Dhrubo works as an edit resource and writes at the intersection of caste, gender, sexuality and politics. Formerly trained in Physics, abandoned a study of the stars for the glitter of journalism. Fish out of digital water.
Articles by Dhrubo Jyoti
BJP balances caste dynamics in MP, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh CM picks
The party picked new faces in all three heartland states where it won earlier this year but was careful to cater to major caste groups by appointing deputy CMs
Updated on Dec 13, 2023 04:15 AM IST
Lotus blooms, Cong wilts
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured significant victories in three major states in India, boosting its chances in the upcoming general elections. The ruling party's success raised concerns for the opposition Congress party, which now faces uncomfortable seat-sharing talks with potential allies. The BJP's strong performance in the Hindi heartland indicates Prime Minister Narendra Modi's continued appeal to voters. The Congress party's poor showing in these states weakens its bargaining power and raises doubts about its prospects in the 2024 campaign.
Updated on Dec 04, 2023 06:50 AM IST
Dhrubo Jyoti
Aspiration vs welfare: How caste politics is playing out in Telangana
OBC classification in Telangana caused a splintering of political power, with backward communities vying against each other for more reservation benefits.
Updated on Nov 30, 2023 04:48 AM IST
Dhrubo Jyoti
Uttarakhand tunnel rescue boosts morale of nation amid global wars, World Cup final loss
After 17 harrowing days inside the tunnel, Tuesday evening finally brought relief as 12 “rat-hole miners” burrowed through a wall of rock, mud and debris with hand-held tools.
Updated on Nov 30, 2023 06:44 AM IST
Dhrubo Jyoti, New Delhi
Caste survey pledge adds a new poll edge in Madhya Pradesh
In some ways, the challenge is similar to the one that Mandal-era parties are facing in the original cauldron of social engineering.
Updated on Dec 01, 2023 03:01 PM IST
RanjanDhrubo Jyoti
How the LGBTQ+ movement grew over the years
The late 1980s-'90s were a tumultuous time for the public expression of gender and sexuality in an India that was entering the fast lane of global capitalism
Updated on Oct 18, 2023 09:40 AM IST
Waves of disappointment as SC denies marriage equality
50-odd-strong club of people pushed the SC to legalise same-sex unions in a country that criminalised homosexuality with life imprisonment before September 2018
Updated on Oct 18, 2023 06:52 AM IST
Dhrubo JyotiDhamini Ratnam
California governor vetoes bill passed by state legislature against caste-based discrimination
California governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have added caste to the state's anti-discrimination legislation, arguing that existing laws already prohibit discrimination based on various dimensions, including caste. Indian-American Hindu groups welcomed the decision, while anti-caste and minority groups criticized Newsom. The bill had passed in the California House in August but faced opposition from some groups within the Indian-American community. The veto comes after Fresno and Seattle explicitly banned caste-based bias, and universities including Brandeis and Harvard included caste in their non-discrimination policies.
Updated on Oct 09, 2023 06:42 AM IST
Dhrubo Jyoti, New Delhi
California nod for bill to ban caste discrimination
The development is the latest in a string of moves that has put in the spotlight the presence of caste among the South Asian population in the US, with a significant group of activists saying that birth-based biases continue to dog the diaspora
Updated on Aug 30, 2023 10:52 AM IST
Dhrubo Jyoti
Inside the survey to enumerate India’s oldest fault line
Once the operative part of the exercise got off the ground, it became clear that enumerating 29 million households was no easy task
Updated on Apr 17, 2024 07:57 PM IST
From HT Archives: A big leap towards an equal society
India's first law against untouchability came into effect on June 1, 1955, with the aim of eradicating the practice.
Updated on Jun 03, 2023 05:23 AM IST
Dhrubo Jyoti, New Delhi
Cong conquers Karnataka with 136 seats
The Indian National Congress won Karnataka's assembly elections with a comfortable majority, winning 136 of the state's 224 assembly seats. The party's vote share is the highest in Karnataka since 1989, securing them their fourth state. This victory is a morale booster for the Congress, as it gains a resource-rich state and the confidence to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party in head-to-head contests. The BJP won 65 seats, and the Janata Dal (Secular) slumped to just 19 seats.
Updated on May 14, 2023 12:14 AM IST
Dhrubo Jyoti, New Delhi
California’s caste bias bill clears Senate panel
A bill seeking to explicitly ban caste-based discrimination in California cleared its first legislative hurdle on Wednesday after the state’s senate judiciary committee unanimously decided to move the draft law to the senate.
Updated on Apr 27, 2023 12:07 AM IST
Dhrubo Jyoti
Five years after Section 377 landmark, queer community hopes for an epoch
HT analysed the pleas before the top court seeking to legalise same-sex unions, to understand a moment that will serve as a touchstone for many lives
Updated on Apr 19, 2023 12:08 PM IST
Dhamini RatnamDhrubo Jyoti, New Delhi
Second phase of caste census starts in Bihar
The first round of the so-called caste census was conducted between January 7 and 21.
Published on Apr 16, 2023 05:00 AM IST
California aims to outlaw caste bias
California might become the first American state to ban caste-based discrimination after a lawmaker introduced a bill on Wednesday that added caste as a protected category to the state’s anti-discrimination laws, the latest in a string of moves that have spotlighted caste in the United States
Updated on Mar 24, 2023 01:45 AM IST
Dhrubo Jyoti, New Delhi
From hope to despair: They won, says Hathras victim’s family after court verdict
At the Dalit household, time has stood still. The family has remained under the watchful eyes of CCTV cameras and 35 paramilitary personnel for 32 months now, only venturing out to the field, for rations and for medicines.
Updated on Mar 08, 2023 04:31 AM IST
BJP wins cement road to 2024
For the BJP, the results bode well for 2024. The party is now the largest in the North-East and will likely snag a large chunk of the region’s 25 Lok Sabha seats come 2024
Updated on Mar 03, 2023 08:09 AM IST
A radical rural job scheme kicks off
Drought and water shortages were a way of life in Bandlapalli
Published on Feb 04, 2023 12:23 AM IST
Dhrubo Jyoti, New Delhi
Dhrubo Jyoti picks his favourite read of 2022
An intimate portrait of the awkwardness of desire and the struggles of marginalisation creates a patchwork of queerness that is both comforting and startingly unfamiliar
Published on Dec 30, 2022 04:32 PM IST
In Jain prison row, a dilemma for the AAP
The decision to continue having Satyender Jain as a minister without a portfolio appears increasingly untenable, especially for the reputation of a party that once crusaded against the VIP culture
Updated on Nov 27, 2022 08:25 PM IST
Decoding EWS quota and its implications
The announcement for the quota was made by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in January 2019, months before the general election.
Updated on Nov 08, 2022 04:31 PM IST
From HT archives: The flag-bearer of Indian socialism who left a mark
Ram Manohar Lohia, the forebearer of backward caste and agrarian assertion that changed politics in the heartland forever, died in the early hours of October 12, 1967 in Delhi’s Willingdon Nursing Home. He was 57.
Updated on Oct 15, 2022 05:55 AM IST
8 yrs of NDA 2: Key schemes and ease of delivery topped NDA governance agenda
Unlike previous administrations, welfare delivery was not subsumed in a particular ministry’s functions, it was put front and centre of the PM Narendra Modi’s agenda.
Updated on May 26, 2022 11:50 AM IST
Two years since Covid lockdown: What migrant crisis taught us
At the time, many worried that migrant workers would carry the virus from cities to the countryside but with the exception of some districts, there was no major connection between the exodus and a spike in infection.
Updated on Mar 24, 2022 11:24 AM IST
Review: Vimukta by Dakxin Bajrange and Henry Schwarz
This first collection of creative texts on communities that were criminalised 150 years ago by the Criminal Tribes Act includes plays, translated excerpts and autobiographical sketches. These pieces offer vignettes of the life of these communities in post-Independence India where the policing and criminal justice systems continue to discriminate against them
Published on Mar 04, 2022 11:24 PM IST
Tamil Nadu amends law to punish cops for harassing LGBTQ people
Tamil Nadu has amended the legislation that governs it’s police force and inserted a clause banning any harassment of LGBTQIA + people.
Updated on Feb 18, 2022 05:36 PM IST
Dhrubo Jyoti, New Delhi
Social Justice Matters | Dalit women reporters and their lessons on merit
Khabar Lahariya's uncompromising quality holds lessons for the arguments around merit, which denies Dalits their rightful place in educational institutions and organisations.
Published on Feb 15, 2022 08:55 PM IST
IIT professor moves NCBC to probe caste complaint
In July last year, Vipin P Veetil accused four professors of IIT Madras of caste bias, alleging that he was not permitted to teach an elective course in his first year of joining
Updated on Feb 05, 2022 07:22 AM IST
No evidence of caste bias against faculty: IIT panel
The three-member panel, which was set up on July 2 after Vipin P Veetil accused four professors of the department of humanities and social sciences of caste-based harassment and bias, also noted that the lack of “desirable processes” may have led to misunderstandings.
Updated on Feb 04, 2022 06:39 AM IST
Dhrubo Jyoti, Hindustan Times, New Delhi