The Decline of the Caste Question, Jogendranath Mandal and the Defeat of Dalit Politics in Bengal

Description

This revisionist history of caste politics in twentieth-century Bengal argues that the decline of this form of political mobilization in the region was as much the result of coercion as of consent. It traces this process through the political career of Jogendranath Mandal, the leader of the Dalit movement in eastern India and a figure of prominence in the history of India and Pakistan, over the transition of Partition and Independence. Utilizing Mandal’s private papers, this study reveals both the strength and achievements of his movement for Dalit recogni- tion, as well as the major challenges and constraints he encountered. Departing from analyses that have stressed the role of integration, Dwaipayan Sen demonstrates how a wide range of coercions shaped the eventual defeat of Dalit politics in Bengal. The region’s acclaimed “castelessness” was born of the historical refusal of Mandal’s struggle to pose the caste question. List of Figures page viii List of Tables ix Acknowledgments x Introduction: Rethinking Castelessness in Mid-Twentieth- Century Bengal 1 1 Jogendranath Mandal, the Politics of Caste, and Provincial Autonomy, 1932–1937 23 2 Representation, Education, and Agrarian Reform: Jogendranath Mandal and the Demands of Dalit Politics, 1937–1943 62 3 A Separate Political Existence: The Making of the Bengal Scheduled Castes Federation, 1943–1945 94 4 “No Matter How, Jogendranath Had to Be Defeated”: The Scheduled Castes Federation and the Partition of Bengal, 1945–1947 137 5 Betrayed Expectations: East Pakistan and West Bengal, 1947–1950 183 6 “A Caste Hindu State”: Jogendranath Mandal and the Forced Removal of Dalit Refugees, 1950–1964 211 7 The Decline of the Caste Question: The Defeat of Dalit Politics in Bengal, 1952–1968 238 Conclusion: “The Most Casteist Society in India” 265 Bibliography 279 Index 292