Resistance in the Public Sphere: Claiming equal spaces within a repressive society

Intersections of caste, religion, and culture greatly influence the Indian public sphere. Throughout history, there has been strong resistance against oppressive systems. Maharashtra, in particular, has a notable history of anti-caste resistance. The ideas of Phule and Ambedkar motivate marginalized communities, especially lower castes, to challenge harmful social norms. During the 1970s, efforts from the Dalit community were key in securing equal rights in the public sphere. This legacy led to the formation of the Dalit Panther movement, which fought against caste-based violence and aimed to raise the voices of those affected by such actions. Within this movement, Dalits pushed for public recognition through the Namantar protests related to Marathwada University. This university was eventually renamed Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University. The protests lasted from 1974 to 1994 and were mainly led by Dalit Panther activists. The history of violence against Dalits, highlighted by the Namantar struggle, shows how upper castes and the state harmed Dalits while disregarding their voices (Soni, 2017; Jadhav Pradnya, 2018; Mahaskar, 2019). The Dalit Panther movement and the Namantar movement emerged as forces for significant social change in Maharashtra. Women played a major role in this resistance. They participated in political action against violence and in the Namantar movement. Their contributions were vital; they were not just supporters, but they found their own voices and fought against the state. Some women were trained through the Dalit Panther movement, while others emerged from the community and the Ambedkarite political vision that inspired them to build resistance been imposed on them since colonial times. Men and women joined together in these movements, but leadership roles were mostly held by men. Despite this, the movements offered women chances to move beyond traditional domestic roles and enter the public sphere as voices of resistance. Leaders and activists from the Dalit Panther movement later guided the Namantar movement. While women’s involvement in both movements has not been fully recorded, they still made their presence and impact known. Through the AWA fellowship, in-depth interviews were conducted with some Dalit Panther women activists involved in the Namantar Movement. These narratives reveal issues of leadership and participation. This paper aims to map their voices and explore how they shaped their agency through resistance within the movement and their kinship settings.