On occasion of the 126^th Birth anniversary of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, students and research fellows from the Centre for Modern Indian Studies at the University of Goettingen organised an anti-caste photo exhibition. This is the third time that such an exhibition has been organised in Goettingen. The exhibits displayed at the exhibition included key events, wide-ranging themes and brief information about important personalities in the history of the anti-caste movement in India. The exhibits displayed included paintings and cartoons made by Malvika Raj, Anil E.V and Unnamati Syama Sundar. In terms of key moments, the exhibits included Mahatma Ayyankali’s bullock cart movement in 1893 that asserted Dalits’ right to own a bullock cart and use the public streets; Kerala Dalit women’s revolt of 1915 against the caste norms prohibiting them from wearing ornaments made of gold and metal; the formation of Dalit Panthers organisation in the 1970s; Dr. Ambedkar led non-violent revolt for accessing water from the public tank and the burning of Manusmriti text in 1927, the historic conversion to Buddhism Ambedkar carried out along with lakhs of his anti-caste followers in 1956, and the submission of the constitution by Ambedkar to the constituent assembly in 1950.

More than 500 students visited the exhibition and several visitors wrote their appreciation in German, English and Russian languages. The event was organised by Dr. Sumeet Mhaskar, Dr. Gajendran Ayyathurai, Nidhish Krishnakutty, Abdul Matin, Rupali Bansode and Chandra Bhanu with an active support from Dr. Karin Klenke and Matthew Fennessy.

Exhibits at the Anti-Caste Photo Exhibition in Germany (Please click on the photos to enlarge) –

A few photos of the visitors at the Anti-Caste Photo Exhibition in Germany –