Music & anti-caste thought in India | Miia Laine, Rasika Ajotikar & Sambhaji Bhagat

In this episode, radio producer and DJ Miia Laine interviews Sambhaji Bhagat and Rasika Ajotikar. Sambhaji Bhagat is a veteran musician and activist from an anti-caste movement in Marathi-speaking western India. Rasika Ajotikar is an ethnomusicologist and singer based in Berlin. She has been studying anti-caste musical spheres in India over the past decade and is currently working at the University of Hildesheim in Germany. This interview was recorded during Sambhaji Bhagat’s visit to Berlin in the summer of 2025. Over the course of his tour across several cities in Europe, he performed music from the anti-caste repertoire and addressed audiences of activists and intellectuals on the political and cultural significance of these traditions. Throughout the show you will hear Sambhaji singing live in the studio as well as recorded songs of his.