V. T. Rajshekar
Quick Facts
Biography
V. T. Rajshekar, in full Vontibettu Thimmappa Rajshekar, (born 1932) is an Indian journalist who is the founder and editor of the Dalit Voice, which has been described in a release by Human Rights Watch as "India’s most widely circulated Dalit journal".
He was formerly a journalist on the Indian Express, where he worked for 25 years. He is the founder of the 'Dalit Voice' organisation a radical wing of the broader movement for Dalit interests.
Positions and Dalit Voice
Started in 1981, Dalit Voice is a periodical launched by Rajshekhar. Under Rajshekhar's leadership the Dalit Voice organisation formulated an Indian variant of afrocentrism similar to that of the Nation of Islam in the USA but it is different from other magazines in many aspects. It is notable for the radical antisemitism it preaches and also its link to Afrocentrist ideologies. The book declares the Indian castes as nations within the nation of India. It argues for the strengthening of each caste.
Controversy and criticism
Dalit Voice has published articles about 'Zionist conspiracies' regarding Hitler and the Third Reich. They have also supported the Iranian government and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's denial of the Holocaust.
Passport confiscation
In 1986 Rajshekar’s passport was confiscated because of "anti-Hinduism writings outside of India". The same year, he was arrested in Bangalore under India’s Terrorism and Anti-Disruptive Activities Act. Rajshekar toldHuman Rights Watch that this arrest was for an editorial he had written in Dalit Voice, that another writer who republished the editorial was also arrested, and that he was eventually released with an apology. Rajshekar has also been arrested under the Sedition Act and under the Indian Penal Code for creating disaffection between communities.
Books and pamphlets
- Dalit Movement in Karnataka
- How Marx Died In Hindu India
- Why Godse Killed Gandhi
- Hindu Serpent And Muslim Mongoose
- Dialogue Of The Bhoodevatas
- Bhoodevtavon Ki Batchit in Urdu
- Mahatma Gandhi and Babasaheb Ambedkar: Clash of Two Values: The Verdict of History. Bangalore: Dalit Sahitya Akademy, 1989
- Dalit: The Black Untouchables of India (foreword by Y.N. Kly). Atlanta; Ottawa: Clarity Press, c1987 (Originally published under title: Apartheid in India. Bangalore: Dalit Action Committee, 1979)
- Apartheid in India: An International Problem, 2nd rev. ed. Publisher: Bangalore: Dalit Sahitya Akademy, 1983
- Ambedkar and His Conversion: a critique. Bangalore: Dalit Action Committee, Karnataka, 1980
- Judicial Terrorism
- India As A Failed State
- Aggression On Indian Culture
- Development Redefined
- Caste – A Nation within the Nation
- India's Intellectual Desert
- The Zionist Arthashastra (Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion)
- Brahminism In India And Zionism In West
- India's Muslim Problem
- India On The Path To Islamisation
- Dalit Voice – A New Experiment in Journalism
- Brahminism
- Weopons To Fight Counter Revolution
- Riddles In Hinduism by Babasaheb Ambedkar
- Know The Hindu Mind
Awards
- In 2005 Rajshekar received the London Institute of South Asia (LISA) Book of the Year Award.