-The New York Times New Delhi: Yasmeen Khan dons her burqa and steps out of her house in the Nizamuddin neighborhood of Delhi every evening to walk a short distance to a 10-foot-high stone wall. Behind the wall is paradise - a place where she can remove her burqa and hijab, enjoy cool fresh air in her hair, exercise and gossip with friends. Hundreds of women regularly visit the "Pardah Bagh," a...
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Extend promotion quota to OBCs: Dalit body to government-Subodh Ghildiyal
A top dalit panel has asked the Centre to extend reservation in promotions to OBCs, adding a twist to the controversy over 'promotion quota' simmering since the Supreme Court quashed the Uttar Pradesh law last month. In a letter, the National Commission for SCs (NCSC) said, "The Commission feels the benefit of reservation in promotion should also be extended to OBCs as per Article 15(4) and 16(4) of the Constitution." It said...
More »Marriage Bill hits minority hurdle, sent to review panel-Naziya Alvi
Delhi government's long pending Delhi Registration of Marriage Bill ran into trouble on Monday with some MLAs raising questions on its implications on the Muslim community. Objecting to the Bill being passed in the Assembly, Lok Janshakti Party MLA Shoaib Iqbal said that women can misuse the Bill to deny being divorced. They can also misuse it to get a claim in their husbands' property or to harass them after the...
More »Ambedkar, NCERT Textbooks and the Protests-Harish Wankhede
The cartoon controversy provides the possibility of interrogating the functioning of the academic system to understand its relationship with the downtrodden masses. A new deliberation is needed in order to make the academic world more sensitive and responsive towards the issues and concerns of the subaltern-oppressed communities. This will be an ethical incentive for the present-day dalit movement in India and can bring greater democratisation to the education system. Harish Wankhede...
More »Drawing conclusions-Rohini Hensman
The row over a cartoon featuring Dalit leader Ambedkar shows a lack of critical thinking in the Indian polity. The cartoon by Shankar Pillai that caused such pandemonium in the Indian Parliament on 11 May 2012 when various Dalit and non-Dalit members demanded its omission from a Class IX textbook was originally published in 1949. It depicts Dalit leader Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar with a whip riding a snail entitled ‘Constitution’...
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