Скачать или смотреть Resistance to Casteism: Colonial, Postcolonial and Communist in Bengal

Sapon Kumar Mistri is an author and activist from Kolkata. he spaeks about the caste experiences of his father and grandfather when they were working and studying respectivley. The latter's resistance against the casteist practices at school was acknowledged by a follower of Harichand Thakur- the Matua leader-and it led to the inception of a school by the Dalits. He continues with how the upper castes' ingenuity kept away dalits and tribals from the reserved seats. he claims that the Dalits brought the left Government from power as they understood that the left is doing nothing for them. He also gives us an account about the upper caste employees aggressive stand against the OBCs, SCs and STs during the mandal period and how he had to defend these groups. he gives us an account of how he was forced to change his surname to Mitra to get a job. The interview continues with an account of the casteist practices within the Communist Party of India Marxist-Leninst of which he was a part of . He says that when the Communists loudly proclaim that there is no caste in Bengal this is what happened under their regime. He says about the distinct caste based perfomativity of that the cadres were asked to undergo and how brahmins would wait for the dalits to come and wash plates from which the OBC and SC cadres had taken food and how if a lunch was fixed at a lower caste house the upper caste would make their own food. While he asked for a discussion on this and wrote a letter to the Central Committee but the upper castes who held power positions never let it reach there. The comrades at the local comitte had a great idea for the "upliftment" of the dalit leaders- just change your surname. he says he left the party at that moment and found out Ambedkar's works and embraced his ideology.