Namdeo Laxman Dhasal | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1949-02-15)15 February 1949 |
| Died | 15 January 2014(2014-01-15) (aged 64) Mumbai, India |
| Occupation | Writer,Poet |
| Language | Marathi |
| Genre | Marathi literature |
| Literary movement | Dalit Panther |
| Notable works | Andhale Shatak Golpitha Moorkh Mhataryane Tujhi Iyatta Kanchi? Priya Darshini |
| Notable awards | Padma Shri Soviet Land Nehru Award Maharashtra State Award Sahitya Akademi Golden Jubilee Award |
| Spouse | Malika Amar Sheikh |
Namdeo Laxman Dhasal (15 February 1949 – 15 January 2014) was aMarathi poet, writer andDalit activist fromMaharashtra, India. He was one of the founders of theDalit Panthers in 1972, a social movement aimed at destroyingcaste hierarchy in Indian society. The movement was active in the 1970s and the 1980s during which time it popularised the usage of the term dalit in India. Dhasal was awarded thePadma Shri in 1999[1] and a Lifetime Achievement Award from theSahitya Akademi in 2004.
Namdeo Dhasal was born in 1949, in the village of Pur inKhed taluka,Poona,India. He and his family moved to Mumbai when he was six. A member of theMahar caste, he grew up in dire poverty.[2] He was aBuddhist.[3]
Following the example of the AmericanBlack Panther movement, he founded theDalit Panther movement with friends in 1972. This social movement worked for the reconstruction of society on the basis of thePhule,Shahu, andAmbedkar movements.[2]
Dhasal wrote columns for the Marathi dailySaamana. Earlier, he worked as an editor for the weeklySatyata.[4] 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?);Khel; andPriya Darshini, about former Indian Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi.
During this time, Dhasal also wrote two novels and published pamphlets such asAndhale Shatak (Century of Blindness) andAmbedkari Chalwal (Ambedkarite Movement), a reflection on the socialist and communist concepts ofB. R. Ambedkar.
Later, he published two more collections of poetry:Mi Marale Suryachya Rathache Sat Ghode (I Killed the Seven Horses of the Sun), andTujhe Boat Dharoon Mi Chalalo Ahe (I'm Walking, Holding Your Finger).
In 1977 Dhasal married noted Marathi writerMalika Amar Sheikh after a brief courtship. However, the marriage was troubled due to Dhasal's alleged domestic violence, alcoholism and problems with debt.[5] In 1981, Dhasal was diagnosed withmyasthenia. Later, he suffered fromcolorectal cancer. He was admitted for treatment in a Mumbai hospital in September 2013. He died in 2014 at age 64.
In 1972 cracks began to appear in the Dalit Panther movement. Ideological disputes began to eclipse the common goal of liberation. Dhasal wanted to engender a mass movement and widen the termDalit to include all oppressed people, but the majority of his comrades insisted on maintaining the exclusivity of their organization.
Dhasal's illness and alcoholism overshadowed the following years, during which he wrote very little. In the 1990s, he became politically active again.
In 2001, he made a presentation at the firstBerlin International Literature Festival.[2]
Dhasal was one of the founding members and part of the 10-member national presidium of theRepublican Party of India, which was formed under leadership ofBabasaheb Ambedkar in 1952 by merger of all leading Dalit parties.[6]
Arundhathi Subramaniam describes his poetry: "Dhasal is a quintessentially Mumbai poet. Raw, raging, associative, almost carnal in its tactility, his poetry emerges from the underbelly of the city — its menacing, unplumbed netherworld. This is the world of pimps and smugglers, of crooks and petty politicians, of opium dens, brothels and beleaguered urban tenements."[7]
Dilip Chitre translated a selection of Dhasal's poems into English under the titleNamdeo Dhasal: Poet of the Underworld, Poems 1972–2006.[8][9]
The following table shows list of awards won by Namdeo Dhasal.
| Year | Award | For |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Maharashtra State Award for literature | Literature |
| 1974 | ||
| 1982 | ||
| 1983 | ||
| 1974 | Soviet Land Nehru Award | Golpitha |
| 1999 | Padma Shri | Literature |
| 2004 | Sahitya Akademi's Golden Life Time Achievement[10][11] |
Dhasal was married toMalika Amar Sheikh, the daughter of poetAmar Sheikh. They had one son, Ashutosh.
Dhasal died of colorectal cancer at Bombay Hospital on 15 January 2014.[12]
