by Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd This article is based on excerpts from a talk by Prof. Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd at the first KP Sasi Webinar on Politics of Language and Language of Politics held on 15 April 2025. In the video his speech is from 36.21 to 50.44 minutes. https://www.youtube.com/embed/fiuuFI9fANM?start=138&feature=oembed At the outset, I pay tribute to KP … Continue reading Why shouldn’t English be India’s single national language? 

Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd  The Hindutva organisations had never believed that the RSS would allow a caste census to take place.  Congress workers in Noida take part in a rally to celebrate the Union government's decision to include caste enumeration in the upcoming national census on Friday, May 2, 2025. Photo: PTI On April 30, the … Continue reading Will the Modi Government Carry Out the Caste Census or Will it Remain an Eyewash?

Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd  No other couple in human history has shown such a spirit filled with revolutionary ambition for change. That too in a stagnant society like that of India. Image credit: Instagram My only complaint against the filmmakers is that the film’s title should have been Phules— not Phule. Savitri is not Jyotiba’s better half, but … Continue reading ‘Phule’: A Revolution on Screen 

Atul Ashok Howale  Shepherd also pointed to the irony that the Maharashtra government recommended a Bharat Ratna for Phule but is mum on the film's censorship.  Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd in conversation with Atul Howale. New Delhi: A biopic on Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and Savitribai Phule, which was supposed to be released on Phule’s 198th birth anniversary … Continue reading Full Text | Sort of Cuts Demanded of ‘Phule’ Will Deprive Film of Its Soul: Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd