Dalit Literature: A Human Rights Perspective

Abstract

United Nations’ General Assembly in Paris on 10^th December 1948, emphasizedon the point that every individual and every organ of the society, should be constantly mindful of the Human Rights and promote it through education so that each individual experiences freedom. On the other hand, if all the thirty articles of UDHR (Universal Declaration of Human Rights) along with the Preamble were to be boiled down together would mean, that all human beings on this planet are born free and areequal in dignity and rights. Everyone is given a right by birth to life, liberty and security, and on each individual’s part, promoting peace, dignity and equality is their duty.Considering the clarion call of this particular General Assembly, there arose literature in leaps and bounds in various languages of the nations, bringing to the fore the hidden reality of the society and consequently the floodlights fell on those areas that were veiled behind the clouds of caste, class, sex, religion, race and gender.  This was how the Dalit literature too gained popularity through the 1970s with the emergence of the various Dalit LiteraryMovementslike Mukti Movement and later with the formation of Dalit Panthers.

 The Dalit literature is not just an outpouring of emotions, nor is an chronological account of their traumatic life, but to give a better  understanding to the worth of such a literature, we could incorporate the emotions of Thomas Gray from his Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard; during this century when we talk about the Human Rights and  Gender Justice we should not neglect the many gems of perfect beauty and luster that lie buried in the hollows in the bed of the sea nor allow the so many flowers that blossom in the wilderness go unnoticed and fade away without giving their fragrance to be enjoyed and their beauty to be admired. The Dalit literature in every century, age and time has been mindful of promoting and inviting the future generation to uphold the values of dignity and equality and this way to bring about justice in the society. This paper will strive to recognize and showcase the contribution of the writers from the Dalit communityto building up a humane society.

Key words: Dalit literature, Human Rights, Justice, Humane society