ESSAYS, OP-EDS | meenakandasamy

The Fall of the Berlin Wall (Munich Literature Festival)

9 November 1989. Berlin. The fall of the wall, the fall of the wall, the fall of the wall. Depending on the interpreter-copywriter: the...

(The Guardian) Indian police killing rape suspects is not justice, it’s just more toxic masculinity

On 27 November, a group of men raped, smothered and then burned the body of a vet in her 20s near the Indian city of Hyderabad. The...

(New York Times Op-Ed) Dalits under Modi

Corruption scandals surrounding the Congress Party-led government, promises of inclusive growth and job creation, and calibrated...

(Time) V.S. Naipaul Leaves Behind a Formidable Body of Work—and a Troubling Legacy

It may once have been taken for granted that writing about the far-flung world—like exploring, subjugating and enslaving huge swaths of...

(Daily Vox) Sending the pigs to slaughter

“We believe that the freedom to say “no” to a sexual proposition cannot exist without the freedom to bother.” – 100 French women...

(Financial Times) Mother India: the missing women’s revolution

In these moments of self-congratulatory glory, as India celebrates 70 years of existence as a free nation, shouldn’t we Indian women...

(Al Jazeera) To be an Indian Patriot

Recently, the vice chancellor of India's most prominent educational institution, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) announced plans to...

(Al Jazeera) Bengaluru attacks: Misogyny by night and day

The mass molestation of women in Bengaluru during the midnight celebrations at New Year brings to mind the similar outrageous incident...

(Newsweek Middle East) To Create A Nation

The suicide of Dalit research scholar and student leader, Rohith Vemula, on January 17 marked a watershed moment in the anti-caste...

(The Hindu, op-ed) Rohith Vemula left us with only his words

The suicide of a Dalit student is not just an individual exit strategy, it is a shaming of society that has failed him or her. Rohith...

(The Wire/Book foreword: On Ali Cobby Eckermann's memoir)

Entering the world of Ali Cobby Eckermann’s Too Afraid to Cry is like embarking on a journey of distilled pain where I had to constantly...

(India Today) Hurtling Towards A Rape Nation

The Badaun and Bhagana gang rapes of minor Dalit girls come to us as stark reminders of not only the horror expected where sexual...

(Tehelka) A Panther in Life: An Obituary for Namdeo Dhasal

“Death is that stone inscription of which the thinker is always afraid.” Namdeo Dhasal, Ode to Dr. Ambedkar, translated by Dilip Chitre...

(Asian Age) Judiciary and Institutionalized Homophobia

In upholding the constitutionality of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, the Supreme Court of India has not only taken our society...

(Outlook) How do we break the Indian Penile Code

The endless discourses of the elite point fingers everywhere: except at the real cause, which is the cultural sanction of rape in India....