Dalit Protest Unbridled : Two Dozen Plays of Raju Das

The twenty-four plays in this collection deal with various issues historical, social, political, diasporas and sometimes autobiographical. The hegemonic class has often hushed up the history of the Dalits and thereby silenced them. Raju Das’s plays like “Mahatma Bhegai Halder” and “King Mani Bhangar” unearth the hushed up incidents and thereby discover the glorious history of the Dalits and provide them with a voice. The socio-political views of Harichand and Guruchand Thakur are presented in the plays like “Partition of Bengal” and “Domiciliary Custom of Harichand”. Contemporary issues of social problems find expression in the plays like “12th June”. “Ragging”, “Black Law-2003”, “Corona Virus”, “Fight for Land” etc. A major portion of Dalit literature in Bengal deal with the diasporas issues. It is well addressed in the plays like “In Search of the Roots” and “A Conversation between Fatima and Rama”. It is noteworthy that Raju Das who is the Director of Shantikunja Blind Natya Academy has written plays with disabled characters. The names of “Light in Darkness” and “The Sky” deserve mention. The issue of Dalit feminism is well-addressed in the plays like “Firebrand Females of the Badaban” and “Tears in Women’s Eyes”.

It is very much an academic necessity to publish the translations of the plays of Raju Das in order to take them to a wider readership, both in Bengal and outside Bengal, and thereby make the readers aware of the Dalit drama tradition of Bengal.

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