Babasaheb and Education
Education was historically denied to Dalit communities for centuries. Babasaheb’s extraordinary accolades would go on to become a pride for his people. Illustration by Ajinkya Dekhane Dr B. R Ambedkar was an eminent jurist, economist, leader and also the most prolific thinker of his time. His important work in social reform, law and politics is […]
Dr Ambedkar History Month
Caste segregation and caste occupations meant Dalits would be forbidden from having the same privileges as Savarnas did. In ‘Waiting for a Visa’, Dr Ambedkar says that these events are so transformative in his journey that they had an ‘indelible impression’ on his mind. Illustration by Ajinkya Dekhane Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar was born on April […]
The Mahad Satyagraha
For 96 years, the Mahad Satyagraha has represented a demand for the human rights of Dalits and the rejection of the caste system’s repressive impositions on their communities. Illustration by Ajinkya Dekhane On August 4, 1923, the Bombay Legislative Council adopted a resolution that recommended that the depressed classes be given access to all public […]
Why is Holika Dahan Celebrated?
The celebration of Holi is the celebration and legitimisation of the routine violence and caste atrocities against Dalit women. The fact that it continues nationwide to this day is shameful and cruel, and nothing other than a publicly sponsored atrocity against Dalit women communities. Illustration by Ajinkya Dekhane Holika Dahan or the ‘Burning of Holika’ […]
A Faith to Bite Into
My friend, Rev John Boopalan, a Dalit liberation theologian, told me that most Christians come to Ambedkar through Jesus. A fiery leader who sacrifices everything, life and death, for his people’s liberation. Not a comparison on a facetious level but for recognition like an arrow through the heart.
शहरी अभियान और सभ्यता का नाटक
पिछले दिनों
शहर के अलग-अलग हिस्सों में
पागल कुत्तों के झुंड ने
कई लोगों को काटा
समुद्र देखने का विशेषाधिकार
समुद्र दिखाना है मेरी मां को,
उसने देखा नहीं कभी
Caste Hindu Nationalism and Trans Citizenship
It is the marginalized millions within the given nation-state that challenge its imposed uniformity & enforced uniform nationalism by asserting the right to touch, to see & be seen, to voice out & be heard beyond the negligible that’s sanctioned.
Wretched Man
On the road,
there was a wretched man,
a man who was wretched,
who was lying in the middle of the road
वो धार थी
वो धार थी
कटार थी