Jayesh Jeevibahen Solanki was a poet, theater artist, and Dalit rights activist. He was one of the prominent faces associated with the Una Dalit Movement in Gujarat, India. He also participated in and supported the 2019-2020 CAA and NRC protests at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi, India. Coming from very modest means, he had tried to make a living by teaching theater workshops and doing factory work.
He believed there was a class hierarchy even within the caste movement and spoke out against the upper-caste mentality of the communist movement as well as the nishkriyata (passivity) of upper-class Dalits. The pandemic worsened his financial struggles and, given his ongoing depression, he committed suicide in October 2020. Several of his poems have been translated by both professional translators and friends. A collection, titled વળાંક (A Bend in the Road), was published posthumously in December 2020.
