Should Dalit literature be written by Dalits only?
Need not be. Dalit consciousness can be illustrated by people from other castes. There is no hard and fast rule. Is there one? Anyone can write about anything. But the difference will always remain. Take the example of untouchability – only an untouchable would know the pain of being one. Other people can empathise/sympathise. But the agony is always personal and it cannot be the same as something that is reflected or reported about. I dont think anyone other than a Dalit can expose all the brahmanical lies and insult heaped upon Dalits. Others too can also write about Dalits. What is the harm? But it should always be done remembering the respectability that has been denied to us and we so rightly deserve. Their writing should be rich with the understanding of Dalits. Otherwise let the Dalits write about themselves. There are some writers who think that only the upper castes can help Dalit come up and not the Dalits and their leaders or writers. Why do they have to denigrate us if they
