Preethy Sekhar, Joint Secretary of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) writes: In a gruesome incident of hate crime, a Dalit youth has been murdered in Mumbai. On Saturday, 7 May 2022, a horrifying incident took place in Bhayander in the northern suburbs of Mumbai. Thirty year old sanitation worker Krishna Palaram Tusamad […]
The murder of a Dalit communist
CPI(M) leader Sanoop U was hacked to death on Sunday night (4 October) reportedly by a gang of RSS, Bajrang Dal and BJP workers. Sanoop belonged to a Dalit community, and was the Joint Secretary of the Democratic Youth Federation of India’s (DYFI) Chovvanur Area Committee. Sanoop is the fourth left activist killed in Kerala by right-wing forces in the past seven weeks. The right forces are emboldened by their faith that the mainstream media would come to their aid as usual by playing down the murders of communists, as if communists are lesser human beings. Even sections who are otherwise vocal about atrocities against Dalits largely tend to ignore the murders of Dalits who are communists, as evidenced by reactions to the murder of DYFI activist Asok in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu in June 2019. [Read more]
Kerala’s Left Government Builds 12,250 study rooms for Dalit students; 8,500 more in the offing
The CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government of Kerala has inaugurated 12,250 study rooms constructed using government funds at the houses of Scheduled Caste students who did not have adequate facilities to study at home. Along with these, another 250 community study rooms for Scheduled Tribe students were also opened on Saturday, 20 September 2020 at an online ceremony. The ceremony was presided over by AK Balan, Minister for SC/ST Development, and the study rooms were inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. [Read more]
The Tempered Steel of Keezhvenmani
25 December 2019 marks the 51st anniversary of the Keezhvenmani massacre, where 44 Dalit agricultural workers were killed by feudal landlords in Keezhvenmani village of Tamil Nadu. Anticaste.in republishes an article by Vijoo Krishnan, Joint Secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), who wrote the piece after visiting Keezhvenmani in 2017. [Read more]
Left youth leader in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu killed by casteist fanatics
An activist of the left-wing Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) was murdered by casteist fanatics on Wednesday night in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu. 23 year-old Ashok, the Tirunelveli district treasurer of the DYFI, was returning from work when he was hacked to death at Karaiyiruppu village near Thachanallur. DYFI activists say that the murder of Ashok is in response to the role that he played in the resistance against the abuse of Dalit workers and women by reactionary elements of the dominant community, as he mobilised youth to fight caste oppression and discrimination in his village. [Read more]
Ten Per Cent Reservation: Who Will Benefit?
Prakash Karat, Polit Bureau Member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), writes on the Constitutional amendment that the Narendra Modi-led BJP government got adopted in Parliament providing for 10 percent reservation for economically weaker sections in the general category. [Read more]
“They better realise that times have changed” – Pinarayi Vijayan responds to casteist abuses targeting him
Reactionary sections are incensed not just at his political positions, but also the fact that somebody from the thiyya / ezhava caste, a community of former untouchables with traditional occupations such as coconut plucking and toddy tapping, has risen to the position of the Chief Minister of the State. [Read more]
Made Snana receives body blow as anti-caste struggles led by CPI(M) in Karnataka bear fruit
The decision to end Made Snana and Ede Snana at Udupi has come as a result of protracted struggles, sustained campaigns and continuous pressure on government authorities and religious heads to bring down the curtains on the degrading practices. [Read more]
Fence blocking road to Dalit settlement removed in Tirupur, Tamil Nadu
A wire fence which blocked a concrete road used by Dalits in Pongalur block of Tamil Nadu’s Tirupur district has been removed following the intervention of the TNUEF and the CPI(M). [Read more]
Dalits hold rally in Delhi demanding revival of SC Sub-Plan and against anti-Dalit violence
Thousands of people participated in the protest organised by the Dalit Shoshan Mukti Manch (DSMM) on 21 March 2018. [Read more]