Remembering Savitribai Phule on her 191st birth anniversary today.
Happy Teacher's Day.
Every day, as young Savitribai walked to school, people (upper castes) would throw cow dung and mud at her. They were angry that she was teaching young girls from the ‘lower castes’.
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In their view, the lower castes, especially women, did not deserve an education. Savitribai started carrying an extra sari to change into when she reached school.
Before going home, she would change back into the dirty sari.
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By the end of 1851, the Phules' were running three schools in Pune with around 150 girl students. Soon the number of girls enrolled in Phule’s schools outnumbered that of the boys in government schools.
January 3rd should be Teacher's day, not 5th September.
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സാവിത്രി ഭായ് ഫൂലെയുടെ ഒരു കവിതയിലെ ഭാഗം ഇങ്ങനെ (Savitribai Phule's Poem)
The opportunity is here,
For the Shudras and Ati Shudras,
To learn English,
To dispel all woes,
Throw away the authority,
Of the Brahmin and his teachings,
Break the shackles of caste,
By learning English.
Fatima Sheikh, the first Muslim female teacher of India, worked with Savitribai Phule. They pioneered reforms at a time when education was reserved only for upper-caste males & female educators were unheard of.
Played a pivotal role in changing the Indian Education system. 5/6
Fatima Sheikh has been slowly erased from Indian history, like many many others.
That's how Indian history has always worked, forgetting the real legends.
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33 yrs after Safdar Hashmi’s death, his legacy lives on.
A renowned Indian artist and a communist, Safdar was murdered in broad daylight on 1st January 1989, while performing a street play, Halla Bol, a street play about factory workers and their exploitation in Sahibabad.
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Delhi erupted in spontaneous grief. Artists & filmmakers all came together for his funeral
A week after Safdar's death, Shabana Azmi protested his killing on the stage of 12th International Film Festival on Jan 10th 1989, while Congress leader HKL Bhagat was in the audience. 2/4
Comrade Safdar pioneered street theatre ^ founded the People's Theatre Front, which became popular for plays on inflation, worker rights, women’s empowerment & communalism.
Born and raised in a Leftist family, Safdar's playwright redefined the art of resistance in India.
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"മലബാറിലെ ഈഴവന്മാര് ആളെ കൊല്ലാന് നടക്കുന്നവരാണ്." (കെ.എം. ഷാജി)
ലബാറിലെ ഈഴവർ സിപിഐഎമ്മിന്റെ തല്ലുതൊഴിലാളികളും ചാവേറുകളുമാണത്രേ. ഒരു വേദിയിൽ നിന്ന് മറ്റൊരു സമുദായത്തെ ഈ വിധം അധിക്ഷേപിക്കാൻ നാവു പൊങ്ങുന്നതിന് കാരണം ഒന്നേയുള്ളൂ.
ഉള്ളിൽ നീറിപ്പുകയുന്ന വംശീയത. 🤢
Hate Speech against Queer People.
Disgusting statement against Interfaith couples.
Misogyny.
Hate Speech against Ezhavas.
The League rally at Kozhikode was something we only expected from RW rallies in North India.
And yet many Malayalis are still silent.
This was said in a rally in Kerala, against Queer people.
“Did you read today about what the Americans are doing?” one of the Indian characters in Rohinton Mistry’s “Such a Long Journey” asks.
“CIA ba$tards are up to their usual anu$-fingering tactics.” The novel is set in 1971, the year that India intervened in Pakistan’s civil war.
When Pakistan's defeat in the 1971 war seemed imminent, America dispatched the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise towards the Bay of Bengal. The US 7th Fleet’s Task Force also had USS King and USS Decatur.
Think twice before falling for the lies of Corporate Malayalam News Media.
Kerala is the only state in India where BJP's vote-share fell more than 3% in the last 5 years, despite the Sabarimala protests and direct attacks by National Media. Sabarimala was their ultimate weapon.
The Avarna Hindus (Adivasis, Dalits and OBC's) for 42% of Kerala's population, and they are the vote-bank of the LEFT-LDF, always has been since 1957. BJP always knew that in order to grow in Kerala, they need these votes.
Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) was formed before 2016 Kerala assembly election, an outfit representing the prominent Hindu Ezhava community, with the silent backing of SNDP. The aim was to split the Ezhava votes away from LEFT.