Namdeo Laxman Dhasal [b. February 15, 1949] is a Marathi writer and Dalit activist. He married Mallika, the daughter of poet Amar Shaikh. He was one of the founders of the Dalit Panther movement in 1972. Recently, Dhasal has started writing columns for the Marathi daily Saamana. Earlier, he worked as an editor for the weekly Satyata.

He received Soviet Land Nehru award (1974) for his poetical work Golpitha named after the red light district of Mumbai, where he spent his childhood. He also received the Maharashtra State Award in 1973, 1974, 1982 and 1983 and Padmashri award for literature in 1999. In 2004, he received the Golden Life Time Achievement Award by the Sahitya Akademi

Dilip Chitre translated a selection of his poems into English under the title Namdeo Dhasal: Poet of the Underworld, Poems 1972-2006