Dear friends,
I come again and with a long pause (deep breath). This year started with my travels to the western map – the USA and later Mexico with a brief stopover in Turkey. I have been in India most of the time. The trails of my footsteps have been complex and might evoke the pictograph of a London Tube route. I have been keeping busy. The plus of India is that I ended up visiting Nanded and spent time with mother and family more than three times. The latest was for the Bhim Jayanti celebrations. It was my first in twelve years, so I had to go.
There is a lot to cover in the present newsletter, as the initial four months were extremely busy. January to April contains important historical episodes in Dalit history. The birthdays of Mahatma Jotirao Phule, Dr Ambedkar and Gautama Buddha.
The start of the year saw some legislative activities on the US west coast front. The Seattle City Council passed a law to outlaw caste discrimination.
The month of April is celebrated as Dalit history month worldwide. Further, Telangana chief minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao unveiled 125 feet tall Ambedkar statue in Hyderabad to commemorate the 132nd birth anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar on 14th April in the presence of Adv. Prakash Ambedkar, grandson of Babasaheb Ambedkar. Moreover, he also inaugurated Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Telangana State Secretariat in Hyderabad. These both events are highly strategically important concerning the political upheavals of the upcoming 2024 Indian parliamentary elections. Moreover, caste discrimination is an issue all over the globe, and Seattle in the United States has become the first city to outlaw caste discrimination by adding anti-discrimination laws after a council vote.
Dalitality
JANUARY
For the first article of this year’s Dalitality, I profile Lahori Ram Balley of Jalandhar, Punjab. Mr. Balley is a living legend who advocates justice and fire through his writing and speech. He has been witness to the many movements that we now refer to. From RPI, DS-4, BAMCEF, BSP to contemporary politics. He is an astute commentator running the oldest surviving weekly, "Bheem Patrika", since 1958 and has edited scores of books under his publications. He is a catalyst in bringing Ambedkar's primary writings to the north Indian public. L R Balley is an important link in the archive of India’s history who witnessed the prophet of the millions, Babasaheb Ambedkar. With such established credentials, he is not yet recognized with an honorary doctorate for his contribution, nor has he been honoured by the press societies of India. I write in the piece:
“Balley is a precious testimony of a generation that is a strong bridge to the past. Despite his monumental contributions, Balley remains marginalized from literary and other historical struggles. While his life is a token of immense vanity for India, he is disregarded by the Indian government’s award-giving bodies, the Sahitya Parishads, or even universities that have not considered awarding him a doctorate. It feels disrespectful to address Mr. Balley without an honourable Dr. prefix. A polyglot writer, editor, publisher, politician, organizer, and activist, Balley is a living bookshop of Ambedkarite and Buddhist tradition. Awarding Balley will honour India.
The piece can be read here.
The linkage between caste and access to water is a millennia-old problem in Indian society. Dalits were denied basic needs of life, including access to communal water. To counteract such caste-based discrimination, Dr Ambedkar led the Chavdar tank Satyagraha on 20 March 1927 in Mahad to open access to public tank water to the untouchables. Nevertheless, in contemporary India, Dalit communities still face caste-based discrimination concerning access to water. The government of India launched an ambitious Jal Jeevan Mission in 2019 to provide piped water supply to 18 crore rural households by 2024. Abhijit Waghre, who is a technical assistant at the Jal Jeevan Mission Chair Programme at IIM Bangalore, takes us down the stream to reveal the practical realities of the Jal Jeevan Mission that has been compromised by caste discrimination. He writes, “recent incidents across rural India of Dalits getting beaten up to death, specifically around access to water, are now a new normal.”
You can read the complete piece of article here.
FEBRUARY
For the February edition, I argue about the Constitution and constitutionalism. The latter is made to limit the government's absolutism. John Locke and Montesquieu proposed the "art of government."
I write,
"The constitution, in theory, is a piece of written code acting as a supreme law of the land. The constitution is the basis of various legislation, treatises, and a model of conducting state affairs. It provides the basis for the distribution of powers, ranks, institutions, bodies, and organs of the state. Is it why the conversation surrounding the prose of the constitution is embedded in state and subjects? To understand this part of history, we must visit the Medieval European age."
“India’s history of constitution has been confrontational. Indians relate democracy to the constitution. The existence of the constitution does not guarantee democratic ethos as a precondition for society. The Dharmashastra, Sutras, and Smiritis acted as a fundamental ethic of sovereigns over multiple millennia, which did not authorize democracy centred on the liberty of individuals.”
The article is available here.
Seattle city council made history by passing a law to ban caste-based discrimination in employment and housing, retail, public accommodation and transportation. Kshama Sawant, a socialist councilmember had introduced the historic anti-caste bill, the first US legislation of its kind to the Seattle City Council. Kshama Sawant writes with Prachi Patankar, a civil society leader, for Dalitality,
“...in the US context, the abstract idea of diverse castes co-existing together might complement a multicultural view of diverse races living harmoniously too. Yet, in the case of both race and caste, structural injustice needs to be confronted and changed. The growing attention and action against caste discrimination in America pose a welcome challenge to the false claim of ‘Hinduphobia’ victimhood which has been manipulated by pro-Hindutva advocates.”
The piece can be accessed here.
MARCH
I had a long chat with a senior foreign service official. We talked about many things. Among this, the G20 hosting was on the agenda. I am not sure the purpose it serves but with the expansive attention displayed through the photograph of the mighty leader, it certainly will be his election campaign, said a friend at the Indian Express. I look at the issue historically.
“With G-20 still seen as a not-yet formal heavyweight, it has the possibility of becoming one. Scholar of the G-20, Steven Slaughter, argues that it is this nature of the grouping that offers it more flexibility. The question is, can India use this opportunity and make its own NAM moment of a different kind?”
The piece can be read here.
Sanjay Jain, a professor at the National Law School of India University, Bangalore, writes for March Dalitality edition. Drawing the nexus between the disability and caste bias, Sanjay, a staunch advocate of disability rights, makes an appeal for the intersectional anti-caste struggle. He notes,
“Alienation by other movements, such as Dalit and LGBTQ, merely compounds the isolation and segregation of the disabled. Commingling of caste and disability issues, apart from generating comradery and solidarity for one another among the members of these groups, would also de-hegemonise the intergroup dialogue by salvaging them from medicalisation.”
The article is available to read here.
APRIL
My entry in the April month’s Dalitality focuses on Electric Voting Machines. In this article, I write,
“The Government of India has been accused of deploying Pegasus software to spy on its citizens. Systems run by the Internet are prone to cyberattacks, as was proved in the case oof Iran’s nuclear facility at Natanz. Cyberattacks involve theft of confidential data to manipulate programmes. With the public still ignorant of technological advances, the existence of esoteric knowledge on software manipulation makes EVMs an unfavourable option for many. So how does one thorize the modern world in the womb of technology that is giving birth to new democracy? The Opposition should start by demonstrating its seriousness over EVMs and not simply bemoan ever election. The complaint shpuld be directed against the Election Commission, and not towards a government or a party that is bound to change.”
You can read the complete article here.
Climate change and the new frontiers of caste have not been explored as a policy and social science topic. Harvard postdoc, Ajmal Khan A T write in this pioneering piece,
“Dalit and Adivasi communities have fewer adaptation resources to combat the damage from events related to climate change since they continue to be deprived of socio-economic and political rights and face systemic discrimination. In the recently concluded United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 27) in Egypt, India spoke eloquently about international climate justice and the loss and damage funds that developed countries have to contribute to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change process. However, India doesn’t address internal climate justice and inequalities within. How do we even think about loss and damage when our society is based on caste that ensure permanent loss and damage to Dalit communities for centuries?”
The article can be read here.
I look at the qualitative difference between power and politics. When understood critically, this difference then we see what Weber calls the rise of
"professional politicians" who came to serve the people from a disconnected yet existing lineage of politics. That is why a politician is a leader who is not a regular “normal” person. S/he has to evolve and work with existing structures while not submitting to the strict ethical conviction of a moral code...protests. Thus, politics as an outward norm is not encoded into a definitional mode. We all are politicians as much as professionalized politicians. The position of the later is temporary and can be called upon to serve to the best of their abilities, but the position of the earlier, the regular citizens, is of a full-time politician operating outside the state-power structures but drawing legitimacy and power from its rights as a citizen. Doing politics and being in politics is a condition of the state. We change sequences over professionalized politics and politicized professions which act in conjunction with power, hierarchy, and castes.”
The piece is available here.
Other Features / Publications
An Architecture of our Time
London School of Economics reached out Due to the growing polarisation of the right and left side, the option for the world is pretty limited. So I ask if liberalism – with all its hues and colours is an option after all? I enjoyed writing this one. It certainly educated me about many frontiers to tackle. You can read the piece here.
Dalit Histories, Pandemic Histories, History of the Present
Anjali Arondekar, a theorist and historian, invited me to contribute to the special number they put together on the pandemic. I was asked to write a piece on the resilience of Dalits and what it means for the community. I attempted it. You can access the piece here.
The pdf version can be accessed here on academia.
Duke University Press https://doi.org/10.1215/21599785-10253248
Interviews
Weekly Sadhana
Ambedkarite Scholar, writer and researcher Suraj Yengde on Majha Katta.:
I was on Marathi TV's most-watched program, Majha Katta with Rajiv Khadekar. It can be viewed here.
Castelessness – Shut Up Ya Kunal – EP 25:
Dr. Suraj Yengde’s interview by Sumit Chauhan.
Interview of Dr. Suraj Yengde by Shambhu Kumar Singh of the National Dastak.
Under The Banyan Tree | Suraj Yengde in Candid Conversation with Dr Ajit Ranade, Vice Chancellor, Gokhale Institute of Politics & Economics.
I went to attend Delhi Book Fair. Here, I caught up with Sumit Chauhan again. Dr. Suraj Yengde interviewed by Sumit Chauhan at Geeta Press.
Bahujan Politics, Suraj Yengde and Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan on Tathagat Live. Can be viewed here.
Profile
UNICEF Innocenti: Leading Mind Conference. The profile cum interview can be viewed here.
Samakalika Malayalam.
News Nine interviewed me on caste census.
One of India's noted columnists and novelist, Shobhaa De, penned an article on me. Can be accessed here.
Suraj Yengde, the rockstar writer - The Week.
I made a trip to Pune to do three events. The reportage in Marathi is below.
I was invited to the Times Now to debate Seattle's caste-based discrimination law with the Hindu American Foundation convener, Suhag Shukla. The discussion can be viewed here.
Literature Festivals
I attended three literary festivals this time around. The first was Kerala Literature Festival, nd the second was Jaipur Literature Festival, and the third was Dalit Literature Festival in New Delhi. It was my maiden visit, the most enjoyable events in a long time.
The Mid-Day coverage of the Jaipur Literature Festival can be found here.
I moderated a panel with Sumeet Samos and Yogesh Maitreya.
Dr. Suraj Yengde on Brut Hindi.
Kerala Literature Festival
Ambedkar: A Life | Conversation with Shashi Tharoor & Dr Suraj Yengde at KLF 2023.
"Dalits did not revolt yet; this is a favour on the country", says Suraj Yengde while speaking at the Dalit literature festival.
Dalit Literature Festival, 2023
Suraj Yengde answers Indian Dalit politics to a Bihari channel.
NDTV on Twitter: "Watch Dr Suraj Yengde, author, on Dalit IIT student, who died by suicide". Here's the complete response.
Janamanas Rajasthan interviewed me on the questions of minority rights. The interview can be viewed here.
I had a book discussion in Marathi with senior researcher, writer, and editor Prof Hari Narke. Suraj Yengde Signing Session | Mehta Publishing House. It can be viewed here.
Suraj Yengde shares his experiences with Prof Prashant Bansode at the Gokhale Institute.
Dr. Suraj Yengde criticising caste system and responding to the critics. Can be viewed on Awaaz India TV here.
I spoke on the great literary giant, Anna Bhau Sathe in Latur. Phule Ambedkar’ influence on Anna Bhau Sathe’s literature: An Analysis by Dr Suraj Yengde at Latur. Hear here.
Shout-outs
‘Water in a broken pot’, a memoir by Yogesh Maitreya is out now. My review of the book will be available soon. The extract can be viewed here.
Sumeet Samos, a scholar from the Orissa penned this critical commentary in Affairs of Caste a young diary. I had the pleasure to hear about this book from the author when both of us were at Oxford as neighbors. The excerpt of the book can be viewed here.
A few biographies on Dr Ambedkar are out.
Aakash Singh Rathore's first of multipart volume.
Scott Stroud's The Evolution of Pragmatism in India is out with HarperCollins, India edition.
Journalist Manoj Mitta's hefty tome has some details on caste and resistance to chew on.
Other
Dalit Literature Festival – सम्मान का महोत्सव
A trace of Babasaheb Ambedkar's footprints in London taken directly from there – by Vaibhav Walunj | BBC Marathi News. Can be read here.
On the collegium of Supreme Court cases, there has been a furore over hiring of Brahmin and allied castes by excluding OBC, ST, SC. I spoke with the Scroll.
Asang Wankhede, a DPhil scholar at Balliol College, Oxford and a London University topper is interviewed by Aman Kamble for the Awaaz TV.
Suryakant Waghmore's scholastic piece on the Hindu civil religion brings back the attempts of the Hindu chief whip to call for its reign. The full article is available to read here.
Among his voracious writing available on different venues, Harish Wankhede has a regular column with the Deccan Chronicle. You can follow it here.
In History
January
1 January: Bhima Koregaon Battle Victory Day
3 January: Birth Anniversary of Savitribai Phule, first women teacher of India
8 January: Buddhist Flag Day
9 January: Dr Ambedkar Roundtable conference
14 January: Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada Vidyapith Namvistar Day
15 January: Death Anniversary of Namdev Dhasal, a founder of Dalit Panther
31 January: ‘Muknayak’ newspaper was started by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar
February
2 February: Death Anniversary of Subhedar Ramaji Maloji Sakpal, father of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar
5 February: Hindu code bill was introduced in the Indian parliament by Dr. Ambedkar
7 February: Birth Anniversary of Ramai Ambedkar
7 February: Death Anniversary of Lalai Singh Yadav
23 February: Birth Anniversary of Gadge Maharaj
March
1 March: Self-respect movement started by EVR Periyar
2 March: Kalaram Mandir Satyagarh by Dr. Ambedkar
10 March: Death Anniversary of Savitribai Phule
13 March: Samata Sainik Dal was formed
15 March: Birth Anniversary of Saheb Kanshi Ram
20 March: Mahad Satyagarha
April
11 April: Birth Anniversary of Jyotiba Phule
14 April: Birth Anniversary of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar
14 April: BSP was founded.
List of events I participated in over recent months
13 Jan: Kerala Literature Festival 2023: Ambedkar, A Life | Suraj Yengde in conversation with Shahi Tharoor
15 Jan: Kerala Literature Festival 2023: Caste Matters | Suraj Yengde in conversation with Maya Pramod
17 Jan: The art of protest on 7th Shahadat divas of Rohit Vemula| K. R. Narayanan National Institute of Visual Science and Arts
21 Jan: Jaipur Literature Festival 2023 | Affairs of Caste, a young diary: Sumit Samos and Yogesh Maitreya in conversation with Suraj Yengde
22 Jan: Jaipur Literature Festival 2023 | Caste Matters: Suraj Yengde in conversation with Surinder S Jodhka
24 Jan: Dr. Suraj Yengde in conversation with podcaster Anurag minus Verma|Conference Hall, Dr. Ambedkar Memorial Welfare Society, Jaipur
27 Jan: Trending Diary: Challenging Caste: Inclusion and Diversity, podcast with Dr. Suraj Yengde
28 Jan: A lecture on ‘Utopia’ by Dr. Suraj Yengde | Dadar Matunga Cultural Centre, Mumbai
4 Mar: World Book Fair 2023 | Penguin India Stall, Pragati Maidan, Delhi
9 Mar: A talk on the intersection of caste and disability | Chair and discussant Dr. Suraj Yengde | Location: Zoom
27 Mar: World Dalit Literature and Research Directions, Padmashri | Bhanudas Chauhan Hall, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad)
4 Apr: Addressing Social Justice Hostel students | Samajik Nyay Bhavan, Government of Maharashtra, Commissionrate, Pune
5 Apr: Dr. Suraj Yengde in conversation with Girish Kuber for weekly Sadhana | Gokhale Institute, Pune
6 Apr: Academic journey of Dr. Suraj Yengde | Address to the Gokhale University upon invitation by Ajit Ranade Gokhale Institute, Pune
6 Apr: Real disclosure of virtual movements by Dr. Suraj Yengde | Second edition book launch of Caste Matters, Marathi edition| Mehta Publishing House, Pune
7 Apr: A lecture on caste and superstition by Dr. Suraj Yengde| Launch of special number on Ambedkar by Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti | Sadhana office, Pune
19 Apr: Phule Ambedkar’ influence on Anna Bhau Sathe’s literature: An Analysis | Balachandran Blood Bank Hall, Latur
22 Apr: Q and A with Dr. Suraj Yengde | Prabhadevi Ravindra Natya Mandir mini auditorium, Mumbai
27 Apr: Envisaging Nations: Caste and the politics of the new world: K. P. Basu Memorial Hall, Jadavpur University
28 Apr: Meet the author Suraj Yengde: Oxford Bookstore, 17 Park Street, Kolkata 16
5 May: Buddha Pournima Festival | Ludhiana Buddha Vihara
6 May: Violence of Caste and Dance of Democracy | The Idea of Democracy, St. Kabir, Chandigarh
7 May: Role and Responsbilities of Ambedkarite Middle Class | SSACH Educational Trust, Hoshiarpur
9 May: Public conversation with Dr Suraj Yengde | Dept of English, Dept of Punjabi, Panjabi University, Patiala