Navayana , the independent anti-caste publisher, gave a call for the first ever Dalit History Fellowships in April 2021 on BR Ambedkar’s bi...
Navayana, the independent anti-caste publisher, gave a call for the first ever Dalit History Fellowships in April 2021 on BR Ambedkar’s birth anniversary. Six months later, eight fellows have been awarded the fellowship of Rs 1 lakh each to work on projects leading to books. S Anand, publisher of Navayana, spoke to Scroll.in over email on the eve of the announcement of these fellowships. Excerpts from the interview.
Can you tell us the back story to the fellowships?
Ahead of the Dalit History Month in April this year, I wondered how we could meaningfully talk about history at a time when we were faced with a dire present: a deadly second wave of Covid-19, and a lockdown that affected all life in all its bareness, and all work in all its late-capitalist caste-infested vulnerability.
The virus may go, and the vaccines may work despite a murderous inhumane regime calling the shots. But caste was here, is here, and will be here. The fight against it must go on. We came up with what we immediately realised was a long-felt need – two or three fellowships to write dalit history; primarily, but not exclusively, for dalits.
We announced this on 14 April, Babasaheb Ambedkar’s 130th birth anniversary. After a...
