Issue of Dalit Identity and the Partition of Bengal

This paper attempts to present the history of partition of Bengal and the issues of Dalit communities that they faced during and aftermath of partition of India in 1947. It presents the experiences of the ‘Chhotolok’ or Dalits and the sufferings they encountered because of the bifurcation of the Bengal province. The paper deals with the migration process in Bengal side and the treatment of government and higher-class societies towards lower class/caste people in their ‘new homeland’. The paper presents an account of representation of Dalits in Bengali partition narratives and the literature written by Dalit writers. The paper also presents their struggles in Dandyakaranya forest and the incident of Marichjhapi Massacre in post-partition Bengal as depicted in several Bengali partition novels written in Bengali and English language.