Chaityabhumi: Documentary Film Screening and Q&A with Director Somnath Waghamare

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Join the South Asia Center for a screening of the documentary film Chaityabhumi (trailer) and a discussion with director Somnath Waghamare.

For the Dalit movement in India, one of the significant and important places is Chaityabhumi in Mumbai. The Dalit movement in Maharashtra has had a continuous and unbroken presence for 100 years now. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s anti-caste and Dalit human rights movement began in this land. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar himself stayed in Mumbai for most of his life, and when he died on December 6, 1956, his last rites were done near the sea at Dadar. His followers later built Chaityabhumi at that spot.

Every year 1 to 6 December, millions of Dalit-Bahujan across the nation visit this place and pay tribute to their revolutionary leader. But the city’s media and elite Mumbaikars only show disdain for this peaceful event. This documentary film will bring to light the history and cultural politics of how people commemorate December 6 at Chaityabhumi and its relevance in contemporary India. The film also explores the tensions of caste and public space in Mumbai, India.

Somnath Waghamare is an independent filmmaker and research scholar at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

Supported in part by grant funding from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Resource Centers Program. The content of this event does not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.