In the wreckage that the novel coronavirus is leaving in its wake, there has been an unexpected social benefit. Hundreds of thousands of sanitation workers — who have been dismissed and discriminated as kudawallah and safaiwallah — are being recognised as frontline health warriors. When they don their PPE kits to collect garbage from containment … Read more
In 1977, several Dalits had been killed by upper-caste landowners in Bihar’s Belchi village. Out of power, Indira Gandhi sensed a political moment. She travelled by train, jeep and tractor before settling for an elephant ride to negotiate muddy and water-logged tracks amid heavy rain. Her address to the community proved to be a game … Read more
NEW DELHI: A month and half before the Hathras incident, the Centre had asked states to set up a “response mechanism” to promptly deal with incidents of crime against the “vulnerable, oppressed and deprived sections of society”. The directive was issued after the National Human Rights Commission took suo motu cognisance of alleged sexual exploitations … Read more
The Hathras incident and its aftermath have triggered some burning questions. Do Dalit lives matter? What’s it that the Yogi government is trying to hide? Will there be change on the ground? On India Today TV Consulting Editor Rajdeep Sardesai’s show News Today at 9, political leaders and Dalit activists answer these and more such … Read more