MAHAD has an iconic place in Dalit universe. Associated with legendary personality of Dr Ambedkar, the struggle of Dalits at Mahad for asserting their rights to access the public tank, the Chavadar tank, arguably ranks among the first civil rights struggles in history. Unfortunately, it remained largely confined to folklore; its detailed account still remaining fragmented and in mostly Marathi. This book provides a comprehensive account, using many sources including the archival materials, of the two conferences in Mahad in 1927 that marks the beginning of the Dalit movement under Babasaheb Ambedkar to a wider readership in English. It tries to frame it within its historical context which will help people comprehend its historical significance. It also seeks to draw certain lessons for the future course of the Dalit movement. The book additionally contains the original account of Comrade R. B. MORE, the organizer of the first conference at Mahad.

This book is a comprehensive introduction to Dalits in India from their origin to the present day. Despite a plethora of provisions for affirmative action in the Indian Constitution, Dalits still suffer exclusion on various counts. The book traces the multifarious changes that befell them through history, germination of Dalit consciousness during the colonial period and its f lowering under the legendary leadership of Babasaheb Ambedkar. It provides critical insights to their degeneration during the post-Ambedkar period, taking stock of all significant developments therein such as the rise of the Bahujan Samaj Party, Dalit capitalism, NGOization of the Dalit discourse and the various implicit or explicit emancipation schemas thrown up by them. It also discusses ideology, implicit strategy and tactics of the Dalit movement, touches upon one of the most contentious issues of increasing divergence between the Dalit and Marxist movements, and delineates the role of the state, both colonial and post-colonial, in shaping Dalit politics in particular ways. This new edition includes a new chapter providing the causal analysis of the rise of Hindutva under Narendra Modi, its fascist march obliterating the idea of India sketched out by the Constitution, and forecasts its future as the Hindu Rashtra - the Brahmanic-fascist state - which has been the goal of its progenitors. A tour de force, this book brings to the fore many key contemporary concerns and will be of great interest to activists, students, scholars and teachers of politics, political economy, sociology, anthropology, history and social exclusion studies.

This book is a comprehensive introduction to Dalits in India from their origin to the present day. Despite a plethora of provisions for affirmative action in the Indian Constitution, Dalits still suffer exclusion on various counts. The book traces the multifarious changes that befell them through history, germination of Dalit consciousness during the colonial period and its f lowering under the legendary leadership of Babasaheb Ambedkar. It provides critical insights to their degeneration during the post-Ambedkar period, taking stock of all significant developments therein such as the rise of the Bahujan Samaj Party, Dalit capitalism, NGOization of the Dalit discourse and the various implicit or explicit emancipation schemas thrown up by them. It also discusses ideology, implicit strategy and tactics of the Dalit movement, touches upon one of the most contentious issues of increasing divergence between the Dalit and Marxist movements, and delineates the role of the state, both colonial and post-colonial, in shaping Dalit politics in particular ways. This new edition includes a new chapter providing the causal analysis of the rise of Hindutva under Narendra Modi, its fascist march obliterating the idea of India sketched out by the Constitution, and forecasts its future as the Hindu Rashtra - the Brahmanic-fascist state - which has been the goal of its progenitors. A tour de force, this book brings to the fore many key contemporary concerns and will be of great interest to activists, students, scholars and teachers of politics, political economy, sociology, anthropology, history and social exclusion studies.

Despite the teachings of Babasaheb Ambedkar against Hinduism and its pernicious caste system, which he forsook to become a Buddhist, many Dalits have turned to Hindutva. The RSS under Balasaheb Deoras began to appropriate Ambedkar, engaging with Dalits and Adivasis, Hinduizing their beliefs, providing social welfare and binding them in a political alliance. Hindutva and Dalits: Perspectives for Understanding Communal Praxis takes a comprehensive view of the birth and growth of the Hindutva movement and its specific impact on Dalits. Part I, Theoretical Perspectives, explores the attitude of Hindutva vis-a-vis Dalits in its various manifestations. Part II, Hindutva in Operation, covers empirical evidence of its impact on Dalits. The contributors, distinguished scholar-activists, offer a provocative analysis on why both Dalits and Adivasis are drawn to Hindutva. As analysed by Tanika Sarkar in her incisive Foreword, Hindutva's hegemonic agenda lets 'subalterns develop a stake in their own subordination, ... not in resignation or despair but in eager self-identification with it'. The great strength of this collection is that it asks difficult questions that need to be asked and yet have no easy answers. The book, thus, makes an invaluable contribution to the debate and takes it forward.