ABSTRACT
The elitist approach of Indian feminism and the restrictive nature of Indian Dalit movement did a great injustice to Dalit women who were denied due space in both liberation movements. The former ignored their “caste” while the latter neglected the “gender” angle. To counter this continued marginalization, Dalit feminist movement accompanied by Dalit women’s writings emerged, and has since developed a discourse of dissent against Brahmanical Patriarchy and Brahmanical Feminism. However, due to the lack of literacy and education among Dalit women, it was not until the 1970s that they began to register their presence in the Indian literary scene. This chapter will read two pioneering works by Dalit women, namely Baby Kamble’s Jina Amucha (The Prisons We Broke) and Bama’s Karukku and Sangati to discuss the pivotal role of both authors in paving the way for Dalit feminist movement, which aimed to fight against the double oppression of Dalit women in the name of caste and gender and advocate democratic values for all. The paper will be divided into two sections: the first will chart the history of Dalit feminist movement and the second will analyze how these two writers championed the movement through their writings.
