PVLF 2025

Dalit Lit Fest 2025: Voices of Resistance and Solidarity

Dalit Lit Fest 2025 amplifies marginalized voices through literature, discussions, and performances, fostering resistance, solidarity, and a call for justice.
on Mar 07, 2025

The fourth Dalit Literature Festival (DLF) opened to a gray sky, rain-soaked roads, and the revolutionary beats of Bheem Geet in the air. As the sun broke through, so did a sea of writers, activists, students, and curious passersby, all attracted by the promise of a level playing field where marginalised voices could speak for themselves.

Conducted from February 28 to March 1 at Aryabhatta College, Delhi University, by the Ambedkarvadi Lekhak Sangh and the Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch, the DLF was not merely a literary conclave. It was an intervention—one that broke into the mainstream, questioned the hegemony of the narratives, and amplified the muted voices.

Dalit literature has been marginalized on the periphery of Indian publishing for ages. Though it may have attracted some notice over the past decade or so, mainstream literary communities continue to be stunningly exclusive, reducing Dalit writers to footnotes or token gestures. Even when included, Dalit writing is often situated in terms of a dominant caste perspective, reiterating stereotypes and reinforcing their meanings rather than disrupting them.

The publishing industry mirrors this exclusion. While major publishing houses like Penguin or HarperCollins occasionally publish works on B.R. Ambedkar or on Dalit rights, independent publishers struggle to find distribution channels. Festival and book fair organisers often charge exorbitant amounts—up to Rs.70,000 for a nine-day space at the World Book Fair in Delhi—making it nearly impossible for smaller publishers to participate.

A self-funded lit fest

The DLF is noteworthy in this regard. While other elitist literary festivals that have corporate and state patronage, the DLF is self-funded. Writers, activists, and academics contribute their own resources to the extent that the fest is made available to everyone—publishers, artists, performers, and readers alike.

Sanjeev Danda, the co-founder of the DLF, informed Frontline that the choice not to seek state or corporate funding is at the very heart of the festival. We have stayed away consciously from corporate sponsorships because to take them would be to be bound by their terms. This festival survives on individual contributions—our own funds, pooled resources," he stated. "Compare this to the Jaipur Literature Festival, which claims openly to be state-sponsored. If the state is funding it, it is bound to be reflecting the state's bureaucratic and political agenda.". There is no such control over the DLF—no politics, no outside influence—just the uncensored voices of the people."

Hindi professor at Motilal Nehru College, Delhi University, and member of the Ambedkarwadi Lekhak Sangh, Ashok Kumar, seconded Danda. "If you bring in corporates, you're destroying the spirit of the festival. We don't want to get in line with corporate interests.". This is not an expensive affair—we just about scrape it together, but we do it. The students of Delhi School of Fine Arts did the décor for free. It's gestures like these, acts of solidarity, that sustain the festival."

For self-sellers such as Blue Lotus Books, the festival was not only a platform to sell books, but sustaining a movement. "As TISS students, we began collecting books from different sources and self-published authors because many are not heard in the mainstream," said Prakash, co-founder of the Mumbai-based group. "We are not here for money but to propagate the knowledge of the Ambedkarite movement."

Literature for peace

The festival had a number of bookstalls from smaller publishers, dealing in Dalit, Adivasi, and other marginalised writers' literature, including women and LGBTQIA+ writers. The theme of this year's festival, "World peace is possible through Dalit literature", highlighted the universal significance of Dalit struggles. The notion that peace is not possible without justice was a leitmotif of discussions, poetry readings, and performances.

Prof. Kumar told, "Dalit is not limited to a category; it is all about those who have been historically subordinated." Dalit literature also defies strict categorizations. It is a resistant literature, giving voice to those that mainstream discourse silences. It does not merely narrate—it declares presence. It reclaims territory and disturbs systems of exclusion.

Prof. Kumar underlined the significance of Dalit literature in current times. "India has been experiencing deepening cleavages for more than a decade now, with citizens becoming more and more divided on the basis of religion, caste, and other identities. These fissures are further shattering the cohesiveness of society, and peace, political or personal, continues to be a distant dream. This is where Dalit literature comes in—it gives voice to those whose voices have been muted for centuries, foregrounding the reality of their lives."

The inaugural edition of the DLF was hosted in 2019 at Kirori Mal College, Delhi University, and the second edition was hosted in 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a two-year gap before the third edition took place in 2023. Looking back, Danda commented: "We started conceptualising the idea in 2017-18. Our first festival in 2019 was planned to be modest with just 50 participants.". We had food for around 100, but almost a thousand turned up. It was mad—our preparation went out of whack—but we were overwhelmed with happiness. Last year, over 4,000 people came to the two-day festival.

This year's edition saw panel discussions on important socio-cultural themes, such as empowerment of Dalit women, Ambedkar and the Constitution, the plight of minority communities, and the plight of the LGBTQIA+ community. The panels consisted of authors, poets, professors, activists, and scholars of Dalit literature. The DLF also saw cultural performances, such as theatre, music, and a kavi sammelan (poetry reading).

Was Ambedkar really farsighted in his constitutional vision?

Moon, a third-year sociology student from Miranda House college, talked about the excitement of having the opportunity to showcase her paintings for the first time. "This is my first exhibition. My paintings reflect my academic life: I apply my sociological knowledge to my work.". I do not think of myself as an artist; I just draw as a hobby. She continued, "There are few opportunities to expose critical art, particularly in the case of the Dalit movement. The limited space available for such art is in elite enclaves. As a woman from Tripura, belonging to a marginalised section, I find it difficult to access them."

One of the most characteristic elements of the 2025 edition was a session on sewerage workers, perhaps the most marginalized of all Dalit groups. The panel discussion on the topic attempted to narrow the divide between those who write and those who get written about. One of the panellists stated, "Literature is born out of a collective. For literature to flourish, even the one sweeping the roads has to have a contribution."

The convenor of the festival, Prof. Balraj Simhar from the Hindi Department at Aryabhatta College, emphasised that Dalit literature is fundamentally about humanity—justice, equality, and dignity for all. “It is said, Sahitya samaj ka darpan hota hai (Literature is the mirror of society). But do women truly appear in that reflection? Do Dalits? Do people from the LGBTQI+ community? If large sections of society remain invisible, can we call it a true reflection?”

For More Latest News Visit: Frontlist