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Dilip Mandal

@Profdilipmandal

Nov 30

A Thread. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar has written extensively on #Gita and interpreted it for the public too. For Ambedkar, Gita is “Manusmriti in a nutshell.” 🧵👇

Ambedkar believed that the Manusmriti, the Vedas and the Gita are all woven in the same pattern and same threads run through them. He denounces those who say that - “Manusmriti is problematic, but Gita is good.”

According to Ambedkar, the difference is only in the detailing, not in the idea or philosophy. For him, all religious books of Hinduism – other than Upanishads – were written by the Brahmins who injected the same doctrine in all these books.

Read 25 tweets

Dilip Mandal

@Profdilipmandal

Nov 29

A THREAD 🧵 More Dalit (former untouchable) students going to Oxfords, Harvards. West now gets the caste divide.

My Twitter timeline is full of comments and tweets from students belonging to marginalised communities, who are heading towards the West to study.
There are 5 primary factors driving an increasing number of students from these communities entering the Western institutions.

@ajanthasub

Indian elite social groups migrating to the West for education and jobs has a historical social context. In her book Caste of Merit, Harvard Prof @ajanthasub argues that due to accumulated cultural and social capital, it became easier for the caste elites to migrate to the West.

Read 23 tweets

Dilip Mandal

@Profdilipmandal

Nov 26

Thread. Indian democracy’s big contradiction – Dalits cherish Constitution, the privileged want a rethink. Why does the Dalit community celebrate the #ConstitutionDay the most, when it has received the least in terms of dignity, resources and development?🧵 👇

In 2015, the Narendra Modi government decided to celebrate this day as the ‘Constitution Day’ for the first time. But India’s Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities have been celebrating the day every year much before the official announcement. Do you know why?

Across many Indian cities, the SCs and STs been wearing new clothes, lighting up their homes, organising seminars and rallies, garlanding the statues of B.R. Ambedkar, the chairperson of the Constitution Drafting Committee, over several decades.

Read 31 tweets

Dilip Mandal

@Profdilipmandal

Nov 25

Thread. Rich Indians turn secessionist, giving up citizenship. ‘Nationalism’ poor man’s burden. Robert B. Reich called this “Secession of the Successful.” Pl read entire thread. 🧵 👇

There are some obvious explanations for the rich and endowed Indians, who benefit the most from Indian democracy, leaving their own country. >>

What started as a trickle, now involves a much bigger volume. In 2020-21, 1.63 lakh Indians renounced their citizenship to take up foreign citizenship. thehindu.com/news/national/…

Read 33 tweets

Dilip Mandal

@Profdilipmandal

Nov 23

Thread. Why Bengal and North India failed to produce any Phule, Narayana Guru, Ambedkar, Periyar? Almost all prominent social reformers and anti-caste leaders emerged in two geographical and administrative locations—Bombay and Madras presidencies—during British rule. Why?

….C. Natesa Mudaliar, P. Teagaraya Chetty, T.M. Nair, Shahuji Maharaj of Kolhapur, Gadge Baba, Pandita Ramabai, Keshavrao Jedhe, Savitribai Phule, Krishnarao Bhalekar, Prabodhankar… long list of anti caste reformers. But no one from Bengal or north of river Narmada.

Why did Bengal or the Hindi-speaking states of north India fail to produce any important social reformer and anti-caste leader worth their name during the colonial period?

Read 29 tweets