Bant Singh, from the Dalit community, was attacked by upper caste Jats after he filed a case in court against the men who had raped his daughter. Pic/AFP

In the powerful film Court, directed by Chaitanya Tamhane, the protagonist Narayan Kamble is a Dalit lok shahir, a people’s poet. He tours Mumbai’s devastated mill areas, singing revolutionary protest songs, exhorting the people to rise above their caste and class. A revolutionary protest singer may sound like a wry anachronism in post-truth 2017. But last week, I had the opportunity to meet and interview protest poets and singers from different parts of the country who, unconcerned about getting their poetry published or invitations to poetry festivals, actively use their poetry and songs for social reform, to awaken Indian society about how the Other India lives, and to encourage their own people to stand up and be counted.