A dalit cycle rickshaw puller now an award winning writer is elected MLA of West Bengal

Among the elected MLAs in the Assembly Election 2021 is an award-winning Dalit Bengali writer of Balagarh in Hooghly district.

Agencies and KalimNews, 3 May 21: Manoranjan Bapari, TMC’s candidate from Balagarh constituency in the West Bengal Assembly polls won by 5784 votes to BJP candidate Subhas Chandra Haldar. Bapari got 100364 while Haldar got 94580. This seat is reserved for scheduled castes and Manoranjan Bapari belongs to the Namasudra caste earlier called “Chandal”.

A chance encounter with internationally acclaimed Bengali writer Mahasweta Devi changed Manoranjan Bapari’s life.

Bapari, has worked in tea shops, as a labourer in dockyards, and even as a ‘dom’ (a cremation-ground worker), a rickshaw puller, and, as a cook in a government school even till last year, saw his life change when Mahasweta Devi published Bapari’s first essay ‘Rickshaw chalai’ (‘I pull a rickshaw’) in her non-fictional magazine Bartika in 1981.

Manoranjan Bapari learnt to read in prison when he was 24 years old. A refugee from East Bengal, he had never been to school. When he was released from prison, he returned to his cycle rickshaw, but the dagger he kept hidden under the seat was now replaced by a book, which led him to Mahasweta Devi and his own journey as a writer. 

His autobiography, Itibritte Chandal Jibon (‘Interrogating my Chandal Life’), is a story of survival amid despair, where he says: “I have lived my life as the ill-fated Dalit son of an ill-fated Dalit father, condemned to a life of bitterness.” Mr. Bapari has written about 20-odd books, giving voice to the desperate, because “there are certain things I have to tell the people, and it is only I who can tell them of these things”. The urgent need to tell people “certain things” has again prompted him to jump into the election fray on a Trinamool Congress ticket. Trinamool Congress (TMC) cadres have worked hard to introduce him to the people of this rural, reserved constituency.

“I've been writing about the conditions of Dalits in Bengal for decades. I've narrated stories of pain, discrimination, harassment and life. But I always wanted to work for the development of Dalits. Which you cannot do without joining mainstream politics because independently we have limited reach. Didi (Mamata Banerjee) has given me this opportunity to work for the Dalits in the Dalit Bangla Sahitya Academy and now by giving a ticket to fight the election,” he said.

Bapari says he has the utmost respect for communism and is a believer in communism. But he says the Communist Party of Inda (Marxist) and the Left Front have failed Dalits and certainly not worked for their development.

“Dalits are severely ignored in the mainstream of Left politics. Didi is the only political leader in Bengal who has taken up the cause of the development of Dalits. She developed healthcare, education, built roads at the villages and stood beside the Dalits of Bengal. She has a broad mind and a very open attitude. She understands the pains of Dalits. We do not want sympathy but if the leadership does not even have empathy then the development of Dalits cannot happen,” says Bapari.

“I am a Namasudra and my father was a Matua. We know what kind of politics the BJP is doing in Bengal. They are making fake, arbitrary and absurd promises to the Matua and trying to mislead them. We are very much citizens of India but the BJP is saying that they will give Matua citizenship through the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act). It is a pure jumla. RSS is a manuvadi organisation full of upper caste Hindus who consider us untouchable. In BJP’s Hindutva, Dalits are not allowed to enter mandirs, they do not eat the food cooked by us and to get the vote they are tricking the Matua. Dalits are not fools, we know the history of Brahminical torture and Dalits will not vote for the BJP in Bengal anymore,” says Byapari.

The matua have been core voters of the Mamata-led TMC but they voted for the BJP in the last Lok Sabha election. From Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Home Minister Amit Shah, the BJP is laser focussed on wooing the Matua.

According to a report in The Indian Express, “Matuas trace their ancestry to East Bengal, and many of them entered West Bengal after Partition and after the formation of Bangladesh... Matuas are Namasudras, a Scheduled Caste group with a presence in at least six parliamentary seats. While no official count is available, community leaders put their population at 3 crore, while a state minister said there are 1.75 crore Namasudra voters.”

“How will we prove that we are a religious persecuted group? We do not have any birth certificates. We are voters and that is why we are citizens. The Dalits of Bengal are not fighting for citizenship. The BJP is instigating them with these issues. We want education, healthcare, equality and justice. The TMC is the only political party that has worked shoulder to shoulder with the Dalits and will continue to do so,” says Bapari.

Bapari is holding pow-wows at street corners of the constituency every day and going door-to-door. “We do not have much money. The people here are kind enough to provide us with their rickshaws and they are joining our rallies overwhelmingly. I am very happy to see their enthusiasm. I am focusing on the local issues of bijli, sadak, pani, education and healthcare,” he says.

He says he will hold mohalla sabhas after winning the election and take suggestions from the people. “I will work for the Dalits and will ensure equality and justice. Mamata has ensured full support.  Development is our key goal. I will ensure that the demands of the Dalits are met,” he says.

Bapari wants to continue writing and maintain his down to earth lifestyle. He is a bit anxious because the work might take time away from writing but is happy to be working for the Dalits.

He is also pleased to see the faces of the people he visits.  “A new story is already in my mind. It is likely to be based on the experiences I gathered during this campaign,” says Bapari.

Excerpts from an interview with The Hindu’s Sudipta Datta and Shiv Sahay Singh before the election result.

You have written about the poor and Dalits and the discrimination they face. But did caste play a big role in earlier elections? Why has it become a talking point this time?

The BJP has set foot in Bengal and is dividing the people further on religious and caste lines. We have lived in harmony for many years despite the harsh life we have had to endure. It is criminal to polarise people who are struggling with so many other issues, from high prices of essential food items, the impact of the [corona-]virus, job fears and so forth. We have to protest against this naked show of power and divisiveness. We have to tell the people that if the BJP is allowed to come to power, they will not permit Dalits to enter temples, they will discriminate against us, the poor will become poorer, and no one will be able to read books any more.

Is this one of the reasons why you decided to contest? Did Mamata Banerjee convince you to join the fray?

Yes. I am a Dalit writer. I understand the poor people’s world and I want to tell them to beware of BJP propaganda. The party doesn’t stand for true emancipation of the poor and people must be made to understand that. The BJP is standing on our turf and espousing bravado. This must stop. I write about poor people and I can speak to them in their language. I understand their pain and difficulties because I live that life. As a writer, it is my moral duty to stand up to these divisive forces. When Mamata Banerjee asked me to contest, I decided to go ahead. [Mr. Bapari was transferred to a library at Amtala in South 24 Parganas by the State government in August 2020. He had appealed to the government to relieve him of his duties as a cook in a school, where he had worked for 23 years, because he had found it difficult to lift heavy pans after a knee operation.]

How has the TMC reacted to the threat?

The TMC has fielded 79 Scheduled Caste candidates though there are 68 seats reserved for SCs in the State. Caste was not a factor in Bengal but the BJP has introduced identity politics in the State. Truly, if people were caste conscious, then the BJP would not have risen in Bengal.

What is it that upsets you most about the BJP’s campaign?

They are promoting a society based on Manu’s laws and this leads to divisions, working against equality and freedom. Also, the BJP is a party of outsiders (bahiragato) in Bengal and cannot dictate our lives. They don’t have any idea about the State, and are particularly unaware about what the poor want. Banglar manush unnayan aar shanti chaye (the people of Bengal want development and peace), they want freedom to practise their religion. But the BJP wants to capture everything from language to our culture and that is frightening.

What will you do if elected?

I plan to set up a ‘nagarik (citizen’s) committee’, where I will ask rickshaw pullers, vegetable vendors, fish sellers and people from all levels of society to join. Everyone from all castes and religions will be welcome. We will listen to their problems and needs, help them get benefits of the various schemes that are already in place. We must ensure that even one rupee owed to the poor does not go elsewhere.

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