Harijan, literally meaning son of Hari/Vishnu, may sound elated and elevated, but the people that the word denotes are quite the opposite. It is the dalits, outcastes, untouchables who were given the lofty name Harijan by Gujrati poet Narasimha Mehta and popularised by none other than Mahatma Gandhi. History seems to have played its usual ironies on the fate of the downtrodden who are often regarded as the ‘fifth caste’ in Hindu society. The irony is that the lofty word has lost its loftiness and been mired down into the dirt of prejudices.
It is true that in some of the turns of the long and dark roads of history, there appear a few enlightened souls who become vocal against oppression, against the deep-rooted discrimination in society. But their attempts, sadly, seems to end nowhere.
People at large often do not even notice the dark faces and sad eyes of those who sweep the roads so that they can walk without getting dirty, who clean the toilets so that others can enjoy the cleanliness.
We do not even see enough literature, written or visual, on the lives of harijans. One can hardly remember other big works than Mulk Raj Anand’s Untouchable and very few others. Bangladeshi filmmaker, poet, lyricist Mirza Sakhat Hossain, it seems, has made a daunting dive to capture the lives of harijans for his debut film titled Harijan.
Sakhat’s intention, he says, is to shed light on the dark ambit that harjans inhabit amid humiliation. Through a few characters of the harijan community, enacted by Jayanta Chattapaddhay, Mamunur Rashid, Rokeya Prachy, Mirza Afrin and others, the film shows what the harijans are meted out with.
The government grant film is going to hit only five screens in the country. ‘There is a strong syndicate among the exhibitors which bars newcomers’ entrance and good initiatives. I think government must come forward to ensure that good films go to a wider audience’, Mirza Sakhat told New Age.
-With New Age input
