Epistle

The Price of Three Rupees: State Violence, Impunity, and the Manjolai Labourers Massacre

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In 1999, seventeen Dalit tea estate workers drowned in the Thamirabarani River while fleeing a brutal police assault in Tirunelveli. Decades later, the official response remains a study in institutional impunity.

The Fire at Kadavendi: Doddi Komarayya and the Spark of Telangana

Sat, 04 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

On July 4, 1946, the death of a young peasant leader in Kadavendi ignited a five-year armed struggle against the feudal autocracy of Hyderabad State, redistributing a million acres to the landless.

Vachathi: State Violence, Collective Guilt, and the Thirty-Year Road to Conviction

Sat, 20 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Three decades after a joint force of forest, police, and revenue officials raided a tribal hamlet in Dharmapuri, the Madras High Court’s affirmation of their convictions exposes the mechanics of state impunity.

The Battle for the Grasslands: How the Warlis Broke the Feudal Hold

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Eighty years ago, Adivasis in the Western Ghats rose against a brutal regime of debt bondage and landlords, reshaping the region’s agrarian history.

About

Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Epistle is a serious, independent news and analysis outlet based in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. We write about Indian politics, democratic institutions, media, economics, and civic life from a Southern, non-Delhi vantage point.

Our reporting is not neutral for the sake of an empty pose: we hold a clear point of view grounded in evidence. But we are strictly non-partisan and independent. We criticize the Left and credit the Right when the facts demand it, placing rigorous argument and primary source research before conclusions.

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Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

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Grievance Officer

Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In accordance with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, Epistle designates the following individual as its Grievance Officer for digital content published on this platform.

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Name: Jay S.
Designation: Editor & Founder, Epistle
Email: spam@deadrat.in
Address: Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India

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Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

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Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

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Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

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Half a Measure of Rice: The Keezhvenmani Massacre and the Legal Shield of Feudal Class

Thu, 25 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In 1968, forty-four Dalit agricultural labourers were locked in a hut and burned alive in Kizhavenmani for demanding a wage increase. The subsequent High Court acquittal of the landlords established a pattern of institutional impunity.

The Areca Spears of Vayalar: How Travancore's Underclass Faced the Diwan's Bren Guns

Mon, 27 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In October 1946, the coir workers and landless peasants of coastal Travancore rose against the autocratic Diwan’s plan for an independent monarchy, facing a military blockade with staves carved from areca palms.

The Shares of the Harvest: How Bengal's Sharecroppers Reclaimed Their Grain

Mon, 15 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In the winter of 1946, millions of Bengal’s sharecroppers refused to deliver half their crops to landlords, launching an agrarian uprising that crossed communal divides on the eve of Partition.