While Dalit activism is generally understood as resistance to “Brahmanical Hinduism”, the Vivek Vichar Manch’s goal is to foster Hindu unity, something which is also a core ideological goal of the BJP and the Sangh
At a time when the Opposition, particularly the Congress, has made caste census, the representation of marginalised classes in structures of power, and their share in welfare benefits its key political planks, a recent initiative of Dalits subscribing to Hindutva and seeking to resolve caste faultlines is active in Maharashtra, with some support from the RSS and the BJP. Read more
The leading scholar of the Dalit movement, explains how Hindutva parties use Babasaheb for political gains.
One of India’s leading public intellectuals and an authority on the Dalit movement, Anand Teltumbde, has been in the news across the country for his book on Ambedkar, Iconoclast: A Reflective Biography of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. The book offers a deep analysis of not just Ambedkar’s philosophy, but also the man he was— complex, visionary and tenacious. In this interview with Frontline, Teltumbde, brings to life Babasaheb, an icon who is now worryingly “worshipped” by several political parties and ordinary people. Read more
A Bhima Koregaon political prisoner reflects on his release.
The author and activist Sudhir Dhawale was released on 24 January, after six years and seven months in jail. Dhawale, who founded the anti-caste group Republican Panthers Jatiantachi Chalwal and publishes the Marathi magazine Vidrohi, was one of the organisers of the Elgar Parishad, on 31 December 2017, a day before caste violence broke out on the two-hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon. …
Shahid Tantray, a multimedia reporter at The Caravan, spoke to Dhawale at his organisation’s Mumbai office. Read more
The book exposes the strategies of hate politics and violent populism and shows how democracy is being wrecked from within.
Hannah Arendt’s canonical exhortation for the persecuted Jew that “…if one is attacked as a Jew, one must defend oneself as a Jew” finds resonance in the Dalit’s resistance against Brahminism and caste atrocities in India. Articulating the political contestation, imbued with the concept of social justice, Dalits look forward not to a continued endurance of historical, or even day-to-day, injustice but to pursue both normative and strategic vindication of their rights and dignity. Read more
Having spent six and a half years in jail, the Elgar Parishad accused also said that prisons in India are in a ‘state of emergency’.
Rona Wilson has long been an advocate for prisoners’ rights and a staunch proponent of the term “political prisoner”. However, during his prolonged incarceration in the Elgar Parishad case, Rona found himself grappling with a “moral quandary”.
With new firsthand experiences, observations from his six-and-a-half-year stay in two central prisons in Maharashtra – Yerwada in Pune and Taloja in Navi Mumbai – his activism while incarcerated, and research conducted within the confines of prison, 53-year-old Rona now views the term from a different perspective. He now approaches the subject with a deliberate focus on caste and religious dimensions. Read more
▪ From Phansi Yard: My Year with the Women of Yerawada Author: Sudha Bhardwaj Publishing Date: Oct 2023 Publisher: Juggernaut Pages: 216 Read more / order
▪ 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 Read more / order
Sudhir Dhawale interview: ‘The law remains blind to injustice even with the blindfold gone’
The writer spent six years and seven months in jail before receiving bail in the Bhima Koregaon case.
On January 24, when Sudhir Dhawale walked back into the narrow lane in the Mumbai neighbourhood of Govandi where he lived until he was arrested in June, 2018, young men welcomed him with the beat of the dhol.
His neighbours then marched in a celebratory procession to a statue of BR Ambedkar 100 metres away. Dhawale garlanded the statue and gave a short speech about the importance of safeguarding Dalit rights. And just like that, he said, his life returned to normal. Read more
The lifelong activist spent 2,422 days in jail. But through personal loss, injustice and 23 months of solitary confinement, the activist has fought for what he has believed to be right.
A day after Father Stan Swamy passed away, Sudhir Dhawale, overcome with emotion, sat down in his barrack and wrote a long poem. “Words just flowed,” he says.
Dhawale, a prolific writer, author of several books, and editor of the radical anti-caste bi-monthly magazine Vidrohi, had never before written poetry. This was his first. But in the three-and-a-half years since Swamy’s death, Dhawale has written at least a hundred more – on issues that directly impact him, on news that stirs his emotions, on politics that kept him awake in prison, on Modi, on the “Manuwaadi” government, and even on society’s apathy towards “corroding democracy.” Read more
By The Dalit Voice / @ambedkariteIND (Jan 2):
More than 2 million people visit Bhima Koregaon on Shaurya Diwas.
Jan 1, 2025
207th anniversary of Battle of Koregaon Bhima: We will kick those who oppose Dr Ambedkar, rhymes Ramdas Athavle
01/01/2025
The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde
Lakhs visit Jaystambh in Pune, no untoward incident reported, say police
Over six lakh people, mainly followers of Dr B R Ambedkar from different parts of the country, visited the ‘Jaystambh’ at Perne village in Pune district to mark the 207th anniversary of the Battle of Koregaon Bhima on Wednesday. Read more
About 10 lakh people tribute peacefully at Koregaon Bhima victory pillar
01/01/2025
Times of India / by Sandip Dighe
About 10 lakh people on Wednesday paid tributes at the Koregaon Bhima Jaystambh (victory pillar) at Perne village, about 30km from the city on the highway to Ahmednagar road.
People from all walks of life went there to commemorate the 207th anniversary of the battle of Koregaon Bhima fought between the East India Company and the Peshwa of the Maratha empire on January 1, 1818. Read more
In Maharashtra, Fadnavis’s Foray to Capture Bhima-Koregaon
01/01/2025
The Wire / by Anand Teltumbde
The scale and nature of Maharashtra government’s involvement in the forthcoming celebration at Bhima-Koregaon raises questions, especially in light of the historical significance of the event as a symbol of anti-caste resistance.
The upcoming congregation on January 1, 2025 at Bhima-Koregaon is being actively sponsored by the state government under the leadership of the returning Maharashtra chief minister, Devendra Fadnavis. After reclaiming the chief ministerial position following a six-year hiatus, this initiative marks one of his first major undertakings, thereby carrying immense political significance. Read more
Graphic by Arun Ferreira & Vernon Gonsalves
People gather in large numbers at Bhima Koregaon village to mark 207th anniversary of battle
01/01/2025
The News Mill / by ani
A large number of people on Wednesday gathered at Koregaon Bhima village in Maharashtra’s Pune to mark the 207th anniversary of the Bhima-Koregaon Battle at the Vijay Stambha memorial erected in honour of the soldiers who fought in the battle. Read more
Political leaders pay tribute at the Bhima Koregaon Memorial
01/01/2025
The Mooknayak / by Pratikshit Singh
Every year on 1st January, lakhs of people assemble at Jay Stambh, the memorial dedicated to the martyrs of the historic Bhima Koregaon Battle.
Prakash Ambedkar, the president of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi and grandson of Dr. Baba Saheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar visited Jay Stambha, the Bhima Koregaon memorial and paid tributes to the martyrs of the historic battle. Read more
Security Heightened As Uneasiness Looms Over Bhima-Koregaon Anniversary
30/12/2024
Free Press Journal / by Ashish Singh
For the Dalit community, the battle represents a significant moment of pride, as they view the victory as symbolic of their resistance against the upper-caste oppression of the Maratha Peshwa regime.
In light of a recent incident in Parbhani district, the 207th anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon (1818), scheduled for January 1, 2025, is being watched by security agencies. The agencies are on high alert due to concerns about the law and order situation. Read more
… On November 22 this year, the deportee from the Maoist heartland, Himanshu Kumar, now 60, completed a nearly 2,000-kilometre cycle march through western India…
The destination for the cycle march was a choice that emerged from a strong conviction. One of Kumar’s intentions was to prick the nation’s conscience over the languishing predicament, since early 2018, of “the 16 best minds of the country.” Of them, seven men and one woman still remain behind bars – the former in Taloja Central Jail and the latter in Byculla Women’s Jail. Read more
Video: Himanshu Kumar’s cycle march and advocacy against opression
hindi (english subtitles) | 40:06 | 2024
In this interview, senior reporter Prashant Rahi talks to Himanshu about his cycle march and history and future plans of advocacy against oppression. Watch video
Book release. Pic credits: Anuradha SenGupta / @anuradhasays
Sabrangindia / by Harsh Thakor
In this review, the writer examines how Dr Anand Teltumbde, the distinguished academic and human rights defender eradicates the hyperbole that turns Ambedkar into a demi-god.
In Iconoclast, Dr Anand Teltumbde, a distinguished authority on the Dalit movement, presents an illustrative biography of Dr B.R. Ambedkar. Without doubt, a path breaking work. The author brilliantly traces his crystallisation into one of the icons of the last century or dissects events that shaped Bhima Rao’s evolution to Babasahaeb into making Dalits recognize Ambedkar as their leader.
… Teltumbde concludes that had he lived today, Bhimrao Ambedkar would undoubtedly been a serious threat to this regime and would likely have found himself imprisoned under draconian laws like UAPA, possibly even as the co-accused in the Bhima-Koregaon case. Read more
▪ Iconoclast. A Reflective Biography of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar
by Anand Teltumbde
