Emergence of Dalit Literature: A Comparative Analysis of Maharashtra and West Bengal

India is one of the most diverse lands with multiple religions, cultures and languages, which simultaneously exist and are in conflict with each other. The country is known for its social distinctiveness, and the caste system is a crucial component of the Hindu social order. Dalits were denied pen because of the caste system, and due to this circumscription towards education, they lack a recorded history. Their history was mainly oral. Dr B. R. Ambedkar placed emphasis on literature as a potent tool to combat the caste system. Dalit literature is that annexe of Indian literature that emerged through suffering and destitution of Dalits, and it served as an expression of the Dalit’s social, cultural, economic, political and religious subjugation. It is a revolution by the Dalits which was used by them as a powerful weapon to share their experience. This article throws ample light on the evolution of Dalit literature in Maharashtra and West Bengal. It comes up with the contribution of different writers and thinkers to the development of modern Dalit literature. It also gives a detailed account of the background of Dalit literature in both West Bengal and Maharashtra; the rise of the Dalit Panthers; various upsurges of the Dalit movements; and the role of Sri Harichand Thakur, Sri Guruchand Thakur and Ambedkar’s ideology in the emergence of the Dalit literature.