ISSN (Print) - 0012-9976 | ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846

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Bhagwan Das

Bhagwan Das, 83, a veteran Ambedkarite and a chronicler of the dalit movement, passed away on 18 November in Delhi at his Munirka residence. Das was among the last few people of a generation that had a direct association with B R Ambedkar.

Sanskrit, English and Dalits

Unlike Sanskrit, there are no scriptural injunctions against the learning of English; English is theoretically as accessible to dalits and women as it is to the 'dwijas'. However, the brahmanical classes have monopolised the use of English (as also other symbols of western modernity) and have justified the denial of the same to the dalits, sometimes even reading their 'faulty' use of the language as acts of resistance/rejection of colonial modernity.

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