Talks by Vidya Bhushan Rawat
Conversation : S V Rajadurai, V Geetha & Vidya Bhushan Rawat on Periyar's ideology, self respect ... more Conversation : S V Rajadurai, V Geetha & Vidya Bhushan Rawat on Periyar's ideology, self respect movement and opportunism of political parties S V Rajadurai is one of the leading intellectuals from Tamil Nadu who has written, in English and Tamil, on a range of issues to do with Marxism and literature; with Tamil politics and modern history, including Periyar and the Dravidian movement and translated widely, both fiction and non-fiction. Associated with a broad spectrum of left movements, he has worked for several years in the civil liberties movement and was Vice-President, PUCL. V. Geetha is a feminist historian, writer and translator, who has been active in the women's movement for several years. She writes, in English and Tamil, on issues to do with caste, education, feminism and contemporary Tamil society. V. Geetha and S V Rajadurai have worked together for over 25 years-as authors and translators. Their major work comprises essays on the Dravidian movement and politics published in the Economic and Political Weekly, and the book, Towards a Non Brahmin Millennium: from Iyothee Thass to Periyar. They have also authored monographs on western Marxism, including a comprehensive volume on the life and thought of Antonio Gramsci. Rajadurai and Geetha continue to translate poetry and fiction from English to Tamil. The importance of Periyar and his self respect movement is immense and yet neither the Indian state nor the state of Tamilnadu where politicians chant his name, none have felt it important to compile Periyar's speeches and writings and make it available to rest of the country men. This rare conversation of Vidya Bhushan Rawat, with Rajadurai and Geetha will definitely be important for students of social movements and political science in India. Even though it is lengthy yet it explains so many things hitherto unknown to common people. VB : Periyar was one of the tallest revolutionaries of India. His thoughts on secularism, on Brahmanism surpass any other political leaders of his time. He was enormously popular with the masses. Why does today's Tamil Nadu seem absolutely reverse to Periyar's thoughts when we see the growing religiosity in the state and a huge number of Shudras following it? SV & VG : Periyar's radicalism comprised several parts – his critique of Brahminism was many-sided. At one level, it was a rejection of the Brahminical abhorrence of labour and touch. Describing the differences he harboured with Rajaji, who was also a personal friend, he remarked that C. Rajagopalachariyar (Rajaji) stayed true to his mission, which was that ‗he did not want his caste men to have to pick up a spade and labour'. In another instance, speaking of the winning flexibility of Brahmin intellectualism, he observed that some Brahmins might abhor a ‗Panchama' entering their homes, whereas others might not be averse to the same ‗Panchama' entering their kitchens; why, some might even ‗allow' a Panchama to enter the sanctum sanctorum of their altar-room, and there were Brahmins who did marry Panchamas. In all this, though Brahmins made choices that worked to their advantage – he used the Tamil word ‗balithavarai', that is whatever ‗worked' for them. At another level Periyar argued that Brahminism had to do with the hierarchical logic of varnadharma, which, like a ladder implicates everyone – in this sense, each of us carries a ladder in our consciousness, and we measure ourselves and others on the basis of where we are placed on this ladder. However, what drew the
Papers by Vidya Bhushan Rawat
A few days ago our finance minister and the legal brain of the current government Mr Arun Jaitley... more A few days ago our finance minister and the legal brain of the current government Mr Arun Jaitley spoke in a conference and said that ‘you can not ban anything in the current age of information'.…
www.countercurrents.org, 2020
Love Jihad narrative is being build and many states have said that they are bringing a law to sto... more Love Jihad narrative is being build and many states have said that they are bringing a law to stop this but in fact this is a well planned exercise of the Sangh Parivar which not only communalise the wholel issue but also has a caste angle which is to discourage the inter caste marriages. I explain the whole issue in this essay.
www.countercurrents.org , 2019
The results of 2019 General Elections in India have far reaching impact on the Bahujan political ... more The results of 2019 General Elections in India have far reaching impact on the Bahujan political parties. With complete decimation of the Mandal forces in North India, the Hindutva's anti Muslim plank along with careful entry into the Bahujan narrative, BJP won landslide. There are other aspect of it too including the misuse of public machinery, a lackluster Election Commission, media as propaganda machinery and many more things but in this paper, I am arguing the failures of the Bahujan polity in the north India and what can they learn from Tamilnadu where DMK stitched a formidable alliance.
www.countercurrents.org, 2019
This relate to the Supreme Court order on February 13th, 2019, which, if implemented, can create ... more This relate to the Supreme Court order on February 13th, 2019, which, if implemented, can create a huge man made crisis in our forest zones. It is shocking beyond doubt that a 'public interest litigation', has turned out to be an attempt to 'legally' 'annihilate' India's Adivasis. What is puzzling that the Supreme Court not issued any notice to Central government or the Central Government did not show any interest and allowed the thing to do this way.
In majoritarian democracy, it is the institutions which protect people and their human rights but what is happening today is a serious matter when the legal process is being used to deny the marginalised their legitimate rights.
The issue is not merely the Wild Life or the Conservation of Forest but it is the corporate greed which is pushing these zones towards more anarchy and militarisation as people protest against these unethical orders and the authorities more than eager to crush their protests.
Countercurrents.org, 2019
We are at the historic movement now. Through the Savarna reservation, the BJP and the Hindutva lo... more We are at the historic movement now. Through the Savarna reservation, the BJP and the Hindutva lobby has attempted to make the reservations as redundant. Be very careful of forces like Youth for Equality, who are said to be opposing it. There may be various reasons for their going to court. The Bahujan forces should ally and demand a complete national census based on caste including upper castes and their economic status. Once the economic status of castes comes out in open state wise, there will be bigger chances of economic poor making alliance with the Dalits, OBCs and Adivasis. Ofcourse, all these parties cannot just pay lip service to the Pasmanda question as well as the Dalit Christians issues and will have to take an categorical stand on their question apart from strengthening the public sectors and redistribution and settlement of the land question which was part of Mandal recommendations. You cannot hide the land question and that of the forest and water resources with just ‘sarkari jobs’. India’s democracy will only be strengthened once the rural power equations change and that is impossible without a full commitment to Land Reforms, and respecting the autonomy and customary rights of the Adivasis on forests fisherfolks on the rivers and pastoralists on the grazing lands.
You cannot fight against the brahmanical supremacy by creating your own hegemonies in your domain areas. Democratisation of our social structure will ultimately pave the way for proportionality everywhere and vice versa. Let us work for that to make India a better and humane society. For that to happen, parties too must adhere to that principle and start from their own structure otherwise we will always be at the receiving ends when parties give the poor a lollypop and once they are in power, the brokers take control and cadres are only supposed to just keep quiet in the greater ‘interest’ of the party.
Proportional system will ensure India’s diversity and the role to be played by the each citizen irrespective of his caste, religion and other identities in the nation building. The country can not be handed over to the Hindutva nationalists of Hindi Hindu Hindustan variety as that will only impose north Indian brahmanical hegemony on all of us hence we need to resist all these attempts and expose them. Let the political parties adhering to social justice understand what Baba Saheb Ambedkar and Periyar had spoken years ago about it and dedicate to their ideals of social change and not to make a mockery of social justice. The time to democratise India’s socio-political structure has come in the greater interest of the country and proportionality at all level will strengthen it.
The Impact of Special Economic Zones in India : A Case Study of Polepally SEZ - Commercial Pressures on Land, Jan 2011
Special Economic Zones in India are areas declared as quasi foreign territory in which private en... more Special Economic Zones in India are areas declared as quasi foreign territory in which private enterprises can benefit from a lucrative package of tax and regulatory exemptions. Claimed to promote exports and foreign exchange earnings, they are also criticised as merely encouraging the relocation of existing firms, causing a loss of tax revenue and the undermining of workers' rights. This study provides an overview of the national-level controversy surrounding SEZs, based on a detailed account of the acquisition process and impacts of one SEZ in Polepally, Andhra Pradesh. The case of Polepally reveals how governments respond to increasing commercial pressures on land resources by acting as agents for commercial and outside interests, by making land available to them through forced acquisition.
Countercurrents.org, 2019
'Feminists are overjoyed about but Sabarimala is not defeat of Brahmanism but establishing it fur... more 'Feminists are overjoyed about but Sabarimala is not defeat of Brahmanism but establishing it further. It is suggesting that women can’t live without religion. When one fifty years back Periyar, Ambedkar, Phule and even Bhagat Singh suggested that brahmanical value system in India is nothing but absolute denial of human rights for Dalits, shudras as well as women, where was the need to justify the temple entry? We have seen how temple entry become an event and after sometimes things come back to ‘normal’. As I said, I defend Hindu women’s right to enter the sanctum-sanctorum of the temple but definitely it is not revolutionary as being projected. The revolutionary thing would have been to ask women that there is No God and even if he is inside the temples, he remains powerless, it is people who play power politics with these Gods. Gods and their chamchas have harmed the world, the most. It is time to call them bluff. Investing huge amount of money to ‘protect’ these temples or other religious places and wasting our energy on these issues is a well laid trapped by the dominant elite to keep the people subjugated and deny them to think about them'.
What is happening in Kerala is an attempt reestablish brahmanical supremacy. Pushing people back to religion and those orthodox values is no revolution. Sharing my thoughts on the Sabarimala issue.
Delhi High Court's verdict on Hashimpura massacre of Muslims by the hands of PAC is still open to... more Delhi High Court's verdict on Hashimpura massacre of Muslims by the hands of PAC is still open to be challenged in the Supreme Court but it has exposed the character of the state apparatus which connive with the Hindu fundamentalists and take on the Muslims. it look like war where every Muslim become suspect and their areas 'sensitive' one. In 1984 we witness the same happening to Sikhs in the aftermath of the army assault on Golden Temple in June and then the assassination of Mrs Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh security guards. Delhi witness the unprecedented crime against humanity when innocent Sikhs were butchered in the most horrific way by the mob which wanted to avenge the murder of Mrs Gandhi. Police became just a mute spectator in the entire exercise.
The survivors of all the communal pogroms in India do not get state support. Those who speak for them become suspect. Mujaffarnagar, Bhagalpur, Meerut, Bhivandi, Malegaon, Mumbai, Gujarat, Delhi and many other places reminds us the heinous crime and absolute and criminal apathy of the status apparatus against the survivors.
Can India rise above the caste and religious prejudices ? How will state apparatus be made accountable and responsible ?
Aasia Bibi's case in Pakistan has been misrepresented as a violence against Christian minority. T... more Aasia Bibi's case in Pakistan has been misrepresented as a violence against Christian minority. The fact of the matter is that it is a discrimination on the basis of caste. Most of the Christian minority in Pakistan is actually hailing from Churas or Bhangi communities who were treated untouchables in Hinduism. The conversion did not change their status.
Aisa Bibi too faced untouchability crisis. The altercation that she had with the women of her locality was when they called the water touched by her as Haram. It is a clear case of untouchability. Most of the Christians are called Churas and Bhangis as contemptuously. There is no legal protection for them in Pakistan. In India too Muslim Dalits are not recognised by the law.
It is time we ask for ourlawing caste based discrimination in Pakistan, Bangladesh and other parts of the world. India, Nepal do have laws and there is an issue of their implementation but other countries dont even have that. Caste cross all the religions and need to be understood in a simple way that conversion has not really changed their social status.
25 years have passed since Babari Masjid was demolished and that too on the day when millions of ... more 25 years have passed since Babari Masjid was demolished and that too on the day when millions of people in India remember Baba Saheb Ambedkar on his Mahaparinirwan. It is a day of immense introspection for all. The Babari project was not really against Muslim that much as it was to deflate the growing assertion among the Dalits and OBCs after the Mandalisation process. The unity between the Dalits and OBCs on the one hand and Muslims and Dalits on the other was sought to be destroyed. Even then the people in Uttar Pradesh have rejected politics of religion and this has resulted in Mandalisation of BJP itself. However, they played with the contradictions among various communities. That apart, we feel that demolition of Babari Mosque was an assault on India's constitution which gives every one a democratic to chose and practice faith of ones choice. It is time that these autonomous institutions are protected so that the constitution is protected.
Conference Presentations by Vidya Bhushan Rawat
Today we remember Baba Saheb Ambedkar. Many people have their own perception of Baba Saheb embrac... more Today we remember Baba Saheb Ambedkar. Many people have their own perception of Baba Saheb embracing Buddhism with millions of his followers. There have been lots of debate about his relationship with Marxists and how did he perceived Marxism. We have to explore these issues seriously. Secondly, there have been canard against Dr Ambedkar as many people tried to push the idea that he wanted to convert to christianity and other religion. I think, Dr Ambedkar's acceptance of Buddhism was not a one day decision but a very thoughtful one. We should leave that to his judgement and should not attempt to distort him.
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Talks by Vidya Bhushan Rawat
Papers by Vidya Bhushan Rawat
In majoritarian democracy, it is the institutions which protect people and their human rights but what is happening today is a serious matter when the legal process is being used to deny the marginalised their legitimate rights.
The issue is not merely the Wild Life or the Conservation of Forest but it is the corporate greed which is pushing these zones towards more anarchy and militarisation as people protest against these unethical orders and the authorities more than eager to crush their protests.
You cannot fight against the brahmanical supremacy by creating your own hegemonies in your domain areas. Democratisation of our social structure will ultimately pave the way for proportionality everywhere and vice versa. Let us work for that to make India a better and humane society. For that to happen, parties too must adhere to that principle and start from their own structure otherwise we will always be at the receiving ends when parties give the poor a lollypop and once they are in power, the brokers take control and cadres are only supposed to just keep quiet in the greater ‘interest’ of the party.
Proportional system will ensure India’s diversity and the role to be played by the each citizen irrespective of his caste, religion and other identities in the nation building. The country can not be handed over to the Hindutva nationalists of Hindi Hindu Hindustan variety as that will only impose north Indian brahmanical hegemony on all of us hence we need to resist all these attempts and expose them. Let the political parties adhering to social justice understand what Baba Saheb Ambedkar and Periyar had spoken years ago about it and dedicate to their ideals of social change and not to make a mockery of social justice. The time to democratise India’s socio-political structure has come in the greater interest of the country and proportionality at all level will strengthen it.
What is happening in Kerala is an attempt reestablish brahmanical supremacy. Pushing people back to religion and those orthodox values is no revolution. Sharing my thoughts on the Sabarimala issue.
The survivors of all the communal pogroms in India do not get state support. Those who speak for them become suspect. Mujaffarnagar, Bhagalpur, Meerut, Bhivandi, Malegaon, Mumbai, Gujarat, Delhi and many other places reminds us the heinous crime and absolute and criminal apathy of the status apparatus against the survivors.
Can India rise above the caste and religious prejudices ? How will state apparatus be made accountable and responsible ?
Aisa Bibi too faced untouchability crisis. The altercation that she had with the women of her locality was when they called the water touched by her as Haram. It is a clear case of untouchability. Most of the Christians are called Churas and Bhangis as contemptuously. There is no legal protection for them in Pakistan. In India too Muslim Dalits are not recognised by the law.
It is time we ask for ourlawing caste based discrimination in Pakistan, Bangladesh and other parts of the world. India, Nepal do have laws and there is an issue of their implementation but other countries dont even have that. Caste cross all the religions and need to be understood in a simple way that conversion has not really changed their social status.
Conference Presentations by Vidya Bhushan Rawat
In majoritarian democracy, it is the institutions which protect people and their human rights but what is happening today is a serious matter when the legal process is being used to deny the marginalised their legitimate rights.
The issue is not merely the Wild Life or the Conservation of Forest but it is the corporate greed which is pushing these zones towards more anarchy and militarisation as people protest against these unethical orders and the authorities more than eager to crush their protests.
You cannot fight against the brahmanical supremacy by creating your own hegemonies in your domain areas. Democratisation of our social structure will ultimately pave the way for proportionality everywhere and vice versa. Let us work for that to make India a better and humane society. For that to happen, parties too must adhere to that principle and start from their own structure otherwise we will always be at the receiving ends when parties give the poor a lollypop and once they are in power, the brokers take control and cadres are only supposed to just keep quiet in the greater ‘interest’ of the party.
Proportional system will ensure India’s diversity and the role to be played by the each citizen irrespective of his caste, religion and other identities in the nation building. The country can not be handed over to the Hindutva nationalists of Hindi Hindu Hindustan variety as that will only impose north Indian brahmanical hegemony on all of us hence we need to resist all these attempts and expose them. Let the political parties adhering to social justice understand what Baba Saheb Ambedkar and Periyar had spoken years ago about it and dedicate to their ideals of social change and not to make a mockery of social justice. The time to democratise India’s socio-political structure has come in the greater interest of the country and proportionality at all level will strengthen it.
What is happening in Kerala is an attempt reestablish brahmanical supremacy. Pushing people back to religion and those orthodox values is no revolution. Sharing my thoughts on the Sabarimala issue.
The survivors of all the communal pogroms in India do not get state support. Those who speak for them become suspect. Mujaffarnagar, Bhagalpur, Meerut, Bhivandi, Malegaon, Mumbai, Gujarat, Delhi and many other places reminds us the heinous crime and absolute and criminal apathy of the status apparatus against the survivors.
Can India rise above the caste and religious prejudices ? How will state apparatus be made accountable and responsible ?
Aisa Bibi too faced untouchability crisis. The altercation that she had with the women of her locality was when they called the water touched by her as Haram. It is a clear case of untouchability. Most of the Christians are called Churas and Bhangis as contemptuously. There is no legal protection for them in Pakistan. In India too Muslim Dalits are not recognised by the law.
It is time we ask for ourlawing caste based discrimination in Pakistan, Bangladesh and other parts of the world. India, Nepal do have laws and there is an issue of their implementation but other countries dont even have that. Caste cross all the religions and need to be understood in a simple way that conversion has not really changed their social status.