Dalit Movement in Bengal Part 1

Dalits in India have been a depressed class since the formation of the varnashram in Hindu society. There was a certain amount of mobility upwards for them but this was not a general rule. They also lacked a sense of identity. All this began to change during the colonial period. The formation of the dalit identity took on various forms and connotations over time. It reached its maturity during the last decade of colonial rule. The Namasudras of Bengal was one such dalit community among others in Bengal who underwent a change in their identity.

The Namasudras of Bengal populated the region of east Bengal, especially the districts of Faridpur, Jessore and Khulna. It was only in the 1911 census that they came to be called Namasudra – previously they were called Chandals. This community did not belong to the untouchable group but had a very low status in the community. They were the second largest Hindu community in Bengal and the largest one working in the agricultural sector. Namasudra peasants and Muslim peasants worked the fields owned by the high caste Hindus and Muslims. Even though low in status some of its members had managed to rise up in the social hierarchy due to their economic strength. The Hindu upper castes and the social hierarchy was apt at absorbing these stray upwardly mobile individuals and thus were able to abet any form of violent protest against the caste structure. This was true especially in Bengal where the incidents of major protests against the caste structure have been historically low as compared to other regions of India.

In this essay I shall be trying to give an overview of the dalit movement in eastern Bengal, which encompasses the area inhabited by the Namasudras. They played a major part in the dalit movement of eastern Bengal. I shall also look at the various identities that the dalit movement took on till independence. I shall first discuss their struggle at the political level and then talk about their changes in identity over time in the religious field. The whole issue is very complicated and interrelated but I have tried to show them in two distinct parts.