Academic literature on the topic 'Manoranjan Byapari'

Abstract The study analyzes two Bengali Dalit autobiographies in both original and translated versions. One is Itibritte Chandal Jiban (2012) by Manoranjan Byapari (trans. Interrogating My Chandal Life: An Autobiography of a Dalit in 2018), and the other is Amar Bhubane Ami Benche Thaki (2013) by Manohar Mouli Biswas (trans. Surviving in My World: Growing Up Dalit in Bengal in 2015). The present research brings forward some standpoints. First, the translation of Dalit autobiographies creates transnational solidarity. Second, the translators play the role of gatekeepers to show that translation sustains the literary and cultural essence ingrained within the texts and initiates and engages dialogic discussions among the audience and readers on the global platform. Third, the translation of Dalit autobiographies arrests the attention of those global readers who barely nurture any idea on caste, class, and casteist politics and deep-rooted issues like untouchability in India and constructs a distinct literary geography.

In Bengali Dalit literature, the Namasudra writers and poets play a crucial role in combating the complete social margsinalization of Dalits, their movements, iconography, experiences, and worldview. According to Manohar Mouli Biswas, “It is a counter cultural movement that has been aiming to undo the age-old caste ridden oppressions against the dalits by representing their lives, deprivations, struggles, histories and promoting their culture and liberation through literature” (Biswas XXV). There have recently been many books written by Dalit Namasudra authors, some of which have been published in English. Using these archives and texts, we may now see the Dalit Namasudras from a different perspective, one that previously would not have been possible through the use of traditional historical archives and writings. Among them mentionable are Manohar Mouli Biswas’s Amar Bhubane Ami Benche Thaki translated as Surviving in My World, Manoranjan Byapari’s Itibritte Chandal Jiban translated as Interrogating My Chandal Life, Dr. Manoranjan Sarkar’s Ekjan Daliter Atmakatha, Jatin Bala’s Sikar Chenra Jiban and so on. This article attempts to rebuild the alternate history of the Namasudras by deconstructing the standard material on the subject using historical and literary analysis.

Manoranjan Byapari is a famous Bengali Dalit writer whose family migrated from East Pakistan and took shelter in a refugee camp in West Bengal. In his autobiography Interrogating My Chandal Life, Byapari has given an account of Bengali Dalits’ victimization on the basis of caste in the pre-Partition Bengal and post-Partition West Bengal. In colonial Bengal, Dalits were known as Chandal or Untouchables. In 1911, their identity was recognized as Namashudras. After migrating to West Bengal, they were identified as Bangal and Dalit refugee. West Bengal and central governments did not warmly welcome the Namashudra refugees. They were sent to refugee camps which were crowded, unhygienic and did not provide adequate dole. Later they were sent to Andaman, Dandakaranya and other parts of India for their rehabilitation. In this dire situation, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) appeared as the Messiah to the Dalits and protested against the rehabilitation policy of the ruling government. The fake sympathy of the communist party had been revealed when they came in power in 1977 in West Bengal. Most of the communist leaders were upper-caste Hindus. In 1979, communist government secretly massacred the Namashudra refugees who were settled on the Marichjhapi Island. The state sponsored murder of Dalits remained undiscovered for many years. This study will examine the impacts of the Partition of Bengal on Dalits. It will further address how the state government provided different treatment to the Namashudra refugees for their lower caste identity.