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The fourth Dalit Literature Competition (DLF) started below an overcast sky, with rain-soaked streets and the revolutionary rhythms of Bheem geet filling the air. Because the solar emerged, so did a crowd of writers, activists, college students, and curious onlookers, all drawn by the promise of an equal house the place marginalised voices might converse on their very own phrases.
Organised between February 28 and March 1 at Aryabhatta Faculty, Delhi College, by the Ambedkarvadi Lekhak Sangh and the Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch, the DLF was greater than only a literary gathering. It was a mandatory intervention—one which broke into the mainstream, challenged dominant narratives, and amplified sidelined voices.
Dalit literature has lengthy existed on the fringes of Indian publishing. Whereas it may need gained some recognition lately, mainstream literary areas nonetheless stay remarkably exclusionary, relegating Dalit voices to footnotes or token illustration. Even when they’re included, Dalit narratives are often framed by a privileged caste gaze, reinforcing stereotypes fairly than dismantling them.
E-book stalls on the DLF.
| Photograph Credit score:
Vitasta Kaul
The publishing business mirrors this exclusion. Whereas main publishing homes like Penguin or HarperCollins sometimes publish works on B.R. Ambedkar or on Dalit rights, impartial publishers wrestle to seek out distribution channels. Competition and ebook truthful organisers usually cost exorbitant quantities—as much as Rs.70,000 for a nine-day house on the World E-book Honest in Delhi—making it almost unimaginable for smaller publishers to take part.
A self-funded lit fest
The DLF is important on this context. In contrast to elite literary festivals backed by company and state sponsorship, the DLF is solely self-funded. Writers, activists, and academicians pool collectively their assets to make sure that the fest stays accessible to all—publishers, artists, performers and readers alike.
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Sanjeev Danda, co-founder of the DLF, advised Frontline that the choice to not go for state or company funding lies on the core of the pageant. “We now have intentionally distanced ourselves from company sponsorships as a result of accepting them would imply adhering to their circumstances. This pageant is sustained by means of private contributions—our personal cash, pooled assets,” he stated. “Distinction this with the Jaipur Literature Competition, which brazenly states that it’s state-sponsored. If the state funds it, it inevitably displays the state’s bureaucratic and political agenda. There is no such thing as a such affect on the DLF—no politics, no exterior management—solely the unfiltered voices of the individuals.”
Prakash and Naveed of Mumbai-based Blue Lotus Books on the DLF.
| Photograph Credit score:
Vedaant Lakhera
Professor Ashok Kumar, who teaches Hindi at Motilal Nehru Faculty, Delhi College, and is a member of the Ambedkarwadi Lekhak Sangh, echoed Danda. “In case you contain corporates, you’re killing the soul of the pageant. We refuse to align with company pursuits. This isn’t a lavish occasion—we barely handle, however we make it work. The scholars of Delhi College of Wonderful Arts dealt with the décor with out asking for cost. It’s contributions like these, acts of solidarity, that hold the pageant alive.”
For impartial sellers like Blue Lotus Books, the pageant was not only a place to promote books, it was about sustaining a motion. “As college students from Tata Institute of Social Sciences [TISS], we began gathering books from numerous sources and self-published writers as a result of many will not be represented within the mainstream,” stated Prakash, co-founder of the Mumbai-based organisation. “We’re not right here for revenue however to amplify the information of the Ambedkarite motion.”
Literature for peace
The pageant featured a number of bookstalls from smaller publishers, specialising in literature by Dalit, Adivasi, and different marginalised authors, together with girls and LGBTQIA+ voices. This 12 months’s theme, “World peace is feasible by means of Dalit literature”, underscored the worldwide relevance of Dalit struggles. The concept true peace can’t exist with out justice was a recurring motif of discussions, poetry readings, and performances.
Prof. Kumar stated, “Dalit just isn’t confined to a single id; it encompasses all those that have been traditionally oppressed.” Dalit literature, too, resists inflexible classifications. It’s a literature of resistance, amplifying voices that mainstream narratives ignore. It doesn’t simply inform tales—it asserts existence, reclaims house, and challenges programs of exclusion.
Prof. Kumar emphasised the significance of Dalit literature in current instances. “For over a decade, India has witnessed deepening divisions, with individuals more and more separated alongside traces of faith, caste, and different identities. These fractures are additional destroying the concord of communities, and peace, be it political or private, stays out of attain. That is the place Dalit literature performs a vital position—it amplifies voices which have lengthy been silenced, bringing the realities of their lives to the forefront.”
A panel dialogue (“Management Workshop for Sewer Staff”) hosted by the Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch on the DLF.
| Photograph Credit score:
Vitasta Kaul
The primary version of the DLF was held in 2019 at Kirori Mal Faculty, Delhi College, adopted by the second in 2020. After a two-year hiatus brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the third version occurred in 2023. Reflecting on the journey, Danda stated: “We started shaping the concept in 2017-18. Our first pageant in 2019 was meant to be small, with solely 50 attendees. We organized meals for about 100 individuals, however almost a thousand confirmed up. It was chaotic—our planning went out of drugs—however we had been overwhelmed with pleasure. Final 12 months, greater than 4,000 individuals attended the two-day pageant.”
This 12 months’s version had panel discussions on key socio-cultural points, together with Dalit girls’s empowerment, Ambedkar and the Structure, the challenges confronted by minority populations, and the struggles of the LGBTQIA+ neighborhood. The panels featured authors, poets, professors, activists, and students of Dalit literature. The DLF additionally had cultural performances, together with theatre, music, and a kavi sammelan (poetry studying).
Additionally Learn | Was Ambedkar actually farsighted in his constitutional imaginative and prescient?
Moon, a third-year sociology pupil from the Miranda Home school, shared the fun ofattending to show her work for the primary time. “That is my first exhibition. My art work is a mirrored image of my tutorial background: I incorporate my sociological understanding into my artwork. I don’t take into account myself an artist; I merely attract my free time.” She added, “Alternatives to showcase crucial artwork, particularly within the context of the Dalit motion, are uncommon. The few areas that show such artwork are elite enclaves. As a girl from Tripura, from a marginalised background, I discover it robust to navigate them.”
A musical efficiency on the DLF.
| Photograph Credit score:
Vedaant Lakhera
A defining function of the 2025 version was a panel devoted to sewerage employees,who’re arguably essentially the most marginalised group amongst Dalit communities. The dialogue on the problem sought to bridge the hole between the individuals who write and the people who find themselves written about. A panellist stated, “Literature is born from a collective. For literature to thrive, even the individual cleansing the roads should contribute.”
The convenor of the pageant, Prof. Balraj Simhar from the Hindi Division at Aryabhatta Faculty, emphasised that Dalit literature is essentially about humanity—justice, equality, and dignity for all. “It’s stated, Sahitya samaj ka darpan hota hai (Literature is the mirror of society). However do girls actually seem in that reflection? Do Dalits? Do individuals from the LGBTQI+ neighborhood? If giant sections of society stay invisible, can we name it a real reflection?”
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