Volume VI Special Issue I January 2026

Name of Author : Sonali Gupta

Title of the paper : Cosmic belonging and Caste Exclusion: An Ecocritical Reading of Rohith Vemulas Letter

Abstract: Rohith Vemulas suicide letter stands as one of the most powerful acts of protest in contemporary India. Written from the heart of despair, it transforms personal pain into a collective narrative of resistance. This paper reads Vemulas letter as a text that intersects the themes of resistance literature, Dalit trauma, and social justice. The letter speaks not only of the alienation of a Dalit scholar but also of the deeply embedded caste hierarchies that continue to define modern academia. It is both a testimonial and an indictment, a fragmented memory of exclusion that echoes countless silenced voices. Through the lens of trauma theory and memory studies, this paper explores how Vemulas words move beyond individual suffering to expose systemic violence. It also reads his ecological sensitivity. The imagery of the cosmos, the universe, and the stars as a reimagining of existence beyond caste, resonating with the principles of eco-humanism. By treating the letter as literary resistance, this study situates Vemulas final words as a call for dignity, justice, and remembrance. His writing becomes an ethical text that challenges readers to confront social blindness and emotional numbness toward inequality. The paper aims to show how literature born from lived pain often holds the deepest truth about humanity.

Keywords : Rohith Vemula, Dalit Literature, Resistance Literature, Trauma Studies, Memory Studies, Social Justice

DOI :

Page Number : 295-303