An exclusive extract from Kajri Jain’s book, ‘Gods In The Time Of Democracy’
Dalits have crafted unique visual metaphors to assert their identity and mark their place in politics and BSP played a big role in the process.
The statues mark a point of time; time removes them; the new statues represent some different ideology; common men and onlookers remain unchanged beyond their individual lifetime and psyche.
The world’s tallest statue, of Shivaji Maharaj, will be the jewel in Maximum City’s crown
In a contest of sorts, some recent announcements around statues show how each one is being built to be bigger than the other
Can public art in India, depicting admirable women from history and mythology, shed the male gaze?
Sandstone mining, to build the Ayodhya temple among others, provides vital employment, but endangers lives, livelihoods and the environment
Statue-building in post-colonial India has followed oppositional trajectories. While the State has tried to project Brahminical hegemony, the public has tried to reclaim the narrative.
The age of majoritarianism has birthed a second wave of identity politics across India. As five states are ready to go to polls, we try to unscramble the complex matrix of identity politics.
Women have emerged as a major constituency in Uttar Pradesh and all parties are wooing them with gusto
Identity politics may have driven many progressive social movements, but electorally, it dangerously whets the appetite of the electorate for internecine war
The virus-infected election has deprived traders dealing in publicity material from much-needed business
The exodus of influential ministers and MLAs from BJP highlights the complexities of ‘social justice’
At no time do the politics of identity play out more spectacularly than during an Indian election. This poll season is no different.
Has the Hindutva consolidation reached saturation, or will caste assertion make a comeback in the 2022 assembly polls?
This election could be the moment of reckoning for the minority community in Uttar Pradesh
BJP’s continuing efforts at assimilating Dalits as part of the Hindutva project may face a push-back in the ballots this year
Though the Samajwadi Party is projected as a strong contender in the run-up to the UP assembly polls, Mayawati' Bahujan Samaj Party could yet be the surprise package.
He would take his colour, brushes and canvas outside to paint and talk with his love. He would stand close to the window and paint, keeping an eye on his muse.
They say the violin mimics the human sound. In his case, it was that of love, of longing. He didn’t know any other way of loving.
Younger people do not have much progressive beliefs; a 2017 survey found that one-third of young people opposed inter-caste marriage.