July 2005
Issue No. 380
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Combatting caste
Mari Marcel Thekaekara on the enduring evils of an ancient system of oppression and the struggles for dignity.
The caste system
The oldest social hierarchy in the world.
Caste out
Nikki van der Gaag reveals how some practices persist even in the West.
View from the top
An interview with KR Narayanan, India’s only Dalit President.
I, A Brahmin
Why Brahmin writer U R Ananthamurthy got a hostile reception when he argued against the practice of Untouchability.
Mariamma's shame
The girl had done nothing wrong – but her caste and sex meant that she was going to be punished all the same. By Dalit writer Bama.
Mariamma's shame
The girl had done nothing wrong – but her caste and sex meant that she was going to be punished all the same. By Dalit writer Bama.
Between a rock and a hard place
Activist Sagar Bishwakarma argues that Dalits in Nepal are trapped between the Government and the Maoists.
The choice
When Manami Mori fell in love, her family saw only dishonour.
Tied to the job
Caste still has to shake off its shackles in Africa.
The blacksmith and the noble
Stories that tell how castes came to be formed are no tall tales for people in Burkina Faso.
Action and worth reading
Action contacts and resources for further reading
News, views, and & voices
Letter from Lebanon
Explosions rock Beirut, prompting in Reem Haddad fears of the bad old days of civil war.
Southern Exposure
On 24 April a march in Yerevan marked the 90th anniversary of the Armenian genocide and was photographed by Onnik Krikorian.
View from the South
The inimitable Eduardo Galeano offers his thoughts on football.
Currents
Bolivar's broom
Argentine people power keeps up the pressure.
Brazil throws Microsoft out of the windows
Brazil has pledged to invest heavily in its own software industry in a bid to keep pace with the technological advance of the developed nations.
Buried alive
A devastating industrial accident in Bangladesh puts the spotlight on global sweatshops
China: demonstrable discontent
With China’s reforms crippled by political corruption and the rising gap between rich and poor, the Chinese Government is facing serious challenges from those who have been socio-economically disadvantaged.
Ethiopia: Local people are out, wildlife is in
In November last year, 463 houses of the Guji-Oromo people in Nechasar National Park in southern Ethiopia were burned down by police and park authorities.
Hearts of Darkness
Massive military build-up in West Papua
South Africa’s prickly pear spikes poverty
Women in South Africa’s Fort Beaufort township can make a little money by selling prickly pear fruit on the streets, but a larger source of income comes from brewing the fruit into beer.
Worldbeaters
Pope Benedict XVI
Big Bad World 380
A bedtime story from the IMF Book of Fairytales.
Mixed Media
Film
Czech Dream by Vit Viusak & Filip Remunda
Film
Moolaadé by Ousmane Sembène
Music
Björk: Army of Me by Various Artists
Music
La Juderia by Yasmin Levy
Book
Ao Toa: Earth Warriors by Cathie Dunsford
Book
Shell Shock: The Secrets and Spin of an Oil Giant by Ian Cummins and John Beasant.
Book
Stop the War by Andrew Murray & Lindsey German.
Making Waves
Three of Israel’s refuseniks – Haggai Matar, Adam Maor, Matan Kaminer – explain why they could not serve in the army.
NI Essay
The bleak story of tiny children used as camel jockeys in the United Arab Emirates, told in photographs by Daoud Khan.
Country Profile
Somalia
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from
THIS MONTH'S EDITOR
This has been a very high-tech magazine - what with the two of us in Oxford and South India editing, writing and commissioning, and teleconferences spanning four continents and five countries.
At the same time, it has been hard just to find ordinary photographs of the people who call themselves Dalits because they are so afraid of the retribution they may face for being identified. And with good reason. In India, Dalits face constant discrimination. Every hour two are assaulted; every day three Dalit women are raped and two Dalits are murdered - simply because they come from a caste considered 'Untouchable'; the bottom of the heap.
This is the hidden apartheid in a country which prides itself on its burgeoning middle class and its expertise in IT. This magazine has been a long time in the waiting because caste is such a difficult issue to raise, especially in India. But it was born out of Mari's fury when she went to visit the bhangis - the women who - the women who sweep other people's shit - to research her book Endless Filth.
It is a story that needs to be told. And now is a good time to tell it. Dalits themselves are organized as never before. Caste - not just in South Asia but in Africa and throughout the Indian Diaspora - is now on the agenda at the United Nations and the EU. It is beginning to be something that people can discuss. We hope to publish this in India as well, as part of the campaign to cast out caste. And we are happy if we can help to stir a different kind of shit.
Mari Marcel Thekaekara and Nikki van der Gaag for the New Internationalist Co-operative nikkivdg@newint.org
Voices from the margins:
Multimedia: video, podcasts, and more.
- Poetry Slam in Zimbabwe
- The House of Hunger poetry slam held in Zimbabwe in 2006, and organised by the Pamberi Trust, showcased young artists performing inspirational work on issues from corporate power to child soldiers. The video features four of the poets.
Published by Pambazuka News.
- Iranian women speak out
- 3 March 2007, London. Women's rights activists marched through the English capital last week to celebrate International Women's Day with a protest against the misogyny of the Islamic regime in Iran and the threat of invasion by the US. Hear the voices of Iranian feminists Azar and Leila Parnian and the sounds of the demonstration as it passed through the heart of the city. Click here to learn more about the campaign.
Produced by Heidi Bachram.
- Raised Voices audio:
- Benny from West Papua on Corporate Power
- Vinayan from India on agriculture
New Internationalist (NI) workers' co-operative exists to report on issues of world poverty and inequality; to focus attention on the unjust relationship between the powerful and the powerless worldwide; to debate and campaign for the radical changes necessary to meet the basic needs of all; and to bring to life the people, the ideas and the action in the fight for global justice.
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