critique of sarmistha dutta gupta's article on pritilata waddedar
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7/21/2019 Critique of Sarmistha Dutta Gupta's Article on Pritilata Waddedar
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Note on
DEATH AND DESIRE IN TIMES OF REVOLUTION by Sarmistha Dutta Gupta.
The essay was intended to "problematise the iconic representations of Pritilata” ( Waddedar,
the iconic lady revolutionary who led the Pahartali European Club siee, Chittaon in !#$and who, after ensurin that all her fellow compatriots could safely escape, committed
suicide%, to present her inner torments and self&sacrifice in a different liht vis&'&vis
contemporary films and writins The effort is to pro)ect the *private* e+periences of women
in public life rather than merely restrictin history to analysis of public- e+pressions of
*public* realities, to delve into the *sub)ective* rather than only the *ob)ective*, to interpret her
life and sacrifices differently, from a .parallel realm”, to comprehend and underscore the
se+uality in politics /pparently, after the !01s, the private lives of women are not to be
2ept outside the scope of interpretations while analysin and understandin particular
historical events and characters 3omewhat mystified by the impressive span of scholastic
research, and despite the subtlety inherent in the apparent problematisin-, the impressive
essay still appears to be a search for another- Pritilata throuh the prism of post&modern4eminist identity
5ein a sub)ective- search by definition, the male readership is at a disadvantae /fter all,
one has to o under a feminine s2in to thin2 li2e a woman and it is difficult for a male to
sub)ectively- interpret a female as a female This probably is a common denomination of all
similar sub)ective intellectualism, where the responsibility of failure to et under the s2in
rests with the reader, who may not belon Notwithstandin and admittin this inherent
disadvantae, certain clarifications are solicited below, pendin which the edifice of
problematisin Pritilata- remains vulnerable to misinterpretations
! “Bsi!s" ha#i$% sa&ri'i&! hr !uty t()ar!s hr 'ami*y '(r hr !uty t()ar!s th &(u$try"
+riti*ata )as !sprat*y tryi$% t( &(m t( trms )ith th ,i$! (' patri(tism that r%ar!!
sa&ri'i& (' a** ''&ti# tis )ith h(m a$! harth as a$ a''irmati($ (' mas&u*i$ity. ( Pae 6
7ocatin the 8oice% The suicide of Pritilata after the Pahartali siee is thus identified as a
comin to terms with a .,i$! (' patri(tism that r%ar!! sa&ri'i& (' a** ''&ti# tis )ith
h(m a$! harth as a$ a''irmati($ (' mas&u*i$ity-. Now let-s create a reverse scenario to
test the efficacy of this ma)or departure from interpretations till date of revolutionary and9or
patriotic behaviour Lt thr b a ,i$! (' patri(tism that !(s $(t r%ar! sa&ri'i& (' a**
''&ti# tis )ith h(m a$! harth. Would that be an affirmation of femininity: Would not
such brand of patriotism- ma2e it tactically impossible to carry out actions and missions
aainst a ruthless colonial endarme: Would it not e+pose the otherwise innocent- familymembers, who have not been initiated to revolutionary terrorism for whatever reasons, to
much more of the colonial counter&terrorism: Why this "masculinity": Why this se+ual
identity: The word9s could easily have been "revolutionary ethics" or "contemporary
revolutionary morals" or somethin similar The circumstances of colonial oppression did not
permit a normal "rihastha", the family person, to be a revolutionary terrorist without
endanerin many more innocent non&participants, even while ivin the colonial endarme
a better scope to brea2 the secrecy la+man&re2has 3tereo&castin the tactical compulsions of
a revolutionary movement with an identity superimposition li2e *masculinity* is out of tune
with the ob)ectivity of the study 5ut then, that is probably why a sub)ective- subterfue was
initially identified
7/21/2019 Critique of Sarmistha Dutta Gupta's Article on Pritilata Waddedar
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$ .Su&h a mas&u*i$ity !ma$!! ast(u$!i$% spiritua* p()r a$! martia* pr()ss a$!
)(u*! $atura**y )a$t t( rprs$t +riti*atas ta,i$% (' hr ()$ *i'" a'tr su&&ss'u**y
/&uti$% th %r(ups p*a$ (' a&ti($ a$! si$% ('' hr tam mats t( sa'ty" as a#()a* ('
suprm str$%th a$! patri(tism.- ( Pae 6 7ocatin the 8oice% What has ender to do with
her suicide here: Why should, of all thins, masculinity naturally want- Pritilata to ta2e her
own life after a successful mission: Why should masculinity, and not femininity, be therepository of astoundin spiritual power and martial prowess in a country and times where
the mother syndrome, manifest in the li2es of ;ura and <ali, are a patholoical inheritance
in every noo2 and corner of society:
# I$ +riti*atas &as" a$ a&,$()*!%m$t by hr &(mpatri(ts that hr sui&i! &(u*! b
b&aus (' hr i$abi*ity t( &(p )ith “pri#at- %ri' a$! i$$r stru%%*" )(u*! ta$tam(u$t t(
hr !ath *((,i$% “u$hr(i&- a$! “$($0martyr*i,-. The death, in reality, was indeed
unheroic and non&martyrli2e 5ut her compatriots had no reason to blow that trumpet They
did e+actly what was rational ( not sub)ective%, they covered a fellow&revolutionary with a
lory she deserved and did not say thins that need not be said
= “+riti*ata 1a!!!ars sui&i! a'tr su&&ss'u**y *a!i$% a$ “a&ti($- a$! si$% ('' a** hr
&(mra!s t( sa'ty " '(r&*(s! th p(ssibi*ity (' i$trprti$% hr !&isi($ as i$&(mpt$&"
!r*i&ti($ (' !uty a$! pri#i*%i$% (' th pri#at (#r th pub*i&.- 2 +a% 34 *ast but ($
para5
>ad she not committed suicide, the ?uestion of "incompetence" or "dereliction of duty" for a
deed she did not do would not arise The only other "misdeed" would then be her "privilein
of the private over the public" @f that inner conflict of waves of "private" ures swampin
the sense of public duty was there, then it would only establish that she was a "normal"
patriot, li2e patriots anywhere and of either se+, who are 9 were continuously tormented
between the calls of the private and public emotions and motives Committin suicide
without a clear sense of achievin somethin cannot be any laudable act of any revolutionary
Was it fear then, a fear that even someone li2e her, who had con?uered so much more than
any normal woman ( or man%, a fear that could not have had been avoidedA and who had
therefore decided that before she brea2s up with the fear and tension of bein a revolutionary
and thus compromise the cause, it would be more rational to o up in lorious "flames", li2e
in Bahar 5rata:
>istorians need to interpret motives dialectically, be it a social motive or a socially
subservient personal motive Conclusions become unrealistic if facts are dovetailed to fit their
sub)ective interpretational framewor2 Every brave patriot has a coward inside her, thee+istence of the coward is proof her human&ness, con?uerin that cowardice every day is the
price one pays to become a revolutionary 7esser mortals, swamped by the cowardice, lead a
mundane, cowardly life >eroines li2e Pritilata con?uered it more than most livin women of
her times and beyond, and yet she could not completely eliminate it That does not ma2e her
a lesser heroin, it only throws some liht on the "dialectics" of patriotism