Till recently, I did not know of a single movie, let alone documentary, which could persuade a viewer to sit under the open sky on an unusually wintry night for over three hours. On Monday night, I was in an audience of about 200 for one such documentary, Jai Bheem Comrade, by activist-filmmaker Anand Patwardhan. It was with much curiosity and anticipation that I went for the first Indian public screening...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Why are India's media under fire? by Soutik Biswas
Has the explosion of media in India been a mixed blessing? With more than 70,000 newspapers and over 500 satellite channels in several languages, Indians are seemingly spoilt for choice and diversity. India is already the biggest newspaper market in the world - over 100 million copies sold each day. Advertising revenues have soared. In the past two decades, the number of channels has grown from one - the dowdy state-owned broadcaster...
More »India dalit woman beaten, paraded naked in Maharashtra
-BBC Police in India's Maharashtra state have arrested five members of an upper caste for beating, stripping and parading naked a low-caste dalit woman. The victim was attacked because her son had eloped with an upper-caste girl about a month ago. She has alleged that police initially refused to file a case saying such incidents were not uncommon. The incident took place in Mulgaon village on Monday afternoon but reports of the atrocity have...
More »Bhanwari killed, her children die a thousand deaths of stigma
-The Indian Express The wife murdered, the husband arrested for abetting the crime, their seven-year-old daughter mired in a paternity dispute. The eldest child, aged 18, has stopped going to college out of fear and ignominy. The other daughter, 15, has been thrown out of school. This is the family of Bhanwari Devi. Or what is left of it. Bhanwari, the auxiliary nurse midwife who allegedly possessed a video of herself with...
More »dalit sugarcane worker burnt to death, one held by Amruta Byatnal
He was killed on Sunday for not returning Rs. 5,000 at his residence A day after 32-year-old dalit sugarcane labourer Shahadev Tayad succumbed to burns, the accused Vashisht Dhake who allegedly burnt him was caught by the police on Monday, but the Tayad's family's efforts to come to terms with the loss have just begun. According to the police, Dhake burnt Tayad on January 8 for not returning Rs. 5,000 at his...
More »