Roundabout | The smile on Rehmat Masih Matoo’s face
Punjabi Dalit writer Bhagwant Rasulpuri, who created the character Rehmat Masih Matoo belongs to the second generation of Dalit writers, who along with Gurmeet Karyalvi, Des Raj Kali and many others, have told the story afresh from subjugation to assertion
By Nirupama Dutt
The story today is not about Padree Rehmat Masih Waiz, who was born to a Dalit Muslim family in Narowal in 1857 and wrote soulful hymns in praise of the Lord and Master Jesus Christ after converting to Christianity. The Rehmat Masih that we talk of belongs to the present times and was immortalised in literature in a classic story penned by leading Punjabi Dalit writer Bhagwant Rasulpuri.
The storyteller belongs to the second generation of Dalit writers, who along with Gurmeet Karyalvi, Des Raj Kali and many others, have told the story afresh from subjugation to assertion, contrary to earlier writers such as Prem Gorkhi, Atarjit, Nachattar who wrote about the oppression mete out by the upper castes.
An unforgettable character
Rehmat Masih is a spirited character who comes from the Valmiki community and converted to Christianity but led the same life of not just the poorest of the poor but also that of the shunned and the humiliated. Rasulpuri as the narrator introduces him thus: “I have to talk to you about the person who has just got down the tempo. Yes, he is Rehmat Masih Matoo, Master Rehmat. His bronze face is shining as if he has been unaffected by the dust. Joyfully pulling at his Cavender cigarette he moves along, sometimes in his safari suit and sometimes in a white kurta-pyjama. After retirement he dreams of becoming the Mesiah of the Valmikis.”
Thus, we see Master Rehmat in many roles in his journey for survival. As a schoolboy he bunks school and occasionally watches a Dharmendra film or along with his friends learns the art of eating tasty food, such as pakodas, rasgulla and barfi, by turning into a dishwasher at wedding feasts. His talent for sketching leads him to become a drawing master at the village school in the quota reserved for the Scheduled Castes. Thus, he moves through hurdles and caste biases to finally retire from his job, which he almost lost several times.
And it is a moment of pride for him when he sees his daughter become a hockey player and marry well and his son buy a motorcycle and proudly putt the letter ‘V’ just above the headlight saying, “When a Jat’s sons can write ‘Singh is King’, why can’t we write V for Valmiki?’ And indeed, there is a smile on the face of Master Masih as the sentiment is echoed by the young Dalit singer Ginni Mahi when she sings ‘Fan Baba Sahib di’ referring to BR Ambedkar, who framed the Constitution of India, or joyously chants ‘Danger Chamar’. The moment has come for him to see caste shame turn into pride.
Who is afraid of the word ‘Dalit’?
It is this journey from disgrace to pride that is best expressed by eminent scholar Harish K Puri, who pioneered work on the Dalits among the Sikhs: “The term Dalits is used to signify solidarity among the Scheduled Castes of India for a joint struggle for basic rights to human dignity and social equality. Dalits is a hold-all term ,which became more prominent since the launch of the Dalit Panthers Movement among the Maharashtra Panthers so as to emphasise underlying unity in the midst of diversity and post-Ambedkar fragmentation”.
He says that it is out of place that a notice be issued against this word, which expresses the changing lives of the Dalits in different parts of the country, Punjab included. He adds it is a moment of psychological empowerment for the Dalits, who see one of them heading the state.
Others who are well-versed in Dalit studies such as Ronki Ram, a professor of political science, have pointed out that it is a word of dignity for a people who have been addressed in derogatory terms over centuries. Journalist-writer Des Raj Kali asks: Who is afraid the word ‘Dalit? He is quick to answer his own query, “Certainly not we the Dalit who have earned this word. This is a word that represents assertion of identity and has a history behind it. It is also not a word that is unconstitutional by any means. It is a word that has emerged from a long struggle enriched by sensitive creative minds such as the poet Namdeo Dhasal in Maharashtra or Lal Singh Dil in Punjab”. Storyteller Raulpuri adds, “If V for Valmiki fetches a smile from Rehmat Masih Matoo so does D for Dalit!”
Courtesy : HT
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