History headline: The rise and dissolution of Panthers

Subject: History

Section: Post independent

The Dalit Panthers
- Dalit Panthers are an Ambedkarite social organisation that seeks to combat caste discrimination.
- The organisation was founded by NamdeoDhasal, Arjun Dangle, Raja Dhale and J. V. Pawar on 29 May 1972 in the Indian state of Maharashtra.
- The movement’s heyday lasted from the 1970s through the 1980s, and it was later joined by many Dalit-Buddhist activist
- They immediately called for a boycott of the 25th Independence Day revelry, calling it a ‘Black Independence Day’.
Little Magazine movement
- Dalit literature began to blossom, speaking a new, angry language.
- Dr M N Wankhede published Asmita from Aurangabad, Baburao Bagul started Amhi (We) in Mumb
The Dalit Panthers were inspired by the Black Panther Party, a socialist and communist political party that sought to combat racial and economic discrimination against African-Americans, during the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, which occurred in the mid-20th century.
The controversy over Raja Dhale’s article titled “Kala Swatantrya Din” (Black Independence Day), published in Sadhana, the Dalit Panthers’ official publication, on 15 August 1972, created a great sensation and built recognition for the Dalit Panthers through Maharashtr
The Dalit Panthers emerged to fill the vacuum created in Dalit politics resulting from B. R. Ambedkar’s Republican Party of India splitting into factions.