In Photos: 50 Years On, Legacy of Dalit Panther Continues to Rouse Ambedkarites

Dalit Panther, which rose in revolt against the atrocities against Dalits in Maharashtra, was founded in 1972.

A number of events were organised over the last few months to celebrate 50 years since the founding of Dalit Panther in 1972.

(Photo: Aroop Mishra/The Quint)

Dalit Panther, a militant organisation from Maharashtra, which had its nerve centre in Mumbai, was founded in the weeks (or months) leading to the Independence Day of 1972 (there is a fair bit of controversy regarding its exact date of founding). It was founded by the Ambedkarite, Buddhist youngsters in their 20s, drawing mostly from the Mahar caste, in Maharashtra. The key members of the Dalit Panther were Raja Dhale, Namdeo Dhasal, JV Pawar, Arjun Dangle, Avinash Mahatekar, Bhai Sangare and Umakant Randhir. The main aim of the organisation was to act as a militant pressure group against atrocities against Dalits in various parts of Maharashtra. Since the year 2022 marks 50 years since this rebellious organisation's founding, the current generation of Ambedkarites have been organising a number of events in the last few month across Maharashtra to celebrate this moment.

JV Pawar (seen in the picture) was one of the founders and a key member of Dalit Panther. At the time of organisation's founding, he was already a published author. However, he was not alone in this regard. The majority of the organisation's members were activist intellectuals who, before and after their involvement with the Dalit Panther, left a lasting imprint on the Marathi literature. The birth of the organisation itself can be attributed to the churn introduced by the Dalit writers in the Marathi literature in the 1960s. The members of Dalit Panther had read the stalwarts of Dalit literature like Anna Bhau Sathe and Baburao Bagul and were also actively working with Bagul, Daya Pawar and others in the literary movement. They were also part of the Little Magazine movement, which allowed them to express themselves without any inhibitions.

The name Dalit Panther was clearly inspired from the Black Panther Party in the United States, an African American revolutionary organisation founded in 1966 by Huey P Newton and Bobby Seale. However, it is a matter of debate how much in detail the Dalit Panthers knew about the Black Panther Party's work and its Marxist-Leninist ideology. This becomes important in the light of the fact that the split in the Dalit Panther is attributed to the ideological differences over Marxism and Ambedkarism between its charismatic leaders Raja Dhale and Namdeo Dhasal.

Namdeo Dhasal's first poetry collection, Golpitha, which was published just before the founding of Dalit Panther, had created sensations in the Marathi literary sphere upon its publication. While the book had its detractors when it was published due to its explicit language and use of expletives as well as its bold subject matter, this book is now considered a milestone in the Marathi literature. Dhasal was one of the two key personalities in the Dalit Panther, the other being Raja Dhale. Dhasal had many police cases against him during the active period of the organisation, though he managed to dodge arrest on many occasions. Dhasal, who lived a life of controversy and contradictions, acquired the most fame among the Dalit Panther members and went on to become a poet of international stature.

Raja Dhale (pictured centre, middle row) came into the limelight after his controversial article in the special issue of Marathi magazine Sadhana, in August 1972, on the 25 years of India's independence, which had a few "objectionable" lines in the article about India's national flag. Dalit Panther declared its wholehearted support to Dhale on this issue. After this controversy, Dhale became an integral part of the organisation and soon became its most important member. He often courted controversy for his no-holds-barred criticism of Hindu religion and Hindu gods. He was at the forefront of burning Bhagavad Gita as well. He was severely beaten by the police and incarcerated on 5 January 1974 after a meeting called by the Dalit Panther in the lead-up to an important Lok Sabha by-election in Worli, was violently interrupted by hooligans. When the Dalit Panther took out a march a few days later on 10 January 1974, it similarly faced violent reprisal at the hands of Savarna Hindus, right-wing organisations and the police, and one participant, Bhagavat Jadhav, was killed after someone threw a heavy stone from a building which fell on him.

Dalit Panther's manifesto, which was written and published in 1974, attracted a lot of attention. It also became the immediate reason for the split in the organisation. This pamphlet, which was originally titled 'Dalit Panther's Stance,' was primarily a brainchild of Namdeo Dhasal. Raja Dhale later objected to the content of this booklet for its communist slant. He accused Dhasal of producing a document akin to Communist Manifesto, which completely lacked any trace of Ambedkarism. He also took objection to Dhasal changing the word bhumika (stance) to jahirnama (manifesto) in the subsequent reprints of this pamphlet. While the tussle between Dhale and Dhasal and the resultant split in the organisation is attributed to the ideological differences between the two leaders, Arjun Dangle and others state that the fight regarding the manifesto was only an outwardly expression of the internal strife in the organisation. 

Shrujana Shridhar (in the centre) is currently working on digitising and archiving the writings by and about Dalit Panthers. Her focus is primarily on the writings that appeared in various Marathi a-periodicals as part of the Little Magazine movement. She says that the Dalit Panther gave an assertive, revolutionary identity to the Ambedkarite movement. Even though it was a short-lived movement, the Panthers acted with a sense of urgency and the literature produced by them and other Dalit writers in that era brought cultural renaissance to Maharashtra's public sphere, she further states.

A life-size cutout of Savitribai Phule, Jotirao Phule, EV Ramasamy Periyar, Shahu Maharaj and BR Ambedkar (L-R) at the event marking 50 years of the founding of Dalit Panther in Nanded on 28-29 May 2022.

Azad Samaj Party chief Chandra Shekhar Azad, who is one of the foremost Ambedkarite politicians in the country right now, addressed the gathering at Dalit Panther's golden jubilee celebrations in Nanded on 29 May 2022. 

Vanshree Vankar (right; with Neha Thombre), an Ambedkarite from the current generation, presented a romantic poem with a sharp critique of India's current socio-political environment, at an event in Nagpur on 29 October 2022, organised to mark 50 years of the founding of Dalit Panther. Vankar pointed out the complete erasure of women from the Dalit Panther movement, including in some of the events held to celebrate 50 years of its founding, and stated that she participated in these events to register her voice.

Dalit Panther was a militant organisation of Dalit youth, founded in around June-July 1972 in Mumbai. The organisation was a reaction to the numerous atrocities committed against Dalit men, women and the community as a whole in the country and the inability of the State to give justice in these cases.

Whenever a caste crime took place, the Panthers would visit the victims, console the family, offer them legal counselling and also pressure the police and the government to act against the culprits. They also organised numerous meetings, protests and rallies in Mumbai, especially in localities where there was a concentration of Dalits, to raise awareness and in response to various issues.

Most of the Panthers were in their 20s and were active in Marathi literary circles. Many of them, such as Namdeo Dhasal, have left a lasting imprint on Marathi literature.

Dalit Panther, though short-lived, attracted a lot of attention from political establishment, media and civil society. The two top leaders – Raja Dhale and Dhasal – very soon became well-known names in Maharashtra. However, these two leaders gradually grew apart and developed unbridgeable differences. After the publication of Dalit Panther's manifesto in 1974, the animosity between the two leaders reached its peak and eventually led to the split in the organisation. By 1975, the glory days of the Dalit Panther were behind it.