Kumud Somkuwar Pawde (born 1938) is an Indian Dalit activist. She is the first Ambedkarite scholar of Sanskrit. Her autobiography Antahsphot discusses the issue of exploitation of Dalit Women.[1] She is a founder member of the National Federation of Dalit Women.
She was born in 1938 into a Mahar Dalit family in Maharashtra. Later she became a Buddhist. She was witness to the historic Dhamma Deeksha ceremony (conversion to Buddhism) on October 14, 1956, as her parents were part of Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Dalit Buddhist movement.[2][3] She studied Sanskrit at the time when untouchability was rife and Dalits faced barriers; she was amongst first Dalits to learn Sanskrit and became Sanskrit Pandita i.e. Sanskrit scholar.[4][5] She was the Head of Department of Sanskrit from Government College, Amravati, Maharashtra.[6][7]