'Chotti Munda and His Arrow’ by Mahasweta Devi is the voice of tribal consciousness

 Chotti Munda and His Arrow

Mahasweta Devi

 

'Chotti Munda and His Arrow’ by Mahasweta Devi is the voice of tribal consciousness

Answer: Mahasweta Devi's 'Chotti Munda and His Arrow' is a remarkable novel originally written in Bengali in 1980 called 'Chhoti Munda o Tar Teer  ' and is a very good example of the growing tribal consciousness. The English translation was done by Gayatri Spivak in 2002. The novel deals with the realities of society and the novelist covers issues of contemporary interest with utmost care. The character of Chhoti Munder is extremely popular and is considered one of the most iconic characters in tribal literature. The condition of the tribes is extremely difficult and forests are being destroyed on a massive scale which has made their lives more difficult but if awareness is raised these problems can be solved or the fight can be fought. There is a growing tribal consciousness that can certainly help tackle this big problem. The novelist has tried to show it exactly in this novel and it has been done with her feeling and sensitivity as she is well aware of this situation.

Chhoti Munda is a kind of anti-hero in the novel 'Chotti Munda and His Arrow’. He went to the rich (Dhani) to successfully learn the art of archery. However, the rich man (Dhani) introduces him to the forest to ensure that Munda does not die of starvation. He told Munda that he had taken part in many movements to ensure that the people of Mundar would get a village for agriculture and that other tribes would follow them. The rich man (Dhani) only wants Chhoti Munda to decide that he will take back the Diku-police owned by the money-landlords in order to put pressure on the tribes just over the forest.

Munda is the name of a tribe and the members of this tribe are simple, straightforward, honest and trustworthy. Dukhia is a resident of Munda tribe and he cut off his hand and killed Gumasta because Gumasta scolded him and also threw the kite full of chillies. It really makes Dukhiya angry and kills him in the end. However, the main thing to note here is that Dukhia surrendered himself to the police, unlike the townspeople, who killed Gumasta without admitting his guilt, even though his lawyers advised him not to do so. He said:

However, it should be noted that the moneylenders are the masters of the Munda because these tribes work hard for the moneylenders as slaves. The truth here is that these tribes are truthful, hardworking and very reliable people but they are not free. They work for others and they are quite unlucky. Bharat Munda says, there is no house to live in, not even a piece of land is bound ... There is nothing to claim any Munda as one's own even after ten generations

Yet, Education is the only thing that can change the condition of this tribe but education is not available to Munda people as they do not get opportunity to go to school. If he goes to school that way, the teachers discourage him. They say:

Chhoti Munda was not worried about the plight of the tribe. His level of understanding is extra-ordinary and he is full of consciousness. He was the one who brought Munda, Pusad and Ganj together so that they could all face the famine and other challenges raised by the Dikus. (Dikus are those who do not even consider the tribes to be Indian). He also knows the reality of society and understands that exploitation and oppression are part and parcel of society as they are deeply rooted in the social system. He further believes that the government is not ready to accept the normal relationship between the government class and the oppressed people. Chhoti Munda even saw that the tribal areas existed as "islands of slavery". The tribal development officers under the Tribal Development Welfare Project are also useless and unrealistic. Chhoti rightly says that the people of the tribe are struggling hard to survive twice a day for food and to escape from the hands of greedy and lucrative landlords and contractors. He further questions how these people can have the skills and time for handicrafts?

Under the banner of the youth organization, the culture of rise of thugs, murderers and leaders of the ruling party has increased and Chhoti Munda has been seen as a kind of different political culture. Here is a character of Romeo when he wanders around a gangster and attacks a tribal village. The villagers fled to save their lives. Romeo collects money from moneylenders and industrialists. So, on the other hand, he said that the government's decision on the abolition of forced labor, which is a terrorist, small-minded opinion, is meaningless to all, because these tribals will not understand for so many reasons. But landlords and moneylenders enlisted the help of young leaders like Romeo to pay low wages to indigenous workers. Eventually Chhoti Munda emerged as the voice of tribal consciousness.

However, he is a supporter of non-violence and he also saves the life of Daroga (Police Inspector). He does not support violence because he advocates for protection, security and the survival of indigenous peoples and untouchables. He also supported the need for respect for women and for this he shot an arrow at Romeo and killed Pahlawan because of his respect for women. After killing them, little Munda found himself in SDO. When people find out, thousands of them shout 'No'. This protest is also supported by the people of non-tribal communities and they also extend their hand in protest. They were disagreed about the fact of Chotti Munda to be surrendered. However, the last moments of the novel are also highly suggestive and predictable, "the void between Chotti Munda and the SDO was filled by thousands of raised bows, yet thousands more raised hands seemed conscious. There are because the police continue to warn individuals, moneylenders and upper-caste people.

Thus, the novel is a very good example of indigenous consciousness shown by the tribal and at the same time it is also an example of both oppression and slavery. But other secrets are as important as the upper caste era, politics, corruption, the problems faced by the tribals, and so on. Again, the novel is very popular because of these aspects.

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