Namdev Dhasal
| Namdeo Laxman Dhasal | |
|---|---|
| Born |
15 February 1949 Pune, India |
| Died | 15 January 2014 (aged 64) Mumbai, India |
| Occupation | Writer, Poet |
| Language | Marathi |
| Nationality | India |
| Genre | Marathi literature |
| Literary movement | Dalit Panther |
| Notable works |
Andhale Shatak Golpitha Moorkh Mhataryane Tujhi Iyatta Kanchi? Priya Darshini |
| Notable awards | Padma Shri award Soviet Land Nehru Award Maharashtra State Award Golden Life Time Achievement |
| Spouse | Malika Amar Sheikh |
Namdeo Laxman Dhasal (15 February 1949 – 15 January 2014) was a Marathi poet, writer and Dalit activist from Maharashtra, India. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1999 and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Sahitya Akademi in 2004. In 2001, he made a presentation at the first Berlin International Literature Festival.
Namdeo Dhasal was born in 1949, in a small village Pur in Khed taluk near Pune, India. He and his family moved to Mumbai when he was six. A member of the Mahar caste, he grew up in dire poverty.
Following the example of the American Black Panther movement, he founded the Dalit Panther with friends in 1972. This militant organization supported its radical political activism with provocative pamphlets.
In 1972, he published his first volume of poetry, Golpitha. More poetry collections followed: Moorkh Mhataryane (By a Foolish Old Man) --inspired by Maoist thoughts--; Tujhi Iyatta Kanchi? (How Educated Are You?); erotic Khel; and Priya Darshini (about the former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi).
Dhasal wrote two novels, and also published pamphlets such as Andhale Shatak (Century of Blindness) and Ambedkari Chalwal (Ambedkarite Movement), which was a reflection on the socialist and communist concepts of B. R. Ambedkar.
Later, he published two more collections of his poetry: Mi Marale Suryachya Rathache Sat Ghode (I Killed the Seven Horses of the Sun), and Tujhe Boat Dharoon Mi Chalalo Ahe (I'm Walking, Holding Your Finger).
Dhasal wrote columns for the Marathi daily Saamana. Earlier, he worked as an editor for the weekly Satyata.
Dhasal was diagnosed with colon cancer and admitted for treatment in a Mumbai hospital in September 2013.
In 1982, cracks began to appear in the Panther movement. Ideological disputes gained the upper hand and eclipsed the common goal. Dhasal wanted to engender a mass movement and widen the term Dalit to include all oppressed people, but the majority of his comrades insisted on maintaining the exclusivity of their organization.
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