Kancha Ilaiah

Indian scholar, activist and writer (born 1952)

Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd (born 5 October 1952) is an Indian political theorist, writer and a Dalit rights activist. He writes in both English and Telugu languages. His main domain of study and activism is the annihilation of caste.

Kancha Ilaiah was born in the village of Papaiahpet of Chennaraopet mandal, Warangal district in present day Telangana. He belongs to the Kuruma golla (Yadav) caste, Ilaiah's father Kancha Komuraiah was always away from home while grazing sheep. The dominant figure in the family was his mother. Ilaiah credited his mother, Kancha Kattamma, as pivotal in shaping his political thought. Ilaaih suffixed 'Shepherd' to his name symbolically, as he comes from a shepherding family.

Ilaiah received an M. A. degree in political science and an M. Phil., awarded for his study of land reform in undivided Andhra Pradesh. He later elaborated several of its key themes in his best known book. Why I Am Not a Hindu: A Sudra critique of Hindutva philosophy, culture and political economy (1996). A chapter of the book, Hindu Death and Our Death has been reprinted in the book The Hunger of the Republic: Our Present in Retrospect, part of the India Since the 90s series published by Tulika Books. Ilaiah has encouraged proficiency in the English language for Dalits, arguing that it would allow Dalits in India to intellectually engage the world outside India without non Dalits speaking "for them". In May 2016, in protest against "Brahmanic hegemony" he says continues to persist in India, Ilaiah appended "Shepherd" to his name. Ilaiah identified in this choice recognition and reaffirmation of his family origins. As an English language proper noun rather than its equivalent in an Indian language, "Shepherd" is meant to demonstrate a symbolic break with the cultural norms Ilaiah believed Brahmins sought to "impose" on Indian society. Ilaiah characterises his name change as a tool to break these norms and to value the work of what he terms "productive classes:" including Scheduled Castes and OBCs. Kancha Ilaiah is an Ambedkarite. As an anti caste activist, Ilaiah identifies himself as a Sudra intellectual. In November 2015, Ilaiah stated that if Vallabhbhai Patel, the first Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of India credited with accession of a princely states into India amidst the intense violence and bloodletting that followed the creation of Pakistan, had been Prime Minister of India, India "would have become Pakistan".

While working as an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at Osmania University, several of Ilaiah's colleagues as well as academics affiliated with the university expressed, in an open letter, their concern with respect to certain articles and opinions that Ilaiah had contributed to a local newspaper and advised him against writing material that could inflame sectarian discontent or prejudice. On 18 September 2017, T. G. Venkatesh, a member of Indian Parliament representing the Telugu Desam Party and a prominent leader of the Arya Vysya said at a press conference that Ilaiah was a traitor and should be hanged because his writings were "intended to divide society." Ilaiah alleged that the members of Arya Vysya community had tried to kill him and lodged a police complaint when Arya Vysya community members attacked his car in 2017. In September 2017, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu banned Ilaiah's book on Vyshas for hurting the sentiments of the community after Vysyas community members protested and demanded a ban on the book.