Columns, Op-Eds, and Decolonial Commentary
My column #TheSidebar and other op-eds apply a decolonial lens to current events, from constitutional debates to the history of caste. These articles are my method of challenging mainstream narratives with legal and archival evidence.
My piece in #TheSidebar titled "2024: Bharat and Decolonisation". I argue that while political battles are immediate, the long-term, all-important canvas is civilisation and culture.
The online link to my Indian Express article on the 2024 election results and their implication for the decolonisation project.
My twelfth piece for #TheSidebar, titled "The perception of justice". I argue that transparency in conduct and process in public engagements is as important as justice itself.
My tenth piece in #TheSidebar, where I argue that the concept of "caste" as we understand it today is a Western construct, shaped by writers with deep-rooted prejudices against Hinduism.
The headline of my ninth piece for The Indian Express. Here, I reveal how Christian missionary work in Bharat gave birth to the modern constructs of 'caste' and the 'Dravidian' identity.
The print version of my article on Dravidianism, titled "A truth forsaken". I demonstrate how the Dravidian disjuncture from Sanatana Dharma is a reiteration of colonial narratives.
My eighth piece in #TheSidebar, discussing the colonial hand in creating "caste" and "tribe" as the dominant categories for cataloguing the people of Bharat.
A piece I wrote in 2020 for Open The Magazine, addressing the flawed Article 14 argument used by opponents of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
My article in Open The Magazine titled "Places of Worship or Prisoners of War?". I make the case for restitutive justice for Dharmic sites, arguing that if history is relevant for social justice, it must be for this too.
About Columns & Published Articles
I do not ghostwrite. Every commissioned Op-Ed or White Paper is personally authored, requiring 1,200 words of legal precision and archival research. If you engage me for a piece, you receive the same academic rigor and unapologetic analysis found in my Supreme Court arguments and #TheSidebar column.
My writing is a fight. Colonialism did not just occupy land; it occupied the mind. My columns, particularly #TheSidebar in The Indian Express, are designed to expose these fractures. I cover the artificial constructs of caste, the anti-Dharmic roots of Dravidianism, and the constitutional inadequacies that still plague our discourse.
When I write, the objective is not academic showboating. It is about restoring the collective memory of Bharat. Whether I am analyzing the Places of Worship Act or the flawed arguments surrounding the Citizenship Amendment Act, I rely on primary sources, archival data, and historical fact-checking.
There are non-negotiables in my work. I do not shy away from the fact that 'secularism' in India requires serious questioning or that history is relevant to the issue of restitutive justice. My commissioned work for high-profile platforms follows this same standard. I offer my services for:
- Opinion Editorials: Deep-dive analysis with signature legal precision.
- Strategic White Papers: Policy frameworks with a decolonial perspective.
- Private Advisory: Confidential sessions to navigate legal and historical narratives.
Dhyaan se suno (Listen carefully): My work is for those who are ready to engage with the uncomfortable truths of our civilizational reality. If you are looking for sugar-coated consensus, look elsewhere. If you seek to understand the systemic forces that have shaped our present and want to reclaim our future, then we have a basis for conversation.
J. Sai Deepak
I am a litigator who treats the written word as a battlefield for civilizational survival. My work is not about academic padding, but about dismantling the colonial narratives that continue to handicap our discourse today.
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