Book review: Rup Kumar Barman,Samakalin Paschimbanga: Jatpat,Jati-Rajniti O Tapashili Samaj

Historiography has largely been confined to politics, political thoughts, dynasties and kingships over a long period of time. However, while defining literally, history is considered to be the life incarnation or discussion of great people. According to Thomas Carlyle, ‘History is nothing but the biography of great men’. Simply put, history used to signify the lives of Napoleon, Alexander, Ashoka, Samudragupta, Akbar and others along with their eras or periods. Eventually it took several centuries to finally realize the other aspects of history which is actually the history of the common people. Since the 1980s, the words of the lower classes began to reveal through the pens of the historians. In spite of such endeavours, the question, ‘can the subaltern really speak?’ still arises. In response to this question, it can be emphatically declared that the pronunciation of the Dalit class and the Scheduled Caste is equally visible in the history and the one who brought forward their place in the light of Bengali historiography is one of the contemporary eminent historians, Professor Rup Kumar Barman. History of the Dalits, the Scheduled Caste and the lower class, their autobiography along with their personal works have been elaborated through his various books. The author’s book titled, Samakalin Paschimbanga: Jatpat, Jati-Rajniti O Tapashili Samaj [Contemporary West Bengal: Casteism, Caste-politics, Scheduled Caste] is no exception in this regard.

Historiography is gradually progressing with various new features including objectivity, scientificity and impartiality. Various practices including environment, food, epidemics, science and sports are seen to be discussed in the twentieth century in the works of the historians. The discussion of caste, caste-politics and scheduled society, mainly in Bengali language, has been kept in an unusual state by the historians for a very long time. During the colonial period and in some recent cases, writings on caste consciousness and Dalit movements are mainly limited to small communities. Therefore, it can be said that the book Samakalin Paschimbanga: Jatpat, Jati-Rajniti O Tapashili Samaj by Rup Kumar Barman published by Gangchil Prakashani, Kolkata is a pioneer in the field of caste and regional history. The author had clearly understood the contemporary West Bengal in this regard. This research work is the result of an effort in gathering important data and incorporating numerous essays and interviews along with the meticulous field surveys. The main essence of the book is captured in the title itself. It included casteism in contemporary West Bengal, caste-violence, social stratification of Scheduled Castes, discrimination of gender as well as understanding of the nature of the portrayal of this Scheduled Caste in the aspects of right-left politics, caste-centric composition and government policies along with the description of some personalities. The incorporation of various topics, such as social classification, construction of substitutions and nomenclature, has given the book a unique dimension.

In Rup Kumar Barman’s book, one can observe the insertion of various interviews. The introduction, chapterization, conclusion, lengthy bibliography, references to various regional works, official and library information as well as foreign works indicate the authenticity of the book. The utilization of additional information makes the book even more useful.

The introduction to the book covers caste and casteism, from an explanation on the origins of casteism to its development in the ancient and early medieval times and eventually the gradual marginalization of lower castes in Indian society on the basis of caste. It also throws light on how the lower castes are the victims of caste discrimination through the establishment of various laws and institutions. We can also see the gradual submersion of patron-client relationship and marginalization of the status of the lower classes. The author had also tried to explain the efforts of lower caste in India during the independence period and the developmental nature of Scheduled Castes. He also very clearly tried to elaborate the changes in the Indian context and discussed the continuity of caste in contemporary West Bengal as well. At present, in the era of globalization, the new explanation of how the Scheduled Castes are gradually subjected to verbal as well as external and mental discrimination and marginalization on the basis of caste is also clear in this regard. Caste politics, caste violence and caste discrimination are discussed in different chapters in the book. In the second chapter, it can be seen that how much the transitional politics of West Bengal has accelerated the caste problems or caste politics during the period of independence and tried to analyse whether there has been a development of the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Castes have been the victims of politics. While the first chapter discusses caste, caste violence and the importance of caste in socio-cultural and economic stratification in West Bengal, the author also highlights the dark side of casteism in the urban areas of West Bengal.

Terms or concepts like ‘caste’, ‘caste discrimination’ and ‘caste politics’ have always been present in the Indian society since the beginning till the present times. The master–slave relationship and the upper-caste and lower-caste metaphor is equally vivid in today’s age of globalization and technology and is continuing to flourish.

The third chapter of the book mainly discusses how the lower castes of Bengal came up in the light of determining or constructing their status through their own writings. The author has beautifully raised the question on the rise of lower castes in recent West Bengal through various biographical literature, creative literary observations and interpretations.

In the fourth chapter of the book, contemporary Bengal is described in the lights of its representation in politics and the forgotten memories of several lower caste people [antyaja]. By perusing through the book, a clear description of this emerging matter can be observed. Therefore, not only in respect of history practice or to the history readers but to every person in the society, this book tells a story of another story which shows the importance of this book in the history of caste in addition to the issues of caste, caste violence, discrimination and so on.

Rup Kumar Barman’s Samakalin Paschimbanga gives a unique dimension to the book in its decoration, multi-faceted description of caste history, reliable bibliography and overall lucid description. On the issues like the description of caste, its regional perspective, the discovery of various aspects of caste-violence and the application of various other facts, the book by Rup Kumar Barman has become a guiding text on the matter of construction of the history of contemporary Bengali caste as a whole.