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Item Open Access Forms and Applications of Folk media in West Bengal: Notes from Empirical Observations(University of North Bengal, 2015) Bandyopadhyay, SumahanFolk media are a part of traditional media that do a great deal of communication in our society particular in the areas where the reach of conventional media is limited or discouraging. There are a number of folk media traditionally present in predominantly rural West Bengal. An attempt has made in this paper to classify these folk media and to know the current state of their applications. Here evolution of folk media vis-à-vis folk journalism has been discussed. The examples of various forms of folk media have been presented to show that it basically rooted in the particular socio-economic context. Thus one cannot deny the relevance of folk media even today.Item Open Access Society’s caste system: a philosophical analysis from Swami vivekananda’s vedāntic ideal of equality(University of North Bengal, 2024-03) Chowdhury, Arun KumarCaste or varṇa system is still a live issue in the present era. Many socialists and philosophers try to explain the caste system in their own ways. Swami-Vivekananda is one of them. He accepts the caste system based on qualities. To him, we are created with three qualities or guṇas. That is why we are different from each other by nature. So, we should act according to our nature. These three guṇas make someone a brᾱhmaṇa or a kṣatriya or a vaiśya, or a śūdra. We should not treat the caste system as hereditary. For a long time, it has been interpreted in the wrong way. That is why there is more dissimilarity in our society. According to him, we differ from each other only in manifestations not in essence. We are the same in essence as Sat-Cit-Ᾱnanda Brahman. Through this paper, I will show how Swami-Vivekananda explains society’s caste system from the Vedᾱntic ideal of equality.Item Open Access Caste, Untouchability and Social Conflict in Nineteenth Century Bengal(University of North Bengal, 2021-03) Chowdhury, ChanchalCaste system and untouchability were an integral part of social life among the Hindus and Muslims of pre-Plassey Bengal. These two customs were deeply rooted in selfsufficient villages where people lived with their fellow caste-men adopting their hereditary occupations. The social conflict, generated due to the hierarchical division of the caste system, was felt in the society just like mild waves. East India Company servants ruined the self-sufficient village economy of Bengal through their ruthless exploitation of artisans and craftsmen. Consequently, they had to move from their village abodes and adopt alternative occupations generated under the Company’s rule. Very soon, some ambitious individuals with low social backgrounds amassed huge wealth and began to claim higher social status for their castes. Leaders of many castes began to lodge protests against their low social position, and petitions were submitted before British authorities for approval of higher precedence of their castes on the social ladder. As a result, intensified caste conflict was produced in the society of nineteenth century Bengal.Item Open Access Foraging the Nationalist Movement through Women’s Education: Decoding Savitribai Phule and the Cultural-reformist Critique of Caste(University of North Bengal, 31-03-2021) Ghosh, AnamitraSavitribai Phule is regarded as one of the towering figures of the nationalist movement for her pioneering role in women’s education which set the stage for the cultural renaissance of our motherland. Her passionate struggle for women’s empowerment, to build up the equality for men and women made possible for the growth of nationalist movement against the colonial rule. Savitribai dedicated her entire life to fight against the rigid patriarchal structures of the caste system with the help of her husband Jyotirao Phule through the establishment of the Satysodhak Samaj in Maharashtra that initiated the progress of women hailing from diverse corners of the society. The seed for social equality sowed against the practice of untouchability and cultural deprivation marked a ‘paradigm shift’ of such alternative principles with respect to tradition that brought women into the mainstream society. Sociologists interested in social movements have often conveyed about the guidelines of this “truth seeking” program as facilitating the creation a counter- ideological rubric of humanity that could be achieved only through the total annihilation of the Brahaminacal system. The present article intends to reflect upon Savitribai’s role in the work of this culturally homogenous and pluralist organization whose novel character helped in inducing a political upheaval replacing the patriarchal hegemony of caste by a new secure tradition.Item Open Access Upendra Nath Barman: The Rise of a leader from Regional to National Politics 1898 - 1988(University of North Bengal, 2015-03) Barman, Tushar KantiRise of a leader is not a new phenomenon from ancient period to still today in the whole world. Like other parts of the world India also not lagging behind on it. In India various leaders came from an assortment of fields which might be for nations, territory, community or any other issues. In· such cases Bengal also got many leaders from various issues. Like other political issues caste politics has also played a very crucial role in the politics of Bengal from colonial period to still today. In contrast northern part of Bengal also played very significant role, where some movements like Namasudra Movements, Rajbanshi Kshatriya Movement was held by some eminent caste leaders; among the leaders Upendra Nath Barman had played a very imperative role in the context of North Bengal as well as for the Nation. This paper is an attempt to observe the role of Upendra Nath Barman in circumstance of a Kshatriya Samity leader as well as a leader of a nation.Item Open Access Lower caste movement and the idea of social equality under the raj : jyotirao phule and maratha renaissance(University of North Bengal, 31-03-2017) Sengupta, ShilajitPost-Colonial Indian state was fraught with high level of caste discrimination, illiteracy, agricultural failures and many such grimy situations which now partially have been addressed by systematic and strategic planning since 1951. Considering the vastness and incredibly heterogeneous demography of the nation bringing in social equality by eradicating caste hierarchy, education for all and agricultural development policies are the key areas where India has been performing well unlike other South Asian countries of third world. The seed of the idea behind many such policies especially in development of mass education was sown by great Indian thinker Jyotirao Govindrao Phule. In primary and higher education for masses, right to the farmers and the true realization of a just and egalitarian society which would be neither caged under the clutches of foreign rulers nor dominated by hierarchically structured class and caste based Hindu society this erudite Marathi Activist-Writer- Thinker has made commendable contribution. Phule’s work brought an era of renaissance which gave voice to the lower caste marginalized population unlike the mainstream upper caste-bourgeois led nationalist movement which failed to include the age old cultural and social deprivation of sudras and untouchables of the land. This article will focus on Phule’s view on social reform during mid and late 19th century colonial India which later influenced emancipatory movements of lower caste people and their struggle for social equality in Independent India.Item Open Access (Re)Looking at “Dalit” Conceptualization(University of North Bengal, 2019-03) Ray, AntaraIn the post-colonial India, the ex-untouchables and the other marginalized castes of Indian social order has re-created their identity in the form of ‘Dalits’. This discourse of Dalits is not only present in the form of actionmovements but also in the academic discourse of literary movements. The present paper will, thereby, try to look into the conceptualization of ‘Dalit’ within the Dalit discourse and would try to locate the theoretical underpinnings. In this quest of unraveling the problematic of Dalit conceptualization, the paper will delve into the theoretical approaches of specifically Ambedkar and will compare it with the standpoint of Harijan discourse as propounded by Gandhi. The present paper will also try to look into the various Dalit literatures and the conceptualization of Dalit there in, to critically analyze it.Item Open Access Comment on the gurkha’s daughter(University of North Bengal, 2015-03) Chhetri, KumarAlthough the British colonizers, anthropologist and administrators have produced a bulk of ethnographic accounts, travelogues, military accounts, and research papers there is no sufficient English literary work which centers on the life of the Nepalis. The earlier available works were either based on the life of Nepalis in Darjeeling or on the Himalayan kingdom (Nepal), whereas the present work The Gurkha’s Daughter by Prajwal Parajuly is unique in the sense that it engulfs the life of the Nepalis both in Nepal and its Diasporas around the world in eight short stories. Despite being fiction the stories carry the social reality of everyday life experiences of the Nepali people and its Diasporas.