-The Telegraph New Delhi: Three steps in quick succession have suggested that the BJP might be trying to build a social coalition of dalits and Other Backward Classes to complement its traditional base among the upper castes in the run-up to the general election. On Thursday, the government managed to get a bill passed unanimously in the Lok Sabha to grant constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes. Twenty-four hours earlier,...

-Livemint.com One of the big drivers of the ruling BJP’s massive victory in 2014 was its ability to exploit inequalities within caste groups to expand its support base New Delhi: When we think of caste-based inequality in India, we typically think of a pyramid where scheduled castes (SCs or dalits) and scheduled tribes (STs) are at the bottom, other backward classes (OBCs) above them, and upper castes at the very top....

-The Hindu Recent Census data appear to inadequately reflect India’s linguistic composition, and are inconsistent with global ideas The story, “Death of Jagmohan, the Elephant”, by Bengali writer Mahasweta Devi, is about the death of an elephant. For a reader, the story may appear to be about a rather “big death”, but what the writer wanted to say was that there are also many “small deaths”. They include the deaths of dalits...

-Livemint.com After being on the sidelines of Dalit and feminist movements for long, Dalit women are now standing up for their rights New Delhi: In 2008, seven women, aged 19-24, walked into a police station in Haryana’s Indri village in Kurukshetra district. Dressed in salwar-kameez with dupattas draped around their necks, they looked tired but confident, angry and brimming with questions. They wanted to meet the SHO and ask why no FIR...

-National Herald Titled ‘Dismantling India’ and put together by a team of distinguished experts, the study complains about the failing economy, rising unemployment, atrocities against minorities under the BJP govt A damning report scrutinizing the performance of the Narendra Modi government in its first four years was released on Saturday. In last four years of Modi government, there have been 214 reported cases of attack on civil society and freedom of expression, 228...