Buffalo Nationalism
A Critique of Spiritual Fascism
- Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd - Retired, Director, Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad
January 2019 | 268 pages | SAGE Publications Pvt. Ltd
‘O Mother Lachumamma, your blouse is torn,
Your hair is soiled, your sari in rags . . .
Even in that condition what have you done?
You planted saplings, walking backwards like a bull,
In order to produce food from the mud.’
Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd translates these words of the Telugu poet, singer, activist Gaddar to emphasize the productivity of the ordinary people, the Dalit-Bahujans of India, who receive so little in return. Arguing forcefully against spiritual fascism, which refuses equality or freedom to the majority, he commends the buffalo as a productive animal that epitomizes the qualities of the Dalit-Bahujans. This book contains a selection from Ilaiah Shepherd’s columns in The Hindu, Deccan Herald, Deccan Chronicle, Hindustan Times among others, and journals such as Mainstream and Economic and Political Weekly.
Of particular interest is the new Afterword that discusses his political and social programme for the Sudras of India, presenting his vision of a more just society.
Your hair is soiled, your sari in rags . . .
Even in that condition what have you done?
You planted saplings, walking backwards like a bull,
In order to produce food from the mud.’
Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd translates these words of the Telugu poet, singer, activist Gaddar to emphasize the productivity of the ordinary people, the Dalit-Bahujans of India, who receive so little in return. Arguing forcefully against spiritual fascism, which refuses equality or freedom to the majority, he commends the buffalo as a productive animal that epitomizes the qualities of the Dalit-Bahujans. This book contains a selection from Ilaiah Shepherd’s columns in The Hindu, Deccan Herald, Deccan Chronicle, Hindustan Times among others, and journals such as Mainstream and Economic and Political Weekly.
Of particular interest is the new Afterword that discusses his political and social programme for the Sudras of India, presenting his vision of a more just society.
Acknowledgements
Introduction
On Communal Violence
Ayodhya: What Stake Do OBCs Have?
Consequences of the Call for Epic War
Dalit, OBC and Muslim Relations
The Rise of Modi
On Clash of Civilizations
A Case of Slipping Morality
A Lesson to Be Learnt
The Invisible Country
Heroes Who Made the Word Rock and Roll
On Social Justice
A Paradigm Shift
Attacks on Ambedkar
The Bard Whose Song Is His Weapon
Countering the Counter-Revolution
Hindutva and the War-Loving Self
Spiritual Fascism and Civil Society
Freedom Unattained
On Caste
The Buffalo’s Unholy Milk
Durban, Caste and Indian Democracy
Secularism: The Predicament of the OBCs
Caste and Women’s Sexuality
Caste Shadows in London
Caste in a New Mould
On the Right to Religion
Hinduism and the Right to Religion
Reject the Oppressor
Religion and Democracy
Spiritual Democracy
Where Should the Reform Begin?
On Electoral Politics
Sonia, Swadeshi and Videshi
The End of Dalit Ideology?
Major Priorities
On Culture
Cow and Culture
Cows, Buffaloes and Nationalism
Hinduism and Capitalist Ethics
The Buddha Smiles in Afghanistan
On Globalization
Cultural Globalization
Dalits and Globalization
Death Wish?
On Education
A Lesson from African English
Caste, Clinton and the IT Revolution
Through Books, Ships and Sea
Blacks, Science and National Pride
Education and the Dignity of Labour
Reservations: Experience as Framework of Debate
Index
Afterword
Afterword: Where are the sudras?