Dalit Panthers

This article is about the social movement in Indian state of Maharashtra. For the social movement in Indian state of Tamil Nadu, see Dalit Panthers Iyyakkam.

Dalit Panthers
Founder
Founded9 July 1972[a]
IdeologyDalit socialism
Anti-casteism
Buddhism
Marxism

The Dalit Panthers is a social organisation that seeks to combat caste discrimination. It was led by a group of Mahar writers and poets, including Raja Dhale, Namdeo Dhasal, and J. V. Pawar in some time between the second and the third semester of 1972.[a] It was founded as a response to the growing discontent among the Dalit youth during the 25th Independence Day celebrations. Inspired by the Black Panther movement in the United States, poet-writers J V Pawar and Namdeo Dhasal founded the Dalit Panthers, urging a boycott of the Independence Day revelry, terming it a 'Black Independence Day'. The movement's heyday lasted from the 1970s through the 1980s, and it was later joined by many Dalit-Buddhist activists.

  1. ^ Rajawat 2004, p. 325.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference md was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Michael 2007, p. 173.


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