South Asia Citizens Web

The nature and role of caste relations in India including during the current post-colonial period, is a matter of debate within Left. Traditional Marxists consider caste relations as a part of only the ‘superstructure’ and in modern India they consider ‘caste-hierarchy’ to be only a feudal remnant; an instrument of only ‘oppression’ and not of exploitation of surplus labour. In their view, remnants of feudal relations have continued because according to them, Bourgeois Democratic Revolution has not been completed in India. Hence in this framework of understanding of caste relations, casteist hierarchy would require only Cultural Revolution. Shramik Mukti Dal a Left organization in Maharashtra has been arguing for last many years that this view is flawed; that along with socio-cultural measures, specific economic measures would also be required as a part of the revolutionary programme to abolish the caste system.

threat of disruption of MNREGA looms large today with rumours that Aadhaar, despite enrollment rates being very low still, will become compulsory for MNREGA workers. Instead, the government should continue to focus on the good work that began in 2008, ie, expanding the reach of the formal banking system to rural areas, and work towards bringing greater transparency in the implementation of the programme

Minority persecution is a common notion around the world, bringing to mind the treatment of African-Americans in the United States, for example, or Arab immigrants in Europe. In Pakistan, though, the situation is more unusual: those persecuted as minorities collectively constitute a vast majority.

The 141-page report, “‘We Will Teach You a Lesson’: Sexual Violence against Tamils by Sri Lankan Security Forces,” provides detailed accounts of 75 cases of alleged rape and sexual abuse that occurred from 2006-2012 in both official and secret detention centers throughout Sri Lanka.