Partition of India— 

The Dandakaranya and The Women

Sudhir Ranjan Halder

India got independence from British, but it divided India. A few clever elites have divided the country  to maintain their power forever between themselves by using the Hindu-Muslim juggernaut. What else is the same as dividing the ancestral property in a family! Simply put, Hindus will be in one section and Muslims in the other. But in practice it did not happen, it was not possible. In both parts, Hindus, Muslims and people of other religions have been forced to stay for various reasons. Rather, the communal harmony with which Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Christians all lived together before the partition, after the question of partition was raised, that peace was disturbed, Hindu-Muslim disputes started and continued for many years even after the partition. At the same time, the minorities started to migrate from one country to another. Even after seventy-three years of independence (now divided into three countries instead of two), Hindus and Muslims or people of other religions still live together in all the three countries of partitioned India. However, in every country, the minorities are being forced to live by being insulted, humiliated and tortured in various ways by the majority. Maybe the level of insults, humiliations and torture can be less in comparison.

Partition of the country was accomplished largely due to the machinations and whims of a handful of upper class Brahminical political leaders. It is a pity that the common people of India, especially the lower caste people, did not even know its intricacies. However, as a result of partition, they are the most in crisis. They are the victims of all the calamities, tortures and insults. The upper classes moved easily from one country to another and settled down with the same resources as before.

Due to this partition and for this reason, communal riots have taken place in different parts of the country for many years, as millions of people have lost their lives, as well as the dignity of millions of women has been lost. Thousands of women were abducted and forced to become Muslims. They were forcibly converted to Islam. Besides, many families are also forced to become Muslims. This conversion is one sided. Because, due to the obligation of Hinduism, no one of other religion can be converted to that religion and accommodated. Fearing all these atrocities and fate, the educated upper class Hindus, especially the Brhamins, Kayasthas and Baidyas of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) left the country earlier and settled in various cities and suburbs in the less populated West Bengal of India. But the uneducated lower caste Hindus, most of whom are landless or small land owners, whose only livelihood is agriculture, did not dare to step aimlessly on the path of the unknown, despite enduring many injustices and persecutions. But they too have gradually been forced to emigrate in greater numbers, though sometimes the degree of persecution has been too late to exceed the limit. They are completely helpless— they are not in a position to settle anywhere on their own. They are totally dependent on the government. But the government did not have enough surplus land to rehabilitate them with land at that time. So the Government of India has accommodated them in various temporary camps.

Initially these camps were in West Bengal and few peasant families were also resettled in West Bengal. But later due to some unknown reason there is no more surplus land in West Bengal— on this pretext it was decided to resettle those farming families in different states of India. Actually the political leaders of India had no desire to resettle these farming families in West Bengal. The reason was also political. Again, it took many years to decide that they would be resettled separately in other states. Thus, thousands of refugee families are forced to spend years in the refugee camps living an idle life.

People who have been living socially in rural areas in East Bengal since modern times, suddenly came to a refugee camp in the middle of the city and became very scattered. Because, when people from different districts of East Bengal with different customs live together, the earlier social bonds become very loose. Apart from this, it was difficult to support the family with a small amount of dole in the camp life. Because of this, women of many families are forced to work in various jobs such as making Bidis, Paper carton etc. Women who, while in East Bengal, were introverts, engrossed in housework— for whom going out of the house was a reprehensible guilt, came here to become extroverts by necessity. Then when it was decided to resettle them outside West Bengal in various state and Dandakaranya under central government, they were taken to camps in other states of India. They had to spend years in these camps too. Then the social bonds between the refugees in the different environment were completely broken.

In all these camps, women are subjected to various forms of abuse. Many women are forced to go astray while playing an equal role with men in managing the family. But that is not my topic— I am talking about rehabilitated women in Dandakaranya. I will come to that topic now. It must be remembered that the area earmarked for the resettlement of farming families of Bengali refugees in the Dandakaranya scheme, was all hilly and forested area. Among them, by checking the soil of different places and looking for arable land, the forests of those areas have been cleared and the refugees' villages and farming land have been made. In the sense of clearing, the forests with the huge trees that have grown naturally since ancient times have been pulled down by bulldozers and pushed to one side. Then the families had to do whatever it took to make the vacant land cultivable. Land was allotted to each family by lottery. Lottery because not all lands are equal, some are better and some are worse. Some are located near the village, some are far away. But as it was not possible for one family member to cultivate the land and produce crops, it was first cultivated in group system. Twenty-twenty-five families have cultivated their land in groups. Everyone shared the harvest. Of course, it has been cultivated slowly. Various problems have arisen in it. Some can mitigate less, some more. Some come to work on time, some don't, etc. So after that he cultivated his own land separately.

Cultivation in Dandakaranya means cultivation in monsoon water. There is no other way to grow crops without monsoon water. But the land in hilly areas is sloping everywhere. Rainy water does not stand for a while in that land. As soon as it is fallen, it flows down. After a while the soil dries up again. So it is need to make arrangements to retain water in the land. For this, the land has to be divided into small plots, leveled and build dykes firmly. Only then will water stand on that land. In addition, there are many years old huge roots of trees deep in the soil, they break ploughs, from which new trees grow every year. The work of uprooting trees in the land and to build dykes has to be carried out with crowbar and spade.

8. The soil of Dandakaranya is not a soft alluvial soil like that of East Bengal, but a dry hard soil. Some soil is gravel, some moram, some soil mixed with sand. Crowbar and spade are the tools used to cut this soil. It was by no means possible for a male member of a family to level the land with a spade and to frequently weed and uproot trees. So in this case the woman had to come out of the house. The housewives had to labour on that land to cooperate with men. The women in East Bengal who were engaged in housework, keeping the house clean and tidy, and looking after the comfort of the family, who did not even know the location of the cultivated land. It has also been seen in many cases where women have to deal with weak men. Of course, in the family where the number of working men was more than one, the woman of that family may not have to get into this work. But there were very few such families.

It may not be out of place to say in this context that due to Government management, the young men of the agricultural families who were experienced farmers in East Bengal, have grown old, powerless, playing cards while sitting idly in the camps of West Bengal and other states for years. The habit has also gone and become lazy. And those who were children and teenagers, by the time they go to the rehabilitation field, they have become young people, who have no experience of farming. As a result of this, the farming families have faced a lot of difficulties in farming. Keeping cows and goats is an inevitable phenomenon in village farming families. It was also in East Bengal and is in the Dandakaranya. But it must have been necessary to have a cowherd to feed the cows and goats in the Dandakaranya. Just like the fear of wild animals for goats, and if a cow goes behind a mountain, it cannot find its way back again. During cultivation, the cowherd is also necessary with the cattle group to guard the crops. Otherwise they will eat crops. In Baisakh-Jaishtha, there is not even a trace of grass in the fields. At that time, cows and goats had to fill their stomachs by eating the creepers and herbs of the forest at the foot of the mountain. For that, you must go to graze cows and goats.

Women had to go there in many cases. Especially in ten-twelve years, whether it is a boy or a girl, has to go to graze cows and goats in ninety percent of the families. As a result, many girls perished in their teenage years while grazing cows together in the mountains and forests. All the villages of Dandakaranya have been newly established. New soil, lack of water, unpractised in the cultivation, crops outturn not good to the new climate. There is no government help also. Seventy-eighty percent of the families have no food in the house three to six months after the harvest. Many men and women then had to go outside the village as laborers for various jobs under government contractors, such as cutting earth, breaking stones, helper of masons, etc. No one was familiar with these works— especially the women. But urged by the sting of hunger is big responsibility. So the women also had to work as laborers to feed the little children. They had to step outside their house while doing that work. And how many hyenas are there— these helpless women have to be victims of them. As a result, many women have stumbled. Among the government employees who lived in the village of Dandakaranya were Teachers, Sewaks, Pharmacists, Chowkidars, Agricultural workers etc. There were one or two teachers in almost every village. Sewak is one in every three-four villages, so is the pharmacist. Chowkidars, Agricultural workers were in special villages. All of them lived in the government quarters in the village. Some of the elderly among them lived with their families. Most were unmarried young men. Many lived apart from their families. All of them need maids. Young men don't know how to cook, can't wash dishes, don't know how to clean clothes. Those who live with family also have a lot of work. So every one of them wants a maid. Where to meet maid? Where there is a scarcity for twelve months of the year, the women of the house have to go out to do the work to feed the children, in that situation, if two paise is earned by working in the house of the Government  Babus (employee) of the village, then what is bad!. So there is no dearth of maids for Babus. It is easy to join for a small salary. And came to this forest abroad without entertainment and saw a young girl or wife working alone in his house, how long will they stay hungry! In this way, many girls have been ruined.

Although the Government Employees in the Dandakaranya Project included people of different languages from different Provinces, the Village Employees were mostly Bengalis. But though Bengali, they were mostly Brahmin-Kayet and from West Bengal. Almost all of the others, including Brahmin-Kayet, hated the refugee families. The refugee families treated them as if they were just another animal. The refugee women's dignity was a plaything to them— it had no value to them. They had the mindset that it doesn't matter if they enjoy it for a little bit of money or never at all. Non-Bengali Employees also had the same attitude towards refugees as Bengali Employees. In addition, they felt a special attraction towards refugee women. Sewakbabu was the most important person in the village. He was as a minor god to the refugees. It depended on his recommendation whether a family would get rice-flour, agricultural implements or any other government aid or not. There was something to please some of the Sewakbabus. A young wife of an ill husband or a widow used to make this pleasure.

As mentioned earlier, the social bonds between the refugee families were almost completely broken when they came to Dandakaranya. Not only social bonds were broken, Bengali language, culture and morals were also destroyed. The environment in the villages was no better. None of the neighbors are acquaintanted or own man. They came from different areas of different districts and built houses side by side. Even then no one could think of anyone as own man. Rather, there was a mentality of showing contempt for each other because of different regions. So no one had the effort to bother in any way other than to mumble about what was going on in someone's house. Unless something big happens with women doing immoral things, others don't think about it. Basically, there was a big change in everyone's mentality— everyone was busy with their own problems.

13. Local liquor was made from Mahua flower in the surrounding tribal villages. Mahua trees are scattered here. Mahua is also a cash crop here. Like the price of its flowers, so is the fruit. Mahua juice has replaced ‘Som-ras’ here. The Bengali youths also came here and got used to the intoxication of those ‘Som-ras’— Mahua-wine. Intoxication also put an evil on the head of many. Many men also casted evil eyes at the young women of the village. There was some scandals about this. No one could have imagined these things in the social order in their original country.

From such a situation suddenly came the urge to go to Sundarbans. The residents of Dandakaranya became refugees once again. Being refugee and living in the midst of uncertainty means the story of women's humiliation and loss of dignity. Even after this, it cannot be concluded that there are many more cases of women losing their dignity and becoming destitute after returning to the Dandakaranya. I know of a woman who told me the story of her life knowing that I write a little. It would be wrong to say that she had heard it, because she was ashamed to say it. Finally, after many requests, she gave it to me in written form on condition of complete confidentiality. It would not be out of place to mention her story very briefly here.

The woman is currently an Anganwadi Worker. Now she will be fifty-fifty-six. When she was in primary school (due to being in various refugee camps she had to study at a slightly older age), her teacher first ruined his dignity by calling her to his room in the name of teaching. The teacher continued this incident many times by persuading the teenager in various ways. As a result, the girl became pregnant. She was rescued from it after many efforts by the family. But when it became known in the village, the name of the girl became infamous. As a result, many people start to influence unfavourably when they see the girl alone. However, avoiding all that, the girl continues to study high school from the hostel with a single effort. The girl's old father had already died. The eldest of the three brothers got married and separated long ago. And the younger of the two brothers got married and went to the town. During a summer vacation, the girl went to her brother's house in the town to help her daughter-in-law in taking care of her children. The daughter-in-law talks to a boy saying that he will marry her. The boy also flirts with her saying he will marry her. The girl is somehow forced to do these things at the instigation of her daughter-in-law. This also has toxic consequences. When the girl became pregnant again, the boy ran away to West Bengal. This is how the girl is ruined for the second time. This time too she was somehow released with the help of her mother.

Then the girl's mother died suddenly before her secondary exams. Second elder brother is lazy, drunkard. However, his mother took him to work in the fields. After the death of her mother, the girl fell into despair and could not study properly. He can't even pass the Madhyamik exam. A sister who is six years younger than her in high school is now in charge of her. The family of these three is now. The younger sister is very beautiful. So many young want to marry her. Even though she grew up, who will marry her because of the stigma attached to her name? Moreover, she also looks black. So, thinking about the incident in her life, the girl arranges the marriage of her younger sister. Otherwise it will not be possible to save her from the lust of a lustful man. After that, the family of elder brother and sister continued.

Starting with cow grazing, the girl was also forced to go to the field with her brother to help in farming. Neither the girl nor her brother know where their own relatives are, in Nainital or the Andamans. Then after many attempts the girl got the job of Anganwadi worker. Her duty falls in a tribal village near the village. On the first day of work, she met the secretary of the Panchayat office. Her signature is required to join the work. He is an Oriya Brahmin— aged fifty-five—fifty-six. He lived alone in a house in that village. The young wife of a poor tribal worked in his house and he indulged her unquestioningly. His second wife lived with ten children in his house in the town. Meanwhile, the indigenous young woman has a son of her womb, legitimately born by him. He used to keep him outside the hostel and teach him. He knew about this girl's misdeeds from his Bengali acquaintances. So, thinking that the girl would be readily available, he started chasing her from that day on. Whenever he calls the girl and makes bad proposals saying so-and-so, giving various pretexts. In this regard, some Bengali youths of the village helped the man by persuasion. In the end, the situation is such that the girl is forced to respond to the man's bad proposal to save her honor. Slowly sometimes he is forced to spend the night in his house. Meanwhile the man's second wife died suddenly. The man is in danger with small children. The first wife was already dead. Realizing that it is no longer possible for a virgin girl to be married thirdly to a man of her age in the Oriya Brahmin society, the man proposed to marry the girl. The girl is so entangled in his web that she cannot find any way to get free from it. Their relationship has also become public knowledge. The girl obliges and agrees. But that Oriya Brahmin is so clever that he socially refuses to marry according to Shastra. As the reason, the girl is told that her wife dies again and again, so this time she will go to a temple and get married. Saying this, he took the girl to a temple in a far away town and got married with exchanged garlands. After that, without any social ceremony, he started family life with her and gave her the responsibility of bringing up her small children. The girl stays in her house like a wife and brings up her children. Along with that, the boy born in the womb of the native tribe of the man is also kept close and raised as his own son. Because that boy's mother died suddenly of some disease. At that time the girl was only twenty-three years old and the man was fifty-five—fifty-six years old. The saddest thing is that every time a child is born in the girl's womb, the girl is taken to a distant private hospital for an abortion on various pretexts, and the last time, without informing the girl during the abortion, she is made to have a permanent sterilization by lying to the doctor that she has child— so that no child is born in the womb of someone of low caste like this girl in his father's identity. When the girl found out, there was nothing else to do. The man did not have to carry the paternity of the boy born in the womb of the adivasi. The woman's husband was sick but alive.

After that the man lived for about twelve years. He later died of cancer. Meanwhile his children have grown up. Sons learn to earn. They all leave the girl in their town house. The girl lies alone in that tribal village with the boy born in the womb of the tribal woman.The girl was only thirty-five years old! When the tribal boy grows up, the girl gave marry him. But after marriage he also separated and went back to his original home with his wife. Now the girl somehow ekes out a living as a little Anganwadi Worker in utter destitution.

So, this is the short life story of a girl, all of which happened to live in the new environment of Dandakaranya without relatives in the circumstances arising out of partition. A large novel can be written about this incident. Many other girls like this girl have met a tragic end in this Dandakaranya— which is rooted in partition of India.