The Dalit Panthers

And resources.

6 min readJul 5, 2022

In this resource bank article, I am again working with references aiming to provide a comprehensive starter to learning about the Dalit Panthers.

About Dalit Panthers

Here’s how RAIOT introduces the Dalit Panthers:

The Dalit Panthers was a radical political organization founded by Namdeo Dhasal, Raja Dhale, and Arun Kamble in April 1972 in Bombay. Formed in the state of Maharashtra in the 1970s, they ideologically aligned themselves to the Black Panther movement in the United States.The Dalit Panther emerged to fill the vacuum created in Dalit politics of Maharashtra with the Republican Party of India founded by Ambedkar splitting into many factions. The Dalit Panthers led to a renaissance in Marathi literature and arts. They advocated and practised radical politics outside the framework of both parliamentary and Marxist–Leninist politics, fusing Ambedkar, Phule and Marx.

And,

The Dalit Panthers’ Manifesto defines Dalits as “all those who are exploited politically, economically and in the name of religion.” They classified “American imperialism” in the same category as “Hindu feudalism”; with both being examples of caste hierarchy. The Panthers’ Manifesto claimed that while Hindu feudalism may have spawned caste inequality, its extension by the modern Indian state had created oppression “a hundred times more ruthless.

Read the Dalit Panthers’ Manifesto here.

Here are some important parts of the Manifesto that helps us understand their ideas:

Who is a dalit?
Members of scheduled castes and tribes, Neo-Buddhists, the working people, the landless and poor peasants, women and all those who are being exploited politically, economically and in the name of religion.
Who are our friends?
I) Revolutionary parties set to break down the caste system and class rule. Left parties that are left in a true sense.
2) All other sections of society that are suffering due to the economic and political oppression
Who are our enemies?
I) Power, wealth, price.
2) Landlords, capitalists, money-lenders and their lackeys.
3) Those parties who indulge in religious or casteist politics, and the government which depends on them.

About their Revolutionary Stand:

Truly speaking, the problem of dalits, or scheduled castes and tribes, has become a broad problem, the dalit is no longer merely an untouchable outside the village walls and the scriptures. He is untouchable, and he is a dalit, but he is also a worker, a landless labourer, a proletarian. And unless we strengthen this growing revolutionary unity of the many with all our efforts, our existence has no future. The dalit must accordingly accept the sections of masses, the other revolutionary forces as part of his own movement. Only then will he be able to fight his enemies effectively. If this does not take place, we shall be condemned to a condition worse than slavery. We must develop and help this consciousness ripen every year, every month, day, hour and every moment. Then alone shall we possess the right to be called human beings at all.

Some more exploratory resources on the Dalit Panthers

On Dalit Panthers’ Dissolution

This The Wire Article on the Evolution of the Dalit Panther states:

…cracks soon appeared in the Panther leadership. The main bone of contention was whether to take the communist path or to stay focused on caste (varna) struggle. Pawar recounts with some bitterness Dhasal’s flirtation with the leftists before opportunistically joining the Congress bandwagon, the jostling of Panther leaders for prominence and publicity and the petty jealousies against Pawar’s own stewardship of the group and against his ally Raja Dhale.
Lacking coherent structure and organisation, the Panthers had split into at least three splinter groups by 1977, each campaigning for a different candidate in the general election following Indira Gandhi’s Emergency. To deflate the rebel groups, and to stymie the mushrooming of nefarious activities by persons claiming to be Panthers, Pawar and Dhale formally disbanded the Dalit Panthers in March 1977. In a dismal epitaph to the Panthers’ meteoric life, Pawar remarks: “The dissolution of the organisation put an end to the immoral activities of many.”

On the Failures of the Dalit Panthers, this is what The Ambedkarite Today’s article has to say:

Despite the successes of the Dalit Panther movement, the organisation became unstable with split opinions and lacked organisational resources to bring together more oppressed and caste Hindus. Raja Dhale, the elected President, and Namdeo Dhasal, the elected Defence Minister, failed to provide proper leadership and execute their ideas towards a better future. Their manifesto emphasised the significance of issues pertinent to all Dalits which brought them closer together. However, no serious attempts were made to comprehend and then tackle the problems, especially in the cases of Dalits living in villages (Paswan and Jaideva, 2002).

I would also strongly recommend Malika Amar Shaikh’s Book ‘I Want To Destroy Myself’.

Shaikh is a writer, political activist, and the president of the Dalit Panthers party. She was also the wife of Namdeo Dhasal. Her honest writing provides us with a distinct view of the workings of the Dalit Panthers during its rise, peak, and dissolution. Here are some quotes from the memoir:

I watched the Dalit movement blaze across the sky but I also watched it crash and burn as it sold itself cheap.

There are two ways to hurt someone politically: one is to ignore them totally and the other is to praise them disproportionately.

On the workings of the Dalit Panthers:

It should be clear from this how much suspicion and bitterness the Dalit people felt for the Communists and their ideology. But on the other hand, the young Dalit Panthers, who had no commitment and ideological position, were simply going astray. They knew nothing other than to take out morchas and shout slogans and make speeches. They knew nothing of Ambedkar’s thought nor did they see that an organization needs discipline and an ideological framework. Everything was there on paper. They had no idea that simply abusing those you saw as opponents was not going to frighten them off, nor was it going to make them bow down in defeat. They did not see the need to study the political systems of the world, to do their homework about world politics and to catch the opponents on precise points. Even today, they seek to become leaders instantly. To them, politics was a matter of fun and games, something that should not take time.

On the Relevance of the Dalit Panthers

There is much potential here: the exploration of how and why the manifesto of the Dalit Panthers remains relevant. Here is what Suraj Yengde has to say:

The Dalit Panthers remain incompletely theorised. Dalit Panthers was an ideology and as well as a sight of the Dalit response to injustice. It was a teaser of the Dalit might that exercised their birthright to resist violence. They never were a subdued people. That is why their resistance is extraordinary for they refuse to be dictated by the terms set by the oppressors.
Dalit Panthers is not just a temporal figment that existed in the past. It is louder now. It exists in the people and their actions. Dalit resistance is known by many names and it continues to reverberate through their embrace of love and action. Commemorating the Panthers is to reunite with the universalist position of the Dalit programme. It is an important memory that could guide many through their successes and pitfalls.

Explore more:

Note: If any link/article/journal is inaccessible or behind a pay wall, please contact or comment, I will try to provide an open access link. If there’s anything else that can be added to this introductory explainer resource article, please contact me or comment and I will do so.

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