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Kancha Ilaiah

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Kancha Ilaiah
Kancha Ilaiah at Kerala Literature Festival in 2018Ilaiah at Kerala Literature Festival in 2018
Born (1952-10-05) 5 October 1952 (age 72)
Papaiahpet, Warangal, Hyderabad State, India (now in Telangana, India)
Education
Occupation(s)Retired Director, Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive

Policy (CSSEIP) at Maulana Azad National Urdu University,

Hyderabad
Known forWriter and speaker on Indian political thought
AwardsMahatma Jyotirao Phule Award

Nehru Fellow 1994-97

Manyawar Kanshiram Smriti Mahanayak Puraskar

Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd (born 5 October 1952) is an Indian political theorist, writer and a Dalit rights activist. He writes in both English and Telugu languages. His main domain of study and activism is the annihilation of caste.

Early life

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Kancha Ilaiah was born in the village of Papaiahpet, Warangal district of Chennaraopet Mandal in Hyderabad, Telangana State. His family belonged to a community designated by the Government of India as an Other Backward Class. Ilaiah's father Kancha Komuraiah was always away from home while grazing sheep. The dominant figure in the family was his mother. Ilaiah credited his mother, Kancha Kattamma, as pivotal in shaping his political thought.

Ilaaih suffixed 'Shepherd' to his name symbolically, as he comes from a shepherding family.

Professional life

Ilaiah received an M.A. degree in political science and an M.Phil., awarded for his study of land reform in undivided Andhra Pradesh. He has been a recipient of the Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Award and was a Nehru Fellow between 1994 and 1997.

Ilaiah earned a Ph.D on the basis of his work exploring the political dimension of Buddhism, culminating in God as Political Philosopher - Buddha's Challenge to Brahminism.

Ilaiah has encouraged proficiency in the English language for Dalits, arguing that it would allow Dalits in India to intellectually engage the world outside India without non-Dalits speaking "for them". In May 2016, in protest against "Brahmanic hegemony" he says continues to persist in India, Ilaiah appended "Shepherd" to his name. Ilaiah identified in this choice recognition and reaffirmation of his family origins. As an English-language proper noun rather than its equivalent in an Indian language, "Shepherd" is meant to demonstrate a symbolic break with the cultural norms Ilaiah believed Brahmins sought to "impose" on Indian society. Ilaiah characterises his name change as a tool to break these norms and to value the work of what he terms "productive classes:" including Scheduled Castes and OBCs.

Kancha Ilaiah is an Ambedkarite. As an anti-caste activist, Ilaiah is often misidentified by the media as being a Dalit himself. Ilaiah identifies himself as a Sudra intellectual.

Criticism

While working as an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at Osmania University, several of Ilaiah's colleagues as well as academics affiliated with the university expressed, in an open-letter, their concern with respect to certain articles and opinions Ilaiah had contributed to a local newspaper and advised him against writing material that could inflame sectarian discontent or prejudice.

In February 2013, at the Jaipur Literary Festival, Ilaiah and Javed Akhtar engaged in a heated discussion over the implications of religion in Indian social life.

Ilaiah has also been criticised by right wing Hindutva activists for accepting the Aryan invasion theory. In November 2015, Ilaiah stated that if Vallabhbhai Patel, the first Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of India credited with forging national unity amidst the intense violence and bloodletting that followed the creation of Pakistan, had been Prime Minister of India, India "would have become Pakistan".

In April 2016, Ilaiah gave a controversial remark that vegetarianism is anti-nationalism. On 18 September 2017, T. G. Venkatesh, a member of Indian Parliament representing the Telugu Desam Party and a prominent leader of the Arya Vysya said at a press conference that Ilaiah was a traitor and should be hanged because his writings were "intended to divide society." Ilaiah alleged that the members of Arya Vysya community had tried to kill him and lodged a police complaint when Arya Vysya community members attacked his car in 2017.

Appointments

Among Ilaiah's official appointments have been:

Selected publications

English language publications:

Telugu language publications:

  • ఐలయ్య, క. మన తత్వం: దళిత బహుజన తాత్వికత. హైదరాబాద్: హైదరాబాద్ బుక్ ట్రస్ట్

References

  1. Kannabiran, Kalpana (5 October 2017). "Taking aim at the messenger: on the attack on Kancha Ilaiah" – via www.thehindu.com.
  2. ^ "The attempt to censor my writings is part of a larger game plan". Rediff. 24 May 2000. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  3. "How a caste reference in his 2009 book has come back to haunt Kancha Ilaiah". Hindustan Times. 16 October 2017.
  4. "How anti-caste activist Kancha Ilaiah's mother was an inspiration for his rebellion". The News Minute. 16 September 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  5. "How cow protection laws brutalise our culture" – via The Economic Times.
  6. Shepherd, Kancha Ilaiah. "The violence of caste: Why I have changed my name to Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd". Scroll.in. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  7. Staff Reporter (10 July 2016). ""Modi should ask sadhus to clean the streets"" – via www.thehindu.com.
  8. "Introduce English in all schools, says Kancha Ilaiah". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  9. Mathur, Swati (15 February 2013). "Kancha Ilaiah: Even if 10% dalit children got English education, India would change - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  10. Jain, Akshat. "In defence of English: Blame the Indian education system, not the language". Scroll.in.
  11. ^ "Good Shepherd: Dalit thinker Kancha Ilaiah on name, caste". Hindustan Times. 27 May 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  12. "Threats to Kancha Ilaiah show India has learnt nothing from Gauri Lankesh's death". www.dailyo.in.
  13. "The Ethereal Realist | Outlook India Magazine". www.outlookindia.com/.
  14. "Gandhi was not a caste abolitionist: Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd". The Week.
  15. "India's President Ram Nath Kovind takes oath". www.aljazeera.com.
  16. Mondal, Sudipto (27 May 2016). "Good Shepherd: Dalit thinker Kancha Ilaiah on name, caste". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  17. Iqbal, Mohammed (29 January 2013). "Jaipur Literature Festival ends, but controversy lingers" – via www.thehindu.com.
  18. "Who are the real Dalits of India?". www.rediff.com.
  19. "If Sardar Patel was PM, India would've become Pakistan: Kancha Ilaiah". Hindustan Times. 30 November 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  20. "Vegetarianism is anti-nationalism: Kancha Ilaiah on Ambedkar's food democracy-Politics News , Firstpost". Firstpost. 14 April 2016.
  21. "TD MP TG Venkatesh says 'Hang ilaiah' for his book". The Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  22. "After vehicle pelted with stones, Kancha Ilaiah files plaint, says death threats against him". The New Indian Express.
  23. Scroll Staff. "Writer Kancha Ilaiah says his car was attacked with stones in Telangana". Scroll.in.
  24. "3rd Cycle of Accreditation – NAAC, Self – Study Report, 2013" (PDF). Osmania University. 2013. p. 48. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2016.

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