Latest news with #Mahars
New Indian Express
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
Untouchable Goa: Dadu Mandrekar's writings return in translation
Translating horror & humanity It's the commitment to truth-telling that gives the book its raw, cutting power. 'The book has a raw and angry voice, but at the same time, it is not brash,' says the translator. 'It is a mixture of rawness with composure, frustration with beauty, and with all the ugliness that is caste. I wanted to keep all of this alive and tried hard to do so by revisiting his work and my translation multiple times.' In one striking description, Dadu describes how Mahars, who eat mutton and chicken proudly in their kitchens, treat fish as a pollutant. He asks, if gods could take the form of a fish (Matsya avatar), why is the actual fish suddenly dirty? Nikhil, who stayed close to Dadu's tone, shares, 'I think a lesser writer, or even a 'lesser human being' would have found it impossible to maintain the balance between horror and humour in such contexts. It is easy to laugh at the expense of others, but these people weren't 'others' for Dadu, nor are they 'others' for me.' You see this balance most clearly in how the rituals for the dead are described: women's corpses buried face-down, surrounded by torn clothes and seeds, so their spirits, if they rise, stay busy stitching or harvesting instead of haunting the living. The writer also shows how women are punished, not just for being born, but for bleeding, for giving birth, for dying in the 'wrong' house. A menstruating woman or a woman postpartum is forced into isolation, her utensils marked, her touch feared. But if she dies during that time, the cruelty multiplies. Her body is buried in secret, turned away from the sky, with needles and shredded clothes meant to trap her spirit. Dadu recalls how a woman who died in her maternal home was hastily buried by her family (so that her spirit wouldn't claim on the living and their possessions), only for dogs to later unearth and 'devour' her body. For Dadu, this brutality reflects a culture where women are molested in life, mutilated in death, and treated as worthless once married.
Hindustan Times
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Govt with you: Bawankule assures Matangs seeking sub-quota benefits
Mumbai: Members of the Matang community, one of the prominent castes under the Scheduled Caste (SC) category in Maharashtra, on Tuesday staged a demonstration at Azad Maidan seeking sub-categorisation benefits that would entail them to reservation within the SC quota based on their level of backwardness. State revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule assured the protestors that the government was with them and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis would meet them within a fortnight to discuss their demands. As per the 2011 census, the SC population in Maharashtra was 13.2 million of which around 62% were Mahars and neo-Buddhists while the remaining 38% belonged to castes within the Hindu fold. Matangs comprised the largest group in the second category with a population of around 3.5 million. The Mahayuti government had, in the runup to the assembly polls in November 2024, appointed a committee under retired high court judge Anant Badar to examine sub-classification within the SC quota. The move was opposed by Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar on grounds that it could affect existing reservation for neo-Buddhists and Mahars. Unrest among Matangs in Maharashtra had been rising in recent weeks with states like Telangana notifying and implementing sub-quotas. Tuesday's 'Matang Samaj Jan Akrosh Morcha' organised by the Sakal Matang Samaj, a community organisation, in Azad Maidan marked a culmination of sorts, as demands were raised halt government recruitment pending sub-categorisation. The protest was backed by leaders from the ruling alliance as well as the opposition. It was led by BJP legislators Amit Gorkhe, Sunil Kamble and Jitesh Antapurkar and former Congress legislator Ramesh Bagwe. Bawankule, who met the protestors on the behalf of the state government, said the Mahayuti government supported the demands. He assured that Fadnavis would hold a meeting regarding issues of the Matang community within 15 days. 'The Matang community is united now and the state government is committed to resolve your issues,' Bawankule told the gathering. Parbhani resident Ganpat Bhise, who attended Tuesday's protest, said sub-classification would enable Matangs to pursue education and secure government jobs.
