Dalit Panthers - An Authoritative History

Bhagwat Jadhav
Ramesh Deorukhkar
Vasant Dhamankar
Contents
Preface
The background
Formation of the Dalit Panther
First rally: 9 July 1972
Explosive words in Saadhanaa
First demonstration and arrest
A Dalit farmer sacrificed
Durgabai Bhagwat’s bizarre view
The conquest of Pune
First mass arrests and imprisonment
Planning the burning of the holy book
Action committee to redress atrocities
Participation of non-Buddhist youths
Raja Dhale’s arrest and release
First public rally at Chaityabhoomi
RPI-Khobragade’s programme
Increasing support for Dalit Panthers
Saluting the Victory Pillar
A riot at Igatpuri
After Igatpuri riot
Three cases from Mumbai
First burning of the Gita
Our first poll boycott: March 1973
First protest march
Shankaracharya as ‘Shoshakacharya’
The ‘Manifesto’
Justice for the rural folk
Fighting injustice done to the upper-caste
The buffalo of Dnyaneshwar and the government
Communal riots in Worli, Naigaon
Yet another show of Republican unity
A host of Republicans take to the streets
Agitation against unemployment
Vasantdada’s bamboos can’t keep out Panthers
How the cracks began to appear
Vasant More-Dhamankar’s booklet
Dhamankar’s untimely death
First convention: 23-24 October 1974, Nagpur
A commission probes Worli-Naigaon riots
Dhasal’s citadel collapses
The Republican nest in 1974
One Mahaparinirvan Diwas, two Dalit Panther observances
Inhuman blinding of the Gavai brothers
Black Republic Day and torch march
A Republican on Panthers’ stage
Yet another bonfire – of Gandhiji’s book
Dalit Panthers outside Maharashtra
Hoisting flag in the national capital
The Dalit Panther in London
Retrieving Babasaheb’s writings from oblivion
The Dalit Panther disbanded
Afterword