‘Bhima Koregaon: Challenging Caste’ by Ajaz Ashraf: Laying bare Maharashtra’s deep-rooted caste fault lines

11/08/2024

The Tribune India / by Debashish Mukerji

By now, it is manifestly clear that the Bhima Koregaon case, unfolding since 2018, is an indelible blot on India’s democratic record.
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Two books recalling these shameful developments have been published this year — ‘The Incarcerations’ by Alpa Shah, an anthropology professor at the London School of Economics, and ‘Bhima Koregaon: Challenging Caste’ by veteran journalist Ajaz Ashraf. Both are staggeringly well researched; however, while they do inevitably cover much common ground — using interviews with the same people, even quoting from the works of the same experts (such as Paul Brass and Christophe Jaffrelot) — their focuses are somewhat different.
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Groundbreaking book, addresses oppression of Dalits, ‘Brahminical’ underpinnings

05/08/2024

Counterview.net / by Harsh Thakor

‘Bhima Koregaon: Challenging Caste – Brahminism’s Wrath Against Dreamers Of Equality’ is a groundbreaking work addressing the oppression of Dalits and the Brahminical underpinnings of the state. This book compellingly illustrates the perilous consequences faced by those engaged in the struggle against class and caste hierarchies in India, especially since 2014, where any quest for justice and equality is often met with suppression and criminalization. It holds an esteemed place in the literature that confronts proto-fascism and embodies the fury of Brahminism against advocates of equality.
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New book investigates Bhima Koregaon—‘riots are manufactured, not spontaneous’

02/08/2024

The Print / by Antara Baruah

There’s no singular account of what happened at Elgar Parishad. In ‘Bhima Koregaon: Challenging Caste’, Ajaz Ashraf offers precisely this.
The battle in today’s India is between those dreaming of equality and those upholding Brahminical hierarchy. It is within this context that senior journalist Ajaz Ashraf situates the contentious legacy of Bhima Koregaon as a site and symbol of Dalit liberation in his book, Bhima Koregaon: Challenging Caste.
In the book, he discusses the events following Elgar Parishad—held to commemorate the Battle of Bhima Koregaon’s 200th anniversary on 31 December 2017—and the wrongful arrest of 16 activists, professors, and journalists, collectively known as BK16.
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Process as Punishment – Recent books that bear witness to the BK-16’s incarceration

31/07/2024

The Caravan / by Kaashif Hajee

“The Incarcerations” / “How Long Can The Moon Be Caged” / “Bhima Koregaon: Challenging Caste”
“IT IS ONLY BY CHANCE that I came out of prison alive,” GN Saibaba said, at his first press briefing after his release from Nagpur Central jail on 7 March. The 57-year-old former Delhi University professor also mentioned the inhumane treatment and torture he had faced for nearly ten years in prison. Saibaba, who is wheelchair-bound and over ninety-percent handicapped, was confined to the same cell for over eight years and deprived of a wheelchair.
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▪ Bhima Koregaon: Challenging Caste. Brahminism’s wrath against dreamers of equality

Author: Ajaz Ashraf  
Publisher: AuthorsUpFront
Publishing Date: June 2024
Pages: 496
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▪ The Incarcerations: Bhima Koregaon And The Search For Democracy In India

Author: Alpa Shah
Publishing Date: March 2024
Publisher: Harper Collins Publisher
Pages: 672
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▪ How Long Can the Moon Be Caged? Voices of Indian Political Prisoners

Authors: Suchitra Vijayan and Francesca Recchia
Publishing Date: Aug 2023
Publisher: Pluto Press
Pages: 247
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Also read:
▪ Let’s Remember the Lesson of Bhima Koregaon: Down with the New Peshwai (Sanhati│ by Sudhir Dhawale │ March 2018)
▪ The Myth of Bhima Koregaon Reinforces the Identities It Seeks to Transcend (The Wire | Anand Teltumbde | Jan 2018)
▪ Why peoples’ coalitions are uniting against Hindutva — the ‘new Peshwai’ (Dailyo.in │ by Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves │ Jan 2018)