Trajectories of the Untouchables in West Bengal

back

Bengal Renaissance made Bengal famous in a number of ways. One of them is the broadness of mind against religious prejudices. But they did not forget the castes and its ground realities in social life. That is why it is seen that the son of Meera Bulbul failed to get admission into Hindu College of the then Calcutta in 1853. What had happened the Renaissance got its movement to work in the upper strata of the society. The outlook about the sudras and ati-sudras did not notice a basic change. It’s a sad history to tell that Vidyasagar made an all-out effort to spread education amongst the urban womenfolk of Hindu society but he did not do anything for the sudra and ati-sudra man and womankind. Raja Rammohan Roy, though was the tallest fellow and much of realization he had about the untouchables of Bengal, did not come forward to speak out in this regard. He was a ‘Brahma’ by religion and non-believer in the worship of idol! He was a great reformist and whatever the reformations he wanted to bring about were nothing but the prejudices of the upper castes Hindu society. He clearly identified the Brahminism a corrupt tree planted in the midst of the country and he had no doubt in mind that if it existed no good fruit should be expected. In spite he did not advocate an affirmative action to eradicate this plant of prejudice. It is known to all that untouchability is not at all  acceptable in the modern concept of democracy. However it prevails and prevails even after 30 years of communist rules in West Bengal.

In this article attempts shall be made to explain the ways and means how the old concept of untouchability is changing its basic shape in modern society. Its basic shape lies in the wombs of religious scriptures of Hinduism. At that time the untouchables were told to live beyond the visible and the audible distance. Nobody at that time was willing to see their faces or even to hear their voices. As a result what had happened they had been forced rather bound to live in the dirty and ugly places only. With the advancement of economy and spread of education the social mobility stepped ahead and a perception came within the reach where it was seen that the bar to make houses in good locality was removed and after Indian national independence they were entitled to get different constitutional legal protections.

Under this condition the trajectories of the untouchables started to change. A poor and uneducated untouchable now-a-days can make a house in the locality where the upper caste people do generally live in. But what happens he is to face some undue pressure to leave the place. Mostly it comes in the form of non-cooperation and dissociation with him in the social function. He is always kept aside and alone. He is not allowed to enjoy the same social status as the other people do generally enjoy. His or her children are often to digest the ugly remarks and utterances from their playmates and those are nothing but about the disgrace of their ill birth in the low castes. It gives them the painful shock in the

daily life. These are also some other things habitually occur in the children’s playground and sometimes happen in the lower classes in their schools.

Very recently it has come to the notice of the common mass through ‘The Pratichi Report on Primary Education in West Bengal’. The report was made by a group of scholars by doing extensive field studies in the primary schools of the remote villages in four districts of the north-west of West Bengal and the preface of this authoritative work has been written by Dr. Amartya Sen. What is revealed there is a sad condition about West Bengal in the primary level education. The upper caste teachers do very often show their negligence towards the scheduled caste and scheduled tribe students. Sometimes the teachers do not hesitate to engage the students to do their personal domestic works even in the school hour. They get differential treatment both in the lessons and sports.

 Very recently one of the reputed novelist has depicted this type of hatred shown by the upper caste playmates towards an untouchable scheduled caste boy of same age group in the local playground of a city cosmopolitan housing complex. The present author of this article has made an elaborate appreciation on the book and the said article has been included in his recent book ‘Dalit Sahityer Ruparekha’ published by Abanindranath Bera of ‘Bani Shilpa’, Kolkata. There are some more articles on the caste discrimination and the bad effects thereof were well narrated in the book. Another exhaustive discussion has also been made in the book on a book ‘ DALIT’ which has been published in Bengali from the Indian Literature Academy. Initially both the two appreciations noted above were taken interest by Ratnangshu Bargi to get it published in his own literary magazine ANTAHSAAR.

The way we find the curvature of the untouchables is changing path under the leftists’ rule in West Bengal is invisible in most of the times. At present it has been surfacing in the form of meritocracy. They are keeping the untouchables aside in case of their getting entry into education, entry into service, entry into school and college teacher, entry into administration, entry into political functionary and whatnot? They are doing all these things in the name of meritocracy only. The untouchables are becoming more and more marginalized even after the land reformation by the government of West Bengal. Perhaps now the time has come to realize in India that people who were once communists are now becoming more and more casteists to save the caste interest and once the people who were identified in politics as casteists are now becoming day-by-day more and more communists in their basic character.

It may be recalled to recent debate on the meritocracy. While the proposal was put forward by the Government of India to introduce the reservation of the other backward communities in IIM-IIT-IIMS this debate waved out throughout the country and very recently an official probe is seen to bring out many shocking instances of untouchability and casteism being practiced in India’s premier medical institution, IIMS, with alleged complicity of its administration. What happened there? It is seen that Sukhbir Singh Badal, a post-graduate from AIIMS, though he was a scheduled caste category student, he topped the general category list in a selection examination of the institution to get a coveted job of the senior resident of institution but he was denied the post by the

administration without anybody’s knowledge. The post was offered to someone of the unreserved category who was at the second position in the list. It was simply done on consideration that the family background of the scheduled caste fellow was not as strong as his competitor.(TOI,13.05.07).

 Subsequently on getting complaint, an enquiry was made into the incident by a committee headed by Mr. Sukh Deo Thorat, the Chairman of University Grant Commission.  A number of odd things of the untouchability came to light through the investigations. April 2006, just before it became the hub of Mandal-11 agitation. Five faculty members held a meeting on the complaint of student Umakant Nagar, alleging that an ‘abusing and threatening’ message had been inscribed on the door of his room forcing him to shift out the hostel. Though the hostel did not maintain any caste records the fact was revealed that a total of 29 students of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes had shifted from one hostel to another hostel under the similar caste hatred.(TOI,13.5.07).

This is the phenomenon everywhere is found all over the country but in West Bengal it is acute in nature. Nobody can find it outwardly. It works in an intrinsic manner. Everyone and if he is a member of the upper strata of the society will argue in favor that there is no

Caste hatred or the happening of such a thing. Only the suffering people know what is what. How the untouchables in West Bengal do face the problem in their working place may be understood if some examples are mentioned. Prahlad Roy of district Hoogly, at his age of 32 got the job of a Leturer in the Vidya Bhawan of Viswa Bharati University in B.Ed  Deptt. But he was not allowed to sit on his prescribed chair due to he is a scheduled caste fellow. He was asked to bring the water from the river Ganges to make him purified by his colleagues prior to sit on that prestigious chair. He did it accordingly but no fruitful result came. He was not allowed to sit. What did he do? Most of the time he was passing his time in the library. He might have informed the incident to the President of India. One day he has narrated the torture on him in a public meeting before Mr. Biman Bose, the Chairman of the Left Front. The people who torturing are not yet put under anybody’s questionings rather the chairman mentioned the untouchability not an easy thing to be removed.( Aajkaal, 14.04.07).

Ujjwal Biswas, superintendent of Lalbagh sub-divisional hospital, lodged an FIR against DYFI leaders Partha Chakraborty and Sudipta Banerjee on March23,2007 for making casteist remarks against him. What was his complaint? “Lalbag zonal secretary Partha Chakraborty came to the hospital with his followers to submit a memorandum alleging corruption. They gheraoed me and when I offered them a cup of tea, they said, ‘we are not ready to have tea from a scheduled caste’. Then district DYFI secretary Sudipta Banerjee threatened me over telephone, ‘How dare you challenge us? We will teach you a lesson.’.” The hospital superintendent has sent his complaint to the Scheduled Caste Commissioner, Delhi and the Lalbag SDO and sought security from the chief medical officer. SC/ST organizations like Murshidabad Ambedkar Mission, SC/ST welfare society and Matua Sangha brought out a huge procession in Lalbag and submitted a memorandum to the SDO on Wednesday, demanding punishment for the leaders, who insulted a member of the scheduled caste (TOI, 29.03.07).

The case of  Manojit Mondal, a lecturer in the department of English of Jadavpur University is also a case of hatred to the scheduled castes. What happened there? He was born in a remote village of the district of Bankura and got his higher education from Viswa Bharati University. He approached the court for the atrocity against him. Chief judicial magistrate of Alipore Mitali Karmakar on Friday directed the Jadavpore police station to register a case against V-C Shyamal Kanti Sanyal for conspiring  to commit offences under the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes ( prevention of atrocity) Act,1989. The offences are non-bailable and punishable upto10 years in prison. Accusing Sanyal of instigating the teachers and students against him, Mondal said, ‘Now I know that the real mastermind behind the atrocity was the V-C, who instigated the teachers and students’. South 24-Parganas SP S.N.Gupta said the police would act according to the court order.(HT,24.04.07).

The casteist attitude of Brahmin students of the Birbhanpur primary school in Bankura district has shocked many in West Bengal, especially the ruling communists. It came to notice a few days ago that these students have for a month been refusing to take mid-day meals prepared by cooks belonging to a lower caste. The controversy raised eyebrows in the state, now to be relatively free of caste prejudices. ‘We cannot imagine that something like this is happening in 21^st century. The parents who are forcing their children to treat lower castes as untouchables are doing irreparable damage to the life of their offspring’, Mr. Biman Bose, the Left Front Chairman said.( The Hindu, 19.11.04).

It had happened in case of Chuni Kotal, a tribal girl while she was doing her M.Sc course in the Vidyasagar University. As she was born in the Lodha community, some of her teachers very often used to tell her that the Lodhas are the criminal tribes in India and there are so many opportunities for tribes in India, then what are the necessity of a tribe to do the M.Sc? She made complaint to V-C of the university and thereafter she was put under pressure to withdraw the complaint. Ultimately under pressure what happened she committed suicide. In case of Padmaja Mandi, another tribal girl what happened? She was admitted to the MBBS course through the joint entrance examination to the Uttar-Banga Medical College but she could not stay in the hostel due to different sorts of hatred and insults for her birth in the tribal family.

 To be born in poverty is one curse in life and to be born in the untouchables is undoubtedly another bigger curse. What is the miserable truth of life in India? A man born in poverty can change it through performance but nobody can change the caste by any means in which he is born.

Author : Manohar Biswas

Mail Id: manoharbiswas@yahoo.co.in