Mahasweta Devi: An Advocate of Tribal Cause

Abstract

Caste and class of people in India have played a very crucial role in shaping their life. There are some castes and classes of people known as Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, and Other Backward Classes. These groups of people, unlike the mainstream community and so-called upper castes and elite group, do not enjoy superior status in the society. They have been pushed to the margin due to certain religious and social limitation, and therefore, they have to content themselves by living under inferior social status. They remained unnoticed and, and their contributions in the society remained unsung and unappreciated until some great souls like Mahasweta Devi started foregrounding and depicting their toils and turmoil in their writings. The objective of this paper is to bring forth the attempts made by Mahasweta Devi in order to arouse consciousness in tribal community, to advocate their cause, and to harbinger a dawn in their prolonged dark life.