Urnisa Karmakar is a PhD student in the Department of English at Texas A&M University, College Station. Previously a core member of Auratein Layengi Inquilab (Women Shall Bring Forth the Revolution), an intersectional feminist front, she has actively worked to advance the rights of marginalized communities, including women, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, sexual minorities, and persons with disabilities. Through this platform, Urnisa helped organize press conferences on caste-based and religious discrimination, attended by LGBTQ and Dalit activists, women’s rights advocates, and members of government bodies. She also represented the Front at the All-India Conference on National Employment Policy, alongside delegates from over two hundred organizations nationwide, and worked towards reinstating Dalit women workers dismissed due to corruption and casteist discrimination.

Urnisa’s research focuses on the bodily politics and consciousness of Dalit Queers in South Asia and the diaspora, using the lens of Black Queer Studies. She investigates how caste, gender, and queerness intersect in Dalit Queer experiences, while drawing connections with the struggles articulated in Black Queer Studies. Her work aims to challenge dominant academic narratives by exploring the cultural, historical, and social contexts of Dalit Queer identities, thereby highlighting the complexities of caste-based oppression. By amplifying the voices of underrepresented South Asian Dalit Queer writers in the diaspora and artists, she seeks to contribute to their inclusion in mainstream academia, promoting a more inclusive scholarly landscape and advancing transformative scholarship that values the experiences of marginalized communities.