Fear and longing: Conversations with Dalits in Maharashtra

In the winter of 1974, it was a volcano. Young men and women spouted forth from their grubby government chawls onto the snaking alleys of central Mumbai – the hope of a future free from the stench of caste bias and economic injustice steeled their hearts.

- Dhrubo Jyoti

Today, a row of shops selling shirts and mobile phones line the street where their dreams were smashed. Sumedh Jadhav struggles to point out the spot where his elder brother Bhagwat was hit by a grinding stone during a march down the Worli suburb on January 9, 1974. In 50 years, large chunks of the suburb have gentrified. Two flyovers flank either side of the road where Bhagwat slumped to his death, and the damp, discoloured chawls only occupy some inner bylanes now. Jadhav’s unsure steps now struggle to even cross familiar roads. “But we can never forget Bhagwat dada. He was the first martyr of the Dalit Panthers,” he said.

Built on the ideals of the Black Panthers, the Dalit Panthers were forged in 1972, as a response to the discontent brewing among the marginalised community at the cusp of the 25th anniversary of Independence. But even as they were gaining ground, the violence of 1974, known as the Worli Riots, sapped them of energy and caused a splintering in ranks. “The riots continued for months. A generation of young Dalit men was thrown in jail. Families alleged police brutality. It broke our momentum. People were also frightened. How long could we fight?” asked JV Pawar, one of the founders of the Dalit Panthers.

Triggered by a Lok Sabha byelection, the Worli riots altered the course of Dalit politics in a state where Dr BR Ambedkar was born and which is often considered the cradle of the movement. It weakened the Panthers, snuffed out the possibility of a political outfit led by Dalits, and strengthened mainstream parties. Over the last 50 years, the script has largely remained the same.