Aakrosh: Voices of the Silenced: Pankti Desai

During the 1960s and 1970s, little magazines in the West played a crucial role in the countercultural movement, providing a platform for radical political views, artistic experimentation, and alternative lifestyles. These publications became powerful vehicles for challenging mainstream societal norms, offering new ways of thinking that helped reshape the political and cultural landscape. Poets like Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William S. Burroughs used magazines such as City Lights and The Exquisite Corpse to publish their revolutionary works, while politically focused magazines like The Black Panther and The Rebel advocated for racial equality and social revolution. Publications such as Rolling Stone, The Realist, and The Village Voice critiqued mainstream culture and promoted countercultural values. In the West, much scholarly work and research have been conducted on magazines that highlighted their importance, including studies such as Adam McKible and Suzanne W. Churchill’s Little Magazines & Modernism: New Approaches (2016), Peter Brooker and Andrew Thacker’s The Oxford Critical and Cultural History of Modernist Magazines: Volume I: Britain and Ireland 1880-1955 (2013) and Volume II: North America 1894-1960 (2012), Rachel Schreiber’s Gender and Activism in a Little Magazine: The Modern Figures of the Masses (2011), and Len Fulton’s The International Directory of Little Magazines and Small Presses 40e (2004).

However, in the Indian academic landscape, the study of periodicals, especially ‘little magazines’, remains a relatively new and evolving field of research. In the last decade research has been conducted on little magazines in various Indian languages, with efforts to archive some of them. Anjali Nerlekar, in Bombay Modern, (2017) examines Indian English and Marathi Dalit little magazines. Mangesh Narayanrao Kale (Kale 68–85) explores the Marathi little magazine movement, including Dalit magazines. Shrujana N. Shridhar investigates the intersection of the Dalit Panther and little magazine movements in Maharashtra. Rahul Jondhale Hiraman focuses on archiving and researching Marathi Dalit little magazines. Aryanil Mukherjee (Mukherjee 50–67) explores Bengali little magazines along with publications from the Hungry Generation Movement. While Rana Nayar provides historical overview of Punjabi little magazines. Sayantan Modal has also taken up research on Bangla little magazines. Important archival efforts for Tamil little magazines have been carried out by the University of Toronto Library with Darun Subramanian contributing to their study. Karmendu Shishir Shodhagar preserves thousands of nearly extinct issues of Hindi little magazines, while Nikita Jain researches into the ideologies of renowned Hindi little magazines. The North East Little Magazine Study and Research Centre, Assam, serves as an important repository for Assamese, Bengali, and Hindi little magazines.

Chandu Maheria (Maheria 157-198) has provided an overview of Gujarati Dalit periodicals dating back to the 1920s. However, despite this, Gujarati Dalit little magazines remain largely underexplored, with minimal archival and interdisciplinary research. They have been largely overlooked in Gujarati literary and cultural historiography, creating a significant research gap.

This paper is an attempt to address this research gap by adopting an interdisciplinary framework that combines archival research, oral history, and textual analysis to examine Aakrosh (1978–1980), first Gujarati Dalit little magazine dedicated to poetry. Oral history interviews with the editors provide first-hand insights into the motivations behind Aakrosh and its impact on the Dalit literary movement. Through textual analysis, the paper critically examines the magazine’s content, including its visual elements and uncovers its innovations and cultural significance. By documenting its inception, association with the Dalit Panther movement, and the scrutiny it faced from the government, the paper underscores how little magazines like Aakrosh are deeply intertwined with the socio-political and cultural history of Gujarat. Furthermore, it highlights how Aakrosh became a powerful mouthpiece for Dalit voices, challenging the silences, marginalization, and neglect of Dalit narratives in mainstream literary historiography.

A comprehensive analysis of the little magazine Aakrosh necessitates first establishing a precise understanding of what defines a little magazine. However, the problem of defining little magazines remains complex even in the West, with various interpretations in scholarly discourse. The Encyclopedia Britannica describes them as “various small periodicals devoted to serious literary writings, usually avant-garde and non-commercial,” emphasizing their focus on unconventionality and artistic merit (“little magazine”). Eric B. White emphasizes the role of little magazines in “localist modernism”, where they merge regional identity with transatlantic connections. He views these ephemeral, radical platforms as spaces that fostered experimental art, intellectual exchange, and avant-garde innovation. Through visual design, little magazines encoded local specificity while engaging broader networks, driving modernist aesthetics. White describes them as a crucible for the avant-garde, noting “The fugitive status of these journals and their long-standing association with radical politics and counter public spheres helped create the mélange of daring advances and tactical retreats” (White 1). In contrast to this view, Eric Bulson argues for a broader understanding of little magazines, and comments:

No matter what happens, we can’t forget that what made the little magazine unique was the way it functioned as a lifeline when life was short, a conduit for cultural and literary transmission when the power lines were unreliable or not even up, and a channel for communication when it was impossible to know who, if anyone, was on the other end, wherever that might be. What we can’t forget is the fact that the little magazine never belonged to a single individual, movement, nation, culture, or history, and that, more than anything else, is why it remains a world form even if the world it once belonged to is gone. (Bulson 271)

While it is difficult to determine exact number, it can be estimated that around hundred little magazines were published during this time in Gujarat, ranging from highly influential ones like Kshitij (1959-1967), Manisha (1954-1959), Uhapoh (1969-1977), Etad (1977- 1985) edited by Suresh Joshi and others, Re (1961-1962), Kruti (1966-1972), Unmoolan (1967-1968) edited by Labhshankar Thakar and others , to smaller, more obscure publications like Kru edited by Suresh Bariya, Kshanik edited by Hemant Shah, Shabda edited by Ravji Patel, Draooon Draooon (1968-1970), Yamak(1965), Tantrum (1971- 1974), Prustha (1977-1978) edited by Madhu Kothari, Yahom(1968- 1970) edited by Sitanshu Yasashchandra and others, and Dalit magazines like Aakrosh (1978- 1981), Kalo Suraj (1978- 1984 ) by Dalpat Chauhan, Neerav Patel and others. Primarily based in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Mumbai, and Surat, these little magazines had a significant impact on the social, political, literary, and cultural landscape of their time. They stood in stark contrast to the well-established magazines like Kumar (1924-till date) initially edited by Ravishankar Rawal and then followed by Bachubhai Rawat, Sanskriti (1947- 1984) edited by Umashankar Joshi and Kshitij (1959-1967) started by Prabodh Choksi and established by Suresh Joshi.

While the established magazines Kumar and Sanskriti played a key role in reinforcing dominant literary, cultural and political discourses, the little magazines challenged those norms. Kumar emphasized industrial progress, state institutions, and national achievements, closely aligning with the nation-building project and Nehruvian ideals, while Sanskriti, under Umashankar Joshi, upheld Gandhian values and criticized modernist trends in poetry. Both magazines focused heavily on meter and a sanitized, Sanskritized diction, reflecting a conservative approach to literary and cultural expression. In contrast, Kshitij challenged these norms by embracing modernist literature, free verse poems, and critical reflection. However, it soon became an established publication, achieving the status of an ideal literary magazine. Together, these three magazines set the benchmark for Gujarati literary magazines.

The decades from the 1960s through the 1980s represent a period of transformative change in India, marked by political, social, and cultural upheavals that left lasting impacts on the nation’s identity. While India witnessed rapid modernization and economic development, including the launch of space programs, industrial growth, and the rise of cultural movements, it was also a period riddled with significant challenges. These included wars, communal riots, political fragmentation, and socio-economic inequities, which fostered a pervasive sense of disillusionment and discontent with the ideals of independence.

Gujarat’s 1960 statehood was overshadowed by violence and political instability, along with issues like communal tensions and economic disparity. These challenges raised questions about the state’s cultural identity and social hierarchy, further complicated by rising anti-reservation sentiments in the 1980s. Periodicals need to be understood in the context of these historical developments.

Aakrosh, founded in 1978 by Neerav Patel (1950-2019), Dalpat Chauhan (1940- ), Pravin Gadhvi (1951- ), and Yogesh Dave, is recognized as the first Gujarati Dalit literary magazine. Despite publishing only three issues, it made a significant impact by voicing burning social and cultural issues of Dalits which were neglected by main stream Gujarati print sphere. In an oral interview Dalpat Chauhan shares the story behind Aakrosh‘s inception. Inspired by Maharashtra Dalit Panther leaders’ 1978 poetry recitations on Ambedkar Jayanti at Sarangpur Chakla, Ahmedabad, Chauhan, Neerav Patel, and Pravin Gadhvi collaborated to create the magazine. They had to face concerns about job security and government scrutiny, leading to Rameshchandra Parmar, president of the Gujarat Dalit Panther movement, becoming editor-in-chief instead. Aakrosh thus emerged as the poetry platform for the Gujarati Dalit Panther movement.

On April 14, 1978, which is Babasaheb Ambedkar’s birth anniversary, the inaugural edition of the magazine was released. In the editorial, the magazine is introduced as the first initiative towards the “Dalit Identity movement”. The editorial states:

While the creative endeavours of poetry and deep expressions demand devotion and aptitude, waiting any further is not an option. The Dalit community has had to bear an immense amount of suffering, including pain, insult, injustice, violence, mistreatment, hatred, untouchability, frustration, helplessness, exploitation, prejudice, inferiority, and neo Brahminism. Despite these adversities, the community possesses commendable qualities such as innocence, simplicity, generosity, self-respect, sociability, skills, and a distinct identity. After undergoing all these experiences and silently bearing the frustration, it is now being vocalized, resulting in the emergence of the first poems of Gujarati Dalit literature, which are collectively known as Aakrosh. (Image: 1). It further reads, “We feel compelled to express ourselves through poetry, forsaking our traditional tools such as hand weaving looms, broomsticks, saws, knives, and the like. The agitation conveyed in our language is, in essence, synonymous with our anguish and distress. For us Victor Hugo’s one quote is the last resort.” The editorial in its original Gujarati, along with the accompanying Victor Hugo quote, can be read in the image below.