By Mehreen Mander
Renowned researcher, scholar in Dalit studies and human rights activist, Dr. Gail Omvedt passed away on August 24, 2021 aged 81 in her village Kasegaon in Sangli, Maharashtra.
Omvedt was born in Minneapolis, US and came to India in the 1970s to study caste and Mahatma Phule’s Satyashodhak Movement as a part of her doctoral research. She later decided to settle in India and became associated with various social issues. She married Bharat Patankar, son of freedom fighter Indumati Babuji Patankar, and has a daughter Prachi with him.
Omvedt was US-born sociologist, known for her pioneering work in the field of caste studies. She has published twenty-five books which deal with various topics like Dalit politics, women’s issues, political economy among others, and include titles such as Dalits and Democratic revolution, We Will Smash This Prison, Ambedkar: Towards an Enlightened India. As a Phule-Ambedkarite, her contributions to Dalit movement are invaluable. She co-founded the Shramik Mukti Dal along with her husband Bharat Patankar, a Marxist scholar and activist. This organization is concerned with addressing problems of farmers, and the issues relating to displacement caused by development projects, droughts etc.
Many including Maharashtra Chief Minister Udhhav Thackeray, Dalit rights organizations are mourning the irreparable loss caused by her demise.
