Performing Protest

I am in debt to so many people in connection with this edited volume, a debt much greater than would appear from this acknowledgement. I am grateful to the playwrights, Prof. Datta Bhagat, Prof. Pradnya Daya Pawar, and Mr. Rajkumar Tangade for kindly allowing me to include their plays in this anthology. I am also thankful to the translators of the plays, Prof. Maya Pandit and Dr Dnyaneshwar P. Digole, for their consent and constant support with the necessary formalities. Special accolades are due to Suraj Milind Yengde for introducing the book with a special introduction. I convey my deep gratitude to my mentor, Prof. Indranil Acharya, who has been a perpetual source of inspiration to me. I remain obliged to the entire Department of English Literature, Language and Cultural Studies, Vidyasagar University, especially my colleagues and the Head of the Department, Prof. Joyjit Ghosh, for their direct and indirect influence and support. I’m especially thankful to my scholars, Dipankar Chatterjee and Sourav Patra, for their timely support. Ms. Indrani Dutta of Peter Lang deserves special mention, who has been instrumental in the series, Theatre of the Marginalised: Dalit and Adivasi Performance Traditions in South Asia.

I owe my deep gratitude to my parents, brother, relatives, in-laws, and friends for their unwavering affection, adoration, and motivation throughout my life. Words fall short of conveying my deep appreciation for my spouse, Amrita, for her relentless assistance and encouragement. And I dedicate this volume to the ‘joy’ of my life—my daughter, Rudradittyaa, whose presence around me fills my moments with pure bliss.

Date: September 2025

Dr. Shubhendu Shekhar Naskar

Vidyasagar University

Dr. Shubhendu Shekhar Naskar is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English Literature, Language, and Cultural Studies, Vidyasagar University, West Bengal, India. He has been engaged in extensive research work on Dalit and Tribal Studies and is working on the documentation and translation of the oral and folk literature of Dalit and tribal communities in West Bengal, India. He is one of the Associate Editors of Janajati Darpan, the only international multilingual publication series on Indigenous Studies from West Bengal, India. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of the Department of English, Vidyasagar University, a Group A journal in the UGC CARE list. His articles appear in reputable journals such as Theatre International, Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Journal of Global Post Colonial Studies and Asian Theatre Journal. Dr Naskar serves as the series editor for the book series Theatre of the Marginalised: Dalit and Adivasi Performance Traditions in South Asia, published by Peter Lang. He has authored the book Aesthetics of Dalit Theatre: Perspectives on Caste, Class, and Gender, published by Palgrave Macmillan. He is also a recipient of the prestigious Charles Wallace Research Grant.

A staunch follower of Phule–Shahu–Ambedkar ideology, Prof. Datta Ganpatrao Bhagat (1945-Present) has played a crucial role in establishing the Dalit theatrical movement in Maharashtra. He started his career as a playwright with the play Avart (1978). This play was translated into English by Georg Nagies, Vimal Thorat, and Eleanor Zelliot, and included in the volume Modern Indian Drama: An Anthology (2000), edited by G. P. Deshpande. In this play, the playwright skilfully employs two traditional folk genres, namely Tamasha and Dindi, to showcase the exploitation of the lower caste people at the hands of the upper caste people. Almost all of his plays are imbued with various aspects of the prevalent caste system in India. His other celebrated caste-conscious plays are Chakravyuha (1980), Jahaj Futle Ahe (1982), Ashmak (1985), Wata-Palwata (1986), Nivadak (1996), Pustaki Waanz Charcha (2019), and Mata Ramai: Aadharwel (2022). Among these plays, Wata-Palwata was translated by Maya Pandit and published as Routes and Escape Routes in 2002 in Drama Contemporary: India, edited by Erin B. Mee. For his significantly groundbreaking work, he was bestowed with a number of awards and distinguished honours, including Natya Darpan Puraskar (1978), Maharashtra Government’s Ideal Teacher Award (1997), Dalit Mitra Puraskar from the Govt. of Maharashtra in 2000, the Maharashtra Foundation Award (2003), the Matoshri Meenatai Thakre Award (2006), the Jeevan Gaurav Puraskar (2017) of the Marawadi Foundation Nagpur, and the Veteran Actor Natvarya Prabhakar Panasikar Rangbhumi Lifetime Achievement Award by the Maharashtra State Government in 2021. Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad also awarded him the Bhalchandra Phadke Grathakar Gaurav. The University of Mumbai conferred upon him the A K Priyolkar Award in 2025 for his contribution to Marathi Literature for his contribution in Marathi literature, particularly in the realm of socially conscious theatre and literary criticism.

With the play Kheliya, which is the introductory play of this anthology, the playwright Datta Bhagat initiated his career as a Dalit playwright. The entire play centres around local power politics and points out how the Dalits figure in it. The playwright has incorporated Narayan, a Dalit character, as the centre of discussion, illustrating how Dalit characters are often used as pawns by upper-caste individuals. It is a fact that the experience of the oppressed people plays a significant role in forming the aesthetics of Dalit literature; the play, being a part of that revolutionary literary movement, is based on the personal experience of the playwright himself. As the dramatist confided in the “Authorial Prologue” that he had personal acquaintances with the characters, such as Adv. Bhaskar and Narayan, who are introduced in the play as the central characters. The playwright reveals that he finished writing the play within a span of three weeks after his interaction with Adv. Bhaskar. In the play, Bhaskar Deshmukh is a reputed Advocate who stays with his wife, Nalu, and his father. Narayan, the principal Dalit character in the play, is a protege in their house. Nalu, the childless wife of Bhaskar, dotes upon her love for Narayan and takes excellent care of his schooling and general welfare, treating him as if he were her own son. Narayan is also seen to have great reverence and affection for Nalu, the motherly figure.

It is recognised that before the imposition of British rule, Maharashtra was predominantly ruled by the Deshmukhs, who were traditionally regarded as the Marathas or the Brahmins. With the arrival of the British, despite their loss of power, they happened to be one of the most powerful groups in the existing socio-political ecosystem and continued to play key roles in the regional power politics due to their upper-caste identity according to the hierarchical caste system. Adv. Bhaskar belongs to that dominant community and, as a result, he, too, is very influential and takes great care of his social prestige. Unlike his father, who is extremely casteist in his attitude, Bhaskar appears to be liberal and seems to have the least problem in social mixing with the lower caste people. In actuality, as the playwright presents, he is very cunning and always inclined to play a decisive role in local power politics. Apparently, he appears to be democratic and liberal in his decision of bringing Narayan, a poor Dalit boy, to live with them, violating the caste dogmas. However, deep inside, this serves him with multiple purposes. On one hand, he gets a reliable, humble, and obedient residential servant for 24 hours. On the other hand, by providing him with some educational opportunities, he develops a Dalit-friendly image. Moreover, he gets an educated Dalit youth who has the potential to be a Dalit leader who can be controlled easily. Narayan also treats him with great veneration. With the passage of time, Narayan establishes himself as a clever young Dalit leader who is self-reliant and gets over the shadow of his “Dadasaheb”. However, this attitude of Narayan hurts the ego of Bhaskar, who decides to destroy his reputation and position. Ultimately, Bhaskar uses his profession as a lawyer to teach him a lesson. Narayan is now able to perceive his real motive, but handles the situation very calmly. However, a few days later, Narayan manages to entrap Bhaskar by his own weapon of professionalism by hiring him as a lawyer against his own father. Ultimately, the play ends quite abruptly with the killing of Narayan. Through the play, the playwright depicts how the rise of a Dalit leader perturbs the hegemonic attitude of the upper-caste people who are eager to control the lives of the Dalits out of their sham caste pride. Though questions might be raised for not depicting Narayan as victorious, keeping in tune with the rhythm of the discourse of Dalit literature, the playwright has put his arguments in choosing such an ending in his “Authorial Prologue” and dedicated the play “most gratefully to the outburst created by the Dalit Panther movement”.