Dalit literature should highlight grassroot level thinking: Aravind Malagatti

Stressing upon the importance of highlighting grassroot level thinking in Dalit literature, writer Aravind Malagatti said here on Sunday this will give broader interpretation to the term Dalit.

Stressing upon the importance of highlighting grassroot level thinking in Dalit literature, writer Aravind Malagatti said here on Sunday this will give broader interpretation to the term Dalit.

Speaking at the release of book “Avibhagita Dakshina Kannadada Dalita Chintane” (Dalit thinking of undivided Dakshina Kannada) at Sahodaya, Mr. Malagatti said the chariot of Ambedkar’s thinking was not working properly as Ambedkar’s ideology had got mixed with ideologies of Mahatma Gandhi, Rammanohar Lohia and Karl Marx.

“The chariot has one Ambedkar Chakra, while the other three chakras are of Lohia, Marx and Gandhi. As this is not sustainable, it has collapsed,” he said. He gave the instance of poor state of the Bahujan Samaj Party, which, he said, has turned away from Ambedkar’s ideology.

Terming the new book – a compilation of articles related to five-decade long Dalit movement in the region – as a milestone in Dalit literature, Mr. Malagatti said it was indication that Dalits are intellectually strong in the Coastal Karnataka region. The book was relevant not just for the region but also for the State, he said.

B. Shivaram Shetty, former Project Director of Centre of Excellence for Studies in Classical Kannada, Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysuru, also spoke.