Scholar, Ambedkarite movement activist Gail Omvedt dies at 81
PUNE: Gail Omvedt, a scholar renowned for her writings on Dalit history and politics, the Ambedkarite movement, and social movements that challenged the caste hegemony prevalent in academic discourse, died on Wednesday at age 81. She is survived by her husband Bharat Patankar, daughter Prachi, granddaughter Nia, and son-in-law Tejaswi.
Born in Minneapolis, United States, Omvedt came to India in 1971 for doctoral research on social movements and the work of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule. She began to live in Maharashtra and became an Indian citizen in 1983.
Patankar, a well-known Left activist, and Omvedt, set up the sociopolitical organisation Shramik Mukti Dal in 1980 to address the issues of farmers and others toiling on land in Maharashtra. Over the years, the organisation took up concerns of those
affected by dams, drought and project evictions, besides fighting caste-based oppressions.
Omvedt’s scholarly writings were deeply connected with her activism on ground, and through both she influenced generations of students and young people. She was the head of the department of sociology and the Phule-ambedkar chair in Sociology at Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU).
Omvedt was also a prolific writer, having published 22 books including Mahatma Phule, Dalit and the Democratic Revolution, Understanding Caste, and a biography of Dr BR Ambedkar. She also wrote articles for newspapers and worked on projects with the UN Development Programme.
“As a researcher and a scholar, Dr Omvedt contributed significantly to the social movements, folk traditions, literature in India as well as for the rights of women and the underprivileged...,” Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said.
“She was always juggling with new ideas, concepts and analysis,” said Dr Shruti Tambe, Head of Department of Sociology at SPPU.
“She wrote on the history of intellectual history of western Maharashtra when she spoke about the colonial resistance movement and brought out the contributions by Mahatma Phule, Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj and Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar in making western India different from other parts of India...,” Tambe said.
Omvedt will be laid to rest on Thursday morning at the Krantiveer Bapuji Patankar Sanstha campus in Sangli.