Draupadi
Mahasweta Devi
(Portrayal of Resistance)
Q. Discuss ‘Draupadi' by Mahasweta Devi is a Portrayal Of Resistance.
Q. How does Mahasweta Devi portray Dopdi Mehjen’s character in the short story, Draupadi? Or,
Q. How does Mahasweta Devi describe the outcome of any conflict or war that has become the primary target of attacks on women's bodies by men? Give your answer with reference to her story, Draupadi.
Answer: Draupadi is a short story of about twenty pages originally written in Bengali by Mahasweta Devi. She presents her story against those involved in the Naxal movement (1967-71), the Bangladesh Liberation War in West Bengal (1971) and the ancient Hindu epics of the Mahabharata, Bengali identity and the complex politics of Indian nationalism. The tribal uprising against the wealthy zamindars gave rise to the wrath of the government which led to Operation Bakuli and sought to kill the so-called tribal rebels.
Draupadi is the story of Dopdi Mehjen, a woman from the Santal tribe of West Bengal. She is a personality like Robin Hood who along with her husband, Dulan, murdered rich zamindars and snatched their wells, the primary source of water in this village. The government tries to subjugate these tribal rebel groups through kidnappings, killings, rapes, etc. Dopdi was captured by Officer Senanayak, who instructed Army officers to rape her in order to gather information on the uprising related to the mutiny.
Ironically, the same officers who violated her body insisted that she must cover her once after she was "done" with him. Oddly enough, Dopdi tore her clothes and walked towards the officer commander.
The commander was shocked to see her refusal because she stood in front of him
The story deviates from the great narrative and royal qualities of the Mahabharata, where the myth that Draupadi was rescued by the mystic lord Krishna. The humiliation to Draupadi known as ‘Draupadi's bastraharan’ was happened in Champabhumi, a village in West Bengal. The same story is retold Mahasweta Devi’s short story, Draupadi. But it is to be noted that according to Devi, Dopdi was not rescued instead, yet she continued her activity by refusing to be a victim, leaving the armed men "terrified".
Dopdi’s character lets us see the subaltern’s identity with the hegemonic structure seen through the police and officer commander. Thus, Dopdi’s body became a site of hard work for both authoritarian forces and gender resistance. Arjit was tortured by several men for raping her at the instigation of another man, who begged her to save her comrades and not herself. However, the attack on her body faded the voice of this male authority as he reacted explicitly to the police. The refusal to wear her clothes goes against the phallocentric power and the exploitation of her body pushes her away from the hegemonic masculinity of the police members.
Mahasweta Devi describes how the outcome of any conflict or war has become the primary target of attacks on women's bodies by men. In the context of both the Naxal movement and the Bangladesh Liberation War, both men and women are tortured, but it is worse for women as they endure additional sexual abuse. Thus through Dopdi the authoress, Mahasweta Devi presents the existing gender-based tribal issues in the dominance of society and dares to go against the existing patriarchal structure. However, Devi’s use of the polyphony does not merely reproduce the subaltern; it also explores politics around the “suburban” class.
Although there are many facets to the character of the mythical Draupadi, Mahasweta Devi focuses on the infamous incident where the princess is almost despised and makes it appropriate in the context of Dopdi Mehjen. Mahasweta Devi has always said that she is interested in the stories of the common man through the development of Draupadi’s rape. Towards the end of her life, she focused on presenting the story of the common man. In Draupadi, Mahasweta Devi did not allow her female protagonist Dopdi to be subjugated and defeated by the male-dominated society as opposed to Draupadi in the Mahabharata.
Draupadi is a narrative that is universal in the portraits of women as the most brutal victims of conflict and war. This approval is reminiscent of the situation of Birangona in Bangladesh and the comfortable women in Japan in the story of Officer Senanayake's officers. At the end of the story when she confronts the army officers with her bare body, the body that was violated and tortured is also in contrast to the one used as a weapon. Although Dopdi has been physically abused, she has denied being mentally injured.
In Draupadi, Mahasweta Devi represents a strong woman who, despite being marginalized and exploited, violates conventional sexual and social norms. Dopdi transforms the physicality of her body from weakness to strong resistance. She does not represent the tribal woman by romanticizing the image of Dopdi but instead presents her real through simple language and complex emotions. Draupadi recognizes a woman's body as an asset through which they can resist the socio-political objections of their body and overcome oppression.
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