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Hans India
10-08-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
Let's move for women's rights and social rights': STFI Women's Conference Resolution
Hyderabad/Kolkata: On the second day of the STFI Silver Jubilee Conference, a women's conference was held under the chairmanship of STFI national leader Badarunnisa on Saturday. Former Rajya Sabha member and AIDWA national leader Malini Bhattacharya, who attended the conference as the chief guest, said that women's rights are of social importance and there is a need for a nationwide movement to protect women's rights. Rapes and murders of women and girls are rampant across the country. He said that the rape and murder of a doctor at RG Car Medical College in Kolkata last year indicates a series of attacks on women, and that even after exactly one year today, the fact that justice has not been done to the family so far is a testament to the government's negligence. He said that there is a barbaric ideology in Indian society that terrorises women, confines them to their homes, and makes them constantly dependent on men. Its roots lie in Manu Dharma, and the Brahminical way of thinking that follows it is resurfacing today, which is a danger to the progress of the country and the development of society. He said that Manu Dharma has completely neglected and oppressed women and Shudras in Indian society, and has created caste gaps. He reminded that leaders worked for women's rights during the independence movement, and after independence, girls were provided with educational opportunities, and with their help, some women were able to become educated, but currently, attacks on women are happening in all parts of the country, domestic violence against women continues, and despite the enactment of the Domestic Violence Prohibition Act, the law is not being implemented properly due to the negligence of the central and state governments. There is a need to raise a social movement across the country to prevent attacks on women for the implementation of laws. He said that currently, the labour force of women is decreasing, and there is a serious lag in providing jobs to women. Women working in agriculture, industrial and corporate sectors are getting lower wages than men, and equal pay for equal work should be implemented. He said that women are participating in all kinds of movements, like labour, peasant movements, employees, and teachers' movements built across the country. To protest the undemocratic policies of the government, but there is a lag in building a movement for women's rights, and the need to overcome and move forward has become of utmost importance today. He said that some leaders are commenting on the dresses worn by women and saying that attacks would not happen if women did not go out and work, and that in some countries and regions, it is a sign of their degradation that primary education should be provided to girls for market needs. In this context, teachers should play a key role in building a movement for women's rights. STFI national leaders Aruna Kumari, Charulatha, and CH. Durga Bhavani, Shanti Kumari TSUTF Telangana State President Chavaravi, General Secretary K. Venkat, Treasurer T. Lakshma Reddy and women leaders Nagamani, Gnana Manjari, Sharada and others participated.
The Hindu
13-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Biblical tales in the Puranas
The Bhavishya Purana, or the chronicle of the future, is the earliest Sanskrit work that reveals some familiarity with West Asian myths. While presented as a prophecy of events that will happen during Kali Yuga, it seems to have been updated over time — from 1000 AD to late 18th century, and published around 1900. It ends with the arrival of British rule in Kolkata. Here, Queen Victoria is referred to as Viktavati. The Bhavishya Purana imagines an India (Bharat-varsha) from the Himalayas to the sea, with the Indus or Sindhu-desha forming the main barrier between Arya-desha, land of civilised folk, and Mleccha-desha, land of barbarians. In Bharat-varsha, the four varnas do their duty. Sanskrit is spoken by the twice-born elites and Prakrit by the Shudras, or service-providers. Dravida-desha is to the south of the Vindhyas; there varnas tend to mix. In other local lore, Dravida-desha is the land without Kshatriyas, which Rishi Agastya and Rishi Parashurama organise and cultivate using the local Shudras. Like all Puranas, this text speaks of creation followed by the four yugas. The first yuga, Satya, was ruled by Ikshavaku kings. The second, Dvapara, was ruled by solar kings ending with Ram of Ayodhya. Treta yuga was ruled by lunar kings ending with the infamous Mahabharata war. But there is a slight twist. Yayati's children are founders not just of the Pandavas, Kauravas and Yadavas, but also of the Mlecchas, who are essentially those who turn away from Vedic rites, and take refuge in Maru-desha (probably the Thar desert). We are told of Satanika, the 23rd generation descendent of the Pandavas. His great grandson Kshemaka is killed by the Mlecchas. Kshemaka's son Pradyota performs a great Mleccha yagna where hundreds of barbarians are slaughtered. Kshemaka's son Vedavat died childless and that is when Kali Yuga actually begins. An Indian Adam and Eve Mleccha-Kali prays to Vishnu for the revival of the Mlecchas, and so from the god's clay are born Adama and Hayvavati. In Persian, Eve is called Hawa. Adama's name is linked to the restraint (dama) of his senses and devotion to Vishnu. They live 'east of Pradana' — a name that seems like a combination of Paradise and Eden. East of Eden is a common Christian metaphor for transgressors, like Adam's son Cain who kills his brother Abel. Adam goes to the Udumbara (fig) tree in search of his wife, where the serpent of Kaliyuga offers fruit on a plate made of leaves. Here, Hayavavati, like a 'good' Indian wife, feeds the husband first, even though eating this fruit is forbidden. Since the rules are broken, the two are cast out. Their children are the Mlecchas. Then comes the story of Nyuha (Noah), who is advised by Vishnu to build a boat (of exact Biblical specifications) in seven days to survive a flood, which will mark the onset of Kaliyuga. Besides his relatives, Nyuha rescues 80,000 munis (silent sages) and all living creatures. The sages venerate Vishnu's maya, as well as numerous Tantrik goddesses, before the rains stop and the ship lands between two Himalayan peaks, Arac and Sisira. Unable to speak proper Sanskrit, Nyuha communicates in reverse (right-to-left, like Semitic script) and renames his sons Sima, Sama and Bhava as Sima (Shem), Hama (Ham) and Yakuta (Japhteh). Saraswati curses them that their language will be low, but their numbers will be high, and they will populate much of the Earth. Of Jesus and Muhammad Musa or Moses' teaching inspires the Mlecchas. But he is countered by Rishi Kashyapa who travels to Egypt and spreads the Vedic doctrine. He brings back a few Mlecchas who transform, under Rishi Kanva's guidance, into Shudras and Vaishyas. Their descendents populate parts of Haryana (Prithu-desha), Rajasthan (Rajaputra-puram) and Magadha. Significantly, in 800 AD, Multan was known as Kashyapapura, and it was here that Devala-smriti, a dharma-shastra, was written by local Brahmins to purify those said to be contaminated by contact with Arabs. In the Dark Age, the Vedic order was re-established first by Vikramaditya, then by Shalivahana and finally by Bhoja, the king who ruled Malwa in 1000 AD. Vikramaditya encounters Jesus (Isamasiha) while Shalivahana and his poet, Kalidasa, encounter Muhammad (Mahamada). All this reveals a jumbled public memory in the 1800s of an earlier period when India had first contact with foreigners, between 300 BC and 500 AD. Their arrival marked the end of the old Vedic Age that forced Brahmins of Yamuna-Ganga doab to reimagine Hinduism through Puranic lore, and migrate to new lands in search of new patrons. Most fascinating is how the stories of the Bible were retold. Information about them could have come to Brahmin storytellers via Christian sailors or even Persian and Arab traders. We get a glimpse of this in the Mughal paintings depicting Biblical themes. Devdutt Pattanaik is author of 50 books on mythology, art and culture.
The Hindu
09-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Talk on caste and religion-based exclusions in educational content and institutions
The Telangana Education Commission's seminar on education for students from Backward Classes (BCs), held in the city on Friday, laid emphasis on the need for a unified school management, and raised concerns about caste and religion-based exclusions in educational content and institutions. The seminar addressed some systemic issues and concerns about social equity in BC institutions. According to convenor of the working group on BC Education, Murali Manohar, the crisis can be traced to caste-based discrimination and the lack of constitutional recognition of BCs as a category. He cited the absence of disaggregated data and called for release of the recent caste census data to address the gaps. Mr. Manohar also pointed at the long-standing educational deprivation faced by Shudras and Ati-shudras, contrary to the constitutional promise of equality. Commission member P.L. Vishweshwar Rao reiterated the TECs recommendations of setting up of composite schools (nursery to grade 12) in every mandal, and the community demand for English medium instruction. He noted that 15 working groups are actively studying thematic concerns from curriculum to employability. Mr. Rao also highlighted the contradictory state of Telangana's education, where govt. expenditure on each student remains the highest in the country but when it comes to learning outcomes, it is at the bottom. Alarming trends are also the declining enrolment in government schools, with over 2,000 schools with no students, and over 80% of junior colleges being privately managed. Speaker Sudharshan Rao presented data on school landscape in Telangana. Noting the 'gaps' in digital infrastructure, he said that school dropouts among BC students, especially girls, are high.
The Wire
05-05-2025
- Politics
- The Wire
Will the Modi Government Carry Out the Caste Census or Will it Remain an Eyewash?
On April 30, the Modi government took a sudden decision to include enumeration of caste in the forthcoming decadal national census. The founding fathers of the RSS − K.B Hegdewar and – would have never imagined such a step by a BJP Government. Both these founding fathers had the same mindset that the Poona Brahmins had during Mahatma Jyotirao Phule's times. All of them believed that the caste system was part of the Sanatan Dharma. Their stand was that the Shudras/Dalits could never claim equality. Spiritual, social and educational equality were believed to be foreign to the Indian p arampara (tradition) by all RSS leaders. The idea of caste census is based on a modern democratic belief system that caste should be abolished and drive Indian society towards absolute equality. This is one of the ideals of Mahatma Phule and Ambedkar. The underlying philosophy of Sanatan Dharma is that caste is created by divine intervention and it can never be abolished. Democracy however believes that every individual, irrespective of caste, creed and sex should live as equals. The Hindutva school was against such democratic ideals . However, the RSS ideologues, after forming the Jana Sangh and later the BJP, thought that caste must be only used for the advantage of upper castes by not allowing its identity to express itself in the political and spiritual domain, though it could be manipulated in the electoral arena. A national caste census will go against that central ideology of the RSS/BJP. Caste census and Congress The last caste census data was collected in the 1931 decadal census by the British regime. That was the growth period of the Congress party under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi to achieve independence from the British. Most Congress leaders had the same mindset that the RSS top ideological leaders had on caste questions. They too did not want caste to be abolished. Hence the enumeration of caste by the British Government in the decadal census was seen by them against Indian parampara and the Hindu social order. The British enumerating caste was seen as a conspiracy. Even in the Constituent Assembly, Ambedkar had to struggle a lot to use the word caste among the conservative Sanatan ideologues all around, irrespective of their political affiliation. Among upper caste leaders of that era, except Rammanohar Lohia, no one else had an open stand on the Shudra/Dalit liberation question. Nehru was more worried about other pressing issues as the Prime Minister and also believed in the theory of merit not social reform by confronting the caste system. But Ambedkar kept the lamp burning all his life time outside of and inside the Constituent Assembly. He continued that strategy while he was part of the Government till 1953. His conversion to Buddhism sent a message that if the Indian constitutional democracy could not address caste issues, the oppressed castes would go out of Hinduism. This was a shock to the RSS. However, the Congress managed the system with the ideology of secularism. All university research programmes were confined to secularism and democracy without allowing any research on the caste system. It was the 1990s Mandal movement that brought caste to the central stage because V.P. Singh was willing to allow that. A turning point in the Congress history Caste was the most difficult disease among the upper castes till Rahul Gandhi came to the political scene and demanded the 'X-Ray of the country' in his 2024 election rallies after making it part of the party's election manifesto. That was a major turning point in the history of Congress. Even at that point, the other Congress upper caste leaders were of the opinion that Rahul's caste census agenda was a negation of their history. But Rahul took an anti-caste movement leader's position much more categorically than Rammanohar Lohia and V.P. Singh. Even after becoming the leader of the opposition after the 2024 elections he continued that position. Now his position in the Congress is more credible because the RSS/BJP has had to accept his demand. The detractors have nowhere to go. The RSS/BJP upper caste forces around Narendra Modi had to accept to go for such an X-Ray because the OBCs in India now found a national leader having come from the same Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi family to take up their cause. Also Read: How a Caste Census Can Lead Us Towards a Casteless India Rahul has created an atmosphere of inevitability. He asked Telangana Government to go for the caste census and also asked the Karnataka Government to release the caste survey done by the Siddaramaiah Government in 2015. Rahul took serious political risk in pushing the issue to that far. Let us not forget the fact that even Nitish Kumar went for a caste survey much against the will of the BJP when he was part of INDIA alliance within Bihar along with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). The BJP had a serious problem with such a historical issue being raised, one that went against their ideological parampara. A sudden turn History of caste has turned 360 degrees after the Modi government's announcement. The BJP ministers and leaders are attacking the Congress, particularly Nehru as anti-OBC reservationist after this turn. Its tongue twisting talk has really got exposed now. If there was anything that the RSS agreed with Nehru, was the question of avoiding caste census. Now BJP spokespersons are projecting their Government as pro-OBC and pro-caste census, though they were opposed to the caste enumeration till just the other day. The Congress and other regional parties must now see that the caste census takes place on a scientific basis. Just adding one column in the questionnaire is not enough. This is where the Telangana socio-economic, educational, employment and political caste survey, 2025 provides a good model. The Registrar and Census Commissioner of India as a Constitutional body must take an autonomous view of the census and collect all possible methodological information from Telangana, Karnataka and Bihar Governments. This will not be a one time exercise. Every decadal census has to include caste census hereafter. The future discourse The future caste discourse, in my view, is not for settling historical scores. But it will be and should be for changing the stagnant systems of India since millennia. Now the BJP, particularly Modi, will try to use this step for his advantage and the Congress has to unify its anti-census forces within its ranks. Several intellectuals, who held high administrative positions during the Congress regimes till 2014 were against caste census. This is what Rahul Gandhi realised while pushing the caste census agenda and removal of the 50 percent cap. The upper caste leaders saw the writing on the wall and took this decision. The left parties were also against caste census and mobilising the OBCs around the idea of human equality and casteless society. The BJP Government's sudden announcement about caste enumeration has created an ideological crisis among all parties, organisations, NGOs, individual intellectuals who were opposed to caste census. So long as only Rahul Gandhi was speaking about caste census in India and outside, they thought that he was crazy. Many said that he was a man of without serious ruling and leadership qualities. But now he will be seen as a major change maker. Also Read: What Does Telangana's Survey Reveal About Caste Structures Among Muslims? However, this turn of events would not have happened without the more conscious post-Mandal OBC electoral power. It is the educated OBC youth and leadership that has changed the course of history. Now let us wait and see whether the BJP Government will really carry out a caste census or it will be just remain an eyewash announcement. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal top leaders and the Brahmin sadhus, etc. had hoped that RSS would never allow this to happen. Even the monopoly houses supporting the RSS/BJP for the last ten years thought that Rahul's movement would fail because the RSS would not allow the caste census to happen. But now it is on the cards. Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd is a political theorist, social activist and author. He is the Vice-Chairman of Independent Expert Committe that the Telangana Government constituted to examine its Caste Survey data and how it should be used for social justice governance.
Time of India
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
'Phule' gets positive reviews amid censorship row: Netizens say Pratik Gandhi, Patralekhaa-starrer rewrote history
The much-anticipated film ' Phule ', starring Pratik Gandhi and Patralekhaa , has finally been released in theatres. The movie, which was originally scheduled to hit screens on April 10, faced delays due to legal complications surrounding its theme. However, it had a smooth release today (April 25). Following the unexpected delay, the film is now receiving decent reviews on social media, with users sharing their early reactions. Many viewers took to X (formerly Twitter) to express their opinions and encouraged others to watch the film. One social media user wrote, 'They didn't just fight injustice—they rewrote history! #Phule is a powerful tribute to Jyotiba & Savitribai—India's OG changemakers. From classrooms to caste battles, their legacy roars on screen! Witness the fire. Feel the fight. #PhuleTheFilm #SupportPhuleTheFilm.' Another user praised the film's theme, stating, 'When this #Phule is facing so much opposition today, imagine how much resistance Jyotiba Phule and Savitribai Phule would have encountered 175 years ago. How difficult it must have been to open and run a school for girls, and to fight for equal rights for Shudras. Such films should be encouraged—by the government and the public alike.' A third user commented, 'You must watch the film to understand how people with patriarchal mindsets try to suppress women. The Phule couple opened a school—imagine how challenging it must have been to advocate for the Shudras' right to equality. Such films deserve support, including from the government. Promote them. #Phule.' Shri Ramdas Athawale and Filmmaker Ananth Mahadevan Address Media for Film Phule 'Phule' revisits the relentless struggle of Jyotirao Phule and Savitribai Phule against caste-based discrimination and their pioneering efforts in promoting women's education in 19th-century India. Director Anant Mahadevan had earlier addressed the controversy regarding the film's delayed release. He confirmed that the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) had requested certain cuts after some members of the Brahmin community raised concerns about the film's theme. Stay updated with the latest Best Hindi Movies , Best Tamil Movies , Best Telugu Movies , Best english Movies , Best Malayalam Movies
