A fearless voice of the Dalits

V T Rajshekar, who passed away on November 20, was a fine human being who worked relentlessly and fearlessly against the oppression of the marginalised, particularly the Dalits. Popularly known as VTR, he breathed his last at a private hospital in Mangaluru. He was 92. His absence will be deeply felt.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, condoling his death on X, described him as “a fearless voice against caste discrimination and human rights violations…” 

Journalist, author, thinker, activist, and a champion of Dalit rights, VTR is best known for Dalit Voice, a pioneering journal he founded in 1981. The journal advocated Dalit rights and featured his critical writings on casteism, societal inequalities, and injustices.

“Rajshekar challenged mainstream narratives, advocating for the rights of Dalits and other oppressed groups,” said social activist Ruth Manorama.

“Dalit Voice stood as a beacon of hope and resistance against Brahminical hegemony and systemic discrimination,” she noted in June this year at the launch
of the online archives of Dalit Voice in Bengaluru.

The archive includes over 100 books and monographs on caste, history, religion, and politics, offering access to Dalit Voice’s extensive collection of writings.

A fortnightly with wide circulation, Dalit Voice was a trailblazing and radical Ambedkarite journal that influenced countless activists, intellectuals, and organisations since the 1980s. It played a significant role in strengthening the Dalit movement. The journal boldly championed anti-caste, anti-racist, and anti-Brahminical views while standing firmly for Dalits, other backward castes, minorities, and women. Human Rights Watch described Dalit Voice as “India’s most widely circulated Dalit journal.” Sadly, Dalit Voice ceased publication in 2011 after threats from certain groups silenced its voice.

Vontibettu Thimmappa Rajshekar Shetty was born on July 17, 1932, into a Dravidian Bunt community in Vontibettu, near Udupi, Karnataka.

After completing his education, he began his journalism career at Deccan Herald in the late 1950s. He later joined The Indian Express, where he worked for over two decades before launching Dalit Voice.

“There was a man who, when he filed his reports for The Indian Express this past century, ran his pen like a sharpened sword,” said Suraj Yengde, an Oxford and Harvard scholar and author of Caste Matters.

“Those who know or are acquainted with the man are well aware that he is unvarnished. His words are not to be taken lightly and more for the brilliance and polished elegance they proffer,” Yengde wrote in an article on VTR.

As a journalist, VTR fearlessly spoke truth to power, earning the ire of the powers and resulting in several legal battles. At one point, his passport was impounded, though it was later returned. He also courted arrests, yet these challenges did not deter him. 

VTR authored several books and monographs on subjects including history, politics, economics, religion, and caste. His notable works include Dalit: The Black Untouchables of India, Brahminism: Weapons to Fight Counter Revolution, Mahatma Gandhi and Babasaheb Ambedkar: Clash of Two Values: The Verdict of History, and How Marx Failed in Hindu India.  

Among these, Dalit: The Black Untouchables of India resonated deeply and communicated with the liberation struggles outside India. Yengde noted that the book inspired African-American activists to connect with the Dalit cause.

VTR borrowed from the radical movement of Africans and African Americans and the anti-capitalist, anti-imperial struggles of the world. His invocation of “caste as a nation within the nation” was a reference to the radical Black Americans who saw African Americans as a colony within the United States. For VTR, caste operated as a nation itself rather than the subsidiary of the nation-State. He described caste as “apartheid in India.”

Simplicity and commitment to the cause were the hallmarks of VTR’s life. He left a secure job with a newspaper to dedicate himself fully to Dalit Voice and the cause of the oppressed.

His values and activism also influenced his only son, Salil Shetty, who served as Secretary-General of Amnesty International and continues to work for human rights.

His rich legacy will continue to inspire others to fight for the rights of the marginalised and speak truth to power in these challenging times.

(The writer is a Bengaluru- based independent journalist)