Is Bengal Truly Casteless? A Reconsideration through Dalit Testimonies

Abstract

Bengal has historically been considered as an exception to the practice of casteism. While other states of the country experienced caste discrimination as a part of the social fabric, Bengal has been considered as an egalitarian state. The main reason attributed to this phenomenon is the progressiveness culture of Bengal which had the bhadralok at its centre. However, this paper revisits the notion of Bengal’s castelessness. This article also looks at the broader historical context of Bengali Dalit history which closely looks at the plight of Bengal’s Dalits after the Partition of 1947. The Dalits, mostly comprising of the Namasudra community, were forced to leave their land and migrate to West Bengal. Having become refugees overnight they resorted to help from the government but were treated indifferently. However, that was not the case for the upper caste refugees who were allowed rehabilitation facilities. Eventually the government of West Bengal sent away the destitute Dalit refugees under the Dandakaranya Project to remote places away from Bengal. Dandakaranya Project ultimately led to the infamous 1979 genocide at the Marichjhapi island of Sunderban. Dalit autobiographies such as that of Manoranjan Byapari Itibritte Chandal Jiban explicitly talk about these carefully silenced dark chapters of Bengal’s history which clearly show the casteist attitude which existed in the state of Bengal. Byapari's autobiography is not just a personal story of pain and survival. It serves as a historical document that proves Bengal's progressive self-image to be false. Byapari's transformation from a refugee to author and then to legislator, shows a reclaiming of Dalit agency. It is in this context that Dalit autobiographies become important for they act as testimonios which reclaim the lost histories. They demolish the false narratives by re-examining history through Dalit perspective. And proves beyond doubt that Bengal's purported castelessness is not an absence of caste but rather an act of intellectual suppression.