Articles by Ghanshyam Shah

Agitation to Legislation: Negotiating Equity and Justice in India by Zoya Hasan,New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2018; pp 178,₹675.

​The 2017 Gujarat assembly election revolved around Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was the main campaigner, and almost asked for a plebiscite—as the son of the soil. The Bharatiya Janata Party has managed to retain power, but the proportion of votes has reduced. Various agitations against the government in the last three years have not converted into votes in favour of opposition parties. The BJP’s party structure with committed cadres and aggressive campaign give it an advantage over the opposition parties.

To

The President of India

We, the citizens of Gujarat, would like to share our deep concern about the series of happenings from 9 February to 18 February.

At Work in the Informal Economy of India: Perspective from the Bottom Up by Jan Breman (Delhi: Oxford University Press), 2013; pp 457, Rs 995.

The Long Road to Social Security: Assessing the Implementation of National Social Security Initiatives for the Working Poor in India edited by K P Kannan and Jan Breman (Delhi: Oxford University Press), 2013; pp 542, Rs 995.

Based on empirical studies carried out in Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka during 2007-08, this paper offers a brief introduction to the prevailing dalit situation in the four countries and identifies specific problems of social inequality, discrimination and deprivation of the groups in these countries. The four studies clearly bring out the fact that even when the meaning of untouchability and its sources (religion or tradition) varies across south Asia, as also its forms (from physical touch and residential segregation to taboos and restrictions on inter-dining), physical movement and pursuing occupations of one's choice, its effects on those placed at the bottom are quite similar, i e, economic deprivation, social exclusion and a life of humiliation.