Social Justice as a Prominent Theme in the Novels of Bhabani Bhattacharya
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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53032/tcl.2019.4.5.14Keywords:
Peace, Justice, Structural Violence, Ethnic Violence, Communalism, RacismAbstract
In present scenario, peace is usually taken for granted by many people without going into the details of what made it (Peace) the most cherished ideal of almost all the societies. Its importance has only been realized by the humanity after going through a dreadful phase of history, full of violence, wars, massacres, genocide and so on. Moreover, the meaning of peace is misunderstood by many as mere absence of war; rather it has a wider connotation. Peace is an absence of violent conflicts of all kinds including war, riot, massacre, or simply physical attack. Sometimes, violence is rooted in the very structure of society, which is termed as "Structural Violence". This structural violence can take many shapes such as caste- based violence, class- based violence, ethnic violence, racism, communalism, colonialism etc. The elimination of structural violence necessitates the creation of a just and democratic society. Structural violence emerges out of the unequal and unjust structure of the society. So to eradicate structural violence, a society needs to employ the tool of social justice. This paper is an attempt to understand this structural violence ingrained in Indian social fabric during the independence and the post independence period and to hear its resonance in the novels of Bhabani Bhattacharya. She is an outstanding Indian English writer, globally known brilliant scholar was a socialist and reformist to the core. Almost all his novels are remarkably known as social fables, as contemporary Indian society is very authentically and sensitively represented in his fiction. Bhattacharya was having a profound knowledge of contemporary (from 1945 to 1975) social crisis, as the topic of his research thesis was also related to Indian socio-political perspectives of the time period. Through his novels he proclaims, when justice is denied to any particular person or community or sections of society, the reverse circumstances leads to anarchic situations and the society directly or indirectly becomes responsible for converting its people to social rebels, a threat to national peace and security. Therefore, through his novels, he motivates the countrymen to establish equality and maintain social justice to promote the feelings of love and harmony in different sections of society. To inspire the countrymen for setting up an equal and just social order, he frequently emphasise them to follow the teachings of great ancient minds. He quotes Gandhiji's socialism, marxism, Tagore’s humanism, Nehru’s rationalism, liberalism and practical approach, to create peace and harmony in the society and ensure social justice.
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References
Bhattacharya, Bhabani. Music for Mohini. Crown Publishers, 1952.
. . . . Shadow from Ladakh. Hind Pocket Books, 1966.
. . . . Goddess Named Gold. Hind Pocket Books, 1967.
. . . . He Who Rides A Tiger. Arnold Heinemann Publishers, 1977.
. . . . So Many Hungers. Hind Kitabs Limited, 1947.
Chandrasekharan, K.R. Bhabani Bhattacharya. Arnold Heinemann Publishers, 1974.
Joshi, Sudhakar. “An Evening with Bhabani.” The Sunday Standard, April 27, 1969.
Rai, G. Bhabani Bhattacharya: A Study of His Novels. B. R. Publishing Corporation, 1995.
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