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Dipankar Gupta

Dipankar Gupta taught sociology for nearly three decades in Jawaharlal Nehru University before taking voluntary retirement in 2009. He has written and edited 19 books on a variety of subjects ranging from ethnicity to on agrarian politics, caste to modernisation. He enjoys writing for the press for he believes that it sharpens his understanding of issues as he is now compelled to write for the non-specialists.

Articles by Dipankar Gupta

Let’s talk about racism | Colour bias in India is colonial, not traditional

Sociologist Dipankar Gupta traces how colonialism justified its rule by positing darker skin as inferior.

Slavery became associated with race only after colonialism made its historic appearance, writes sociologist Dipankar Gupta.(Illustration: Malay Karmakar)
Updated on May 23, 2017 07:16 AM IST
Hindustan Times | By

Unsuited to the classroom

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Published on Jun 22, 2016 08:43 AM IST

Teachers should become soldiers in black and not guerrillas in jeans

Indian school teachers will never command the respect French teachers get because they are not expected to. In fact, their clothes give the impression that they are forever in and out of pajama parties

New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee meeting teachers attending In-Residence Programme for Award winning school teachers from states/Union Territories, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi, May 23, 2016(PTI)
Updated on Jun 22, 2016 01:00 AM IST

Sanitising Muhammad Ali: A legend undermined

Muhammad Ali was at his peak as a boxer from 1964 through to the seventies, but during all those years he was also at his peak as a preacher of peace and Islam. The latter day Ali did not show this full bodied greatness. This is why it is so easy for all kinds of political reprobates to own him today

Heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali (center left) and Dr Martin Luther King speak to reporters.(AP)
Updated on Jun 08, 2016 12:45 AM IST

No Bhadralocus Standi in West Bengal

What counts is the ability to engine up and deliver at short notice, and this is what Mamata did. By setting right what Saradha had done wrong, she won hands down in Bengal.

TMC supporters smear colour at West Bengal CM and party chief Mamata Banerjee's poster after the party's thumping win in West Bengal elections, in North 24 Parganas, West Bengal.(PTI Photo)
Updated on May 25, 2016 10:11 PM IST

The meek shall inherit the Earth: London’s mayoral elections and India

Politics today is weighted in favour of the underdog, the outsider. This was as true of Narendra Modi in 2014, as it is now of Sadiq Khan

Sadiq Khan attends the signing ceremony for the newly elected mayor of London, in Southwark Cathedral, London, Britain, May 7, 2016(REUTERS)
Updated on May 10, 2016 10:24 PM IST

Not crossing the word limit in speech

If political correctness in speech is still not quite the norm here it is probably because there are too many gross inequalities in India

Referring to rape, Mulayam Singh Yadav (right) had said: ‘Boys make mistakes, but that should not mean you hang them’(PTI)
Published on Apr 26, 2016 08:58 PM IST

Water crisis in Maharashtra: When the ball stopped here

To water your cricket ground or irrigate your cotton field has set off a huge political debate in Maharashtra.

Sachin Tendulkar (Left) with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Kate Middleton at the Oval Maidan in Mumbai, April 10, 2016(AP)
Updated on Apr 12, 2016 10:06 PM IST

Times change for Patels: Why do they want reservation now?

Caste politics helps makes caste politicians, who then cater to their charmed circle. This is why the OBC furore is crony casteism at its best.

Patidar Andolan Samiti convenor Hardik Patel. (ANI Photo)
Updated on Sep 03, 2015 09:48 PM IST
Hindustan Times | By

How to seek publicity (or not!)

Some seek publicity, others are born with it and then there are those who have it thrust upon them. Dipankar Gupta writes.

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Updated on Jun 02, 2012 11:46 PM IST
None | By

Who’s afraid of Mayawati

As the UP chief minister begins her election campaign, a 3-city HT-Cfore survey reveals how and why the urban middle-class recoils at the thought of Maya as PM.See graphic

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Updated on Mar 22, 2009 12:22 AM IST
None | By

Fission in empty waters

The machismo of the scientific-military complex is dearer to the CPI(M) than bringing health and education to the poor, writes Dipankar Gupta.

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Updated on Sep 03, 2007 01:09 AM IST
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The threat from within

At the end of the day what is most depressing is that Sikhs are becoming caste-ridden, and more and more like Hindus, writes Dipankar Gupta.

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Updated on Jul 26, 2007 01:02 AM IST
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When backward is forward

For Psephologists, village India is racked by caste wars and each caste is battling against another in a constant struggle for supremacy and that’s where they go wrong, writes Dipankar Gupta.

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Updated on May 14, 2007 05:20 AM IST
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Looking backward

Caste determinism works against democracy, no matter who the beneficiaries might be, writes Dipankar Gupta.

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Updated on Apr 26, 2007 12:04 AM IST
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In a league of her own

Mayawati believes that caste sentiments are fashioned by class interests, writes Dipankar Gupta.

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Updated on Apr 09, 2007 11:00 PM IST
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Target practice

The Supreme Court has rightly criticised the Centre for indulging in quota politics, writes Dipankar Gupta.

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Updated on Mar 29, 2007 11:56 PM IST
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Things we can easily pick up

In no other Indian Metro are there as many dogs as there are in Delhi, writes Dipankar Gupta.

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Published on Jan 23, 2007 02:20 AM IST
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Time to check the brain drain

We need to keep our house in order and the watering holes in good repair to prevent brain drain, writes Dipankar Gupta.

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Published on Jan 09, 2007 03:10 AM IST
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Spare Gandhi

Lage Raho Munnabhai is a soap opera that spoofed Gandhi to work out rather elite middle class anxieties, writes Dipankar Gupta.

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Published on Oct 31, 2006 02:43 AM IST
None | ByDipankar Gupta | metromind

The spine that holds us up

Unsocial godfathers are held in check by the Mahatma's real presence in the nuts and bolts holding our political structure together, writes Dipankar Gupta.

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Published on Oct 14, 2006 12:11 AM IST
None | ByOPEN SPACE | Dipankar Gupta

Is this the master plan?

As it is in the nature of shopkeeping to buy cheap to sell dear, it gets bad press from everybody else, writes Dipankar Gupta.

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Updated on Sep 27, 2006 05:14 AM IST
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Milking Backwardness?

If the creamy layer has to be kept out, it is important to shred the Mandal report down to its tailpiece, writes Dipankar Gupta.

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Published on Aug 28, 2006 06:43 AM IST
None | ByBy Dipankar Gupta

Reading the Metro life

This may have been true in the Fourth century and later through much of the medieval years.

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Updated on Aug 22, 2006 12:14 PM IST
None | ByDipankar Gupta | metromind

Sweeping statement

When the abbreviation OBC is spelt out, it refers to Other Backward Classes and not Castes. This is the meaning that the Constitution of India gave to the phrase.

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Published on Jun 12, 2006 12:05 AM IST
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