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Naxalite Movement as a Millennium Satan in Mahasweta Devi’s Mother of

1084

Article · December 2016

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 Devanga Arts College Manas Vol. 8, No.1, December 2016
(A Multidisciplinary Research Journal)

NAXALITE MOVEMENT AS A MILLENNIUM SATAN IN

MAHASWETA DEVI’S MOTHER OF 1084

Dr. M. P. GANESAN

Mahasoneta Devi is a Bengali by birth. Even in young age she has started to show a
deep interest in literature. This is evident from her rich and abundant contribution of stories to
literary magazines. She was born in the year 1926. At her age of 31, she published her first
novel „Nati‟ in 1957. Almost from all her works, the readers can get socially relevant
message. Devi is not only a writer but also a rebellious social activist. She has taken part in
several struggles that aimed at achieving the rights of the tribal, minorities and marginalised
communities. She does not stop with that rather she has associated herself with many social
Movements that need solid support to rebel against the persisting feudalism, state negligence,
labour in agreement basis to uplift the status of tribal communities‟ untouchables and the
marginalised.
Devi has understood onell that she cannot reach the people of all classes in the society
unless she becomes a popular writer. So she is clear and clever in developing interest and
choosing her career as a writer. Through the written medium, Devi finds its easy to reach and
communicate with the people to acknowledge and enlighten them about the social
Movements that help in attaining a decent status as an individual with no reference to the
class, creed or community.
She is a recipient of many literary awards of India. She has been honoured for her
social work as an activist and the awards she has received Padmavibhusan, Magsaysay and
Padmashree awards. Gnanapith Award which is India‟s highest literary award, Yashwant Rao
Chavan National Award for 2010 are awarded for her remarkable contribution to national
integration, and for imposing democratic values and for socio-economic development of our
country. Her contribution to the society as a social activist has admired and inspired the
HRDM and it has appointed her as a National Research Professor for a term of 5 years from
February, 2011. So as a writer cum activist, she has become a dynamic personality in the
society. Through her literary works of art, she “represents a profound concern for human
predicament & sincere hope for the better future of mankind.”
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Naxalite Movement has a great influence
in the lives of the people and also in literature which is the reflection of life. Especially in the
works of Devi, the drastic effects and impacts of the Naxalite Movement is made more
evident.
„Hajur Churashir Maa‟ is a novel which was published in 1974 in Bengali. Later it
was translated and dramatised in English by Devi herself as “Mother of 1084”. In this paper,
the focus is on the drama “Mother of 1084”. It focuses on multiple themes like Naxalite
Movements and its impact on the society, family relationship, forlorn women, transformation,
growth and development of woman, male chauvinism, lack of ideological, social and moral

Assistant Professor of English, Sourashtra College, Madurai

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 Devanga Arts College Manas Vol. 8, No.1, December 2016
(A Multidisciplinary Research Journal)

values etc., From this it is evident that Devi as a social conscious writer, has focussed on the
all important genres of the society that needs some alterations and changes for the betterment
of our country.
Devi is an interview in 1983, said that this Naxalite Movement is a major event and
she felt that it is “an urge and an obligation to document”. In the play, Devi talks about the
Naxalite Movement that was started in the Naxal Bari region of Onest Bengal. The
Movement was started to fight against the landlords and money lenders. The Movement has
arisen as a rebellion to revolt in favour of the tribal and the landless people. The landless
people work as bonded labourers under the landlords for a very low wages. The revolt against
the landlords and moneylenders is rural in the beginning and gradually the Movement has got
good response from the young student group belonging to urban area.
The protagonist of the play is Brati who is a youngster like the student groups has
associated himself with the Naxalite Movement to serve the needy and marginalised. The
play revolves around Sujatha a middle aged women belonging to a bourgeois Calcutta family.
Brati is the son of Sujatha. The play focuses on the suppression and neglection of women and
it is evident from the character of Sujatha in the play. Brati‟s ideology is to commit himself to
the revolutionary and communist Naxalite Movement. He is labelled as a naxal and is killed
ruthlessly by the police in an encounter.
Brati‟s mother Sujatha was born in a onealthy family and is fated to marry Dibyanath
Chatterjee a chartered accountant who does not have a sound financial background. Sujatha
has four children. Jyoti and Brati are her sons and Nipa and Tula are her daughters. Of all her
four children, Sujatha loves Brati much. When the play opens, Jyoti and Nipa are already
married and they seem to live a happy and onell settled life in the eyes of the others. But it is
not true and it is discovered by Sujatha later and she has understood that they are happy
outwardly. Since Sujatha is married to Dibyanath who is not onell off, she is forced by her
husband to go for work to help her family to face the financial crisis. Dibyanath has arranged
for a job to his wife and has let her to go for work to fulfil his selfish motives. After the crisis
is over, he wants her to give up the job. He does not deserve Sujatha to be his wife. He is a
womanizer and highly selfish. He never cares for her and she is just a sexual object to be
made use of whenever he needs. He never stands by the side of his wife during the delivery
of her children. She has remained all alone. According Simon De Beauvoir,
Since patriarchal women have in general been forced to occupy a secondary place in
the world in relation to men...this secondary standing is not imposed of necessity by natural
„feminine‟ characteristics but rather by strong environ mental forces of educational and social
tradition under the purposeful control of men... this, has resulted in the general failure of
women to talk a place of human dignity as free and independent existents, associated with
men on a plane of intellectual and professional; equality, a condition that not only has limited
their achievement in many fields but also has given rise to pervasive social evils.
(qtd Prabhakar. M 37)
Dibyanath is highly selfish and an incorrigible philanderer who never cares for his
own wife who has helped him financially at critical times. Though he is not loving and
responsible husband she remains responsible and loyal to him where as he has relationship

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 Devanga Arts College Manas Vol. 8, No.1, December 2016
(A Multidisciplinary Research Journal)

with typist in his office. Except Brati, her husband, her children and her mother in law simply
give implicit approval of whatever Dibyanath does. She is cheated by both her husband and
children. To such a father, Brati is born as a sharp contrast in all the points Unlike Dibyanath,
Brati is committed, socially responsible, loves his mother, and he doesn‟t want to accept
anything that prevails in the society as it is whereas his father, brother and sisters lead a
satisfied life on the superficial level.
Naxal Movement is one case of violence that is both part and apart from political
process and party politics. Naxal Movement refers to the Left wing extremist Movement that
has its origin in May 1967 peasant uprising at Naxalbari in the Darjeeling district of Onest
Bengal. Violence as a technique, of Naxal Movement was right there from the beginning.
Hoonever, indiscriminate use of violence and counter violence in the name of development
has somehow made the Naxal Movement a more complex phenomenon. The indiscriminate
use of violence will advance the cause of revolution and it is like believing that one can
obtain miraculous cure by plunging a scalpel into any part of the body. Naxalites do Killing
of innocent civilians, hijacking trains, kidnapping government officials, raiding jails and
freeing criminals, sitting over the mines and mineral deposits of the country and not allowing
any type of development work to start. What kind of revolution the Naxals are trying to bring
by resorting to these means of violence is a question.
Brati is unique in his own ways. As an ideal mother, Sujatha is able to guess it even at
the time of his birth. He does not want to live a self centred gloating life rather he wants to
live for the others “Others” refers to the marginalised, landless labours. This has made him
feel that his unique ideology commitment and social responsibility will get wings to fly if
only he associates himself with the revolutionary Movement.
Brati is so close with his mother and has had no secret of his disregard and contempt
for his familial code and value system from his childhood. But he has turned back to the
dissipated and obsolete code and has decided to join the Naxalite Movement to sweep all the
unwanted decadent codes and value systems that give importance and status to the people on
the basis of class, caste and religion.
Brati is a well educated and rebellious youth. He should be able to analyse the pros
and cons of the deeds that he does. Not only Brati, but all youth should have the ability to
analyse things and also the decision making power. Since Brati wants to serve the needy
people by associating himself with the Naxalite Movement, he met with a ruthless death. His
decision to revolt against the landlords is not wrong but the way he has chosen to do that is
wrong. Though the aim of the Naxalite Movement is a noble one, the path or the way they
choose to achieve it is always risking and endangering the lives of the victimised poor
peasants for whom they revolt against and also the common men in the society. To express
their dissatisfaction or rejection towards any scheme or law that is implemented by the
government, they use to blast a public place or public property where off in which many
people use to gather and thus lead to the ruthless mass murder of many innocent victims.
In that way, Brati is in an urge to do something for these bonded labourers and tribal
and has endangered or risked his own life by joining in the Naxalite Movement as a naxal.
Thus one can see the Naxalite Movement as a Satan has swallowed the lives of many youth

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(A Multidisciplinary Research Journal)

like Brati. The worst thing is that when the police give the information to Dibyanath to
identify the dead body of his son, he does not seem to show any kind of shock rather he is
very particular and cautious of not letting the name of his son in the report of the newspaper.
He has accused Sujatha for misleading her son to become a rebel. Here, the egoist nature of
the father can be understood from this word. “Bad Company, bad friends, the mother‟s
influence”.
It is the nature of Indian youth to have helping tendency towards their society. Brati is
not an exemption though he is born in a rich family. He has the intention to help poor
peasants he thinks that those who have wealth can help and give support the poor peasants.
So he involves himself in Naxalite Movement. If he has got married or become an aged and
experienced he would have come to know that the violence can produce only loss and not the
fruitful result. He doesn‟t get proper care and guidance from his father and this is also a
reason for his wrong selection of the way to do good things to people.
Brati‟s nexus with the Naxalite Movement has made even his father to disown him
after his death. Since he is labelled as a naxal, and his father has refused to go and identify
the dead body of Brati, he is given a proper identity neither by his nor by his parent‟s name.
He is given a dehumanized identity with the corpse number as 1084. Though Brati wants to
serve the tribal and landless peasants as a rebellion in the Naxalite Movement he is not
respected for his noble aim neither by the police nor by his father, Dibyanath has restricted
his family members from going and identifying Brati‟s dead body.
The male dominating attitude of men has its rise because of the women who stays
away from questioning from them. So men have got the freedom to do whatever they want to
do and at the unquestioning attitude of women. Society starts to get demoralised and thereby
the familial codes begin to decay. The decay of the familial codes has led to the strong
rootedness of male domination and that domination has become contagious and spreads from
familial level to caste, caste to class and class to religion and thus the entire value system has
become defunct. Thus, the readers can see that all the social issues that rise day by day in the
society has links among themselves in one way or the other.
Dibyanath is an honest and responsible representative of the male dominated society
but not an honest husband or a responsible father. As soon as he comes to know about the
death news of his son, instead of rushing to the police station, he tries to hush up the matter
so that his so called „dignity‟ will not get spoiled. It is evident from the following dialogue.
Sujata: (uncomprehending in a panic). What‟ll you hush up? What are you talking
about?
Dibyanath: Jyoti, there is no time to waste. He goes out.
Sujata : Jyoti! (Jyoti busy in dialing a number) He does not reply Jyoti!
(Reproving). Jyoti What‟s Happened? (Mother of 1084 - 04)
Sujata : “But that soon? Even before the body‟s been indentified? A father gets the
news on the telephone and does not even think of rusing to have a look? All he can think of is
that he‟d be comprised if his car onent to kantakapukur!” (Mother of 1084 – 09)
Brati wants to show his contempt towards defunct value system and familial code by
associating himself with the Naxalite Movement and in that effort he has forgotten the

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 Devanga Arts College Manas Vol. 8, No.1, December 2016
(A Multidisciplinary Research Journal)

dissipated and obsolete attitude and contempt that people have towards the Naxalite
Movement since it causes ruin to the lives of the common men in the name of revolting or
protesting against the authoritative people or the government. Thus, it is again evident that
the Naxalite Movement is a Satan in the 20th century.
The typical motherhood always shows care and concern for its children without
minding the nature and character of them. In that way Sujatha does not want to withstand the
false social respectability and the fear of the public views and opinions. The play marks a
new phase in the transformation of Sujatha‟s consciousness. It enables her to rearrange her
shattered and confused life in search of a identity. After Brati‟s death, she has collected the
details of the life in last hours before his death through his friend Somu‟s mother (he is also
killed ruthlessly) and Brati‟s girl friend Nandini and she has been the other side of the human
life in slums. At this juncture, her long suppressed and lonely feeling because of her personal
loss has slowly released and she has began to feel jealous of Nandini who has known better
about Brati than his mother and to feel guilty for not being a responsible mother of Brati. She
has realised the drawbacks in her character as a weak willed dependent and non-assertive
moral coward and has evolved as a assertive, courageous and socially defiant individual.
Thus, the youth of India who are bound by the sense of moral responsibility should be
clear and clever enough in taking steps to achieve their self less aims. They should always
remember that the further of our nation is in the hands of the youth and so they should not
take hasty decisions in an urge to help the affected victimised or marginalised by indulging
themselves in anti-government affairs. That may lead to the fall of them and also of their
family. Devi as a social activist cum writer has given a strong valid and sensible message to
his readers and especially youth.

References
1. Devi, Mahasweta. „Anthology of Five Plays, Mother of 1084‟, Seagull Books Pvt Ltd,
Calcutta, 1997.
2. Prabhakar. M. Feminism/Postmodernism Margaret Atwood‟s Fiction.Creative Books,
Naraina, New Delhi. 1999.
3. Sharma Ram. A History of Indian English Drama, Baraut, Baghpet, U.P. 2010.

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