[Reader-list] Marichjhapi and the Revenge of Bengali Bhadralok: The story of a Dalit Genocide that remains untold

[saswati ghosh]

dear all,

it is most unfortunate that we had to wait for amitav ghosh to write a novel in english to have an all-India reaction on marichjhapi!!!

there were responses AT THAT time as well. the far left, particularly the students, responded. some far-left students from jadavpur university tried to reach that place, even by swimming across when denied ferry services. I don't now where those friends are now, may be settled in the west as well-placed engineers!!!

yes there is a caste aspect in the marichjhapi story. the caste question in the left-socialist bengal has always been a latent issue. I think, the bengalee upper caste bhadraloks, being neither very openly rigid like the south or openly violent like the north, has successfully been able to maintain its hegemony over all the issues, including strategies for social transformation.

not only in marichjhapi, in the ongoing influx of refugees from bangladesh, most of whom are from backward castes, including namashudras, has made the bengalee intellligentsia silent about it. the likes of com. jyoti basu and com. somnath chattopadhyay, to most of the left leaders of all hues, the congress, all the upper caste people and their relatives have fled from east pakistan long back, without facing the subsequent persecution. those who were left, were mostly people from the so-called backward castes and the upper caste bengalee bhadralok from any party, right or left, felt no any ethical responsibility to those who were left behind in earswhile east pakistan or present bangladesh.

nandigram-singur issue made some people to unearth past instances of ruling CPI(M)'s treachery and that led to the renewed interest in marichjhapi. we still try to deny the caste aspect, one wonders what would have happened if majority of the marichjahpi refugees had surnames like banerjees, mukherjees, chatterjis, ghosh, bose, guha, mitra etc with relatives in kolkata (sorry, then calcutta)!!!

a bengalee film, available on youtube has traced some of the surviving refugees along the rail tracks of suburban lines, living in jhopris, running tea stalls.

thanx,

saswati ghosh,

(unfortunately, a part of the upper caste bengalee far left)

 

 


 
> Date: Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:26:41 +0530
> From: sudeep.ks at gmail.com
> To: a.mani.cms at gmail.com
> CC: reader-list at sarai.net
> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Marichjhapi and the Revenge of Bengali Bhadralok: The story of a Dalit Genocide that remains untold
> 
> Dear Mani,
> 
> It was interesting to see your response. The article may be biased (which I
> think every article/report is), but I admire Ajay, Nilesh and Anoop for
> their effort to throw some light to this incident that remained in the
> blackholes of our history till now.
> 
> This is another Jalian Walabag, but it happened in an independent India. I
> think it is also an example of how media and academia can work together to
> make sure some unpleasant stories never get told. Unless of course, some
> 'baastuharas' start speaking up and make their histories heard. (That story
> is bound to be biased, no doubt!)
> 
> I would be happy if you could do some rich research on this (I wonder if
> Government records will be any useful at all, but you could give it a try)
> and come up with a less biased or unbiased version of it.
> 
> Regards
> Sudeep
> 
> [PS: A comment at the blog post that I found interesting:
> 
> *Amra kara?
> Baasthuhaara;
> Morichjhappi chharbona..*
> 
> (Who are we? We are the dispossessed; We will not leave Morichjhappi, do
> what you may)
> The slogan shouted by the villagers in unison when they took on the armed
> police force in May 1979.
> -The Hungry Tide (Amitav Ghosh)
> 
> It was Amitav Ghosh’s novel ‘The Hunger Tide ’which prompted me to this
> unheard tale of these Baasthuhaaras. His characters Nirmal and Kusum took me
> to Morichjhappi, the tide country island where thousands of dispossessed who
> braved the tigers, crocodiles -and then the state machinery- lived their
> extra ordinary lives. Then only I came to read the legend of Saphala nanda
> Halder who swam all the way to the mainland to take the media men to the
> Sunderban islands to convince them that they were not encroachers of reserve
> forests..]
> 
> On Sun, Nov 29, 2009 at 11:41 PM, A. Mani <a.mani.cms at gmail.com> wrote:
> > The article is poorly researched, is biased, based on very
> > questionable studies and seems to be propaganda work. The authors will
> > need to review plenty of available Government records and other
> > documentation.
> >
> > The casteist dimension has no basis.
> >
> > Best
> >
> > A. Mani
> >
> > --
> > A. Mani
> > ASL, CLC, AMS, CMS
> > http://www.logicamani.co.cc
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