"An organisation for Dalits was my vision": An interview with Manoranjan Byapari

Manoranjan Byapari, a vibrant personality in the realm of Bangla Dalit literature, never had a formal education; he started to read at the age of twenty four when he was in prison. A sudden encounter with Mahasweta Devi, who came to sit on his rickshaw, helped Byapari to start his journey as a writer. He is highly acclaimed for his autobiography Itibritte Chandal Jiban (2014) which was translated by Sipra Mukherjee as Interrogating My Chandal Life: An Autobiography of a Dalit (2018). Currently, he has about twenty books to his credit and has won over sixty awards including The Hindu Literary Prize, the Writer of the Year, Bangla Academy etc. Mr. Byapari, now is the chairman of Dalit Sahitya Academy in Bengal. Moreover, recently he has also been elected as an MLA from Balagarh Assembly Constituency in West Bengal legislative Assembly Elections 2021. This interview was originally conducted in Bangla during Manoranjan Byapari’s visit to Ravindra Bhavan, Payradanga, Nadia on 7th February 2021. I heartily thank Manoranjan Byapari for answering all the queries