Pinarayi and Stalin: The two lowered caste CMs striving to preserve an anti-caste memoryIn the time of Hindutva, shared anti-caste histories have brought together Chief Ministers Pinarayi and Stalin to commemorate the Channar revolt by Nadar women seeking the right to cover their breasts. The Ezhavas had Buddhist legacies up until the early middle ages when Brahmanism established its militia and sexual colonies among the Shudra women of Kerala. Arattupuzha initiated a series of struggles for breast-cloth and ornament-rights of Avarna women in Karthikappally and Karunagapally taluks. Pinarayi, who hails from the Avarna Thiyya/Ezhava caste, brings to the table the secular and polyphonic legacy of Narayana Guru and his anti-caste teachings. This included a graded system of sexual slavery in which subordinated caste Shudra women were expected to be available to men from the upper castes, especially Brahmins.

Source: The Hindu March 17, 2023 19:23 UTC