How a seventy-year-old Presidential Order still shapes Dalit life after conversion
Even after embracing new faiths, Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims continue to face caste-based exclusion. Yet a 1950 Presidential Order blocks them from constitutional protection.
by Khalil ur Rehaman
The Leaflet
December 6, 2025
Renaming Caste, Retaining Privilege
Attempts to 'invisibilise' caste through definitional alterations – whether in terms of an organic community or of a cultural community – are enmeshed in long-range socioeconomic transformations. Ankur Barua and Vishal Ananthakumar write.
#caste #casteism #HinduPhilosophies #advaita #AdiShankara #vivekananda #HinduScriptures #manusmriti #AryaSamaj #BRAmbedkar #brahmins #TamilBrahmins #brahminism #class #untouchability #india
https://www.theindiaforum.in/caste/renaming-caste-retaining-privilege
Despite Untouchability, Contractual Service, Paltry Remuneration — Why Bihar’s Mehtars Scavenge Human Excreta for a Living
Despite financial constraints, the community has promising aspirational youth who are countering the notion that individuals from marginalized castes lack the desire for education.
#bihar #ManualScavenging #dalits #mehtars #untouchability #CasteViolence #labour #education #caste #india
Merchants of Virtue: Hindus, Muslims, and Untouchables in Eighteenth-Century South Asia by Divya Cherian (2023): A Review by Alfisha Sabri
Set in the kingdom of 18th-century Marwar, Cherian’s study traces the rise of the financial and social capital of the mercantile class consisting of the Vaishyas and the Jains.
#BookReview #DivyaCherian #caste #untouchability #dalits #IndianMuslims #history #histodon #bookstodon #books #india
TN: Caste violence makes this village’s Dalit residents demand separate polling booth
On April 8, 2023, three Dalit residents were allegedly attacked by Vanniyars, a dominant caste group, after the trio tried to enter the Dharmaraja Draupadi Amman temple in Melpathi of Villupuram.
#TamilNadu #villupuram #dalits #vanniyars #CasteViolence #TempleEntry #untouchability #caste #casteism #elections2024 #india
Banaras Hindu University researches Manusmriti ‘applicability’
Banaras Hindu University is researching the continuing “applicability” of the Manusmriti, which codified what became the caste system and gave women the status of family property, with government funds earmarked for worldclass academic projects.
#UttarPradesh #BHU #manusmiriti #education #brahminism #casteism #CasteSystem #sexism #misogyny #untouchability #CasteDiscrimination #hindutva #BJPStates #india
‘Freedom fighters were not necessarily caste equality champions’: Writer Manoj Mitta
An interview with Manoj Mitta, author of ‘Caste Pride: Battles for Equality in Hindu India’.
#interview #ManojMitta #caste #FreedomStruggle #FreedomMovement #casteism #congress #MKGandhi #BRAmbedkar #CasteDiscrimination #untouchability #IntercasteMarriage #history #histodon #books #bookstodon #india
Tamil Nadu: Police arrest two women in Dharmapuri for practicing untouchability
The accused belonging to Kongu Vellalar community have been booked under the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act.
#TamilNadu #dharmapuri #dalits #paraiyars #KonguVellalars #untouchability #casteism #caste #SCSTAct #HumanRights #india
Tamil Nadu: Study says caste pride reigns in schools, identifies casteist teachers
The Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front submitted a study highlighting the prevalence of caste violence and discrimination in schools to the state government, seeking action in one month’s time.
#TamilNadu #casteism #education #schools #CasteViolence #TNUEF #dalits #adivasis #untouchability #HumanRights #RuralIndia #caste #india
Rajasthan: Over 56,000 caste crimes in 5 years, a shrinking conviction rate, ‘shoddy’ final reports
Conviction rate in SC/ST atrocities cases fell from 27% in 2020 to 22% in 2022.
#rajasthan #CasteViolence #CasteCrimes #dalits #adivasis #untouchability #CasteDiscrimination #casteism #caste #congress #india
This book examines how the Gandhi-Ambedkar debate on caste influenced theories on the public sphere
An excerpt from ‘India, Habermas and the Normative Structure of Public Sphere’, by Muzaffar Ali.
#BookExcerpt #MuzaffarAli #BRAmbedkar #MKGandhi #ambedkar #caste #dalits #untouchability #CasteDiscrimination #hinduism #CasteSystem #HumanRights #history #histodon #books #bookstodon #india
California governor vetoes caste discrimination bill, calls it 'unnecessary'
Activists in the state are dealt a blow as Gavin Newsom says the state’s laws already offer civil rights protections.
#california #GavinNewsom #CasteDiscrimination #SB403 #dalits #adivasis #casteism #untouchability #brahminism #hinduism #hindutva #india
Saving the World Like a Savarna
Savarnas can pose as extremely radical and culturally progressive and then, with the flip of a metaphorical switch, slip back into their privileged family lives without the slightest existential friction. This switching is possible because Savarna social lives are largely public-facing performances, writes Prof. Ravikant Kisana.
https://theswaddle.com/saving-the-world-like-a-savarna/
#caste #savarnas #UpperCastes #brahminism #LiberalBrahmins #casteism #CasteDiscrimination #untouchability #communalism #brahmins #india
In Gujarat, villagers won’t buy ration from Dalit’s shop, collector transfers all cards to nearby village
Patan Collector Arvind Vijayan said that the order was passed following internal inquiry and opposition from the villagers.
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/ahmedabad/kanosan-villagers-ration-card-dalit-shop-8949446/
#gujarat #patan #dalits #thakors #PDS #CasteDiscrimination #untouchability #caste #casteism #RuralIndia #india
Meet the trio who will soon become TN's first women temple priests
Ranjitha, Ramya, and Krishnaveni are thrilled at the prospect of becoming the first women priests in Tamil Nadu but are also aware of the long and arduous journey that lies ahead of them.
#TamilNadu #TNGovt #HRCE #temples #WomenPriests #caste #equality #WomensRights #dalits #brahminism #untouchability #CasteDiscrimimation #DMK #hinduism #india
SC woman cook row: Kanimozhi, Collector have breakfast with children
DMK MP Kanimozhi on Tuesday visited the Usilampatti panchayat union primary school near here, where children were reportedly prevented by their parents from having the food prepared by a woman belonging to Scheduled Caste, and had breakfast with the students.
#TamilNadu #madurai #dalits #DalitCooks #untouchability #CasteDiscrimination #casteism #schools #education #DMK #kanimozhi #RuralIndia #india
Sanatan Dharma: An Ideology or the Entire Hindu Community?
Even V.D. Savarkar, the most influential ideologue of Hindutva, hardly conflated ‘sanatan dharma’ with the entire Hindu community, unlike the BJP's position on the current controversy over the term.
https://thewire.in/history/sanatan-dharma-an-ideology-or-the-entire-hindu-community
#SanatanaDharma #hindutva #SanatanDharma #BJP #savarkar #HinduMahasabha #caste #CasteDiscrimination #untouchability #hinduism #india
Tamil Nadu students refuse to eat breakfast prepared by Dalit cook, District Collector intervenes
Karur district collector Prabhushankar visited the Panchayat Union Primary School and warned the parents for practicing caste discrimination.
#TamilNadu #karur #TNBreakfastScheme #dalits #arunthathiyars #BCs #MBCs #untouchability #CasteDiscrimination #schools #education #india
The Politics over California’s Anti-Caste Bill
Anxiety amongst upper-caste diaspora that their narrative about a benign Indian culture would be undone lies at the heart of the opposition to California’s bill to ban caste discrimination.
https://www.theindiaforum.in/caste/politics-over-californias-anti-caste-bill
#california #CaliforniaStateAssembly #CasteDiscrimination #untouchability #AishaWahab #democrats #IndianDiaspora #UnitedStates #law #SocialJustice #india
Gladstone Scion to Apologise for Slavery: Can Indian Upper Castes Too Look Within?
That Western capitalism had its first roots in the expropriation of slave labour is of course by now an established fact of history. Mr Gladstone’s conscientious lead is admirable, one that many others could emulate – even in the former colonies. Badri Raina writes.
https://thewire.in/rights/gladstone-scion-apologise-slavery-indian-upper-castes-look-within
#slavery #SlaveTrade #WilliamGladstone #caste #CasteDiscrimination #untouchability #UpperCastes #india
