Back in 1918, India was hit by a pandemic – the Spanish Flu. Through newspaper reports from the time, this article shows how despite a century passing, many things have not changed.
Author Archives: Thomas Manuel
How the whims of a few judges threw Delhi into a decade of chaos
A wild and scary story about how a judge can just wake up one day and throw a whole city upside-down.
Anatomy of an Article
A breakdown of our articles exploring the structure and design and the reasoning behind the article layout.
PILs promised justice for the powerless. They turned judges into kings instead
Unlike in traditional cases where the powers of judges are restricted by rules of procedure, PIL cases sometimes lead to dangerous situations.
2 months and 5 learnings about making videos
So it’s been two months of India Ink so far and that means we’ve made two videos. Each one has been a huge success in terms of reception – at least as far as we are concerned. We’ve been hearing stories from friends and well-wishers that they’re being forwarded the message from different sources –Continue reading “2 months and 5 learnings about making videos”
Why Dalits saw Colonialism and Buddhism as Antidotes to Brahminism
The colonial period is often oversimplified but Dalit intellectuals like Iyothee Thass have argued that the colonial period brought some freedom from the tyranny of upper castes.
How and why lower caste Muslims tried to stop partition
While Mohammad Ali Jinnah and the Muslim League were campaigning for partition, the Momins of Bihar opposed the idea of Pakistan, arguing that it was a creation of the same upper caste Muslims who were their oppressors.
Who is the General Category reserved for?
There is a constant debate about reservations in upper caste circles. People keep talking about if they work, when they will be stopped, etc. But the framing of reservations as something that the “casteless” majority give to those who suffered because of their caste hides the truth.
Before Periyar, the Dravidian movement was just elites fighting elites
How the Dravidian movement was first born as a project by the powerful Vellala community and how Periyar and the Self Respect Movement transformed it into a radical and popular political project.
Hello World!
The basic reason India Ink exists is because we like reading about history. It’s enjoyable – and it’s actually helped us understand ourselves and the current state of India. So we’re creating a project that we wished existed.