sound. We are the back bone even today of the economic structure of this Country. We are hard and honest workers. We are Tolerant and a generous nature and we have in our daily life a real democratic outlook. We have also our own culture, tradition and literature. We are proud people and in-spite of the attempts, subtle and open, made through ages to subdue and absorb us, we have remained as an independent group. This has brought about racial antagonism between us and the people called the Hindus. In this antagonism we have to seek the origin of Untouchability and not in their religion of which it now forms a plank. I do not want to go into the methods resorted to by the Hindus to exterminate our people. But I may say that the treatment of the Australian Bushman by the Colonizers, that of the Negroes by the Ku-Klusk Klan and of the Jews by the Nazis is less heinous than the suffering we were subjected to in the name of Religion, Caste and the like by the Hindus. It is slow Poisoning".
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar on Thanthai Sivaraj:
"In my place we have our friend Rao Bahadur N. Sivaraj presiding over this conference. He has long laboured in the cause of our people. He represents our people in the Central Legislature. By his education there are very few who are as well qualified as he is. He is B.A., B.L of the Madras University. He has been practicing lawyer and he has been a professor of Law in Madras for over ten years. Indeed, a better person than him could not have been found to preside over this conference, and I am indeed very happy that he has been chosen to take my place."
[ At Nagpur, All India DC Conference, July 1942 ]
With regards,
Ambeth,
Dharmapuri,
Tamil Nadu.
Thenmozhi Soundararajan
Background and Identity
- Birth and Family: Born in Oakland, California (some sources note Los Angeles area), in the United States. Her parents migrated from rural Tamil Nadu, India—specifically near Madurai or from Coimbatore region—in 1975, fleeing caste oppression to become among the early Tamil immigrant families in the US.
- Community: She belongs to a Dalit family (historically "untouchable" or the lowest rung in the Hindu caste system, classified as Scheduled Caste/SC in India). She learned of her Dalit identity around age 10 (fifth grade) while researching the Bhopal disaster's impact on untouchables and discussing it with her mother. This revelation, coupled with personal experiences of caste-based exclusion (e.g., being asked to eat separately during a childhood playdate to avoid "tainting" others), shaped her lifelong activism.
- This positions her squarely in the category of an activist from a disadvantaged, historically marginalized, and low-status Dalit/SC community—similar to Suraj Yengde, Cynthia Stephen, Kalekuri Prasad, B. Shyam Sunder, Bhagat Amar Nath, Vijay Puli, and Moni Rani Das discussed earlier. Her family fled caste apartheid in India, but she encountered its persistence in the diaspora through intergenerational trauma, silence, and recreated hierarchies in homes, schools, and workplaces.
Education and Early Career
- Attended the University of California, Berkeley, where she produced a documentary thesis on caste and violence against women, publicly revealing her Dalit identity.
- Cofounded Third World Majority, an international media training collective empowering disenfranchised groups (including people of color, queer, and working-class communities) to tell their stories through technology and storytelling.
Activism and Key Contributions
- Founding Equality Labs (2015): She is the cofounder and Executive Director of Equality Labs, described as the largest Dalit civil rights organization in the United States. It is a transnational South Asian feminist organization using community research, political organizing, culture-shifting art, digital security, popular education, and advocacy to end caste apartheid, gender-based violence, Islamophobia, white supremacy, and religious intolerance.
- Mobilized thousands of South Asian Americans across castes, faiths, and generations.
- Conducted the groundbreaking 2018 nationwide survey "Caste in the United States" (first of its kind), revealing widespread discrimination: 25% of Dalits faced verbal/physical assault, 1 in 3 Dalit students faced educational bias, 2 in 3 experienced workplace unfairness, and 60% encountered derogatory caste jokes/comments.
- Pushed for policy wins, including caste protections in workplaces, universities, and anti-discrimination laws (e.g., influencing California's efforts and Seattle's 2023 ordinance banning caste discrimination).
- Other Initiatives: Cofounded Dalit History Month (celebrated globally in April); launched #DalitWomenFight for amplifying Dalit women's voices; provides digital security support to activists and minority groups facing online harassment/hacking.
- Broader Advocacy: Builds solidarities with Black, Indigenous, Latinx, queer, femme, and other oppressed communities; critiques Brahmanical patriarchy and caste's global persistence (e.g., in diaspora marriages, tech workplaces like Cisco/Google cases); speaks at UN forums, universities, and media on caste as "anti-Asian hate" and intergenerational trauma.
Major Works
- The Trauma of Caste: A Dalit Feminist Meditation on Survivorship, Healing, and Abolition (2022, North Atlantic Books): Her debut book combines memoir, political theory, history, and guided meditations. It explores caste as trauma rooted in Brahminical structures, calls for abolition through healing, collective care, and cross-movement solidarity (Dalit-Black-Indigenous alliances), and offers a Dalit Buddhist feminist lens.
- Other contributions: Essays, films, hip-hop/music, transmedia storytelling (songwriting, art); featured in The New York Times, Washington Post, Harper's Bazaar, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, and podcasts.
Recognition and Legacy
- Praised as "the most profound and prophetic Dalit American voice of her generation" and a leading North American Dalit activist.
- Received awards like the Vaikom Award (for caste equity work); featured in films, documentaries, and global forums.
- Continues as a commentator on religion, race, caste, gender, technology, and justice via her website (dalitdiva.com) and Equality Labs.
In summary, Thenmozhi Soundararajan is a groundbreaking Dalit American leader who transformed personal and familial experiences of caste oppression into powerful transnational advocacy. Through Equality Labs, her book, surveys, and creative organizing, she has elevated caste as a critical civil rights issue in the US and beyond, fostering healing, policy change, and abolitionist futures while centering Dalit feminist resilience and intersectional solidarity. Her legacy is one of visionary resistance against systemic dehumanization, making caste visible as a form of global oppression demanding urgent, collective action.
Thol. Thirumavalavan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thol.Thirumavalavan
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
Incumbent
Assumed office
30 May 2019
Preceded by M. Chandrakasi
Constituency Chidambaram
In office
31 July 2009 – 17 May 2014
Preceded by E. Ponnuswamy
Succeeded by M. Chandrakasi
Constituency Chidambaram
Member of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
In office
14 May 2001 – 12 May 2006
Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa
Preceded by S. Puratchimani
Succeeded by K. Selvam
Constituency Mangalur
Personal details
Born 17 August 1962 (age 58)
Anganur, Madras State, India
Nationality India
Political party Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi
Residence Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Controversies
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thol.Thirumavalavan
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
Incumbent
Assumed office
30 May 2019
Preceded by M. Chandrakasi
Constituency Chidambaram
In office
31 July 2009 – 17 May 2014
Preceded by E. Ponnuswamy
Succeeded by M. Chandrakasi
Constituency Chidambaram
Member of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
In office
14 May 2001 – 12 May 2006
Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa
Preceded by S. Puratchimani
Succeeded by K. Selvam
Constituency Mangalur
Personal details
Born 17 August 1962 (age 58)
Anganur, Madras State, India
Nationality India
Political party Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi
Residence Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Dr.Thirumavalavan or Thol. Thirumavalavan (born 17 August 1962) is an Indian politician and Tamil activist, Member of Parliament in 15th Lok Sabha and the current President of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi party in the state of Tamil Nadu in India.. He rose to prominence in the 1990s as a Dalit leader, and formally entered politics in 1999. His political platform centres on ending the caste-based oppression of the Dalit, which he argues can best be achieved through reviving and reorienting. He has also expressed support for Tamil nationalist movements and groups elsewhere.
He did his Bachelor's course in chemistry, master's degree in Criminology and pursued law at Madras Law College. He completed his Ph.D. at Manonmanium Sundaranar University and was awarded his doctorate in 2018. He worked in the government's Forensic Department as a scientific assistant, from which he later resigned in 1999 to contest polls. He contested the 1999 and 2004 general elections unsuccessfully and won the 2009 general elections from the Chidambaram constituency. He won the 2001 state assembly elections in alliance with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), a post from which he resigned in 2004 quoting ideological differences with DMK. He is an author, and has also acted in Tamil cinema.
His confrontation with Pattali Makkal Katchi and its leader Ramadoss has resulted in frequent clashes between Dalits and the Vanniyars. Both parties have accused each other of instigating violence against the other community. Both Thirumavalavan and Ramadoss reconciled their differences and worked together during the period of 2004 to 2009, when they were part of the same electoral alliance.
Dalit activism
In 1988, when working for the government's Forensic Department in the southern city of Madurai, he met Malaichamy, the Tamil Nadu state convenor of the Dalit Panthers Iyyakkam (DPI), an organisation that fought for the rights of Dalits. The next year, following Malaichamy's death, Thirumalavan was elected the leader of the DPI. He designed a new flag for the organisation in 1990. As part of his work, he also began visiting Dalit villages in the Madurai region, and began learning about the problems faced by Dalits. The killing of two Dalits in 1992, he says, made him more militant. Against the background of increasing Dalit assertiveness, he emerged as one of two major Dalit leaders in Tamil Nadu, with a large base of grassroots support, particularly in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu. During early 1997, he was suspended from his government job on account of his increased political activity. He resigned from his job formally in August 1999 to contest in the 1999 Indian general elections.
Political office
The DPI boycotted elections until 1999 general elections. It is unclear why the party did not contest elections till 1999. The decision of contesting the election in 1999 was considered controversial within the party. Thirumavalavan allied with G. K. Moopanar's Tamil Maanila Congress and represented the Third Front. The party contested in the Parliamentary constituencies of Chidambaram and Perambalur. Thirumavalavan contested in Chidambaram, and managed to poll 225,000 votes in his debut elections. Thirumavalavan alleged in one of his interviews on 22 February 2000 that the opposing DMK administration used National Goonda Act and National Security Act to detain cadres of his party. The phase also culminated the rivalry between Thirumavalavan's party and his competitors in the Chidambaram Constituency, the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK). PMK is a Vanniyar caste party that has a strong presence in the northern districts of Tamil Nadu. The election in the constituency was marked by violence from both the parties. Houses of Dalits were burnt and Dalits in the region were denied employment, while Vanniyar houses were also burnt.
In 2001 state elections Viduthalai Chiruthaigal allied with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and contested seven seats. Since the PMK joined the AIADMK alliance, the VCK had to join the DMK led alliance. There were ideological differences in the alliance as it had BJP, which was earlier criticised by Thirumavalavan. Thirumavalavan was elected from Mangalore Constituency to State Legislative Assembly. During the 2004 general elections, he resigned his MLA post on 3 February 2004 quoting humiliation meted out by the alliance partners, especially the DMK. He also quoted that he quit as he contested in the symbol of DMK during the 2001 assembly elections. Thirumavalavan contested once again from Chidambaram in 2004 general elections, this time with Janata Dal (United) and polled 257,000 votes and lost by a low margin.
During 2004, after efforts from N. Sethuraman from MMK, Thirumavalavan and Ramadoss, the leader of PMK joined hands through a Tamil protection movement named Tamil Paathukappu Iyakkam. He joined the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) alliance in the 2006 elections to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. His party was recognised by the Election Commission of India as a registered political party on 2 March 2006. Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi contested in nine seats in Tamil Nadu and 2 seats in Pondicherry. The party won two of them, namely Durai Ravikumar from Kattumannarkoil, and Selvaperunthagai from Mangalore constituency. The alliance with ADMK broke in 2006, when he started allying with the DMK. His party contested in the local bodies elections in DMK alliance in 2006 and won five chairman to various municipalities. In the 2009 general election, Thirumavalavan allied with DMK and was elected to Parliament from the Chidhambaram Lok Sabha constituency in his third attempt.
Elections contested and positions held
ElectionsConstituencyPartyResultVote percentageOpposition CandidateOpposition PartyOpposition vote percentage1999 Indian general election Chidambaram TMC (M) Lost 31.17 E. Ponnuswamy PMK 47.68
2001 Tamil Nadu state assembly election Mangalore DMK Won 43.71 S. Puratchimani TMC 46.49
2004 Indian general election Chidambaram JD (U) Lost 46.20 E. Ponnuswamy PMK 58.45
2009 Indian general election Chidambaram VCK Won 49.3 E. Ponnuswamy PMK 37.91
2014 Indian general election Chidambaram VCK Lost 27.9 M. Chandrakasi AIADMK 39.9
2016 Tamil Nadu state assembly election Kattumannar Koil VCK Lost 29.27 Murugumaran AIADMK 29.33
2019 Indian general election Chidambaram VCK Won 50 P. Chandrasekar AIADMK 49
2001: Elected to Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly for the first time.
May 2009: Elected to Lok Sabha (fifteenth) for the first time
May 2019: Elected to Lok Sabha 17th for the Second time
31 August 2009:Member of committee on commerce and member of consultative committee on ministry of social justice and empowerment.
Political views
Thirumalavan's politics are grounded in a retheorisation of Tamil nationalism, which seeks to turn it into a force for the elimination of the caste system. Oppression of Dalits, he says, is institutionalised in India, including Tamil Nadu. Although the Dravidian parties which dominate the politics of Tamil Nadu are ideologically committed to the eradication of the caste system, Thirumavalavan argues that they have in practice drifted away from the original ideals of the Dravidian movement. Their policies, he says, have mainly benefitted the middle castes, and had actually led to an increase in the oppression of Dalits, with the middle castes replacing the Brahmins as the oppressor. Dalits cannot and should not expect much help from the Dravidian parties. The solution, according to Thirumavalavan, lies in Tamil nationalism. Caste oppression, he says, can only be ended by building resistance from below, through appealing to Tamil sentiments, as happened in the early days of the Dravidian movement under Periyar E. V. Ramasamy. If a properly Tamil government is formed in Tamil Nadu, he says, caste oppression will immediately disappear.
Dr. Thol Thirumalavan is also a staunch critic of Hindu nationalism and, in particular, Hindutva. Hindutva, to Thirumavalavan, is the essence of the oppressive Indian state. Hindutva, he argues, has through religion worked to homogenise Tamil society with that of northern India. This, he says, has led to Tamil losing its identity. Ethnic Tamil nationalism, in his view, is essential to combat Hindutva.
Thirumavalavan's views on the importance of the Tamil identity have also led him to strongly support Tamil secessionist groups in Sri Lanka, including the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a militant secessionist group who are formally banned as a terrorist organisation in India. He has criticised India for assisting the Sri Lankan army during the Sri Lankan military operations against the LTTE in 2008 and 2009, and has called upon the government of Tamil Nadu to take steps to safeguard the Tamils of Sri Lanka. On 15 January 2009 he started a hunger fast near Chennai (Maraimalai Adigal Nagar) for the cause of Sri Lankan Tamils.After four days, on 19 January he called off the fast, saying that it had had no effect on the Indian government, and calling for a hartal in its place. He was a part of the 10 member MP team that visited the war-affected areas and transitional centres in Vavuniya on 11 October 2009. The delegation visited various part of Jaffna district and had a meeting at the Jaffna public library.
In 2009, Tamilnadu's chief minister MR Kalaignar M.Karunanidhi passed a resolution in principle for 3% inner reservation for Arunthathiyar community. Mr.Thol. Thirumavalavan welcomed this inner reservation and as a token of appreciation VCK awarded Mr.Kalaignar with Ambedkar Sudar award which is considered to be the most prestigious award from Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi.
There was a case filed against this reservation and in Aug 2020 Supreme court confirmed that the Arunthathiyar reservation within reservation is constitutionally valid. Mr.Thol.Thirumavalavan welcomed this historical judgement.
Literature and popular culture
Thiruma's books in Tamil include Aththumeeru (Transgress), Tamizhargal Hindukkala? (Are the Tamils, Hindus?), Eelam Enral Puligal, Puligal Enral Eelam (Eelam means Tigers, Tigers means Eelam), Hindutuvathai Veraruppom (We Shall Uproot Hindutva), Saadhiya Sandharpavaadha Aniyai Veezhtuvom (We Shall Defeat the Casteist Opportunist Alliance). Two of his books have been published in English by Stree-Samya Books, Kolkata: Talisman: Extreme Emotions of Dalit Liberation (political essays written for 34 weeks in the India Today magazine's Tamil edition) and Uproot Hindutva: The Fiery Voice of the Liberation Panthers (contains 12 of his speeches). In 2018, he released a book 'Amaipai Thiralvom' based on his political experiences which received warm welcome, positive reviews and also criticism from various Intellectual sources
Thirumavalavan played a guest appearance as a Tamil militant leader in Sri Lanka in his first film Anbu Thozhi (2007), directed by L. G. Ravichandran. Thirumavalavan was cast in the leading role of a film titled Kalaham to play the character of Balasingham, a law college professor, which was being directed by Kalanjiyam. The film later failed to materialize. He also appeared in a song in Mansoor Ali Khan's Ennai Paar Yogam Varum (2007). In 2011, he played the role of the Chief Minister in Minsaram.
Filmography
YearFilmRoleNotesRef(s)2007 Anbu Thozhi Karuppu Guest appearance
2007 Ennai Paar Yogam Varum Muslim singer Special appearance
2011 Minsaram Thamizharasan
Controversies
In the northern districts of Tamil Nadu with a Vanniyar majority, there are frequent clashes between Dalits and Vanniyars. During the 1999 general elections, there was intense violence in the region with casualties on both sides. Thirumavalavan accused Pattali Makkal Katchi, a Vanniyar caste-based party and its founder Ramadoss of instigating violence among the Vanniyars that result in the attack of Dalits. While Ramadoss alleges that Thirumavalavan encourages his party men to have sham inter-caste love marriage, Thirumavalavan accuses Ramadoss of showing caste superiority and instigating violence against Dalits. Both Thirumavalavan and Ramadoss reconciled and worked together during the period of 2004 to 2009, when they were part of the same electoral alliance. After 2009, when PMK split out of the DMK combine, the mutual confrontation started again.
During December 2012, Ramadoss formed an all community safeguard forum comprising 51 intermediate castes. He said he would not have any further alliance with Thirumavalavan and his party. He alleged that the Dalits take undue advantage over other communities using the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act and the Act should be abolished. During April 2013, after the party conference of PMK in Mahabalipuram, there were widespread attacks on the Dalits in Dharmapuri district that resulted in two Dalits being killed. Both PMK and VCK accused each other for the mishap, but Ramadoss was arrested after the orders from the state government for the hate speech and damages to the state property during the violence. Thirumavalavan accused Ramadoss that his loss in the electoral base after the 2009 general elections and 2011 assembly elections has resulted in his going back to instigating caste violence.
The BSP was floated in Tamil Nadu in December 2008 with the same ideology as in Uttar Pradesh to unite the Dalits and Brahmins. Some of the prominent members of VCK like Selvaperunthagai, who was a MLA in Mangalore constituency, joined BSP. Thirumavalavan, in his response, claimed that the BSP is no threat to VCK vote bank and that the BSP has dumped the principles of Ambedkar, Kanshi Ram and Periyar. Some of the senior journalists also believed that BSP will not have a firm hold in Tamil Nadu to garner the 19% Dalit vote bank in Tamil Nadu as it did in Uttar Pradesh, as the vote bank is already split by the VCK and Puthia Tamizhagam party.
The VCK, in a plan to start a television channel, asked the party men to donate gold on the occasion of the 50th birthday of Thirumavalavan. There were also Thulabaram type of functions where equal weight of Thirmavalavan was donated. This was subject to wider criticism, drawing parallels with the exotic celebrations organised by Mayawati, the leader of BSP in Uttar Pradesh. Thirumavalavan clarified that the idea was to collect donations for the party and that his party did not enjoy support from rich people as with the case of other parties. As of 4 October 2012, the party got 10 kg (22 lb) of gold from seven centres that included Puducherry that had 1.5 kg (3.3 lb).
T. K. Madhavan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
T. K. Madhavan
Statue of T. K. Madhavan
Born 2 September 1885
Died 27 April 1930 (aged 44)
Nationality Indian
Occupation Social reformer, Freedom fighter
Spouse(s) Narayani Amma
Children 2
T. K. Madhavan (2 September 1885 – 27 April 1930) was an Indian social reformer, journalist and revolutionary who was involved with the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP). He came from Kerala and led the struggle against untouchability which was known as Vaikom Satyagraha.
Early life
Madhavan was born on 2 September 1885 at Karthikappally, son of Kesavan Channar of Alummoottil family and Ummini Amma of Komalezhathu family. Alummoottil family was one of the wealthiest in the state of Travancore that time. His maternal uncle was Komalezhathu Kunjupillai Chekavar, a member of the [[Sree Moolam Popular Assembly|Sree Moolam Praja Sabha
Career
In 1917 he took over the daily newspaper, Desabhimani. He was involved in the Temple Entry Movement, which fought for the entry of oppressed and low-caste communities to the temples of Kerala. He fought for the right of temple entry for all. In 1918 Madhavan was elected to the Sree Moolam Praja Sabha, a legislative council of Travancore. In the same year he made his maiden speech at the Sree Moolam Assembly in lieu of his uncle Komalezhathu Kunjupillai Chekavar. He presented a resolution seeking permission of temple entry and right to worship to all people irrespective of caste and community. He moved the resolution for the eradication of untouchability in the kakkinada session of Indian National Congress in 1923. In 1924, Vaikom Sathyagraha was started under the leadership of Madhavan, K. Kelappan, and K.P.Kesava Menon to get the right of oppressed class of people to travel through the road in front of Vaikom Mahadeva temple. Madhavan and Kesava Menon were arrested and imprisoned. Finally, the Maharaja of Travancore agreed to open the road to all class of people and the Vaikom Sathyagraha was a great success. However, he had to continue his struggle for the temple entry. In 1927 he was made organizing secretary of the SNDP Yogam. T.K Madhavan formed a voluntary organization "Dharma Bhata Sangham" to strengthen the activities of SNDP Yogam.
It was T K Madhavan who wrote the biography of Dr. Palpu.
Meeting with Gandhi
He met Gandhi at Tirunelveli, and persuaded him to visit Vaikom. Vaikom Satyagraha was a struggle of the backward class people of Kerala for establishing their right to walk through the temple roads of Vaikom, a small temple town in South Kerala. Gandhi agreed to include the issue in the agenda of the Indian National Congress.
Death
Madhavan died at his residence on 27 April 1930. A monument was raised in his honour at Chettikulangara. In 1964 T.K.Madhava Memorial College was founded at Nangiarkulangara.
Thycaud Ayya Swamikal
Blog by Kanam Pillai
The Great Vellala Yogi Sivarajayogi Ayya Swami Thiruvadikal was the Guru of
Ayya Vaikundan, Sri Narayana Guru , Chattampi Swamikal and Ayyankali.
He was the First and the Greatest social reformer of Kerala.
He was a Yogi cum Family man. Ayya Swamikal started "Panthbhojanam" (inte-dining) in Kerala during 19th century even before Mahatma Gandhi thought of it.
He argued that any Yogi could install idols in temples, that inspired Sreenarayan Guru to install idols of Siva.
"Oru jathy, oru matham ,oru Daivom" is the Malayalam translation of Ayyaswamy’s teaching . Sri Narayan Guru popularized the slogan.
The Thycaud Ayyaswami Trust & Temples are made in memory of this
Great Guru of Guru.
The original name of Ayya Swamikal was Subbarayan.
He lived during the period of 1814-1909.
His parents were Sri. Muthukumaran (Nakalapuram-TN) and Smty .Rugmini Ammal (Kollam). He was Manager of Thycaud Residency.
His disciples
Resident McGregor
Chempazhanthy Nanu (Sree NarayanaGuru,
Kollur Kunjan Pillai (Chattampi Swamikal
Swayam Prakasa Yogini Amma Kollathamma
Ayyan Kali
A.R.Raja Raja Varma,
Chithramezhuthu
RaviVarma
Appavu Vakil
Thottahil Raman Kaniyar
Manakkattu Bhavani
Petta Fernandez
Thakkala Peer Mohammad
Velutheri Kesavan Vaidhyar
Makkadi Labba etc.etc ( more than 50 )
His works
Brahmothara Khandom
Ulloor amarntha Guhan
Ramayanam Bala khandom
Ente Kasi yathraPazhani vybhavom
Hanuman pamalai Ramayanam pattu
Ujjayani mahakali pancharatnam
Thiruvaroor murukan
Kumarakovil murukan
The Doctrine he propagated
"Intha ulakathile orae oru jathy than, Orae oru matham than, orae oru kadavul than”
References:
1.Sivara- jayogi Thycaud Ayyaswami Thuruvadikal- (1960) A.C.Raja
2.Brhamasree Thycaud Ayyaswamikal-Ayyamission(1974)- Thiruvananthapuram
3.Sree Narayana Guru Sathavarshika Smaraka Grantham(1954)
4.Upahara Mala (1950)-Salkavi P.K.Kesavan
5.Sree Narayan Gurudevan(1971)-P.Parameswaran-
6.Guru (1996)-K.surendran
7.Thiruvit- hamkoorile Mahanmar(1121)-Sooranadu Kunjan Pillai
8.Albutha Sidhan Sree Narayana Parama Guru(1974)-VidhvanK.E.Neelakon- dan
9.Vivekodayam (1084 Karkidakom)-Kesari BalaKrishna Pillai
10.upahara Malika( 20.4.1950)-Kesari Bala Krishna Pillai
11.Ayyankali-T.P.H.Che- ntharassery
12.Chattampi swamikalum Navothanavum-K.G.neelakandan Nair
13.Sree Narayan Paramahamsan-Pandit K.K.Panicker
14.Narayana guru (1978)-Prof.M.K.Sanu
Dr. Umakant
Early Life & Education
- Born in 1970.
- Holds an M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. in Political Science from the Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi.
- His academic background is rooted in political science, with a focus on caste, race, discrimination, and human rights.
Activism & Organizational Involvement
- Founding member of the United Dalit Students’ Forum (UDSF) at JNU, established on 6 December 1991 (Mahaparinirvan Diwas of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar).
- UDSF is a socio-cultural organization inspired by Phule-Ambedkarite ideology, advocating for students from marginalized groups (Dalits, Adivasis, etc.).
- As a student activist, he led legal campaigns, protests, and movements against anti-reservation forces and caste discrimination on campus and beyond.
- Has been actively engaged in Dalit and caste-related issues for decades as both a scholar and social activist.
- Associated with broader Dalit human rights networks, including contributions to the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) and international advocacy (e.g., referenced in reports to UN treaty bodies and International Dalit Solidarity Network).
- Represented the Dalit cause at various national and international levels, including lectures, seminars, and collaborations on transnational activism.
Key Contributions & Writings
- Co-editor/author of influential works on caste and discrimination:
- Caste, Race and Discrimination: Discourses in International Context (2004, co-edited with Prof. Sukhadeo Thorat) — a widely cited book exploring caste in global human rights frameworks.
- Forthcoming book on anti-Dalit violence, particularly in Bihar during the 1980s and 1990s.
- Regular commentator on current issues:
- Critiqued the Supreme Court's 2024 ruling on SC/ST sub-categorization as "disappointing," arguing it reflects upper-caste mentality treating reservations as "charity" rather than rights.
- Opposed the "creamy layer" concept for SC/ST as a "bogus" and "atrocious" policy that undermines affirmative action.
- Written on why caste-based reservation remains necessary, the ineffectiveness of earlier laws like the Untouchability Offences Act, and the need for stronger enforcement of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
- Contributed to reports, blogs (e.g., Insight Young Voices), and alternate submissions to UN bodies on Dalit human rights.
Lectures & Public Speaking
Dr. Umakant is a sought-after speaker on Dalit issues:
- Delivered lectures such as:
- "Dalits in South Asia: An Overview" (2020, for TISS Mumbai students — covering caste's pernicious influence in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka).
- "Relevance of Babasaheb Dr. Ambedkar Today" (to Ambedkarites in Canada).
- Talks on social justice, Indian Muslims, and caste discrimination.
- Featured in platforms like YouTube (JNU events, public talks), Spotify podcasts, and human rights forums (e.g., Asia Human Rights Commission series on "India: A Nation Without Social Justice").
Legacy & Views
Dr. Umakant embodies the Phule-Ambedkarite tradition, emphasizing education, legal advocacy, and grassroots mobilization against caste hierarchies. He views reservations and anti-atrocity measures as essential tools for social justice, not concessions, and critiques policies that dilute them. His work bridges academia, activism, and policy advocacy, inspiring generations of Dalit students and scholars.
He remains an independent voice in New Delhi, continuing to write, speak, and advocate for Dalit dignity, equality, and human rights.
Sources: Countercurrents.org (2024 interviews/articles), International Dalit Solidarity Network, YouTube lectures (TISS, JNU events), South Asia Times, Human Rights Asia, academic publications (e.g., Caste, Race and Discrimination), and related Dalit rights archives.
Vijay Puli
Background and Identity
- Origins: Born and raised in India, where he experienced severe caste-based discrimination, violence, and social exclusion typical of Dalits (Scheduled Caste/SC community). He has shared personal stories of facing untouchability practices, such as segregated facilities, and the pain of systemic rejection.
- Migration: Moved to Toronto, Canada, in 2006 with his wife and young daughter, initially hoping to escape caste prejudice. However, he quickly realized caste hierarchies persisted in the diaspora—e.g., his daughter faced caste-based bullying at school (a classmate refused friendship due to her caste), and he encountered slurs and discrimination from fellow South Asians.
- Community: As a Dalit, he belongs to a disadvantaged, historically marginalized, and low-status SC/Dalit community in the Indian caste system—facing untouchability, economic deprivation, and social boycott. This aligns him with activists like B. Shyam Sunder, Bhagat Amar Nath, Kalekuri Prasad, Cynthia Stephen, and Suraj Yengde (all Dalit/SC figures from prior discussions), contrasting with forward-caste or non-Indian activists.
Education and Professional Journey
- Holds a Master’s degree in Social Work.
- In India: Worked in community development with organizations like UNDP (as Assistant Project Manager) and ActionAid International (as Project Coordinator), focusing on uplifting Dalits, Adivasis, backward castes, people with disabilities, women, and children.
- Notably mobilized rural Dalit communities to eradicate the discriminatory "two-glass system" in tea shops/hotels (separate glasses for different castes).
- In Canada: Practices as a social worker (one of the first Dalit social workers in the country), providing services like family assessments, counseling, service plans, referrals, and advocacy for marginalized groups (BIPOC, Dalits, Adivasis, disabled people, women, children).
- Founder & Executive Director of SADAN (South Asian Dalit Adivasi Network Canada), established in 2019 (registered as non-profit in 2020) with co-founder Chinnaiah Jangam. SADAN advocates for Dalit and Adivasi rights, fights descent-based caste discrimination in Canada, promotes dignity/political equality, and builds awareness through events, education, and policy work.
Activism and Key Contributions
- Core Focus: Combating caste discrimination transnationally—highlighting its persistence in diaspora communities (e.g., in workplaces, schools, housing, marriages, and social interactions). He emphasizes caste's intersection with race, religion, and other oppressions.
- Major Achievements:
- Campaigned for over six years leading to the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) policy position (2023) recognizing caste-based discrimination under existing human rights protections.
- Instrumental in the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) passing the first-ever Canadian legislative resolution (March 2023) acknowledging and vowing to combat caste discrimination in schools—sparked partly by his daughter's experiences.
- Organized events like Dalit History Month celebrations (e.g., Burlington 2025 declaration, themed "Caste & Race in Global Context," with speakers, youth activists like his daughter Alayna Puli, and performances).
- Co-authored pieces critiquing "Hinduphobia" campaigns used to suppress anti-caste voices and defend caste hierarchies.
- Speaks globally (e.g., Al Jazeera op-eds, Guardian interviews, UBC/Anne Murphy research on caste in Canada).
- Public Presence: Featured in major media (Guardian, Al Jazeera, Toronto Star, CBC, FairPlanet); contributes writings on caste equity; involved in awareness events, panels (e.g., on interracial/cultural boundaries), and collaborations with scholars/activists.
In summary, Vijay Puli is a resilient Dalit activist who transformed personal experiences of caste oppression in India into transnational advocacy in Canada. Through SADAN, social work, and policy advocacy, he has helped secure historic recognitions of caste discrimination, empowered diaspora communities, and pushed for dignity and equality for Dalits/Adivasis—making him a vital figure in contemporary anti-caste movements outside India. His work underscores that caste "travels" with migrants, demanding global resistance for true freedom from oppression.
Vattikota Alwar Swamy
Vattikota Alwar Swamy (1 November 1915 – 5 February 1961) was a Telugu writer, human rights activist, communist leader, journalist and publisher.
📜 Early Life & Background
Birth: Born in 1895 in Chinna Akkayyapalem village, Visakhapatnam district, Madras Presidency (now in Andhra Pradesh).
Caste: Belonged to the Mala community, a Scheduled Caste (SC) historically subjected to severe untouchability and oppression.
Education: Despite systemic discrimination, he studied up to the 4th standard in a local school but was largely self-educated through extensive reading and engagement with social and religious texts.
✊ Key Activism & Reforms
1. Anti-Untouchability Campaigns
Led movements for Dalit entry into Hindu temples, most notably the Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Temple (Simhachalam Temple) in Visakhapatnam in the 1920s–1930s.
Fought for Dalit rights to access public wells, roads, schools, and communal spaces.
Organized satyagrahas and public protests against caste-based segregation.
2. Literary & Publishing Work
Founded the “Adi Andhra” publishing house (later renamed “Visalandhra Publishing House”) to publish progressive and anti-caste literature.
Started and edited the Telugu journal “Alwar” (also known as Alwar Magazine), which became a powerful platform for Dalit voices and social criticism.
Notable Writings:
“Khristhu Puranam” – A retelling of the life of Jesus from a Dalit perspective.
“Jambava Puranam” – Focused on Dalit mythology and history.
Autobiographical works documenting caste oppression and his activism.
3. Political & Organizational Activism
Active in the Andhra Mahasabha and worked with leaders like Tanguturi Prakasam, Kandukuri Veeresalingam, and R. Veerabhadram.
Advocated for separate electorates for Dalits during the British era and later for reservations and political representation.
Strongly influenced by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s ideology; corresponded with him and promoted Ambedkarite thought in Andhra.
Encouraged Dalits to embrace education and political awareness as tools of liberation.
4. Social Reforms
Promoted inter-caste dining, widow remarriage, and education for Dalit children.
Challenged Brahminical rituals and worked to create an alternative Dalit cultural identity.
🤝 Association with National Leaders
Maintained correspondence with Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and implemented his ideas in the Andhra region.
Collaborated with Periyar E. V. Ramasamy on anti-caste initiatives.
Worked alongside Gandhian reformers, though he was often critical of the Congress’s approach to caste issues.
📚 Literary Legacy
Used Telugu literature to articulate Dalit consciousness and challenge dominant caste narratives.
His works blended social critique, mythology, and autobiography, making him a forerunner of modern Dalit literature in South India.
Inspired later Dalit writers like G. Kalyan Rao, Boyi Bhimanna, and Challapalli Swaroopa Rani.
🏆 Recognition & Later Life
Widely respected as “Alwar Swamy” or “Vattikota Alwar”—a title reflecting his spiritual and social leadership.
Continued activism until his death in 1980.
Today, several schools, hostels, community halls, and awards in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are named after him.
Remembered as a bridge between pre-independence social reform movements and post-independence Dalit political mobilization.
🎯 Core Philosophy
Believed in “self-respect” (Atma Gouravam) and education as foundations for Dalit emancipation.
Advocated for political power, economic independence, and cultural self-assertion for Dalits.
Stressed that religious reform must accompany social and political change.
📜 Quote (Paraphrased)
“Until Dalits attain education and political power, their liberation will remain a distant dream. The struggle is not just for entry into temples, but for equal humanity.”
📌 Why He Matters
Vattikota Alwar Swamy was one of the earliest and most influential Dalit activists in South India who:
Combined social action with literary expression.
Built networks between regional and national anti-caste movements.
Laid the groundwork for the Dalit-Bahujan political awakening in Andhra/Telangana.
His life is a testament to the power of marginalized voices in India’s social transformation.
V.Arumai Nathan Ramesh Nathan
General Secretary, National Dalit Movement For Justice-NCDHR
V.Arumai Nathan’s Profile
Artices by Nathan
The National Coalition for Strengthening Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act (NCSPA)—a platform of more than 500 Dalit and Adivasi civil society organisations, communities, leaders and activists —expresses serious concern over the Supreme Court judgment that diluted provisions related to anticipatory bail and immediate arrest, under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
The ruling dilutes the very purpose of the progressive legislation, meant to protect the marginalised communities from caste-based atrocities and discrimination. The judgment, dated 20 March 2018, has not looked at the reasons for the high number of increase in atrocities against Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), the low conviction and high acquittal rates, and has not analysed the reasons for the same. Some of the well-known hurdles in this regard are shoddy investigation, incorrect and biased recording of victim and witness statements during investigation, filing of improper charge sheets, and undue delay in filing of charge sheets. Other hurdles include inappropriate support mechanisms available to the victims and witnesses by the investigating officers and public prosecutors, and even by the trial court.
Vincent Manoharan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vincent Manoharan is an Indian human rights activist, he is known mostly for creating the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), and organization that focuses on stemming the discrimination still present within India's caste system.
Biography
Manoharan grew up in a Christian mission compount in India, being a member of the Dalitcaste, he has witnessed the human rights discrimination first hand; " Being an Untouchable (Dalit) and a grass root activist for the last 30 years, I am familiar with the life experience – the pathos and sufferings, hopes and faith - of the discriminated and oppressed." Through this experience he became motivated to participate in the Indian Human Rights struggle, he founded the NCDHR in 1998 with the hope of increasing exposure to the discrimination still present in India.
Human rights activism
Manoharan founded the NCDHR in 1998 with several other human rights activists, with the goal of raising visibility on the issue of caste discrimination. A total of 78 Dalit activists collaborated in forming NCDHR; they were upset that even after 50 years of independence of British rule, and a national constitution with statutes aimed at stopping caste discrimination, there was not a significant decrease in incidents relating to discrimination against Dalits across India and Asia.
To combat these issues, the group decided on a three phase strategy. The first phase is to raise the visibility of specific events taking place in the region where Dalits have been discriminated against, mostly at the local, state and national levels. Phase 2 is to bring awareness of these Human Rights issues to the international stage. The third phase is to hold the Judiciary system accountable for enforcing the laws stipulated in the constitution.
Recently the plight of the Dalit people has become more internationally known and confronted. In 2002, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination condemned caste discrimination. In December 2006 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stated that "‘untouchability’ is not just social discrimination. It is a blot on humanity.". In 2009, a deceleration was made that discrimination against a group of people (Dalits) is a human rights violation was a huge success for Manoharan and the NCDHR.
He also helped in the founding a group that fights caste discrimination on a global level.
In 2007 the Manoharan and the NCDHR won the Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize for their work in the field of Human Rights.
Vithal Ramji Sinde
Core Activism and Contributions:
1. Founding the "Depressed Classes Mission of India" (1906):
This was perhaps his most significant institutional contribution. Founded in Mumbai, the Mission's objectives were:
Educational Uplift: Establishing hostels, schools, and libraries specifically for Dalit students who were denied access to education.
Social Advocacy: Campaigning for the right of Dalits to enter temples, use public wells, and access public spaces.
Ethical and Spiritual Reform: Promoting a casteless, rationalist spirituality within Hinduism, free from Brahminical priesthood and rituals. He published a "Dalit-only" prayer book to facilitate this.
2. Close Association with Mahatma Phule & the Satyashodhak Tradition:
Sinde was a direct disciple of Mahatma Jyotirao Phule, the father of India's social revolution. He worked as a secretary for Phule's Satyashodhak Samaj (Society of Truth Seekers), which rejected caste hierarchy and priestly intermediation. Sinde deeply internalized Phule's ideology of seeking justice and education for the Shudras and Ati-Shudras (Dalits).
3. Pioneering Use of Media and Publications:
Sinde was a prolific writer and publisher. He started and edited the Marathi journal "Dnyanodaya" to spread reformist ideas. He also established the "Vivek Vardhini Press" in Pune, which became a vital platform for publishing literature critical of caste and promoting rationalist thought. This press published works that were often ignored by mainstream publishers.
4. Advocacy for Temple Entry and Civil Rights:
He was at the forefront of the "Temple Entry Movement." He organized satyagrahas and petitions, most notably for the entry of Dalits into the Patitpavan Mandir in Pune and the Vitthal Temple in Pandharpur. His activism was not just about religious rights but about asserting equal citizenship and human dignity in the public sphere.
5. Bridge Between Early Reformers and Ambedkar:
Sinde's work created a critical link between the first generation of reformers (Phule) and the next, more assertive generation led by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. Ambedkar acknowledged Sinde's contributions and shared platforms with him. Sinde's Mission provided the institutional and ideological framework that Ambedkar would later build upon and radicalize.
6. Focus on "Cultural Uplift" and Self-Respect:
Beyond politics, Sinde worked on transforming the self-perception of Dalit communities. He encouraged the abandonment of practices seen as demeaning (like polluting caste occupations), promoted personal hygiene, Western education, and the cultivation of arts and literature to build self-confidence and community pride.
Key Ideological Stance:
Sinde was a "Radical Humanist" within the Hindu fold. He believed in:
Complete annihilation of caste, not just its mitigation.
Rejection of Brahminical priesthood and the Vedic ritual monopoly.
A direct, rational, and ethical relationship with God (in his case, the Varkari saint tradition's Vitthal), bypassing caste-based intermediaries.
Education as the primary tool for emancipation.
Challenges and Legacy:
Opposition: He faced severe opposition from orthodox Hindus, including ostracism and threats.
Distinction from Gandhi: While Gandhi used the term "Harijan" (children of God) and focused on caste reform from within a paternalistic framework, Sinde, like Ambedkar, demanded rights and dignity as an entitlement, not a gift. He was more radical and direct in his condemnation of caste.
Legacy: Despite his immense contribution, Sinde's name is not as widely remembered as some of his contemporaries. This is partly because he worked through institutions rather than seeking individual political glory, and because the later, more politically intense Ambedkarite movement overshadowed earlier reformers.
In summary, Saint Vithal Ramji Sinde was a foundational activist who transformed the fight against caste from a philosophical debate into organized, on-the-ground action focused on education, dignity, and spiritual autonomy. He is rightly considered a crucial "forerunner of the Dalit movement" and a saint in the truest sense—one who dedicated his life to the service and liberation of the oppressed.
Veerammal
Founder of All India Ambedkar Mission
The Self-Respect Movement led by Thanthai Periyar was probably one of the most radically feminist movements to have ever taken place in the subcontinent. Way ahead of their time, Self-respecters advocated for reproductive rights for women, equality in the workplace, equality in the home, paid housework and shared child rearing responsibilities. They openly criticised the Tamil value of chastity, imposed upon women. Dravidian Kazhagam schools still hang signs in that read “Chastity is the way women are kept within the structures of Chattel slavery.”
Periyar himself was a radical feminist authoring one of the first most comprehensive treatises against Patriarchy, “Why was the woman made a slave?” in 1942. Several women from several different castes featured prominently in the movement work. They included former sex workers, housewives, former devadasis (religious sex slaves), politicians and others.
However, one Dalit woman, Veerammal and the story of her disagreement with Periyar and split from the movement has since been lost. Veerammal, having exited an abusive marriage with an alcoholic, began her work with the Self-respect movement in the alcohol prohibition frontlines. Soon she became a friend and strategist along with Periyar and his wife, Maniammai. She would often call out Periyar for what she saw as his flawed ideology. When Periyar allowed the beating of the Dalit drum, Parai, she was upset. “It is an art Veerammal,” he has said. To which she replied, ” If it is an art, then where are the upper Castes trying to learn it? Why when one of theirs dies, do they run to the cheri (ghetto) and call for Pakkiri, Samban and Mookan (Dalit names)? ”
Periyar and her had a strong friendship based on respect and the values of the movement but it would seem that Veerammal was constantly challenging Periyar on the issues of the Scheduled Castes. ” Look Ayya, ” she would say, ” You ask for any number of reservations for the non-Brahmin Castes, but please don’t even try to move the 16% reserved for the Untouchables. That will be unacceptable!”
On one occasion, a disagreement drove them apart finally, In 1957, riots broke out between the Mukkalatthor (non-Brahmin) Castes and Dalits in which 42 Dalits and a beloved Dalit leader, Immanuel Sekaran was murdered. In the aftermath of this incident, Veerammal was dismayed at what she perceived as Periyar’s lacking condemnation of the non-brahmin castes and the role of the Congress Party. She wrote a long and emotional letter to Periyar, explaining her deep respect and gratitude to him but citing irreconcilable differences. On reading the letter, Periyar is said to have wept openly.
Veerammal definitively did not disappear into the backdrop after that. In fact, her real work began, inspired by Babasaheb Ambedkar, she worked to open and run several schools and hostels for SC/ST (Dalit/Adivasi) children and women. She established the Tamil Nadu Women’s Welfare Association in 1954 and the Tamil Nadu Scheduled Caste Welfare Association soon after. She was one of the founders of the All India- Ambedkar Mission. She continued to head the anti-liquor movement. Today in Dalit History we salute this powerhouse of a woman!
Viswanathan Manikan
Early Life & Background
- Born on 28 July 1951 in India (exact place not widely detailed in public sources; Indian citizen).
- Moved to Dubai in 1985, where he has lived and worked for nearly four decades.
- His activism appears to have developed through volunteerism in the expatriate community, focusing on humanitarian causes rather than a formal political or academic background.
Activism & Key Contributions
Manikan's work centers on practical, community-driven interventions against poverty and exploitation:
- Volunteer with Dubai Cares (a major UAE-based philanthropy organization focused on education and child welfare in developing countries):
- Long-time volunteer; nominated for the CNN Heroes award in 2018 for his tireless work.
- Recipient of the 2012 Dubai Cares Humanitarian Award for contributions to anti-poverty and humanitarian efforts.
- Global anti-poverty advocacy:
- Described as a "key supporter of the global anti-poverty movement," addressing issues like hunger, inadequate resource distribution, and stark contrasts between wealth and poverty.
- Involved in initiatives aligned with broader movements (e.g., similar to Global Call to Action Against Poverty/GCAP themes, though direct affiliation not explicitly confirmed in sources).
- Combating human trafficking & migrant worker welfare:
- Worked to raise awareness and support for vulnerable migrant labourers in Dubai's labour camps (e.g., food distributions on World Food Day).
- Efforts highlight exploitation, poor living conditions, and the need for dignity and aid for low-wage workers.
- Author & Thought Leader:
- Wrote The Blu Ribbon Revolution: Co-creating a World Beyond Poverty (2014), a non-fiction book on management, CSR, and collaborative approaches to ending poverty.
- The book contrasts excessive global wealth with widespread deprivation and positions CSR as a strategic tool for equitable resource distribution and measured anti-poverty efforts.
- Promotes "co-creation" involving businesses, communities, and individuals to build a poverty-free world.
- Wrote The Blu Ribbon Revolution: Co-creating a World Beyond Poverty (2014), a non-fiction book on management, CSR, and collaborative approaches to ending poverty.
- Other activities include community outreach, camp visits, and advocacy for systemic change in resource allocation.
Recognition & Legacy
- Awards:
- Dubai Cares Humanitarian Award (2012).
- CNN Heroes nomination (2018) for volunteer work.
- Featured in Wikipedia, Gulf News, and humanitarian reports as a dedicated figure in Dubai's expat volunteer scene.
- His efforts exemplify diaspora-led activism: Using his long-term residence in the UAE to bridge local community needs with global anti-poverty goals.
- At age 74 (as of 2025–2026), he continues to be cited as an inspirational activist promoting volunteerism, CSR, and collective action against hunger and inequality.
Viswanathan Manikan represents a model of quiet, persistent humanitarianism — leveraging personal commitment and organizational partnerships to make tangible impacts on poverty and vulnerability in a global city like Dubai.
Sources: Wikipedia (Viswanathan Manikan and The Blu Ribbon Revolution pages), Gulf News (2018 article), Dubai Cares-related reports, Wikidata, and book descriptions.
Vina Mazumdar
Early Life and Family Background
- Birth and Family: Born in Kolkata (then Calcutta) into a middle-class Bengali Hindu family, the youngest of five siblings (three brothers and two sisters). Her father, Prakash Majumdar, was an engineer. Her uncle was the renowned historian R.C. Majumdar (Romesh Chandra Majumdar, 1888–1980), a prominent scholar of Indian history. The family had intellectual and professional roots typical of educated Bengali bhadralok (respectable middle-class) households.
- Community and Socioeconomic Context: She came from a forward/general category Bengali Hindu background (often associated with upper or middle castes like Kayastha or Brahmin in Bengali contexts, though not explicitly detailed in sources). There is no indication she belonged to an SC/ST (Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe), disadvantaged Dalit/Adivasi, or low-class community in the reservation or caste-oppression sense. Her upbringing was privileged in terms of education and access, contrasting with the Dalit/SC activists (e.g., Suraj Yengde, Thenmozhi Soundararajan, Kalekuri Prasad) or tribal-focused figures (e.g., Anima Baa) discussed earlier. She often critiqued caste and class intersections in her work on women's inequality but from a position of relative privilege within the women's movement.
Education
- Schooling at St. John's Diocesan Girls' Higher Secondary School, Kolkata.
- Undergraduate studies at Women's College, Banaras Hindu University, and Asutosh College, University of Calcutta (where she was active in student unions and supported Hindu law reforms for women's inheritance rights).
- Graduated from St Hugh's College, Oxford (1951).
- Returned to Oxford for her D.Phil. (1962), focusing on political science and history.
Career and Activism
- Early Roles: Taught political science at Patna University and Berhampur University; served as Officer on Special Duty at the University Grants Commission (UGC) in the 1960s.
- Turning Point – Committee on the Status of Women in India (1971–1974): Appointed Member-Secretary of this government committee (under the Ministry of Education and Social Welfare). The committee's report, Towards Equality (1974), became a foundational document exposing persistent gender inequalities in post-independence India despite constitutional guarantees. It highlighted declining sex ratios, economic marginalization, political under-representation, and the failures of development policies for women—sparking the second wave of the Indian women's movement.
- Founding CWDS (1980): Established the Centre for Women's Development Studies in New Delhi as an autonomous research institute (with UGC and ICSSR support). Served as its founder-director until 1985 and later as National Research Professor. CWDS became a hub for feminist research, policy advocacy, and training.
- Other Contributions:
- Advocated for women's political participation, including reservations (influencing debates on the Women's Reservation Bill).
- Critiqued mainstream development models for ignoring women and marginalized groups.
- Engaged in left-wing politics, anti-poverty activism, and alliances with trade unions and rural women's organizations.
- Authored/co-authored numerous books, articles, and reports (e.g., Symbols of Power: Women in a Changing Society, Memories of a Rolling Stone—her 2010 memoir).
- Described herself as a "troublemaker," "recorder of the movement," and feminist by instinct.
Personal Life
- Married musician Shankar Mazumdar in 1952 (changed spelling from Majumdar to Mazumdar); they had four children.
- Balanced family life with intense activism and academia.
Legacy and Recognition
- Died on 30 May 2013 in Kolkata at age 86.
- Honored posthumously through tributes, scholarships (e.g., Vina Mazumdar Memorial Fund at CWDS), and as a symbol of feminist scholarship-activism fusion.
- Her work remains influential in gender studies, policy (e.g., influencing NCRB data on women, reservations debates), and the broader fight for equality, though critiques later emerged from Dalit feminists on the report's limited intersectional focus on caste-gender overlaps.
In summary, Vina Mazumdar was a trailblazing upper-middle-class Bengali intellectual who transformed women's studies and activism in India through evidence-based advocacy and institution-building. Her legacy is as a visionary who exposed systemic gender inequities and empowered generations of feminists—though from a non-marginalized caste/class background, unlike many Dalit or tribal activists in recent discussions. She remains a cornerstone figure in India's feminist history.
Vasudev Balwant Phadke
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vasudev Balwant Phadke
Bust of Phadke in Mumbai
Born 4 November 1845
Shirdhon village, Panvel taluka, Raigad district, British India
Died 17 February 1883 (aged 37)
Occupation Revolutionary and Indian independence activist
Vasudev Balwant Phadke (4 November 1845 – 17 February 1883) was an Indian independence activist and revolutionary who sought India's independence from the British Raj. Phadke was moved by the plight of the farming community and believed that Swaraj was the only remedy for their ills. With the help of the Koli, Bhil and Dhangar communities in the region, he formed a revolutionary group of the Ramoshi people. The group started an armed struggle to overthrow the British Raj, launching raids on rich English businessmen to obtain funds for the purpose. Phadke came to prominence when he got control of the city of Pune for a few days after catching British soldiers off-guard during one a surprise attack.
Early years
Vasudev Balwant Phadke house at Shirdhon village
Phadke was born on 4 November 1845 in Shirdhon village of Panvel taluka, now in Raigad district, Maharashtra. As a child, he preferred learning skills like wrestling, riding over high school education and dropped out of school. Eventually he moved to Pune and took the job as a clerk with military accounts department in Pune for 15 years. Krantiveer Lahuji Vastad Salve a then prominent social figure based in Pune was his mentor. Salve, an expert wrestler, operated a TALIM (training center for wrestling). Salve preached the importance of independence from British Raj. Salve belonged to the Mang community, an untouchable community, taught Phadke the importance of getting backward castes into mainstream freedom movement. It was during this period that Phadke began attending lectures by Mahadeo Govind Ranade which mainly focused on how the British Raj policies hurt the Indian economy. Phadke was deeply hurt by how this was leading to widespread suffering in the society. In 1870, he joined a public agitation in Pune that was aimed at addressing people's grievances. Phadke founded an institution, the Aikya Vardhini Sabha, to educate the youth. While working as clerk, he was not able to see his dying mother due to the delay in approval of his leave. This incident enraged Phadke and was to be the turning point in his life.
Co-founding of Maharashtra Education Society
Phadke was one the earliest person graduate from a British established institution in Bombay presidency.In 1860, along with fellow social reformers and revolutionaries Laxman Narhar Indapurkar and Waman Prabhakar Bhave, Phadke co-founded the Poona Native Institution (PNI) which was later renamed as the Maharashtra Education Society (MES). Through the PNI, he went on set up Bhave School in Pune. Today, the MES runs over 77 institutions in various parts of Maharashtra.
Rebellion
In 1875, after the then Gaekwad ruler of Baroda was deposed by the British, Phadke launched protest speeches against the government. Severe famine coupled with the evident apathy of the British administration propelled him to tour the Deccan region, urging people to strive for a free republic. Unable to get support from the educated classes, he gathered a band of people from the Ramoshi caste. People from the Kolis, Bhils and Dhangars were also included later. He taught himself to shoot, ride and fence. He organised around 300 men into an insurgent group that aimed at liberating India from British rule. Phadke intended to build an army of own but lacking funds they decided to break into government treasuries. The first raid was done in a village called Dhamari in Shirur taluka in Pune district. The income tax which was collected for British Raj was kept in the house of local business man Balchand Fojmal Sankla. They attacked the house and took the money for the benefit of famine stricken villagers. There they collected about four hundred rupees but this led to his being branded as a dacoit. To save himself Phadke had to flee from village to village, sheltered by his sympathisers and well-wishers, mostly the lower class of the society. Impressed by his zeal and determination, the villagers of Nanagaum offered him protection and cover in the local forest. The general plot would be to cut off all the communications of British forces and then raid the treasury. The main purpose of these raids was to feed famine-affected farmer communities. Phadke performed many such raids in areas near Shirur and Khed talukas in Pune.
Meanwhile, the leader of Ramoshi, Daulatrav Naik, who was the main supporter of Phadke, headed towards the Konkan area on the western coast. On 10–11 May 1879, they raided Palaspe and Chikhali, looting around 1.5 lakh rupees. While returning towards Ghat Matha, Major Daniel attacked Naik, who was shot dead. His death was a setback to Phadke's revolt: the loss of support forced him to move south to the Shri Shaila Mallikarjun shrine. Later, Phadke recruited about 500 Rohilas to begin a fresh fight.
Capture and death
Phadke's plans to organise several simultaneous attacks against the British Raj nationwide were met with very limited success. He once had a direct engagement with the British army in the village of Ghanur, whereafter the government offered a bounty for his capture. Not to be outdone, Phadke in turned offered a bounty for the capture of the Governor of Bombay, announced a reward for the killing of each European, and issued other threats to the government. He then fled to Hyderabad State to recruit Rohilla and Arabs into his organisation. A British Major, Henry William Daniell and Abdul Haque, Police Commissioner to the Nizam of Hyderabad, pursued the fleeing Phadke day and night. The British move to offer a bounty for his capture met with success: someone betrayed Phadke, and he was captured in a temple after a fierce fight at the district of Kaladgi on 20 July 1879 while he was on his way to Pandharpur.
From here he was taken to Pune for trial. Ganesh Vasudeo Joshi, also known as Sarvajanik Kaka, defended his case. Phadke and his comrades were housed in the district session court jail building, near Sangam bridge, which now happens to be the state C.I.D. building. His own diary provided evidence to have him sentenced for life. Phadke was transported to jail at Aden, but escaped from the prison by taking the door off from its hinges on 13 February 1883. He was soon recaptured and then went on a hunger strike, dying on 17 February 1883.
Recognition
Phadke on a 1984 stamp of India
Phadke became known as the father of the Indian armed rebellion in that he provided the inspiration for fellow freedom fighters. Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's patriotic novel Anand Math incorporated various contemporary acts of patriotism performed by Phadke during his freedom struggle. As the British government did not like this, Bankim had to print up to five editions of the book to tone down these stories.
In 1984, the Indian Postal Service issued a 50 paise stamp in honour of Phadke. A chowk in South Mumbai near Metro Cinema is named in his honour.
Vasudev Balwant Phadke, a Marathi movie directed by Gajendra Ahire, was released in December 2007.
Yasoda Darnal
Key Findings from Available Information
- Social Media Presence: There are several Facebook profiles under variations of the name (e.g., Yasoda Darnal, Yasodha Darnal, Yashoda Darnal Senchiury). These are linked to locations in Nepal (e.g., Kathmandu, Itahari, Dharan Bazar) or possibly India. Some profiles show personal photos, reels, or posts on everyday topics like relationships, reels with Nepali music/trends, or casual content—no evident activism, campaigns, or organizational affiliations.
- One profile lists education from Prakash High School (Class of 2000) and residence in areas like Itahari or Kathmandu.
- Instagram reels and Threads mentions appear tied to personal or entertainment content (e.g., love/relationship themes, Christian reels, wedding trends), not advocacy.
- No Activism Records:
- No mentions in major activist databases, awards lists, news articles, or organizations focused on Dalit rights (e.g., Samata Foundation, Jagaran Media Center—linked to the prominent late activist Suvash Darnal), women's rights, transgender inclusion, or social justice in Nepal/India.
- The surname "Darnal" is common in Nepal (especially among certain communities, including Dalit groups), and appears in contexts like voter rolls, employee lists, or committee associates in NGOs (e.g., one "Geeta Kc Darnal" or similar in women's federations/IGFF Nepal), but nothing connects to a "Yasoda Darnal" in an activist role.
- Searches for "Yasoda Darnal activist" primarily redirect to unrelated figures (e.g., Suvash Darnal, a renowned Nepali Dalit rights activist who died in 2011) or generic results.
- Possible Confusions or Similar Names:
- Suvash Darnal (deceased 2011): A highly influential Nepali Dalit activist, journalist, and founder of Samata Foundation and Jagaran Media Center. He fought caste discrimination and democracy issues—often referenced in searches due to surname overlap.
- Other "Yashoda" figures: e.g., Yashoda PH (Munnade activist in India), Yashoda Timsina (former commissioner in Nepal), or unrelated names in lists—no direct match.
- No evidence of Padma Shri, awards, public campaigns, or media coverage as an activist.
Conclusion
If Yasoda Darnal is an activist, her work seems localized, low-profile, or not yet digitized/publicly prominent (e.g., grassroots community level in Nepal without national/international recognition). The name may refer to a private person or someone not in the public eye as an "activist."
If this relates to a specific context (e.g., a local activist in Uttarakhand/Nepal border areas, a particular organization, or if it's a misspelling/variation of another name like "Yashoda" from a different figure), feel free to provide more details—I can refine the search! Your previous queries focused on notable Indian/Nepali figures in history, literature, and activism, so if this fits a similar pattern, additional info would help clarify.
Yashica Dutt
📚 Early Life & Background
Birth: Born in Budaun, Uttar Pradesh, and raised in a Dalit family (Chamar/Regar community).
Education:
Graduated from Delhi University in English Literature.
Completed a Master’s in Journalism from Columbia University, New York.
Career Start: Worked as a journalist at Hindustan Times, Condé Nast, and Outlook in India and the U.S., often navigating elite, upper-caste-dominated spaces while concealing her caste identity.
✊ The Journey to Activism
For years, Yashica hid her caste background to avoid discrimination in educational and professional circles—a common survival strategy for many Dalits in privileged spaces. Her turning point came after the 2016 suicide of Rohith Vemula, a Dalit PhD scholar at the University of Hyderabad. This tragedy prompted her to publicly acknowledge her Dalit identity and begin speaking out against caste oppression.
📖 "Coming Out as Dalit" (2019)
Synopsis: The book is part memoir, part social critique, detailing her experiences of caste shame, secrecy, and eventual self-acceptance.
Key Themes:
The psychological toll of "passing" as upper-caste.
Caste privilege in media, academia, and corporate sectors.
The need for Dalit representation and storytelling.
Impact: The phrase "coming out as Dalit" became a rallying cry, inspiring many (especially young Dalit-Bahujan-Adivasis) to embrace their identity with pride.
🎯 Activism & Advocacy
Anti-Caste Writing & Journalism
Writes for The Print, Al Jazeera, BBC, The Washington Post, and other international platforms on caste, identity, and social justice.
Highlights caste discrimination in global contexts, including the diaspora, Silicon Valley, and Western academia.
Dalit Feminism & Intersectionality
Speaks on the dual oppression of caste and gender, challenging both Brahminical patriarchy and mainstream feminism’s caste-blindness.
Advocates for inclusive feminist movements that center Dalit-Bahujan-Adivasi women.
Public Speaking & Education
Regular speaker at universities, literary festivals, and global forums (e.g., TEDx, Harvard, UN events).
Educates audiences on caste as a systemic issue, not just a "rural" or "historical" problem.
Digital Advocacy
Active on Twitter/X, Instagram, and YouTube, using social media to:
Call out everyday casteism.
Amplify Dalit voices and stories.
Critique cultural appropriation (e.g., Dalit rituals commodified as "fashion").
🏆 Recognition & Influence
Her work is widely taught in gender studies, sociology, and anti-caste curricula globally.
Featured in documentaries and discussions on caste, including BBC’s "The Dalit Truth" project.
Recognized as a leading Dalit intellectual of her generation, alongside figures like Suraj Yengde, Meena Kandasamy, and Thenmozhi Soundararajan.
💡 Key Messages from Her Work
"Caste is not a residue of the past—it shapes modern institutions like universities, corporations, and media."
"Coming out as Dalit is an act of political and personal liberation."
"Savarna (upper-caste) allies must move beyond guilt to active solidarity and power-sharing."
🌍 Global Relevance
Yashica Dutt’s activism extends beyond India—she highlights how caste discrimination persists among diaspora communities and within multinational companies. Her advocacy pushes for caste to be recognized as a protected category in anti-discrimination laws worldwide (e.g., in the U.S., where she supported California’s SB-403 bill against caste-based discrimination).
📌 Legacy & Ongoing Work
Continues to write, speak, and mentor young Dalit-Bahujan journalists/writers.
Plans future books expanding on caste, capitalism, and culture.
Her activism bridges personal narrative and structural critique, making anti-caste discourse accessible to wider audiences.
Yashica Dutt represents a new wave of Dalit assertion—using education, media, and storytelling to dismantle caste hierarchies while empowering marginalized communities to reclaim their history and identity.
Yasoda Ekambaram
The story of Yasoda Ekambaram and her ongoing struggle against illicit liquor even in the face of personal losses.
S. VISWANATHAN
"MY sense of shame at being illiterate and my guilt at having failed to send my daughter to school are at the root of my evolution into a relentless fighter for women's rights," says Yasoda Ekambaram, who has won the Neerja Bhanot Award for 2001. For the 43-year-old Dalit woman from Tamil Nadu's Thiruvallur district, the award, given in appreciation of her service in the cause of women's development, has an added significance in that she won it in the Year of Women's Empowerment.
R. RAGU
Yasoda is no different from most Dalit women in rural India - socially oppressed, economically exploited and politically ignored. But what makes her stand apart is her ability to fight relentlessly for the causes she holds dear.
The Chandigarh-based Neerja Bhanot Pan Am Trust presents the award every year to a woman fighting for social justice. The award, comprising a cash prize of Rs.1.5 lakhs, a silver trophy, and a citation, was presented to Yasoda at a function in Chandigarh on September 6. The citation describes Yasoda as "a picture of courage and fortitude" and says that she is one of the 60 leaders of the Rural Women's Front (RWF), a wing of the Centre for Rural Women's Education for Liberation (CRWEL), a voluntary organisation. (The RWF functions in villages around Thiruvallur, about 80 km from Chennai.) Her life, the citation says, is one of "consistent and continuous struggle for the eradication of illicit liquor, rampant in the area." It makes a poignant reference to the heroic struggle she conducted on December 6, 2000, when her only daughter Indra (20) and a close relative Rathnammal (55) were murdered by the henchmen of bootleggers. "Yasoda is a source of inspiration for all women," the citation concludes.
Yasoda was nominated for the award by HEKS India, a Switzerland-based organisation that has been supporting the development initiatives of the CRWEL for the past nine years through its coordination office in Chennai. Yasoda's life with Ekambaram could in no way be described as happy. Both were agricultural workers. Like all other Dalits (belonging to about 125 families) in Beemanthoppu, a hamlet in Ramathandam village, they worked in the fields belonging to caste Hindus for wages (Rs.40 a day for men and Rs.20 for women) that were far below the minimum wages fixed by the government. They were employed for hardly 120 days in a year, and it was a struggle to make ends meet. Like almost all other men in the village, Ekambaram spent most of his earnings on liquor, leaving almost nothing for Yasoda, who had never been to school, to fulfil her dream of educating Indra. Ekambaram died 12 years ago. With her meagre earnings, Yasoda could not pull on. She had to send Indra, who was eight then, to work in the fields.
Dalits, she realised, could not make use of even the minimal facilities provided by the government - such as the public distribution system or the schools - largely because a substantial portion of their meagre earnings was wiped out by the menfolk's addiction to liquor.
Said Yasoda: "It is struggle every day. It is quarrel between drunken men and their wives every day. If women dare question their husbands, they are beaten up mercilessly. Or they are asked to go back to their parents in neighbouring villages. How long can they stay in their parents' places, where the situation is hardly different from that of their own homes? They return, and this is the routine in almost every home."
Illicit liquor, she said, robbed these families of their hard-earned money, which could otherwise be spent on children's education and other necessary things in life. "It causes unrest in families. Children who do not have the benefit of education get frustrated and many unpleasant things happen. At the same time, the manufacturers and vendors of illicit liquor educate their children and ensure that they are well-settled in life." Although Yasoda was not directly affected by illicit liquor after Ekambaram's death, she was moved by the sufferings of many other women in the village. She thought she could do something for these hapless women.
Yasoda was convinced that education was the key to the empowerment of women and that the greatest impediment to ensuring education was their menfolk's addiction to liquor. The only way out was to wipe out the illicit liquor trade from their village. But how to go about this? The answer, Yasoda said, came from the CRWEL. The CRWEL saw in Yasoda a potential leader who could be of immense help in its efforts to mobilise Dalits and women and empower them. A unit of the RWF was formed at Bheemanthoppu and Yasoda was appointed its coordinator. It was one of the 60 RWF units in Thiruvallur district.
Yasoda enrolled about 30 women in the RWF and spoke to them on the need to assert their rights. The women decided that they should muster strength to combat the menace of illicit liquor. Under the CRWEL's guidance, they staged peaceful demonstrations against the manufacture and sale of illicit liquor in the village. They passed on to the police information on the distillation of arrack in the surrounding areas and sought their assistance. Assistance did not come always. The illicit liquor menace, which subsided whenever the police intervened effectively, raised its head again when the bootleggers returned from jail. "Policemen," Yasoda said, "did not always respond to our requests. In fact, they got irritated. We had reasons to suspect a nexus between a section of the policemen and the bootleggers. We, therefore, had to think of a more effective way of resisting the illegal activities." Joining hands with the affected women from neighbouring villages, they organised "road rokos". After an agitation at Velliyur, the police swooped on a bootleggers' den and destroyed illicit arrack worth Rs.12 lakhs.
S.M. Annamalai, one of the founders of the CRWEL, said: "In 1997, in acknowledgement of the work done by motivated RWF groups headed by Yasoda and others for the elimination of illicit liquor, the CRWEL was given a district-level award." However, he said, the struggle against illicit liquor had to be a "continuous activity" because the convicted offenders regrouped and resumed operations after serving their jail terms. According to him, corruption in the police, particularly at the lower levels, and the absence of severe punishment for the offenders perpetuated the problem. The women's groups had to be alert always. "As demonstrations and agitations did not always ensure immediate police intervention, we had to look for better forms of agitation," said Yasoda. "We learnt by experience that militant action by RWF activists could be more effective," she said. Women's groups marched to the distillation spots and destroyed arrack stored in mud pots.
In December 2000, just when Yasoda and her friends thought Beemanthoppu had gained a respite from the menace, bootleggers from neighbouring areas started selling illicit liquor in the village. Some local people who had been involved in bootlegging asked the women why they alone should be penalised. On the evening of December 6, an agitated Yasoda, accompanied by the local panchayat president (also a woman), took a group of RWF members, including Indra and Rathnammal, to the spot where bootleggers from neighbouring villages had set up shop. Her efforts to stop their trade did not succeed. Yasoda swooned when their henchmen assaulted her. Indra, who came to her mother's rescue, was hacked to death. Rathnammal was also killed by the goondas. Several women and a few men of the village were injured in the attack.
Ten persons were arrested and a case was registered. The police were not very helpful initially. In the First Information Report (FIR), they sought to describe the incident as a consequence of "a family quarrel". They did not want to relate it to an offence under the prohibition law since they had been claiming that the district was "liquor-free". "Only after we insisted on it, they added in the FIR that the incident followed an agitation against illicit liquor," said Annamalai.
The murder of Indra and Rathnammal sparked protests by women's organisations. The government announced a solatium of Rs.1 lakh each to their families.
NINE months after the incident, illicit liquor continues to claim the lives of the poor. In early September, 13 people died after consuming the deadly brew at Menambedu in Ambattur, an industrial town in Thiruvallur district. The tragedy has signalled that Yasoda's battle against bootlegging is far from over.
Yasoda has not recovered from the grief over the loss of her only child. But she remains firm in her resolve to fight against illicit liquor. "In fact, she is now even more firm on ending the menace and vows to continue her fight for women's empowerment with greater vigour," said V. Tamil Selvi, Director, CRWEL.
With the cash prize of Rs.1.5 lakhs, Yasoda, who lives in a mud hut, has instituted an award (the Indra Rathna Award) in memory of Indra and Rathnammal. The award will be given every year to a woman for outstanding service in the cause of women's development. The CRWEL has donated Rs.2 lakhs to the Indra Rathna Award Fund and proposes to collect donations for the fund.
"I will spend the rest of my life working for the uplift of people around me, particularly women. If only all children of my village get education, which was denied to me and my child, my life would have served its purpose," said Yasoda. There was no sign of bitterness in her voice.
A profile of courage
Print edition : October 13, 2001
The story of Yasoda Ekambaram and her ongoing struggle against illicit liquor even in the face of personal losses.
"MY sense of shame at being illiterate and my guilt at having failed to send my daughter to school are at the root of my evolution into a relentless fighter for women's rights," says Yasoda Ekambaram, who has won the Neerja Bhanot Award for 2001. For the 43-year-old Dalit woman from Tamil Nadu's Thiruvallur district, the award, given in appreciation of her service in the cause of women's development, has an added significance in that she won it in the Year of Women's Empowerment.
Yasoda, with the photograph of her daughter Indra.-R. RAGU
Yasoda is no different from most Dalit women in rural India - socially oppressed, economically exploited and politically ignored. But what makes her stand apart is her ability to fight relentlessly for the causes she holds dear.
The Chandigarh-based Neerja Bhanot Pan Am Trust presents the award every year to a woman fighting for social justice. The award, comprising a cash prize of Rs.1.5 lakhs, a silver trophy, and a citation, was presented to Yasoda at a function in Chandigarh on September 6. The citation describes Yasoda as "a picture of courage and fortitude" and says that she is one of the 60 leaders of the Rural Women's Front (RWF), a wing of the Centre for Rural Women's Education for Liberation (CRWEL), a voluntary organisation. (The RWF functions in villages around Thiruvallur, about 80 km from Chennai.) Her life, the citation says, is one of "consistent and continuous struggle for the eradication of illicit liquor, rampant in the area." It makes a poignant reference to the heroic struggle she conducted on December 6, 2000, when her only daughter Indra (20) and a close relative Rathnammal (55) were murdered by the henchmen of bootleggers. "Yasoda is a source of inspiration for all women," the citation concludes.
Yasoda was nominated for the award by HEKS India, a Switzerland-based organisation that has been supporting the development initiatives of the CRWEL for the past nine years through its coordination office in Chennai. Yasoda's life with Ekambaram could in no way be described as happy. Both were agricultural workers. Like all other Dalits (belonging to about 125 families) in Beemanthoppu, a hamlet in Ramathandam village, they worked in the fields belonging to caste Hindus for wages (Rs.40 a day for men and Rs.20 for women) that were far below the minimum wages fixed by the government. They were employed for hardly 120 days in a year, and it was a struggle to make ends meet. Like almost all other men in the village, Ekambaram spent most of his earnings on liquor, leaving almost nothing for Yasoda, who had never been to school, to fulfil her dream of educating Indra. Ekambaram died 12 years ago. With her meagre earnings, Yasoda could not pull on. She had to send Indra, who was eight then, to work in the fields.
Dalits, she realised, could not make use of even the minimal facilities provided by the government - such as the public distribution system or the schools - largely because a substantial portion of their meagre earnings was wiped out by the menfolk's addiction to liquor.
Said Yasoda: "It is struggle every day. It is quarrel between drunken men and their wives every day. If women dare question their husbands, they are beaten up mercilessly. Or they are asked to go back to their parents in neighbouring villages. How long can they stay in their parents' places, where the situation is hardly different from that of their own homes? They return, and this is the routine in almost every home."
Illicit liquor, she said, robbed these families of their hard-earned money, which could otherwise be spent on children's education and other necessary things in life. "It causes unrest in families. Children who do not have the benefit of education get frustrated and many unpleasant things happen. At the same time, the manufacturers and vendors of illicit liquor educate their children and ensure that they are well-settled in life." Although Yasoda was not directly affected by illicit liquor after Ekambaram's death, she was moved by the sufferings of many other women in the village. She thought she could do something for these hapless women.
Yasoda was convinced that education was the key to the empowerment of women and that the greatest impediment to ensuring education was their menfolk's addiction to liquor. The only way out was to wipe out the illicit liquor trade from their village. But how to go about this? The answer, Yasoda said, came from the CRWEL. The CRWEL saw in Yasoda a potential leader who could be of immense help in its efforts to mobilise Dalits and women and empower them. A unit of the RWF was formed at Bheemanthoppu and Yasoda was appointed its coordinator. It was one of the 60 RWF units in Thiruvallur district.
Yasoda enrolled about 30 women in the RWF and spoke to them on the need to assert their rights. The women decided that they should muster strength to combat the menace of illicit liquor. Under the CRWEL's guidance, they staged peaceful demonstrations against the manufacture and sale of illicit liquor in the village. They passed on to the police information on the distillation of arrack in the surrounding areas and sought their assistance. Assistance did not come always. The illicit liquor menace, which subsided whenever the police intervened effectively, raised its head again when the bootleggers returned from jail. "Policemen," Yasoda said, "did not always respond to our requests. In fact, they got irritated. We had reasons to suspect a nexus between a section of the policemen and the bootleggers. We, therefore, had to think of a more effective way of resisting the illegal activities." Joining hands with the affected women from neighbouring villages, they organised "road rokos". After an agitation at Velliyur, the police swooped on a bootleggers' den and destroyed illicit arrack worth Rs.12 lakhs.
S.M. Annamalai, one of the founders of the CRWEL, said: "In 1997, in acknowledgement of the work done by motivated RWF groups headed by Yasoda and others for the elimination of illicit liquor, the CRWEL was given a district-level award." However, he said, the struggle against illicit liquor had to be a "continuous activity" because the convicted offenders regrouped and resumed operations after serving their jail terms. According to him, corruption in the police, particularly at the lower levels, and the absence of severe punishment for the offenders perpetuated the problem. The women's groups had to be alert always. "As demonstrations and agitations did not always ensure immediate police intervention, we had to look for better forms of agitation," said Yasoda. "We learnt by experience that militant action by RWF activists could be more effective," she said. Women's groups marched to the distillation spots and destroyed arrack stored in mud pots.
In December 2000, just when Yasoda and her friends thought Beemanthoppu had gained a respite from the menace, bootleggers from neighbouring areas started selling illicit liquor in the village. Some local people who had been involved in bootlegging asked the women why they alone should be penalised. On the evening of December 6, an agitated Yasoda, accompanied by the local panchayat president (also a woman), took a group of RWF members, including Indra and Rathnammal, to the spot where bootleggers from neighbouring villages had set up shop. Her efforts to stop their trade did not succeed. Yasoda swooned when their henchmen assaulted her. Indra, who came to her mother's rescue, was hacked to death. Rathnammal was also killed by the goondas. Several women and a few men of the village were injured in the attack.
Ten persons were arrested and a case was registered. The police were not very helpful initially. In the First Information Report (FIR), they sought to describe the incident as a consequence of "a family quarrel". They did not want to relate it to an offence under the prohibition law since they had been claiming that the district was "liquor-free". "Only after we insisted on it, they added in the FIR that the incident followed an agitation against illicit liquor," said Annamalai.
The murder of Indra and Rathnammal sparked protests by women's organisations. The government announced a solatium of Rs.1 lakh each to their families.
NINE months after the incident, illicit liquor continues to claim the lives of the poor. In early September, 13 people died after consuming the deadly brew at Menambedu in Ambattur, an industrial town in Thiruvallur district. The tragedy has signalled that Yasoda's battle against bootlegging is far from over.
Yasoda has not recovered from the grief over the loss of her only child. But she remains firm in her resolve to fight against illicit liquor. "In fact, she is now even more firm on ending the menace and vows to continue her fight for women's empowerment with greater vigour," said V. Tamil Selvi, Director, CRWEL.
With the cash prize of Rs.1.5 lakhs, Yasoda, who lives in a mud hut, has instituted an award (the Indra Rathna Award) in memory of Indra and Rathnammal. The award will be given every year to a woman for outstanding service in the cause of women's development. The CRWEL has donated Rs.2 lakhs to the Indra Rathna Award Fund and proposes to collect donations for the fund.
"I will spend the rest of my life working for the uplift of people around me, particularly women. If only all children of my village get education, which was denied to me and my child, my life would have served its purpose," said Yasoda. There was no sign of bitterness in her voice.
Yashwant Ambedkar
Yashwant Ambedkar
Yashwant Bhimrao Ambedkar, also known as Bhaiyasaheb Ambedkar, was an Indian socio-religious activist, newspaper editor, politician, and key figure in the Ambedkarite Buddhist movement. Born on December 12, 1912, in Bombay (now Mumbai), he was the only surviving child of Dr. B.R. , the architect of the Indian Constitution, and his first wife, Ramabai Ambedkar. Yashwant dedicated his life to continuing his father's legacy of fighting for social equality, eradicating caste discrimination, and promoting Buddhism, particularly after converting to Navayana Buddhism in 1956. He played a pivotal role in uniting the Ambedkarite community and advancing the Dalit Buddhist movement until his death on September 17, 1977.
Early Life
Yashwant was born into a family deeply rooted in the struggle against caste oppression. His father, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, was a renowned jurist, economist, social reformer, and leader who faced significant discrimination as a member of the Mahar community, considered "untouchables" at the time. Yashwant grew up in Bombay, witnessing his father's activism firsthand. He had three siblings—Gangadhar, Ramesh, and Rajratna—who died young, and a sister, Indu, who also passed away in infancy, making him the sole surviving child. His mother, Ramabai, died in 1935 when he was 23, after which his father remarried Savita Ambedkar in 1948. Details about Yashwant's formal education are sparse, but he was influenced by his father's emphasis on learning as a tool for empowerment, and he later became involved in publishing and editing to disseminate ideas of social justice.
Family
Yashwant married Meera (also spelled Miratai or Mira) Yashwant Ambedkar on April 19, 1953, in a Buddhist ceremony. The couple had four children: Prakash Yashwant Ambedkar (born 1954), a prominent politician and leader of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi; Rama Ambedkar, who married social activist Anand Teltumbde; Bhimrao Yashwant Ambedkar, who has been involved in politics and contested elections as a candidate for the Global Republican Party; and Anandraj Yashwant Ambedkar, a social activist, engineer, and politician who leads the Republican Sena and has served in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. The family resided at Rajgruha in Mumbai, a home built by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar that now serves as a museum dedicated to his life and work. Yashwant's descendants continue his and his father's legacy through political and social activism.
Activism
Yashwant's activism was deeply intertwined with the Ambedkarite movement, focusing on social equality, anti-caste reforms, and the promotion of Buddhism as a means of liberation for marginalized communities. He converted to Navayana Buddhism alongside his father and about 600,000 followers during the historic mass conversion in Nagpur on October 14, 1956, just months before Dr. Ambedkar's death. Following this, Yashwant devoted himself to the Dalit Buddhist movement, working to unite the Ambedkarite community and prevent fragmentation. He organized the All India Buddhist Conference in 1968 and represented India at international events, such as the World Buddhist Conference in Bangkok (1958) and Sri Lanka (1972). Yashwant also led efforts to build Buddhist temples and monuments honoring his father, including erecting a full-sized bronze statue in Bhimnagar, Pune, in 1958, and contributing to the completion of Chaitya Bhoomi, Dr. Ambedkar's memorial in Mumbai. His work emphasized education, social justice, and equality, continuing his father's fight against untouchability and caste-based discrimination.
Political Career
Yashwant was a co-founder of the Republican Party of India (RPI), which evolved from the Scheduled Castes Federation established by his father. Although Dr. Ambedkar announced the party's formation in 1956, it was officially launched on October 3, 1957, after his death, with Yashwant playing a key role alongside leaders like N. Sivaraj and Dadasaheb Rupwate. He served as a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council from 1960 to 1966 and was elected Mumbai State President of the RPI in 1964. Under his influence, the RPI agitated for land rights for the landless in 1959, advocating for Dalit and marginalized communities. Yashwant focused on non-electoral activism post his council term, prioritizing social and religious reforms over direct politics.
Contributions to the Ambedkar Movement
Yashwant's contributions extended to institutional leadership and cultural preservation. He became the second president of the Buddhist Society of India (BSI) on June 27, 1957, succeeding his father, and held the position until his death, after which his wife Meera took over. He ran the Buddha Bhushan Printing Press, publishing key works by his father, such as Thoughts on Pakistan, Federation versus Freedom, and Thoughts on Linguistic States. Through these efforts, he amplified Ambedkarite literature on social justice, equality, and education. Yashwant also worked to memorialize his father's legacy by building statues and temples, fostering a sense of unity among Dalits and Buddhists.
Publications
As a newspaper editor, Yashwant edited Janata from 1942 to 1956 and Prabuddha Bharat from 1956 until his death in 1977. These publications served as platforms for Ambedkarite ideas, discussing caste reforms, Buddhism, and social issues. Books written about him include Suryaputra Yashwantrao Ambedkar by Phulchandra Khobragade (2014) and Loknete Bhaiyasaheb Ambedkar by Prakash Janjal (2019), which highlight his life and contributions.
Personal Life
Yashwant was known for his humility and commitment to his father's principles, often referred to affectionately as Bhaiyasaheb. He lived a life dedicated to activism, with his family actively involved in the movement. His marriage to Meera was in the Buddhist tradition, reflecting the family's conversion and commitment to Navayana Buddhism.
Death
Yashwant passed away on September 17, 1977, in Bombay at the age of 64. His funeral was attended by over one million people, underscoring his influence. He was cremated in a Buddhist ceremony at Dadar Cemetery, next to Chaitya Bhoomi, where his ashes rest alongside his father's memorial.
Legacy
Yashwant's legacy lies in bridging his father's visionary work with practical activism, ensuring the continuity of the Ambedkarite and Buddhist movements in India. He is remembered for uniting communities, promoting Buddhist conferences, and establishing monuments that inspire generations. His family members, including sons Prakash and Anandraj, have carried forward the torch through political parties like the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi and Republican Sena, influencing Dalit politics in Maharashtra and beyond. Yashwant's efforts in literature and organization have contributed to the broader narrative of social reform, making him a pivotal figure in India's fight for equality.
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