Ambedkar

Last Updated: March 14, 2024, 16:50 ISTDays After Inauguration, Agra Fort Metro Station Renamed Dr Ambedkar Chowk. (Photo: Metro Rail News)UPMRC has been directed to change all signs and inscriptions to reflect the new name and the cost of renaming the metro station is projected to be Rs 1 lakh.Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated the Agra Fort metro station, it has been officially renamed to honour former Union law minister Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar.The station, inaugurated on March 6, was previously…

BR Ambedkar has left behind a vast body of work. There are also many books on him and his oeuvre. Given this context, what inspired you to work on this book? Author Ashok Gopal (Courtesy the subject) As I have said in the preface, I found that there were gaps in what has already been written about Ambedkar. Particularly in writings in English, Ambedkar’s turn to Buddhism has been unsatisfactorily told. That he was a deeply religious person, albeit not in the way many understand “religion”, was completely…

Curated By: Shahrukh ShahLast Updated: December 05, 2023, 09:07 ISTRepresentational Image. (File photo)Report says, for easy flow of public, extra commercial staff- 40 at Dadar, 20 at CSMT, and 10 each at Kalyan and LTT stations will be deployed,The Central Railway will operate 18 special long-distance trains to and from Mumbai and 12 extra local services to cater to the rush of people in the city on B R Ambedkar’s death anniversary, observed as Mahaparinirvan Din, on December 6.Additional personnel of the Railway…

Noted sociologist Imtiaz Ahmad (1940 -2023) died on June 19 in New Delhi and was laid to rest at the Panch Peeran Qabristan at Hazrat Nizamuddin in the city. Among other things, he will be remembered for his pioneering work on caste among Indian Muslims. The relevance of his research has acquired new significance in the changing context of Indian politics, particularly owing to the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)’s new enthusiasm to help address the backwardness of Pasmanda Muslims. No one knows how serious the ruling party…

What are the most fulfilling and frustrating aspects of being a translator? Translator V Ramaswamy (SK Jan Mohammad) For me, the most frustrating thing is the inability to convey or render into English something originally in Bangla. The original may be like a rosogolla, with the translation appearing like a raisin in comparison! More than frustrating, it is saddening, but also enlightening. One realises that understanding the meaning and significance of some things requires one to be deeply embedded in a…

As recounted by Ambedkar in the prologue to the second edition of Annihilation of Caste, the genesis of the text lay in an invitation sent to him in December 1935 by Santram, the secretary of the Jat-Pat Todak Mandal, Lahore, to deliver the presidential address of the Mandal’s annual conference. The driving force of the Mandal, Santram was keen to learn about Ambedkar’s “new formula” for breaking caste, namely “annihilating” the religious notions on which it was based. Ambedkar was by then not interested in associating…

Ambedkar Jayanti is an annual holiday observed on April 14 in honour of BR Ambedkar. The day marks his birth anniversary as he was born on April 14, 1891. Ambedkar is known as one of the major reasons for the abolition of untouchability in India. He organized various protests and launched active movements for the upliftment of the untouchables. Therefore, the day is also celebrated as ‘Equality Day' in India.He established the Finance Commission of India as well as framed guidelines and ideas on which the Reserve Bank of…

Smashing the Patriarchy is very different from your debut. How did you decide these were stories you wanted to tell? I think of myself as a literary nomad and storyteller. I started off as a novelist, then wrote short stories and poetry, then moved on to non-fiction. I like to experiment with the written word, creative forms and structures. Gender and sexuality have been running themes in my writing and research career. My novel Kaleidoscopic Reflections told the tale of five generations of inter-caste Tamil women,…