Researcher, author Gail Omvedt passed away

Researcher, author and one of the intellectual voices of the Bahujan movement Gail Omvedt passed away at the age of 81.

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Omvedt was an American-born Indian scholar who authored books on Dalit politics, women’s struggle and anti-caste movement. She also participated in various people’s movements, including the one for the rights of people displaced by the Koyna Dam.

Omvedt co-founded Shramik Mukti Dal with her husband and activist Bharat Patankar.

Gail Omvedt not only contributed as a researcher in social movements, saints’ literature, traditions but also actively participated in movements for rights of women, deprived sections.

Omvedt authored over 25 books, including In Colonial Society – Non-Brahmin Movement in Western India, Seeking Begampura, Buddhism in India, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, Mahatma Phule, Dalit and the Democratic Revolution, Understanding Caste, We Will Smash the Prison and New Social Movement in India.

She was the head of Phule-Ambedkar chair in the Department of Sociology of the University of Pune; Professor at the Institute of Asian Studies, Copenhegan; and the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library in New Delhi.