Ambedkarite movement and dalit literature

Literature is a mirror image of society. It is also a weapon to perpetuate an ideology. Generally the ideology propagated through literature is the ideology of those who holds sway of power. The literatures that propagate the ideology of the dominant never portray the lives of those who are far away from power. These marginalized people if portrayed in the literature of the dominant one they are portrayed in a very negative light. The origin of Dalit Literature is to be found in the little magazine movement started at Milind Mahavidyalaya. In 1960s there was an outburst of pent up emotions of erstwhile untouchables who were educated from the institutions like Siddharth Mahavidyalya, Mumbai and Millind Mahavidyalya Mumbai founded by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. With the formation of Dalit Panther, youth organization of Dalit youths by Namdeo Dhasal and Raja Dhale in 1972 the word Dalit gets a separate and dignified identity.

Though Dalit Literature was popularized after the formation of Dalit Panther it derived it's inspiration from the teachings of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and the movement he carried out for the uplift of the common man. The present paper is written with an objective to show that Dalit Literature and Ambedkarite Movement has inseparable relations.