Dear Friends,
This is a silver jubilee edition of the newsletter. Friends from Vancouver encouraged me to put together the newsletter. In fact, they were committed to the idea that they allowed me to use their listserve credentials to start off! I am grateful to them. I wanted to contact you in your personal inbox to communicate and update, thanks for being here with me.
October, going into November and December, and January also will be a time of one carry-on, one rucksack, and one light suit bag. For this month and December, I will be exploring the Southeast Asian region.
Dalitality
November
For November’s Dalitality, I profile Vontibettu Thimmappa Rajshekar Shetty (VTR), who authored 30 books on caste, nation and religion.
V T Rajshekar was a world-famous man in the 1990s decade for his activism and editing of the journal, Dalit Voice. I grew up knowing and listening to this name. He was known in the movement. It has been my wish to acknowledge my predecessors who have paved the path for me to build upon. VTR, like L R Balley, Chandra Bhan Prasad, and Anand Teltumbde are among the handful of anti-caste, Bahujan writers who had a dedicated space to articulate their views at different times and in different mediums. They wrote in the English language at a time when appreciation for their work would have been slimmer. A profile of Teltumbde remains, which will appear in 2024.
The enormity of VTR’s work and the humongous archive of Dalit Voice is waiting to be digitised. The man himself has many stories to share and experiences to embalm the curious ones. Living by his principles and never giving in to fickleness, VTR has chosen to live all alone in Mangaluru, though he has the luxury of travelling to London, where his son, Salil, the former head of Amnesty International, resides. At the age of 92, he even cooks his own food and actively participates in movements. The father and children argue about the inadequacy of the international community’s work in eradicating caste. VTR bemoans the absence of an active pan-Indian Dalit movement today. He was someone who fiercely advocated for Dalit-Muslim unity. He compared the coming together of the two to “petrol and fire” that would burn Brahminical forces."
Read the complete piece here.
Publications
Articles
About four years ago, I wrote an article on caste, merit, and tests. I stumbled upon a text by the legendary legal scholar and first African American woman law faculty at Harvard, Lani Guinier's text on tests and meritocracy. I read it and certainly was aware of Michael Young's classic, Meritocracy. The Indian case had so much to offer. I analysed this condition and wrote the piece Casteocracy, which theorises the nature of merit-making in the Indian caste context. How tests are crafted to exclude the majority and cater to a specific class can be clearly seen in the Indian admission system. The names of selected candidates and their background qualifies the above hypothesis. You can read the piece here which was published this year.
My friend, Girish Kuber, editor of Loksatta reached out with a proposal for the annual special number of Diwali 2023. He said he wants to look at India@2047, a sort of future gazing. I told him the idea was good, but I do not indulge into writing about future. He requested me to explore the dimensions of the country in any ways I feel like. I told him, I look at the future through technology, privacy, and society—with whatever is happening now, in real time. He approved. Thus, the idea sat with me.
Due to hectic travels, I could not sit and write in Marathi language. But I requested my friend, Dr Sumedh Paradhe with transcribing. Armed with recorded and his excellent interviweing skills came this piece. Abhijit Tamhane, my friend at Loksatta sharply edited this piece into its final form.
I cover, emerging threats like terrorism, space-colonisation, vegan nation, AI, the need for new laws to grapple technology based world, the potential for war like situations between robot and humans, cyber-attacks, natural disasters, pandemics, etc? I comment on the dystopic nature of technology mediating society.
You can read the complete piece here.
Media Profiles
The talk I delivered at the University of California, Berkeley, “The Moral Cost of Caste”, is now available to view here.
Interviews
I was profiled for the annual Diwali special issue of the Samanaa, Mumbai-based Marathi periodical by Dr Rajendra Gonarkar. You can read the piece here.
I am uploading my old interview with Stephen Park on Asian Boss. Click here to watch.
Other Features/ Publications
An important from the Dalit community who write on queerness and the privilege of the upper castes, Akhil Kang, a Cornel University grad student wrote this persuasive piece for the Feminist Review. I have been reading the hard-fact writing of Akhil, this piece recenters our attention the idea of intimacy and social movmeents in the framework of dalit love and inter-caste relationships. You can read the piece here.
The Guardian featured an article on Dr Ambedkar and his movement drawing from interviews and records. It covers the premiere of Somnath Waghmare’s new film, Chaityabhumi at LSE. This piece by Saeed Kamali Dehghan can be read here.
Frontline latest edition was entitled, “CASTE Comes back”, focusing on the Bihar Caste Census. You can read it here. The Caste Census in Bihar and thereby the national politics is taking an interesting turn in the wake of caste census and the back and forth.
Prominent scholar and writer Anand Teltumbde wrote a chapter called ‘Ambedkar’s Legacy’ in The Oxford Handbook of Caste edited by two non-Bahujans. It can be accessed here.
Anurag Minus Verma interviewed Anoop Kumar, the founder of Nalanda Academy, which aims to provide higher education to students from underprivileged backgrounds. Access the interview here.
AMW also wrote an article on India’s sporting culture and the art of being an audience. How certain superstitious traditions and personal beliefs animate the dogma of one's insecurity laced with pride as the only emotion available. Read it here. Anurag offers engaging cultural commentary, as seen in his video creations. We will soon be reading his debut novel next year.
Below is an excellent piece by Sudipto Mondal, published in Newslaundry. The piece covers the rise in persecution of Christians, issues concerning the Hinduisation of Adivasi tribes, and the contestations between Buddhist and Brahmanical organisations in mobilising the masses. Click here to read.
Mathew John recently released a book titled India’s Communal Constitution: Law, Religion and the Making of People. You can access it here.
Swapan Kumar Bhattacharyya wrote a piece, ‘Exploring B. R. Ambedkar’s Sociology: A Biographical Approach’. For those interested, it is available here.
Kunal Kamra, in his Shut Up Ya Kunal episode, interviewed Prof. Dilip Mandal. They talk about the politics of accountabilility and caste alongside art and new Watch this episode here.
Seasoned economist and columnist at the Times of India, Swaminathan S A Aiyar buttressed the point that I along with a few others have been making, that is, how caste inequality is the "mother of all inequalities—class (income), gender, region, language, and historical advantages." In his column, he offered a reviewed a book by Swati Narayan and studied the foreword of Jean Dreze to the book.
One point that he makes brings home my own experience. The teachers from the dominant caste are contemptuous of the oppressed caste students and they are unable to teach them due to "lack of literate parents, books at home, a sizeable vocabulary at school learning." I write about this in the article, Casteocracy.
In History
15 November: Birth Anniversary of Birsa Munda
22 November: Birth Anniversary of Jhalkaribai
24 November: “Janta” newspaper founded by Dr Ambedkar launched
25 November: Samata Sainik Dal formed
26 November: Constitution Day
28 November: Death Anniversary of Jyotiba Phule
Things to look out for
Gayatri Thakur, Miss Heritage of India 2022, an Ambedkarite from the Adivasi community, will represent India internationally in Thailand. She represents ancient Stupas and sculptures made by Samrat Ashoka.
credit: gayuuthakur Instagram
Somnath Waghmare’s film Chaityabhumi was successfully screened at world-leading universities, including Dr B. R. Ambedkar’s alma mater, London School of Economics and Political Science, the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, King’s College London, SOAS, etc. He is now touring US where several screenings are organised at various universities.
Celebrations
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s statue was unveiled on the premises of the Supreme Court of India by Honourable President Droupadi Murmu and Chief Justice of India Dhananjay Chandrachud on the occasion of Constitution Day on 26th November.
Recent Events
10th November 2023: The British Sociological Association's Annual Presidential Event was organised at LSE. The audio of the talk is here.
Pic: Post-event at LSE 10 November 2023
11th November 2023: “Ambedkarite Meetup London” | B202, SOAS, WC1H 0XG
I spent a day in London with the Ambedkarite students in the UK. It was hosted by Sushant Singh, the President of the SOAS Student’s Union.
13th November 2023: “Why Dalit Voices on Caste Matters?” and the launch of “Oxford Ambedkar Initiative” | Russell Room, Balliol College, Oxford, OX1 3BJ
Author and legal scholar, Asang Wankhede and I started the “Oxford Ambedkar Initiative”. We launched this aiming to create more acceptance and position of Ambedkarite politics. It will also be a safe haven for Dalit students coming to the Oxon campus.
Pic: With the participants and Oxford Dalit students and scholars
#JaiBhim #DalitLove
suraj, from Vietnam for now, going into Laos.
Happy new year, dear brother.
Wish you all the very best for the year ahead!