No Man’s Land? – The Life of Jogendranath Mandal

Jogendranath Mandal was born on January 29, 1904, in the Namasudra caste, which faced discrimination by the upper castes. He joined the Muslim League because they too were a minority in Hindu-dominated India. Sadly, they were also hostile towards his community, forcing him into exile.
Jogendranath Mandal; Source: My India My Glory

Jogendranath Mandal; Source: My India My Glory

Born on January 29, 1904, in the Barishal district of the Bengal Presidency, Jogendranath Mandal was an outcast by birth. He belonged to the Namasudra caste of the Hindu community, which is considered to be below the Hindu caste system. This avarna caste, much like the Dalit community, faced discrimination at the hands of the upper castes.

Mandal was inspired by Ambedkar’s work against the caste discrimination, they worked together to institute the Scheduled Castes Federation in Bengal. Jogendranath Mandal was heavily influenced by Subhash Chandra Bose too, as Bose was unabashedly vocal on matters where he disagreed with the INC, unlike most popular leaders.

The Congress, during the freedom struggle, sheltered a spectrum of ideologies but in doing so, they often adopted stances to please the more-powerful, or neutral positions to avoid a conflict of interests within the party. Mandal was unhappy with the pacifist political stance taken by the Indian National Congress when it came to issues regarding caste discrimination.

The demand for a separate nation was pushed by the Muslim League because they felt that their welfare was being side-lined by the Hindu majority. Mandal too, felt that the oppressed castes were being denied welfare by the majority Hindu population of India. Thus, he regarded the Muslim League as closer allies of the Dalit and Namasudra communities, as compared to the INC.

Mandal joined the Muslim League; he was appointed as a cabinet minister. Jogendranath Mandal played a central role in the construction of Pakistan during its early days, he was one of the 96 founding fathers of the country.

However, his career soon took a turn because of an ideological clash with Prime Minister of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan. Dalit citizens had been a victim of violence by Pakistani rioters, who were aided by the police. Mandal condemned this act and submitted his resignation to Khan. Differences arose between the two leaders, as Mandal claimed that Liaquat Ali had not taken appropriate action against the rioters.

Soon after resigning, Mandal fled back to India to escape from the arrest warrant which had been issued against him in Pakistan.

Jogendranath Mandal died while he was in exile, in 1968. His tragic story is a stark reminder of the discrimination and unfair treatment suffered by minority communities irrespective of borders.

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