Tagore’s call to end the enslavement of India’s peasantry remains relevant today: Modern slavery is still very common – Global Slavery Index & UNICEF

Tagore’s alienation and the zamindari system [Rabindranath Tagore] conspicuously distanced himself from the middle class, or the bhadralok, although they constituted the head and front of his audience as an author. Tagore’s alienation from such people can be contrasted with his perception that among the rural peasantry there was a “touch of humanity”. Undeniably, Tagore was … Read more

India’s tribal cultural heritage – West Bengal

“The smart boy or clever girl who is deprived of the opportunity of schooling, or who goes to a school with dismal facilities (not to mention the high incidence of absentee teachers), not only loses the opportunities he or she could have had, but also adds to the massive waste of talent that is a … Read more

Tip | Video lessons on Human Trafficking: to “understand what it really means”

“In fact, we still do not know to what extent global supply chains are maintained by slavery and child labor. Because of these and other factors, slavery today is more profitable than ever before, and also more woven into the global economy than ever before.” – Siddharth Kara on the persistence of modern slavery| Learn … Read more

eBook & eJournal | Reaffirming Indigenous Identity Through Narrative: Conference report

Tribes In Transition-II: Reaffirming Indigenous Identity Through NarrativeReport for the ICSSR-sponsored Two-Day National Conference organised by The Department of English & Outreach Programme Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi on 27-28 February 2017 Read or download the full report (printfriendly PDF, 560 KB) Concept Note: The term “tribe” – used synonymously today with other terms like … Read more

Mahatma Gandhi on industrialism and his appeal to capitalists of India to become “trustees to the welfare of the masses” – Young India 1928

GOD FORBID that India should ever take to industrialism after the manner of the West. The economic imperialism of a single tiny island kingdom (England) is today keeping the world in chains. If an entire nation of 300 millions took to similar economic exploitation, it would strip the world bare like locusts. Unless the capitalists … Read more