Ebook: Dalit Panthers Manifesto

"Turning their backs to the sun, they journeyed through centuries,
Now, now we must refuse to be pilgrims of darkness."
- Namdeo Dhasal, Golpitha

On 9 July, 1972, a protest demonstration in Bombay's Kamatipura area led to the creation of the Dalit Panthers, a party for revolutionary transformation for an escape from the hierarchical caste-class structure prevalent in Indian society. Militant struggles were waged against caste atrocities and for land and dignity to the landless Dalit-Adivasi tiller. It also provided a creative impetus to the literary and cultural sphere in Maharashtra.

The 'Manifesto of the Dalit Panthers' was a landmark text, redefining the term 'Dalit' to refer to all people who were exploited politically, economically, culturally, in the name of religion, caste and gender. It was a claim to an universal community that included oppressed people across the world.