Shital Shamdhan Maher
The society has been studied by different approaches and angles in humanities and social sciences. Society is a place where a person or groups strive to attain equilibrium in cultural, social, political, economical aspects with a person or groups who possess the power to utilize it. Some people still lack behind in becoming the creative part of the society. It may include immigrants, migrants, expatriate, refugees, marginal and subalterns.
Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide narrates the miserable life of Bangladeshi refugees and the Morichjhapi massacre. The present paper is an attempt to study the refugees in terms of the subalterns. Refugees are those people who have to live outside their country due to persecution which may be done the basis of religion, race, castes etc. The terms refugee and subaltern have different dimensions.
Etymologically the word subaltern means ‘of inferior rank’. It is used to demonstrate the person or groups, who are lower in position or rank. “Subaltern is a British word for someone of inferior rank, and combines the Latin terms for “under” (sub) and “other” (alter).”1 It may include workers, homeless, peasants, women etc.
An Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci used the term subaltern for the first time in his theory of ‘Hegemony’. He uses the term to refer to the groups, who are denied to utilize the hegemonic power. Being a Marxist, Gramsci studied the notion from the political and historical point of view. Gramsci states that the history of elite class is accepted as the history of society. Therefore, he suggests the reassessment of the subaltern history in his book entitled ‘Notes on Italian History’ (1934-5)
The Post-Colonial critic, Homi Bhabha also defined the notion of subaltern groups. He states that the existence of majority group relies on the existence of minority group, who yearn for the hegemonic power and endeavor to access it.
Ranajit Guha established Subaltern Studies group. It intends to study the historiography of subalterns and subaltern themes in South Asian Studies. David Arnold, Partha Chatterjee, David Hardiman, Shahid Amin, Gyan Pandy are the members of this group. The group published Selected Subaltern Studies (1988), which examines the social, political, economical and historical status of subalterns in the elite society. In this reference Leela Gandhi has remarked as:
“In other words, subaltern studies defined itself as an attempt to allow the people finally to speak within the jealous pages of elitist historiography and in so doing, to speak for, or to sound the muted voices of the truly oppressed “2
Gaytri Spivak’s essay ‘Can the Subaltern Speak?’ popularized the term subaltern in the Post- Colonial theory. Spivak’s analytical study of the subaltern is gender oriented. She has particularly focused on the females of the Third World as the subaltern.Spivak opines that the patriarchal society and colonial power have doubly oppressed the female of the Third World. Spivak’s detailed study of the ‘Sati tradition showcases how women as subalterns have lost their voices. She said “If, in the context of colonial production, the subaltern has no history and cannot speak, the subaltern as female is even more deeply in shadow.”3 Though the notion subaltern has been discussed variously, there are some views which can be put together as the tenets of this theory.They are as follows:-
- Subalterns are voiceless, they are unheard.
- Subalterns have no history. Need to reappraise the historiography of elite class.
- Exclusion of subalterns from accessing the hegemonic power.
- To resist the domination of upper class.
The paper attempts to study the refugees of Bangladesh as the subalterns. Their history and miserable journey resemble the subalterns subjugated by the elite class. Ghosh dramatizes and fictionalize the miserable saga of refugees eloquently.
The Hungry Tide is an account of the journey of an Indo-American cataloguist Piya Roy. Fokir, a boatman assists her in the research of the river dolphins, the Orcaella. Kanai Dutt, a Delhi based businessman set out to Lusibari on the request of his aunt Nilima, who invited him to read the journal of his dead uncle, Nirmal.
Nirmal and Horen (another boatman) are witnesses of the Morichjhapi massacre (1978-79) of Bangladeshi refugees in the novel. The refugees come from Bangladesh after the partition. Kusum with her little child, Fokir, returns along with refugees in the Sundarbans. Kusum resists for the rights of refugees and is killed in an assault.Nilima narrates the incident of Morichjhapi carnage to Kanai She says:
“In Bangladesh they had been among the poorest of rural people, oppressed and exploited both by Muslim communalists and by Hindus of the upper castes”4
The novel brings forth the history of post-Partition India and the crisis occurred. The refugees come from East Bengal and are sent to Dandakaranya, Madhya Pradesh in 1961.They are forced to settle and live in an unhealthy atmosphere and have to face the assailant by native tribal people. This attack is depicted as:
The local people treated them as intruders,attacking them with bows, arrows and other weapons’ “5
Thus they are harassed and remain unheard. In 1978, when a left government comes into power, these refugees go to Morichjhapi island and try to settle there. Nirmal is an active revolutionist in the past years. He is a retired schoolmaster now, who unconsciously involved himself in the sufferings of Kusum and other settlers.
On the Morichjhapi island, the refugees construct their small world of happiness. Kusum invites Horen and Nirmal to participate in their celebration of getting home. Nirmal says:-
“Was it possible, even, that in Morichjhapi…if not a Dalit
nation,then at least a safe heaven, a place of true
freedom for the country’s most oppressed?6
The dreams of these refugees very soon come to end, when they are asked to turn back and return to their previous place i.e. Dandakaranya, Madhay Pradesh. Kusum expresses her violent anger by questioning, which makes Nirmal totally dumb and helpless. Bengal Government declares Morichjhapi ilsand as the area of preservation for animals. Kusum asks, “Who are these people … who love animals so much that they are willing to kill us for them?”7
The police forces arrive in Morichjhapi for patrolling and announcing consistently to abandon the place. They not only destroy tube wells but also impede the supply of ration which results in starvation. The settlers have to eat grass for their survival. Some of the settlers resist the force and ask for their right to live as in the society.
“Who are we… where? do we belong ? … we are the dispossessed.”8
The above cited quotation expresses the hollow life of the refugees, who wander aimlessly in search of their existence and identify among the elite class.
Women are exploited and killed in the Morichjhapi carnage. Ghosh explicates the incident that cleaves our hearts; Horen narrates the incident in vague manner to Kanai. Horen says:-
“…. a group of women were taken away by force,
Kusum among them.people say they
Were used and then thrown Into the rivers so that they would be washed away by tides.”9
Through Nilima and Nirmal, Ghosh puts forth the contrast between two ideologies: liberalism and utopias respectively. Nilima believes that one can work for betterment of few people in the modern age. So she is satisfied with the trust, which she has for the people of tide country. Nirmal, as a revolutionist believes in a complete transformation, which can bring betterment for all.
Nilima appreciates Sir Daniel Hamilton’s colonial settlement and his creative experiment of making Lusibari. On the contrary, Nirmal appreciates and supports the settlers, who also have the right to live on Morichjhpi island. Nirmal says:-
“…were the dreams of These settlers less valuable
Than those of a man like Sir Daniel just because he was a rich
shaheb and they impoverished refugees?”10
Thus, Nirmal’s defense of the settlers showcases his utopian-subaltern ideology.
The refugees from Bangladesh are thus the oppressed subalterns whose voices have been silenced. Their indifferent existence in the society has proven them as subaltern identities. The tragedy of Morichjhapi carnage remained unheard and unnoticed.Ghosh has eloquently reread the history of the subalterns which is a very essential and successful step of studying the subalterns.
Works Cited:
- Abrahmas.M.H., A Glossary of Literary Terms, Seventh Edition,Banglore,Prism Books
,Pvt.Ltd,2007,p.237
- Das.Bijay Kumar,Twentieth Century Literary Criticism,Delhi,Athlantic Publisher,Pvt.Ltd,2007.p.141
- Bertens.Hans, Literary Theory: The Basics, London, Routledge, 2001.p.212
- Ghosh.Amitav, The Hungry Tide,Delhi,RaviDayal Publisher,2004.p.118
- Ibid, p.118
- Ibid.p.191
7. Ibid.p.261-262
- Ibid.p.254
- Ibid, p.279
Ibid, p.213