Dinkarrao Javalkar (Marathi: दिनकरराव जवळकर, born - 1898, died - 1932 ) was a social activist and a leader of non-Brahmin movement in Bombay Presidency.
He, along with Keshavrao Jedhe, first emerged as a young leader of non-Brahmin movement in Pune, and later gained state-wide reputation for his scathing critic of Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Vishnushastri Chiplunkar in his book Deshache Dushman (Enemies of the Country).
[6] In 1924, Pune Municipality erected statues of two prominent Brahmin figures - Tilak and Chiplunkar - in the city.
Against this backdrop, the non-Brahmin group proposed a statue of Mahatma Jotirao Phule to be installed at a suitable public place in the city.
B. Bhopatkar, a prominent Brahmin who ran a newspaper Bhala (Javelin) argued "what service Jotirao Phule rendered to Pune as to set up his public memorial?
Javalkar wrote his most famous work Deshache Dushman, literally Enemies of the Country in July 1925.
[10] He concluded the book with an appeal to all Hindus that they should free themselves from the slavery of Brahmanism and from the chains of caste system.
[12] While the book was admired by certain non-Brahmin leaders like Keshav Sitaram Thackeray, it created an instant furore among the Brahmin group.
[19] In 1927, British government appointed Simon Commission to consider giving more political rights to Indians.
However, there was an alternate view that held leaders of depressed communities should participate in working of the commission and press upon their issues.
[21] In 1927, Javalkar took upon editorship of a Marathi newspaper Kaivari from Bhaskarrao Jadhav, another non-Brahmin leader and a member of legislative assembly of Bombay Presidency.
However, his work at Kaivari brought him to support red flag movement of mill workers at Mumbai.
Back home in India, he was being criticized by Jedhe-led group of non-Brahmins for his alliance with Jadhav, who in turn was in collaboration with the British.
His visit to England intensified his nationalist feelings and also brought him in contact with the British Communist Party.
In this book, he drew upon themes of Satyashodhak Samaj as a starting point and came to a conclusion that there would be no emancipation until religious bondage was broken.
[1] Javalkar had, through his writing and speeches, had created strong connect with masses of rural Maharashtra like no other communist leaders of his time.
Within the non-Brahmin party, he was trying to form a group with a well-defined constitution, anti-capitalist ideology, and a new flag with a plough as its symbol.
[24] On 16 January 1931, Javalkar was arrested for giving a speech at Azad Maidan Solapur in spite of prohibitory orders by the government.
Omvedt (1973) notes "though the radical peasant organisation that Javalkar projected did not come to fruition, but its beginnings were suggestive."
Indeed, Peasants and Workers Party of India was formed about a decade and a half after his death by the very own non-Brahmin leaders - Keshavrao Jedhe and others - that were part of Indian National Congress during his lifetime.