Author(s): Dr. Purnima Bhardwaj, Rajandip Kaur, Dilkesh Kumar

Abstract: For centuries, Dalits have been carried an agony inside them, a pain born not out of fate, but out of a man-made system that chose to deny them their humanity. Their lives were not just limited; they were controlled—where they could walk, what they could touch, how they could live. They were made to feel that their very existence was impure. A child born into a Dalit family did not just inherit a name, but a lifetime of rejection, humiliation, and silent suffering. They were stopped at the doors of temples, turned away from schools, and forced into work that stripped them of dignity. Even their basic needs—water, food, respect—were often given with conditions or not given at all. The pain was not always loud; it lived in everyday moments—in the lowered eyes, the unheard voices, the spaces they were never allowed to enter. It was the agony of knowing that no matter how hard they tried, society had already decided their worth. And yet, what makes this journey even more poignant is that they continued to live, to endure, and to hope. Beneath years of injustice lies a quiet but unbreakable strength—a longing not just to survive, but to live with dignity, equality, and respect. Their journey reflects not only suffering, but also a deeply human desire to be seen, accepted, valued and treated as a human like anyone else. Dalit Literature has emerged as a significant body of Indian writing that explores the lives, struggles, and oppression of the Dalit community which they have been experienced for centuries. It goes beyond personal stories to portray the collective hurt and strength of the oppressed people under constant discrimination based on caste. The transition “from silence to assertion” reflects the historical journey of marginalized communities within dominant literary and cultural traditions. Rising as a literary expression of discrimination on the basis of caste, Dalit literature poignantly describes the suffering, poverty, and humiliation faced by the Dalits along with fighting for social justice and equality. It takes the forms of the poems, autobiographies, novels, and essays, broaching themes of freedom, revolt, and defiance of caste orders. It had its roots initially in Marathi but soon developed in other Indian languages such as Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, and Bengali. The authors like B. R. Ambedkar, Omprakash Valmiki, Bama, and Sharan Kumar Limbale, critically examined the narrative strategies that help to convert pain to political assertion and collective consciousness. This paper is an analysis of the agony of Dalits and the manner in which Dalit literature can be seen to express both the reality of caste discrimination and at the same time are coming out as a strong voice of opposition, identity, and social change.

Keywords: Dalit, caste, injustice, agony, societal injury, trauma.

Article Info: Received: 17 Jul 2026; Received in revised form: 12 Aug 2026; Accepted: 16 Aug 2026; Available online: 20 Aug 2026

DOI: 10.22161/ijels.114.53