Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
The Scheduled Caste (SC) communities of India have always been locked down with stigmatized social identities since the very beginning of the caste system. They were categorized with certain administrative identities under colonial rule and branded as ‘Harijans’ (Children of God) by the nationalist leaders. On the other hand, the SC communities themselves had asserted for respectable caste identities, opposed the Brahmanical hegemony, and fought against untouchability. Harijan identity, however, has transformed into Dalit identity in the post-colonial period. In such a context, Navayana Buddhism has appeared as a symbol of dignified identity. This article has highlighted this trend of changing identifiers of the SCs of Indian society.
Author Archives: Rup Kumar Barman
Quest for Social Justice: A comparative study of Panchanan Barma and Dr B. R. Ambedkar
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
The concept of ideal society largely depends on one’s perception, experience and interactions with the given society. Thus it is ‘contextual’ and ‘relational’ in reality. While reality determines the nature of one’s ideas, the transformation of his ideas gets denials from traditional perceptions, taboos and vested interests. All these features of ideas and activism have been found in the lives and works of Panchanan Barma (1865–1935) and Dr B. R. Ambedkar (1890–1956). Both of them were the products of their times. Thus their ideas on an ideal society got maturity through the interactions with their contemporary society. Hence, their attempts at attaining ‘justice’ and ‘equality’ for an ‘ideal society’ were the outcome of their ideas on ‘just society’ and ‘equality’ and finding probable ways for attaining ‘self-reliance’ to fight against injustice. This article seeks to analyse the concept of social justice of Panchanan Barma (the father of the Rajbanshi community of Bengal) and to compare it with that of Dr B. R. Ambedkar (who has been accepted as the ‘Father of the Indian Constitution’).
The concept of ideal society largely depends on one’s perception, experience and interactions with the given society. Thus it is ‘contextual’ and ‘relational’ in reality. While reality determines the nature of one’s ideas, the transformation of his ideas gets denials from traditional perceptions, taboos and vested interests. All these features of ideas and activism have been found in the lives and works of Panchanan Barma (1865–1935) and Dr B. R. Ambedkar (1890–1956). Both of them were the products of their times. Thus their ideas on an ideal society got maturity through the interactions with their contemporary society. Hence, their attempts at attaining ‘justice’ and ‘equality’ for an ‘ideal society’ were the outcome of their ideas on ‘just society’ and ‘equality’ and finding probable ways for attaining ‘self-reliance’ to fight against injustice. This article seeks to analyse the concept of social justice of Panchanan Barma (the father of the Rajbanshi community of Bengal) and to compare it with that of Dr B. R. Ambedkar (who has been accepted as the ‘Father of the Indian Constitution’).
Navayana Buddhism and the Scheduled Castes of West Bengal
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Though Buddhism began to revive in India in the late nineteenth century, Buddhist organizations did not pay much attention to bring the Dalits into their folds. Rather, the lower caste communities had aspired for constructing respectable caste identities in the late colonial period. However, conversion of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar (1891–1956) to a modified form of Buddhism (called ‘neo-Buddhism’) has appeared as a sociocultural tool for the Dalits to fight against the casteism. In this paper, we have highlightws the background of the introduction of neo-Buddhism and the location of the Scheduled Castes of West Bengal in it.
Though Buddhism began to revive in India in the late nineteenth century, Buddhist organizations did not pay much attention to bring the Dalits into their folds. Rather, the lower caste communities had aspired for constructing respectable caste identities in the late colonial period. However, conversion of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar (1891–1956) to a modified form of Buddhism (called ‘neo-Buddhism’) has appeared as a sociocultural tool for the Dalits to fight against the casteism. In this paper, we have highlightws the background of the introduction of neo-Buddhism and the location of the Scheduled Castes of West Bengal in it.
Book review: Looking Back: The 1947 Partition of India 70 Years On, Edited by Rakhshanda Jalil, Tarun K. Saint and Debjani Sengupta
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Looking Back: The 1947 Partition of India 70 Years On, Edited by Rakhshanda Jalil, Tarun K. Saint and Debjani Sengupta (Hyderabad: Orient Blackswan, 2019). xxxviii + 355pp, ₹995.00 (Paperback).
Looking Back: The 1947 Partition of India 70 Years On, Edited by Rakhshanda Jalil, Tarun K. Saint and Debjani Sengupta (Hyderabad: Orient Blackswan, 2019). xxxviii + 355pp, ₹995.00 (Paperback).