Matua Sahitya is the only Dalit Sahitya under the Bengali literature. It is based on the Matua religion of the Dalits of East Bengal (now Bangladesh). The greatness of Matua Sahitya forced Kalyani and other universities of West Bengal to award the degree of Ph.D. in the subject. Matua religion was founded by Harichand Thakur of Orakandi, Gopalganj district, East Bengal, now Bangladesh.
Harichand was considered an Avatar, like Krishna and Buddha, but hated by the upper castes and the brahminical social order. Because he was a Dalit’ (Namasudra). He was born in 1812 AD. At that time the untouchables of East Bengal were embracing an Islam and Christianity in big way. Had not he appeared then, Untouchables would have en masse become Christians. He founded the Matua religion and saved them from conversion to other religions. He died in 1877. His chief disciple, a famous folk poet and saint, late Tarak Chandra Sarkar, wrote the life history of Harichand. This life history of Harichand is called Sri Harililamrita, a big book of poems. The saint Tarak Chandra Sarkar was also a Namasudra (Untouchable). He wrote another book, Mahasankirian, a book of songs at the end of 19th century. He died in 1914. Harililamrita was first printed in 1916, two years after his death. Its composer bribed the Calcutta Sasira Prachar Press manager. Because, the Press Authority refused to print it on the ground that Harichand was an Untouchable and hence can’t be called an Avatar.
Vaishnava persecution: East Bengal was mainly populated by the Untouchables, the Namasudras being 50% of the total “Hindu” population. Because of the Vaishnav religion innovated by Chaitanyadeb, Untouchables were persecuted like anything. Upper caste oppression had reached its peak. Because of 20 Dalit Voice this, conversion became popular.
Harililamrita is the oldest book on Dalits in Bengali literature. Perhaps it is the oldest book on Dalits in the whole India. Hence Saint Tarak Chandra Sarkar may be hailed as the Father of Dalit Sahitya in India.
Mauritius is Dalit: The Island of Mauritius is also an independent Dalit country. The people of Mauritius are the latest generation oi Indian laborers supplied 200. years ago, by the foreigners for cultivation of sugarcane. They went there with the Hindu religious book, Ramcharit Manas, in Hindi written by Tulsidas. But Dalits cannot depend upon any such Hindu scriptures which are full of brahminism preaching against our basic interests. In the circumstances we. should have a common religious book. The Harililamrita of Matua religion fills this gap. This should be translated into English and other languages so that the Dalits can unite on the basis of a single, religious culture.
Are we advising Dalits to embrace Matua religion? The answer is found in the Harililamrita. Those following Matua religion in India and Bangladesh are about 1 crore. It is my opinion that if Dr. Ambedkar was aware of Matua religion, then he would have embraced it. Hari sangeet, a book of Matua song written by Saint Ashwini Kumar Sarkar, is highly valued. This book is better than the Gitanjali f Rabindranath Tagore. Harichand Avatar is nothing but Hari Avatar. His son guruchand Thakur was also an Avatar. All these miracles are described in the books by Bicharan Pagal and Guruchand Charit composed by the late Acherjea Mahananda Halder, advocate and MLA.
How Dr. Ambedkar got Into Parliament: Guruchand – May 1-15, 1991 was not only an Avatar but was also a great social reformer, preacher of Matua religion and educationist of East Bengal. His education movement in 1881, ten years priors o Dr. Ambedkar’s birth, made many people politically conscious. The education movement produced Jogendra Nath Mandal, Mukunda Behari Mallik, Dwarika Nath Barari, Gayanath Biswas etc. — all of whom voted for Dr. Ambedkar to be a member of Parliament prior to independence in 1946. Without their support Dr. Ambedkar could never has become a member of the Constituent Assembly and drafted the Constitution of India. All the above supporters of Dr. Ambedkar belonged to the great Namasudra community of Guruchand Thakur. That is why Guruchand Thakur is highly respected by the followers of Dr. Ambedkar in India.
Dr. Ambedkar revolution his own Mahar community in Maharashtra. This community was divided into 18 sects. Dr. Ambedkar united them into one Mahar community. Guruchand Thakur also united his own Namasudra into one community divided into eight sects.
Matua religion is dead opposed to brahminism. It is an independent religion like Buddhism and Sikhism. Hundreds of non-Bengalees are embracing it attracted by its simplicity and greatness. Due to the partition of India the Matua people got scattered in West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, UP, MP, Maharashtra, the Andamans. The total number of Matua population is not known. In Bangladesh it may be about 60 lakhs. The greatest festival of them is birth anniversary of Harichand on Madhu Krishna Triodes Tithi every year. On that occasion a Baruni Mela is held at Orakandi in Bangladesh, about 7 lakhs of people attend it. Mela is also held at Thakur Nagar in 24 Pargana’s, West Bengal, the Bangladesh government declares a national holiday for this.
(Excerpts from the speech delivered at the 6th National conference of Dalit writers held in Delhi on Dec. 6-7, 1990 under the auspices of Bhartiya Dalit Sahitya Academy).
