Omprakash Valmiki's Joothan: A Study of Dalit Resistance

The term “Dalit” was first used by Ambedkar in 1928 in his journal of “Bahishkrit Bharat”. It was derived from Sanskrit ‘Dala’ means “crushed” or “broken to pieces”. Dalit literature is a distinctive literary form and it moves from personal struggle to universal appeal. Dalit literature came into existence in the 1960s when a group of Dalit writers took up their pen inspired by the message of Mahatma Jyotirao Phule and Dr.Ambedkar: “Don’t let your pen be restricted to your own questions” (Nimabalkar Waman 32). Dalit writings focus on the the theme of Dalit’s freedom and emancipation. It is an attempt to articulate voices among this marginalized class of people to come in action from their passivity and stillness. The Dalit literature’s journey from the margins to assertion, representation and resistance defines the change in the contours and borders of what Indian literature today is. The contemporary use of “Dalit” is centered on the idea by oppression, but they survive and even thrive by finding meaning in the struggle of their existence. My article proposes to analyse Omprakash Valmiki’s Joothan as resistance literature.