Tag Archives: Documentary

January 11, 2012 · 3:19 am

“I Have a Dream” for Dalits of India

There is no nation of Indians in the real sense of the world; it is yet to be created. In believing we are a nation, we are cherishing a great delusion. How can people divided into thousand of castes be a nation? The sooner we realize that we are not yet a nation, in a social and psychological sense of the world, the better for us. – Dr B R Ambedkar

As all of us welcome year 2012 and greet each other with open arms, I visualise a dream. I have always said that I am a dreamer. Yes, I do have a dream, a dream (Begumpura) that Guru Ravidas saw about 650 years ago for everyone or a dream (Utopia) that nourished by Dr Ambedkar or I have a dream that Martin Luther King Jr. saw for the blacks of America. Here is my dream for Dalits of India almost along the same lines what Guru Ravidas, Dr Ambedkar, Martin Luther King Jr. and many others saw for better world.

I have a dream that one day; Dalits will break the chains of caste discrimination and free themselves from the chains of slavery that has ruined Dalits for thousands years. Yes, it’s my dream to see casteless society. I do also dream that Dalit houses won’t be set on fire or Dalits won’t be boycotted anymore. Dalits won’t be killed for the same name as of upper caste people or Dalits won’t be forced to change their names or Dalits won’t hide their names to escape caste discrimination. I also dream with open eyes that untouchability will become history and there will be no untouchable.

Searching for a Dream? (Photo Credit: Ravi Shankar Suman)

I have a dream that one day; for Dalits justice won’t be delayed or justice won’t be just another word or justice won’t be alien to Dalits. I anticipate that Dalits won’t be told to wait, wait and wait bit more for justice; a wait that always meant never. A day won’t be far when everyone will be treated equal and will live with dignity and pride. That will be the day, when Buddha will smile upon India again!

I have a dream that one day; Dalit women won’t be paraded naked, raped or forced to commit suicide for nothing wrong. Not only the Dalit women but whole women society will not be forced to do menial jobs. Women won’t be disrespected, exploited, neglected or won’t be treated as a sex-object only in Indian society. I dream that one day, equality will come in all spheres and women suffering will come to end.

I have a dream that one day; Dalit students won’t be made to sit separately in classrooms, or won’t be discriminated and forced to commit suicide in schools and colleges. A day will come when Dalit students won’t be purified via sprinkling cow urine on them and Dalit students’ seats won’t be left unfilled in schools and colleges. No Dalit student will be forced to do cleaning work in schools, no student will deny food cooked by Dalit cook and Dalit students will be able to use the same playing grounds as other caste students do.

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Filed under Caste Discrimination, Casteism, Dalit-Bahujans, Dr B R Ambedkar, Equal Rights, India, Women RIghts

Tagged as 22 Vows administered by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, ambedkar, Babasaheb, Bahujan Samaj Party, Bahujans, Behanji, BSP, Buddha, buddhism, buddhist, Caste, Caste at college, Caste Discrimination, casteism, chains of slavery, Dalai Lama, Dalit, Dalit Buddhist movement, dalit-bahujan, Dalit-Bahujans, dalits, Dhamma, dignity and pride, Documentary, Dr Ambedkar, Dr Ambedkar Books, Dr B R Ambedkar, Dr B R Ambedkar Pictures, dream utopia, Gautama Buddha, Guru Ravidas, Hidden Apartheid, Hindu Caste System, I Have a Dream, I Have a Dream for Dalits of India, Jai Bheem, Kanshi Ram, letter from a Birmingham jail, lord buddha, Lord Buddha Photos, Martin Luther King Jr, Mayawati, Movie, Muslim, poverty, Racism, Reservation, Sach Khand Ballan, Sangha, SC/ST, Slave, Slavery, Untouchability, Untouchable, upper caste, violence against women

January 5, 2012 · 8:03 pm

Upcoming Movie: “Shudra – The Rising?”

Now you can watch this movie from here.

I believe till now everyone might have heard about the upcoming movie on Dalits of India, i.e. “Shudra – The Rising?” In case you have missed the news, here is the news! Movie is produced and directed by Sanjiv Jaiswal and movie will be of 120minutes. We all know we can’t express the pain and suffering of Dalits in 2hours movie but still I believe it’s an ideal runtime for a movie and it will be advantageous.

Movie: “Shudra- The Rising?” Poster

A bit of storyline:

Movie is based on story of 250million people born as untouchables (and today’s Dalits) in Hindu caste system and subjected to humiliation and slavery since ancient times. When aryans came to India with the intention of looting, they enslaved the peace loving natives. Manu – Hindu guru – imposed laws on untouchables and barred them from reading, writing and listening holy mantras. Natives were treated less than human, impure, unclean and were forced to do menial jobs.

In the movie you will see, Shudra denied water, (Dalits still fight for such rights) a Shudra child’s nose chopped off for chanting mantras, (Dalits are still not allowed to enter many temples in India), a pregnant Shudra women forced to sleep with upper caste people (Dalit women still are raped on Day to day basis in India) and many more heart touching scenes – the only crime of theirs – they are born untouchables. Movie seems to be based on real events, if not real I bet, you might have heard such incidents once in a while in your life-time. It is believed that nature took ages to make man out of animal, but it took moments for certain men to make their fellow human animal again. “Shudra – The Rising?” highlights the depth that evil human mind can succumb, to cling on to power and supremacy.

Recently, the “Shudra – The Rising?” team has received screening Invitation for “Shudra – The Rising?” from South Asian Film Festival which will take place June 13-17, 2012, in Vancouver, and in the Fraser Valley, British Columbia, Canada.

My best wishes to the team

I strongly believe that movies on social issues should be made and given more emphasis. Sanjiv Jaiswal has chosen an important issue of caste discrimination, which has ruined millions lives and hopes. After watching trailers of movie, I can say that it’s a sincere effort by the team to put forward the caravan of Dr Ambedkar. I wish the team a grand success!

P.S.: Movie is going to release in Feb. 2012 and you can visit the movie site at http://www.shudrathefilm.com for latest updates. You can also follow producer and director – Sanjiv Jaiswal – on twitter at @sanjivjaiswal and join the facebook page of the movie at http://www.facebook.com/pages/SHUDRA-the-rising/102558246496607

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Filed under Buddhism, Caste Discrimination, Casteism, Dalit-Bahujans, Dr B R Ambedkar, Equal Rights, Reality of Hindu Festivals

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July 6, 2011 · 1:09 pm

Documentary: The Death of Merit – Manish Kumar (IIT Roorkee)

When a student from the lowest strata of society fights against all odds to prove her merit and reach the best educational institutions in India, are those institutions proving themselves meritorious enough to recognize her worth, to accommodate, let alone nurture her aspirations?

When a Dalit or Adivasi student becomes an engineer, doctor, business graduate or scientist, it should be a cause of pride for not just the family or the community but for the entire nation. Instead, why do our nation and its educational institutions reward their merit with discrimination, humiliation, violence and death?

This documentary is third in the series of our efforts to document caste-based discrimination prevalent in Indian higher education system resulting in large number of suicides of Dalit students in the Indian campuses.

Manish Kumar Guddolian, 20 years of age, was pursuing his IInd year, Integrated Dual Degree Programme, Department of Computer Science & Information Technology, at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee.

The only son of a Junior Warrant Officer at Indian Air Force, Manish committed ‘suicide’ by jumping off from 5th floor of his hostel on 6th February, 2011.

The documentary is based on the testimonies of Manish’s parents and other family members who have yet to come in terms with his death and are fighting against the collective might of IIT Roorkee and Roorkee Police that, as usual, want to relegate their child’s death to ‘a weak student getting depressed for not able to cope up with rigorous academic environment of highly competitive IITs’ .

However the truth is Manish committed suicide, unable to bear the constant castetist assaults and abuses by his own batch-mates, criminal attitude of his hostel warden and IIT Administration that instead of acting on his complaints forced him to live outside IIT Roorkee, and perhaps also due to the complete shattering of his faith on IIT Administration that was supposed to treat all its students as equals and without using caste-lenses.

The Death Of Merit – Manish Kumar (IIT Roorkee) Part – I