Dear friends:
Much of October was spent in the US. I attended annual conferences and took some time off on the West Coast with friends. I will be delivering a keynote at the British Sociological Association's Presidential Symposium. This year's symposium will be dedicated to discussing caste. I have the honour to lead the discussion where three experts will respond to my paper. I will then respond to the papers of three young scholars.
In the past month, I spent time in Sri Lanka. Living in the hegemonic India, I grew up not thinking about Nepal or Sri Lanka as equal partners. It didn't even cross my mind about these places. But I managed to visit both countries in the past few years. Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Myanmar, and Maldives are on my list. I was to experience the region. Following months, I plan to go to Southeast Asia. Part of my reason is to have some knowledge of my region and secondly experience the Buddhist landscape of these countries.
Dalitality
September
In this month's Dalitality, I write about my Sri Lanka visit and the alive experience of Buddhist culture.
"This was a trip to the Dhamma land, which Indian Buddhists of the 4th century BCE chose as one that would preserve Buddha’s relics and uphold Buddha’s Dhamma. Samrat Ashok had sent his two precious children – Mahindra and Sanghmitra – to the land to spread Dhamma. I almost choked with emotion when I saw the place where Theri (nun) Sanghmitra stayed and the site of her cremation, where devotees now offered their prayers."
The complete article is available here to: https://www.surajyengde.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Finding-peace-and-Dhamma-in-Sri-Lanka.pdf
October
The mindless war in Palestine is back. It is heartbreaking to read the reports of wars. I had written on the Ukraine-Russian war back then. That stalemate in that part of the world continues. The same situation is faced now with the Israle-Palestine conflict. I measure this conflict in the long duration of historical conflict that has seen wars waged for faith.
In the article, I look at Gandhi and Ambedkar’s position on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Mohandas K Gandhi looked at the condition of Jews as the
"“untouchables of Christianity”, equating them with the “untouchables of Hindu faith”. He saw emigration into Palestine furrowing the divides between Arabs and Jews.”
"Dr Ambedkar had expressed his appreciation for Moses, drawing parallels to the Jews and Dalits. He admired how Moses worked hard to unite the Jews, providing them leadership in times of extermination under Pharaohs. Moses, who argued for “undertaking the thankless but noble task of leading Jews out of their captivity”, was an inspiration to Ambedkar. As Israelites followed their leader in desperation but with hope, Ambedkar also saw himself as the ‘Moses’ of his people. He was not wrong. He remains the prophet of his people who resurrect his memories at every catastrophe or celebration, seeking approval in his words."
I conclude that "[W]e need to take Gandhi and Ambedkar’s position on the Israel-Palestine conflict. The idea of two states was imposed on the modern apparatus of Palestine. It did not mean that Jews had no relation or genealogy to that land."
This piece can be accessed here: https://www.surajyengde.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Amid-war-its-time-to-take-a-position-for-the-oppressed.pdf
Civil society workers from Pakistan Rimsha Shahid and Pakistani Dalit rights activist Purkho Essir Bheel put together this marvellous piece explaining the condition of Dalits in current Pakistan. With several real-life examples, the authors show what more needs to be done and how diverse such experiences remain for Pakistani Dalits.
The complete piece can be read here.
Other Publications
I wrote a piece on ‘Dalit Art’ for the Smart Museum of Art and Serendipity Arts. The piece is available here.
I will start writing art columns. So watch out this space for more.
Media Profiles:
Here are some of the talks that I recently delivered in the past months.
Friends in the Bay Area hosted me for a lecture in Cupertino. Please click on the photo to find out the complete interview.
The Buddhist Fraternity Council organized the Ashoka-Ambedkar Dhamma Yatra under the leadership of Dr. Bharathi Prabhu and Dr. Prashant Ingole. I went to the inauguration ceremony of the 23-day Yatra in Mavelikara, Kerala. There, I delivered the speech as a Special Guest of guest of the ceremony. You can view the speech below.
As you are at it, have a look at an extensive report by Sudipto Mondal for the New Minute here.
The talk I delivered at JNU Academic “Activism of Letters: Dalit Response to Black Literature” is now available to view.
Maharashtra Times did a piece on my view of Art and Dalit artists. You can view the interview in Marathi here. It profiles new emerging, cutting-edge artists. You may enjoy this.
Interviews:
The Bihar government has released the Caste survey. The figures are pretty revealing. It categorises EBC as the largest group comprising 36%, SCs at 19.65, OBC 27.13%. In response, the BJP government decided to implement the report of the Rohini Commission that advises on the sub-categorisation of the OBC quota to diversify the quota share among the lower OBCs. It is seen as the BJP government's comeback. NDTV invited me to discuss this.
You can watch the coverage here.
Sumit Chauhan caught up with me while in Delhi. As goes ritual with him, this interview was also recorded late at night. You can access the complete video below by clicking on the image.
I sat with my friend and ace journalist Sudipto Mondal to inaugurate his podcast with The News Minute channel. We talked about many issues from politics, Buddhism, Dhamma values, reservation, Mayawati, Rahul Gandhi, and Dalit Christians.
Other features / Publications:
Dr. Rahul Sonpimple wrote this insightful piece drawing from his fieldwork in Vidarbha on Ambedkar's Buddhist movement. With so much writing done on the topic, Sonpimple's views are a rehash as well as profoundly fresh with an accessible critique. As he writes below:
Ambedkar did not simply limit its distinctiveness by arguing how scientific Buddhism is compared to other religions in the world, as many scholars have interpreted, but he also presented a radical political as well as an economic philosophy of Buddhism against structural inequalities and oppression.
Buddhism, as mentioned above for Ambedkar, stands against both the spiritual fetishism and passivity. It, however, for Ambedkar, is the religion of oppressed masses to create collective consciousness against structural oppression and to claim equality. Furthermore, this claim for equality, for Ambedkar, specifically in the context of India, is also a historical claim, as he saw the history of Indian lower caste and Brahmin-upper caste is the history of conflict between Buddhism and Brahmanism.
You can read the complete piece here.
In History:
October
5 October – Death anniversary of Jogendranath Mandal
9 October – Death anniversary of Saheb Kanshi Ram
14 October – Dr Ambedkar’s Conversion to Buddhism
Things to look out for:
“Caste and the Global Geographies of Resistance” at the University of California, Davis. Brilliant flyer.
You can register for the event ‘Caste and its implications for sociologies of inequality’ here.
Recent Events:
30 Sep 2023: “Ashoka-Ambedkar Dhamma Rally Inauguration Ceremony”, Special Guest- Dr. Suraj Yengde | Buddha Junction, Mavelikara
3 Oct 2023: “Aesthetic of Ambedkarite Thought & Artistic Futures of Equality”, Keynote speech by Dr. Suraj Yengde | Patrakar Bhavan, Azad Maidan, Mumbai
10 Oct 2023: "Activism of Letters: Dalit Response to the Black Literature." by Dr. Suraj Milind Yengde| SAA Auditorium, Jawaharlal Nehru University
23rd Oct 2023: “The Moral Cost of Caste” organised by Berkeley Centre for the study of Religion| 820 Social Science Building, University of California, Berkeley
24th Oct 2023: “The Caste Question” | 820 Social Science Building, University of California, Berkeley
Greetings from California for now as I get ready to take a flight to London in a few days.
#JaiBhim #DalitLove
suraj