Dalitstan.org
Type of site
Dalit advocacy
Available inEnglish, Hindi
URLdalitstan.org
CommercialNo
Launched1999
Current statusOffline

Dalitstan.org was a Dalit advocacy website active until mid-2006,[1] one of 18 websites that were blocked by the Indian government following the 11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings.[2]

The website claimed to be run by Dalitstan, a "Human Rights Organization working for the Upliftment of Dalits, the Untouchables of India".[3] Note that -stan is a suffix for "place of"[4] or "country",[5] appearing in many place names throughout Central and South Asia. Dalitstan would mean "place or country of the Dalits".

Claims and counter-claims

The website claimed that the Dalits were the original people of India who created the Harappan civilization, and described the Brahmins as the descendants of the Aryan invaders who enslaved them.[6]

Dibyesh Anand of the University of Westminster described Dalitstan.org as a Dalit nationalist group that also acted as a forum for anti-India Christian and Muslim advocacy.[7]

Blocked by the Indian government

Dalitistan.org was among the 18 websites that were blocked in India by the Ministry of Telecommunications of the Government in July 2006, in a bid to check terror and hate messages on the Internet following the 11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings.[2]

History of domain

The website was launched in 1999, with the domain registered by Helen Heklund, with an address in Granbury, Texas. The website was taken down sometime after May 2006.[8] The domain registration lapsed, and was subsequently purchased by an unrelated party.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Dibyesh Anand (15 October 2011). Hindu Nationalism in India and the Politics of Fear. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 34–. ISBN 978-0-230-36263-5.
  2. 1 2 "Govt blocks 18 sites to check hate messages". The Times of India. 2006-07-19. Archived from the original on 2013-05-27.
  3. ↑ Anjana Narayan; Bandana Purkayastha (2009). Living Our Religions: Hindu and Muslim South Asian American Women Narrate Their Experiences. Kumarian Press. pp. 270–. ISBN 978-1-56549-270-7.
  4. ↑ Johnson, Bridget. "'Stan Countries – What the Suffix 'Stan' Means". About.com. Archived from the original on 2013-04-01. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
  5. ↑ Harper, Douglas. "-stan". Online Etymology Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2014-01-01. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  6. ↑ Judith E. Walsh (1 January 2006). A Brief History of India. Infobase Publishing. pp. 15–. ISBN 978-1-4381-0825-4.
  7. ↑ Anand, Dibyesh (2011). Hindu Nationalism in India and the Politics of Fear. Palgrave-Macmillan. pp. 56–59. ISBN 978-0230603851.
  8. ↑ "Archived Results from Jan 01, 1996 - latest for dalitstan.org". Internet Archive Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on 2006-05-10.
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