Struggle · 11 Nov 1979 to 6 Dec 1979

Namantar Long March from Nagpur

Nagpur to Aurangabad, Maharashtra

Sources differ on some details.

They marched to put Ambedkar's name on a university.

The demand to rename Marathwada University after Dr B. R. Ambedkar was met, from July 1978, with attacks on Dalits, and the government withdrew its renaming resolution. In November 1979 Jogendra Kawade, a professor in Nagpur, led a long march towards Aurangabad. Thousands were arrested before it began, and lakhs more courted arrest. The march was stopped after 11 boys were killed in police firing at Nagpur.

The struggle went on until the renaming of 1994.

See it on the map and the timeline

What the sources record

The first Namantar long march set out in Nagpur on 11 November 1979, led by Jogendra Kawade; a second was held in Aurangabad on 6 December 1979 (Jadhav). (1)
The Mooknayak says Kawade's long march began on 19 November 1979 and went from Nagpur to Aurangabad, 470 km. (2)
Kawade was arrested; the march was stopped by the killing of 11 boys in police firing at Nagpur (The Mooknayak). (2)
Thousands were arrested before the march, and lakhs of protesters courted arrest. (1)
The state government blockaded the roads into the city to disrupt it. (1)
Attacks on Dalits began on the night of 27 July 1978. (1)
Under that violence the government withdrew the Namantar resolution. (2)

Linked records

Part of: Renaming of Marathwada University (Namvistar) (1)
In answer to: The anti-Dalit violence in Marathwada after the renaming resolution of July 1978, and the government's withdrawal of that resolution. (2)

People in this record

Jogendra Kawade, leader (professor, Dr. Ambedkar College, Nagpur)

Sources

Study. Prabuddha: Journal of Social Equality, 1: 13-32 (Pradnya Jadhav). Namantar Struggle: A Non-religious Political Movement of Ambedkarites in Maharashtra. 2018. Not linked for now: the site has been tampered with.
Press. The Mooknayak (Pratikshit Singh). Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University: Remembering the martyrs on Namantar Diwas. 15 Jan 2023.

On the map at the centre of Maharashtra.