Dalit writer Omprakash Valmiki no more

NEW DELHI: These are gloomy days for Indian literature. After the demise of renowned Hindi litterateur Rajendra Yadav and the distinguished Rajasthani writer Vijaydan Detha in recent weeks, it suffered another grievous blow as celebrated Dalit writer Omprakash Valmiki, whose memoir Joothan is regarded as a milestone in Hindi literature, succumbed to liver cancer in Dehradun on Sunday. He was 63.

"Valmiki put Dalit writing on the Hindi literary map. He was among the first Dalit writers in Hindi to gain wide recognition," says Hindi writer Mridula Garg.

Yadav was among the first to spot Valmiki's talent and gave him an opportunity to write for Hans, the literary magazine he edited, in 1992. "After him, other Dalit writers also started getting space in magazines. Valmiki was a trailblazer," says Dalit writer Sheoraj Singh Bechain.

Valmiki was born in western Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district and had a deprived and rough childhood. Joothan, where he spoke in detail about the caste discrimination, persecution and humiliation he faced growing up, was published in 1997. "In his book, Valmiki acknowledged the positive role played by Yadav in shaping his career, including the fact that the title Joothan was suggested by him," says Bechain.

Joothan has been translated in several languages in India and abroad. Valmiki's writing is also taught in schools and colleges. "Joothan is a powerful work of literature which makes you empathise with the narrator. Even those from a different social background can easily identify with the main character," says Garg. "That he could not write about his life after Joothan, the second part of his memoir, is a great loss to Dalit literature," says Bechain.

Like Joothan, several other works by Valmiki were autobiographical. But he also wrote about the divide between the younger and the older generation of Dalits, says Garg.

Valmiki's other works also include three collections of poetry: Sadiyon ka santap (The centuries-old anguish, 1989), Bas! bahut ho chuka (Stop it! That's enough, 1997) and Ab aur nahin (Not any more,2009).

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