Why You Should Read This We talk about colonialism like it’s something that happened to India in the past but to the indigenous peoples of India, colonialism is ongoing. Except that Indian society are the colonizers – usurping their land, erasing their culture, and denying them autonomy. In this paper, Virginius Xaxa who is fromContinue reading “How Hinduism is Used to Erase Tribal Identities in India”
Category Archives: Papers
How The Sangh Parivar Invents And Spreads Fake History
An exploration of how the Sangh Parivar manufactures Hindutva history and spreads it through formal education as well as informal channels like religious and cultural organisations.
In 100 years, India’s Response To A Pandemic Hasn’t Changed Much
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.
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.
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.
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.
How Tam-Brams Went From Being Scared Of Coffee To Owning It
When the use of coffee first spread across India under British rule, many Tamil Brahmins strongly opposed it. But by the time India became independent, they had wholeheartedly embraced coffee, infused it with their own characteristics, and had begun to wield it as a marker of their social superiority.