Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
The Habermasian conceptualization of the public sphere as a bourgeoisie institution of private citizens emerged in eighteenth-century Europe as a ‘discursive space’ to deliberate on critical issues of the society. It is largely based on communitarian values to promote the common good and social change in the structure of the society. Apart from European society, such institutions have emerged in various countries including India. However, in the Indian context, the public sphere has been hegemonies by the dominant social groups, consequently the benefits of the common good too largely enjoyed by them, and therefore the representation of socioculturally excluded and marginalized has been neglected and subordinated by the dominant public sphere in the Indian society. It is in this context, the present paper tried to highlight the neglect of Dalit issues and the common good for Dalit by the dominant public sphere paved the way for the emergence of Dalit public sphere and civil society in Gujarat.

Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Caste has been a taboo subject in Odisha. Although there are multiple events of caste violence and atrocities against Dalits in Odisha, they hardly get any attention from the state, media and civil society. Like any other part of India, Dalits in Odisha also face the wrath of the caste system; sometimes, their houses are burnt down to ashes, or they are ostracized. Unfortunately, the everyday violence against Dalits is normalized by the cultural practices in Odisha. Popular religious cults and the Brahminic hegemony often overshadowed the caste issue and forced the Dalits to the boundary. Thus, their voice often goes unheard. Also, the rapid Hinduization of indigenous culture has served as a catalyst for caste violence and maintaining the caste order in rural Odisha. The successful integration of tribal and other backward communities into the Brahminical fold has made the life of Dalits more difficult. In most of the caste violence in Odisha, tribal and other backwards communities are pitted against the Dalits, which washed out the idea of ‘united subaltern groups’ or the Dalit-Bahujan unity. Thus, this article focuses on the cultural hegemony of the Brahmins and how it makes caste a complex affair in rural Odisha. In Akhila Naik’s Bheda, he unravels the caste questions in Odisha and how the arrivals of Brahmins and Marwaris in rural Odisha have corrupted the village ecosystem. The villagers are polarized in the name of caste and religion, and the village’s indigenous belief system and harmony are at stake.