-The Hindu Refusal by Dalits to work as agricultural labour and to perform menial duties plus their relative economic improvement have made them the targets of caste violence In the recent violence against the Dalits in Dharmapuri district in Tamil Nadu, about 300 of their houses were burnt down and other properties destroyed by the Vanniars, a numerically strong intermediate caste, sections of whom have been economically stagnant. The immediate cause for...

-Tehelka.com The social scientist supports RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's remark on rapes and says there is a connection between modernisation, urbanisation and violence against women While Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh supremo Mohan Bhagwat is being criticised for his comment that rapes occur only in cities, not in rural India, prominent public intellectual and social scientist Ashis Nandy has come out in his support. Speaking to Tehelka, Nandy says there is a connection between...

-The Times of India With violence against Indian women on the rise, the debate over feminist politics and its relevance has acquired new importance. Academic Nivedita Menon has researched this in Seeing Like A Feminist. Speaking with Amrita Nandy, Menon discussed the role and energy of feminism today, how rape and dress are analysed by convention versus feminism — and how feminism eventually liberates women, even from being feminists: * You write...

-The Times of India Women's groups have criticised RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's view on rape in "India" and "Bharat" for being regressive. But data shows that not only are Bhagwat's views regressive, they're also plain wrong. While the National Crime Records Bureau does not split registered cases of sexual assault by rural and urban areas, Mrinal Satish, an associate professor of law at Delhi's National Law University, used court data to find...

-The Indian Express The growing influence on policy issues of activists who call themselves “civil society” is a worrying trend and needs to be objectively analysed. Two recent policy pronouncements will illustrate how government seems to be yielding to their pressure. It is well established that absenteeism of teachers and poor quality of outcomes in government schools is the main factor behind the popularity of private schools with poor infrastructure that cater...