Problematizing Dalit Chetna: Sadgati as the Battleground of Conflict between the 'Progressive Casteless Consciousness' and the Anti-Caste Dalit Consciousness

The notion of Dalit chetna or Dalit consciousness is central to the development of the anti-caste discourse. Since the inception of a visible and radical Dalit discourse, a paramount importance has been accorded to the idea of Dalit consciousness. Whereas the prevalence of Dalit consciousness is of paramount importance to the Dalit writers, filmmakers and critics, and there is a vibrant presence of this consciousness in their works, there has also been an attempt on the part of the upper-caste writers and filmmakers to engage with the Dalit consciousness on their own terms, and thereby developing what I call 'progressive casteless consciousness', which is not synonymous with the anti-caste Dalit consciousness developed by the Dalit writers, filmmakers among others, in their works. This paper is an attempt to explore these distinct versions of Dalit consciousness through a reading of the representation of the caste questions in the celebrated Hindi writer Munshi Premchand's widely read short story Sadgati ('deliverance' in the religious sense of the term), which he composed in 1931, and its film adaptation by the globally acclaimed filmmaker Satyajit Ray in the form of a TV film Sadgati (1981), and the critical writings on the writer and the director's handling of the caste questions. In the process, the paper will show how Sadgati, both of Premchand and of Satyajit Ray, becomes the repository of conflict between the progressive casteless consciousness of the upper-caste intellectuals and the anti-caste Dalit consciousness developed by the Dalit intellectuals.