Mumbai: Prominent Marathi poet and and founder of Dalit Panthers Party Namdeo Dhasal breathed his last at the Bombay Hospital early this morning. He was 65.
He was admitted to hospital last night in a critical condition.
Born on February 15, 1949 in a Mahar family near Pune, Dhasal spent his childhood in a red light locality of Mumbai, Golpitha, where his father worked for a butcher.
He founded the Dalit Panthers Party in 1972 which advocated radical political activism. In 1973, his first volume of poetry 'Golpitha' was published followed by 'Moorkh Mhataryane' (Be a Foolish old Man), 'tujhi Iyatta Kanchi? (How Educated are you?), the erotic collection 'Khel' and 'Priya Darshini' on former prime minister Indira Gandhi.
He wrote two novels and also worked as an editor for the weekly Satya.
In 1982, his Panther movement broke up as ideological disputes gained the upper hand.
Later he joined the Indian Republican Party, formed by the merger of several Dalit parties.
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