India, like many parts of the world today is in the political grip of reactionary forces. These revivalist forces strategically maintain muted expression about caste and cover it up with their rhetoric of samarasata (social harmony), but their real intent spills out variously regarding their attitude towards Dalits (the lowest strata in Hindu social order) into policies as well as practices. Their anti-minorities and anti-Dalit stance are camouflaged under Hindu nationalism that homogenizes the diversity of India as ‘one people, one religion, one language, one nation,’ reminiscing the infamous Hitelarite slogan: Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Führer.
Prof. Teltumbde's talk surveys the intriguing history of caste in post-colonial India and explicates the historical process that actuates contemporary caste dynamics. He argues that the post-colonial political economy has systematically served the interests of the incipient bourgeoisie under cover of so-called Nehruvian socialism and changed the contours of caste to the detriment of the Dalits.
Dr. Anand Teltumbde is a human rights activist, writer, and analyst of public policy and socio-political issues, particularly the contemporary Dalit and Left movements in India. He is currently a Senior Professor and Area Chair of Big Data Analytics Center at the Goa Institute of Management, India.
Part of the "Just Data Project Seminar"