Indian Journal of Comparative Literature and Translation Studies ISSN: 2321-8274

Of Caste-Class and Dalit Writing: Monoranjan Byapari in Conversation

[MB: Monoranjan Byapari; S: Sayantan Mondal]

S. Your autobiography and in some of your other writings you have described yourself as a dalit
Page | 65 person born in a dalit family identified as a criminal from birth. Can you explain.

MB: When I say I am a dalit and criminal by birth, I situate myself within an inescapable system; a
system of varna and its exploitation. It is a system of prohibition; prohibition from entering into
temples, into schools, into accumulation of any sort. Even, prohibition of naming. We cannot just
give any name to our children, we have to think twice whether we are violating some social norms
or not. And all these are determined by shastras, sacred texts which treat us like criminals. So what
am I if not a dalit and a criminal.

S. For long time since British rule there had been criminalisation of tribes. Does your reference also
hint at that?

MB: No, not in this case. You have perhaps heard of tribes like Loda, Khetria, Sabar and so on.
They have been branded as criminal tribes. There are so many Banabasi, Adivasi tribes who have
been similarly treated by law even in independent India. Upper caste people tried criminalising
Namasudra caste to which I belong to. Some British officials were sent for investigation, I forgot
their names. You can find that in details in a book titled Guruchand Charit. However, after their
inspection, fortunately, they were convinced by the instances of Namasudra culture and creativity
that these people are no criminal.

S. The story of your life tells us that was hardly any respite; life has made you choose so many
abominable professions. Please tell us, why then writing and what made you take up pen one day?

MB: To answer it simply I would say lack of success. I have never succeeded in anything, that's
why writing. I wanted to do something which will help the society, the people. I wanted to
rejuvenate the consciousness of the society, of the people. But that cannot be done alone. I started
with writing but met with bare minimum success. I left all that, went to Chhattisgarh and worked
for Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha for eight years. In those eight years I did not write anything. I was
working for the people and I was happy. But then they killed Sankar Guha Niyogi. One bullet from
a country revolver finished that honest person. No one could do anything, I could not do anything. I
came back and started writing again, to create Sankar Guha Niyogis, a thousand Sankar Guha

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 Indian Journal of Comparative Literature and Translation Studies ISSN: 2321-8274

Niyogis. I know I am not successful yet, I know success will not come so easily, but I will wait and
keep writing.

S. So from the jungle of Chhattisgarg to Jadavpur University rickshaw-stand and the world of
Page | 66 publishers. How had this journey been so far?

MB: The society is of the Baishyas. And the Baniyas, the Baishyas only know capital, profit and
that is the world. Let's think of Karl Marx. Marx was writing as a journalist. He was writing against
this capitalist system and his writings were being published in London and other places by the
capitalists business men. why? Those businessmen did not know that Marx was writing to abolish
their power? They knew it and despite knowing they published. The reason was the demand and the
profit. A businessman considers whether things will be sold or not. if yes, let's invest. it is same
with publication. Initially, when I started writing, I had to spent money from my pocket. Nobody
wanted to publish my work. Why would they? Because they knew it before hand that my books will
not earn anything, there will be loss and only loss. I had to bear those losses. I remember, Britter
Sesh Parba, my first novel, I had to bear a lot for it. And in that way I spent some fifteen-twenty
years, struggled. Finally, after 2011, after some recognition, I stopped paying money for publishing
my books.
Look at these books (pointing at the book rack in front of him), you see that Batase Baruder
Gondho, Amanush. Now, one can tell readers will become revolutionary, Maoists, Marxists reading
these novels. Some eleven hundred copies of these got sold. Those who published it, were not
bothered at all with the fact that these books talk against the people of their class. They were
concerned with the mere numbers. And that is the story behind this journey. The person who
published my autobiography Itibritte, is a Bandopadhyay, a Brahman; the magazine where parts of
it used to appear is by a Chakraborty, another Brahman. They and their clan realised long back
where exactly profit lies for them and they will stick to it. But I thank my readers - readers from my
community who have been reading my writings. There is this person, owner of a welding shop near
Durganagar. He comes and buys some forty odd copies of my books. When I ask, what will you do
with that in your welding shop, he says he will distribute among all his friends and relatives and tell
about his rickshaw puller friend who wrote this.

S. There seems to be a strong connection between writing lives and dalit writing, what do you think
is the soul of such connection? We know of celebrated work like Towards An Aesthetics of Dalit
Literature which talks about different aspects of dalit writing. What according to you is dalit writing?

MB: I believe that when a dalit person starts writing, the first thing s/he will write is an

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 Indian Journal of Comparative Literature and Translation Studies ISSN: 2321-8274

autobiography. Actually, when a dalit person reads stories, novels; reads about pain and suffering,
that person realises how much greater his/her suffering had been and wants to place it before the
readers. And that's why autobiography. Now, there are complex issues involved. One, of being a
good reader and two, of dalit consciousness. Not all good readers may become good writers but all
Page | 67 good writers are definitely good readers, voracious readers.

As of me, let me tell you I have considered myself a dalit much much later. I used to consider
myself a working class labour, an exploited person and used to believe under the influence of Left
ideology that when revolution will come all these caste difference will be gone. I started thinking of
dalit consciousness after my writing got published in EPW (Is there a Dalit Writing in Bangla? by
Manoranjan Byapari and Meenakshi Mukherjee, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 42, No. 41
(Oct. 13 - 19, 2007), pp. 4116-4120 ). However, I discovered later, that also hardly matters. I will
tell you a story so that you may understand.

My father used to tell me many stories. One of such stories was the story of two zamindars who
invited a huge number of namasudra prajas to their house on the occasion of their father's last rites.
There was a huge feast and all these namasudras were invited to eat. These unfortunate people who
used to survive barely on anything and hardly had anything proper to eat in years were delighted at
this opportunity and ate to their fill. However, the most interesting part was the competition. Yes,
there was a competition, a game of the zamindars. They started bating on their namasudra subjects;
if one can eat five rasgullas he will give one rupee. People jumped at this provocation. They kept
eating. At one stage, it was so hard to eat anymore that the bating also climbed higher. The ending
was sad. A huge number of people died of over eating, of the games of landlords. I thought of
writing a story on that and wrote Atithi Seva. Many years later someone pointed to me that this is
nothing but a dalit story, a testament of dalit life, though I had no clue about it being so when I
wrote it.
S. In your writing you seem to take caste and class positions in a way that there remains hardly any
scope of separating them, they appear interlinked. How do manage to do that considering the never
ending debates between these two?
MB: Initially, I was not interested in caste, I told you earlier. I am a student of Marxism, of leftist
ideas. I prepared myself as an atheist. I never believed in god, caste, religion. I never believed that
there can be separate fight for them. However, when I started reading about them, I started
wondering. I started questioning my conviction. I went through a lot of agreements and
disagreements. Today, I have realised that there are some serious issues with left politics. one of
major issues is of leadership and representation. Look at any incident that left politics had engaged
in West Bengal; look at Singur-Nandigram. Do you think, had there been a farmer in the leadership
of that party, things would have been like this? Would they still manage to issue section 144 and

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 Indian Journal of Comparative Literature and Translation Studies ISSN: 2321-8274

beat people like cattle? No, never. if there is any solution, then that is the change of leadership.
Leaders have to be from the Kawras, from the Bagdis (caste names), from the farmers, from tthe
working class and from women. Why do I say Kawras, Bagdis and farmers, working class
separately in a sentence. You have to understand that. There are many lower caste people who have
Page | 68 made it to the top. They have established themselves as doctors, lawyers and in so many other

respectable and profitable professions. Their ancestors, perhaps, suffered a lot. Not perhaps,
definitely had suffered a lot. But they are completely unaware of that reality. They themselves are
no victim of such oppression. That's why I am separating them. Representatives should come from
the oppressed section and no one should just capture that place showing some meaningless identity
card.
S. You have a very strong and clear idea about caste and class politics. So when you started writing,
how did you decide to go about it?
MB: I was a reader. And in some connections, I have mentioned in so many places, my path
crossed with Meenakshi Mukherjee. We talked and she suggested that whatever I know I should
write and make public. I am talking about the EPW's article again which was on Bangla Dalit
writings. Frankly speaking I had decided not to write such thing. Because I am not an essay type
person. I do not write essays. it is a different thing. But I was convinced that something needs to be
done, that knowledge has to go public. So I approached a number of professors, scholars and
requested them to write. Unfortunately, nobody took me seriously. I was a rickshaw puller. True,
people like Mahesweta Devi has blessed me, stood by me by that time. But what difference does it
make.... Even in peoples' movement, at times, your role is determined, your position is judged by
your social position. And I lost it there. No one paid any heed to my request. And you may say, it
was by chance that I started writing that essay because Meenakshi Mukherjee was sending frequent
impatient messages for it for a long time. And then it was published and coincidentally I was placed
in some corner of history. Everyone started talking about it. Oxford came forward to publish an
anthology. Prof. Tutun Mukherjee started working hard to make it possible. Jaydeep Sarangi
organised a conference. And in the process I started receiving stamps, brand names such Leftist,
Working class writer, Dalit writer. I bacame so many things.
It was difficult for anyone to manage so many identitties. But perhaps, it is best to leave them for
good and concentrate in your work. Today, when I speak, I write a group of Dalit intellectuals
disagrees, fights with me. I do not mind that. Why should I? These people or their ancetors were not
there when upper caste people like A.K. Roy, Charu Majumdar, Gouri Sankar Ghosh, Binayak Sen
were fighting for us, for our survival. Sankar Guha Niyogi and so many like him died fighting such
battles which are technically our battles. Can I just forget that because they are upper caste? Yes,
may be they had faults, their ways may have something wrong, something lacking. But in their

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effort, struggle and sacrifice their was no lack. They gave it all smilingly and unasked for. If my
writing cannot recognise such people, then I better not write. If Dalit writing does not recognise
these people and their contribution, then it better not exist.

S. We have come back again to the point of Dalit writing and perhaps, we will keep coming back to
Page | 69
it so many more times. Do you find this classification of writing comfortable, useful? As a writer do
you feel compelled by such categories?

MB: Who creates such categories? Do you believe that in universities alone such categories are
born, in classrooms, in conferences? No. This is a complex process and we writers are equal
shareholders in this. There are numerous writers who proudly call themselves Dalit and write dalit
stories, poetry, novels. Nothing wrong in that as long as there is dalit consciousness in their writing.
But sadly a lot of them are just weakness of our movement. They call themselves Dalit, copy
pictures of pain from other dalit narratives, after every two pages abuses the upper caste, uses the
stock character of Brahman as the villain. It is impossible to differentiate them from the true
narratives as in reality those are almost true. However, as a dalit when I read them I know what is
going on. You have heard of Jatra , right? In Jatras, you see they often use a stock character of
honest Brahman and that character is pitted against a Bagdi Musalman, a bad character. One after
another Jatra has used this technique and ruined it. Because when it becomes a formula it looses it
purpose. Becomes blunt. The dalit writings I was talking about a few minutes ago are bringing back
and falling prey to this easy trap. Consequently, true analysis of exploitation, the politics behind it,
the solution are going out of our site. We are just catering a melodramatic story and the readers, the
audience go back to their happy life deciding to patroinise poor dalits when they meet them next
time. Who wants this sympathy? Ask any dalit, do they want it? You will never find a yes.

What I am suggesting is to go beyond this trap of good-bad games. There can be good and bad
people among every section. You see this (points to a scar in head). I will tell a story about it. First
of all you tell me was Indira Gandhi patriarchal or not? (perhaps noticing a confused nodding and
making a meaning of it, he proceeds again) Of course she was. See, no one has to be a man to be
patriarchal. It is in nature. Once you start practicing it will give you some benefits at the cost of
systematic exploitation. The scar you just saw came from a woman in whose house I used work as a
cook. You got it right (chuckles). Similarly, Brahminism is also not confined among the Brahmins;
rather it is a virus that has infested even the dalits. And we have to be self-critical. if we cannot be
self-critical, we will fall prey to brahminism. If we keep forgetting what people like Sarat Chandra
Chattopadhyay, Tara Sankar had written and people like Sekhar Bannerjee, Goutam Bhadra are
doing these days, just because they are upper caste, then our writing will be reduced to misuse of
truth. You see this house (his own house) and that one just opposite it are built on the land of two

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zamindars; Bihari Mondal and Khagen Nashkar, respectively. Who are they? They are dalits by
caste. Ask anyone about them in this locality, we will know that their exploitation had no limit. The
basic thing is simple. If you are a capitalist we are bound to exploit others. Exploitation is the
religion of Capital.
Page | 70 S: So as a writer-activist you maintain a fine balance, a very thin line that demarcates fake,

meaningless and true writing and your politics revolve around it. What is your suggestion for the
new writers who are still breaking their pens on it?

MB: I will tell them to read; read as much as they can and sit close and think about what have they
read. I am a storyteller so I am going to tell you another story to explain what I an suggesting. Well,
this story has three characters - Mahendra Karma, Binayak Sen and Sankar Guha Niyogi. One can
add a few more like Babulal Gour. Now who is Mahendra Karma, a rapist, a murderer. And he
inflicted all that on Adivasis, Banabasis, Dalits. And he himself was a dalit. Babulal Gour, a
minister from the Yadavs. Did he help when dalits were torchered and brutalised in Madhya
Pradesh. Despite being contacted numerous times by Sankar Guha Niyogi, this person could not
find a few minutes to solve problems of dalit workers who were dying everyday in the capitalist
machines. Have you heard of Amiya Mans and Gangadhar Nashkar...two police officers who
opened fire at Marchjhapi under the order of Jyoti Basu, at their fellow dalit brothers. We cannot
just avoid reading this. And on the other hand, we also have to know about people like Binayak Sen,
Sankar guha Niyogi and their fight for dalits and sacrifice. Let me tell you about Basantdeo sharma.
He used to be collector in Arjun Singh's time. Of course, an upper caste man. But this man
disregarded govt. orders for collecting Tendu leaves at a lower rate from poor banabasis. His
struggle made him leave his lucrative service and he began a movement under a banner of Bharat
Jana Andolan for Jal Jangal Jamin. Now, you probably got what I am hinting at. I want the coming
generation writers to know about all these, read about these, to know their surroundings well and
reflect on it. One has to be self-critical. And then s/he will know what to take along and what to
leave. And of course, one has to have the inspiration from life, the pains, the suffering of life and
not only cater it to the shameless market which is always there to sell it at the cost of our
humiliation.

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