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

[A. Mani]

On Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 9:32 PM, saswati ghosh <sg_cal at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 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

Caste is of little consequence in Left-Bengal. There are two main
aspects in the marichjhapi story:

1. Mismanagement of the refugee problem by the Left Government. Due to
resource constraints, the Govt realised that they could not offer much
support to the refugees in Dandakarnya.  But entry into the state was
allowed  - this was a mistake (they were explicitly warned of 'no Govt
support', though). Most of the village people in West Bengal resisted
their entry and many violent incidents did take place.

The police action was intended to evict the refugees from Marichjhapi
and also to arrest particular merceneries.

2. The involvement of the CIA and related agencies (who apparently had
infiltrated the refugee lines) in organising armed training camps was
also a major reason for the police action. The CIA may never
declassify documents relating to their involvement (and when they
operate through other agencies, then it is not usually transparent).

All decisions by the Left Government were taken on the basis of
feedback from the ground level. Within the CPI(M) party all these
aspects were debated in detail and
many did not want a direct police action.

 Direct casualties in action were limited. It is also true that most
of the party people regard the forced eviction as the biggest mistake
ever.

There are no parallels with any other later-day incident.

You can try claiming that the villagers in South Bengal were
'casteist', but it is not true.

Best

A. Mani


-- 
A. Mani
ASL, CLC,  AMS, CMS
http://www.logicamani.co.cc