BR Ambedkar

It’s Complicated

TCA Srinivasa Raghavan

The Constitution tries to do too much. It needs to be made to do less

Independence of the Mind

Srinath Raghavan

When We Are Looters at the Site of History

Dont’t Burn the Book of Freedom

Shashi Tharoor

Has Indian democracy fully tapped the creativity of the Constitution?

Urmila Pawar: Voice of the Voiceless

Open

Her autobiography, Aaidan, or The Weave of My Life: A Dalit Woman’s Memoirs, is a profound inspiration

BR Ambedkar: Slayer of All Gods

Pratap Bhanu Mehta

He challenges the illusions about power and democracy, wealth and violence, Hinduism and tradition, nationalism and justice, and about all that metaphysical cant. He is the mirror in which we dare not look at ourselves. His presence is a constant reminder of our bad conscience and bad faith

125 Years of Babasaheb: Editor’s Note

S Prasannarajan

We have made most of our heroes question-proof. We have made them private collections, labelled and indexed. Thoughts on Ambedkar’s 125th anniversary

An Indian History of Tolerance

Faisal Devji

Between the secular and the civilisational

BR Ambedkar: Uses of an Icon

Siddharth Singh

Every party wants a slice of him six decades after his death. Ambedkar is bigger than the collective desperation of Ambedkarites

Being Free to Be Free

Pratap Bhanu Mehta

Let neither fear nor community piety usurp our freedom

Saving History from Historians

Murali Balaji

The late Marxist historian DD Kosambi continues to wield tremendous influence on the study of Hinduism. But his disciples have disallowed any rational critique of the man and have zealously ignored the religion’s diversity