Voices of Pathos and Protest from Dalit Women in Contemporary Indian Society

Majority of the news that are reported on the violation of human rights in contemporary Indian media points towards the insolent and dissolute mind-set of a group of people conquered by caste hierarchy. The victims of this degenerated mentality happen to be the marginalised and oppressed masses in society who have been silent sufferers for centuries. In such a struggle, Dalit women cannot refrain themselves from the revolutionary struggles to attain equality and freedom. Being a social activist, I put forward my thesis in my attempt to join hands with Dalit women in India, who are victims of oppression from within and outside their community. They are prone to physical assaults, verbal assaults, sexual harassment and exploitation, rape, forced prostitution and domestic violence in addition to poverty and hunger. With fiery determination, Dalit women have been fighting with their pen, expressing their brutal experiences and their stiff resistance against the obnoxious caste hierarchy. Poetry being the most striking form of expression brings forth their utmost discontent with the caste system and proclaims their vehement dissent. This thesis is an attempt to analyse the poetry of Dalit women and the propositions of the dialectics of pathos and protest. The study also problematizes Dalit women's poetry, which as a form of activism and resistance can in fact, bring a change in the lives of the ordinary Dalit women in India.