The dark scars of oppression
Sarojini Sahoo
Express News ServiceFirst Published : 25 Jul 2010 08:47:00 AM ISTLast
Updated : 24 Jul 2010 11:30:27 PM IST
Although Dalit writers have been at work in India for many centuries,
the term 'Dalit literature' has a specific, currently meaning and can
perhaps be seen in those writings. 'Dalit literature' describes Dalit
narratives depicting the struggle against oppression and has been
inspired by African-American literature and movements in the 20th
century.
Protests against the caste system and oppression are expressed in a
new literature called 'Dalit literature.' Poems, short stories,
novels, and autobiographies by Dalit writers provide useful insights
into the question of Dalit identity. In India, the movement started in
Mumbai with the publications of the Maharashtra Dalit Sahitya Sangha
in1958, and soon found its place in the mainstream of Marathi
literature. Later, the trend shifted to Hindi and Kannada. Currently,
it has entered Tamil. But in Oriya, Dalit writing has had a late start
compared to its counterparts and its voice has not yet been part of
the mainstream.
The poets of Charya Yuga or the Natha sect of saints like Hadi Pa,
Kanhu Pa, Tanti Pa, Chourangi Nath, Gorakh Nath, Mahendra Nath or Lui
Pa etc, all came from downtrodden social groups and constitute a
distinct social tradition in Orissa. But their poems are more
philosophical and tantric — religious rather than portraying social
oppression. But that does not mean Oriya society is a stranger to
caste oppression and other forms of inequality.
There were also many poets from the 'shudra' community who raised
their voices against the Brahmen hegemony but their writings were not
similar in theme and concept to today's so-called Dalit writings. From
Saral Das, the Adikabi of Oriya literature whose Oriya Mahabharat was
read for the first time in the fifteenth century to the famous saint
poet Bhima Bhoi to the powerful Marxist poet Rabi Singh of the 20th
century, a long list of Dalit writers have flourished in Oriya
literature. But these writings are not only confined to Dalit
oppression in relation to a Dalit caste system. There is evidence of
writings on Dalit oppression in Oriya literature from Bhagbati
Panigrahi and Sach Routray to Gopinath Mohanty, and many have a theme
of such oppression. But these writers do not belong to the lower or
untouchable caste. In poetry the Vaishnavite upper-class poets like
Dinakrushna Das raised their voices against the Brahmanical
bureaucracy, but we can't place them alongside contemporary Dalit
writing. Bhima Bhoi, the tribal (Kandha) religious poet of the 19th
century fought against caste and ritualised piety and initiated women
in the society.
The only English book I have ever read on Oriya Dalit literature was
Paralysed Tongue, an Anthology of Dalit Studies (Pagemaker, 2005).
Ironically, this book is edited by two Brahmin scholars: Aswini Kumar
Mishra and Jugal K Mishra. While searching for other articles on the
net, I found two; one is a long essay by Raj Kumar
(http://findarticles.com/p/articles/) and another is a blog by Basudev
Sunani (http://basudevsunani.blogspot.com/). Raj Kumar identified only
one Dalit short story writer, Ramchandra Sethi, and one of his short
stories: Dwitiya Buddha. He counted six contemporary poets:
Bichitranand Nayak, Basudev Sunani, Kumaramani Tanti, Sanjay Bag,
Anjubala Jena, Mohan Jena, adding an appendage of 'many more.' Basudev
Sunani's irregular blogging (ten between April 2009 and December 2009)
contains two of his essays, a short story, and a few poems.
Recently, a few magazines and Facebook users have tried to raise the
Dalit discourse aiming to make it more active and streamlined. But the
main question is: are there a sufficient number of lower caste or
tribal writers from Dalit socio-economic classes available in Oriya
literature or it will be a movement of middle-class upper-caste
writers who are plenty and who constitute the mainstream?
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