The Real Picture of India at that Time Behind the Allegory : Manmath Roy's 'Karagar'/ রূপকের অন্তরালে তৎকালীন ভারতবর্ষের বাস্তব চিত্র : মন্মথ রায়ের ‘কারাগার’

Abstract

Playwright Manmatha Roy wrote the play 'Karagar' based on the story of the Srimadbhagavatam. After taking away the scepter and crown from the hands of the Yadavas' king, Surasena, the chieftain Ugrasena became the king of Mathura. From then on, the oppression of Ugrasena's son Kangsa and his followers began on the conquered Yadava’s. When Kangsa himself ascended the throne of Mathura after imprisoning his father Ugrasena, the level of oppression by him and his followers increased. At the fervent prayers of the humiliated Yadava’s, the savior, Lord Krishna, was born in the prison of the miscreants. He was born to destroy the Arati, to establish religion in a world flooded with irreligiousness, to destroy the demon Kangsa and establish peace on earth.

            When the play ‘Karagar’ was written, Mahatma Gandhi had broken the salt law and spread the freedom movement across the country to gain complete freedom. Starting from Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, many leaders of the country, were imprisoned. Sometime before that, there was a social reform movement in North Bengal. Therefore, the playwright Manmatha Roy, who was aware of life and the world, did not directly attack the British power, but wrote the play ‘Karagar’ by combining the mythological story of the slaughter of Kangsa with the idea of ​​saving kidnapped women and other welfare ideals.

            Karagar’ is a metaphorical play. In this play, the playwright talks about national social reform and political struggle under the guise of mythological words. In the play, the tyrant Bhojpati Kangsa represents the imperialist tyrannical British royal power. The Yadavas defeated by the Bhojapati Ugrasena and his son Kangsa are actually the Indians defeated by the british. The servants of the British government, who are devotees and supporters of British imperialism, appear in the play as the slave Yadavs, such as Vidurath, who are greedy for the feet of the conquering lord. In the play, the tyranny of the Bhojaraja Kangsa is actually the tyranny of the Indian subjects by the imperialist British rulers. Their rule is nothing but exploitation in the name of rule. Through the abduction of some inhuman Yadav youths, such as the Yadav young woman Chandana, by the inhuman followers of Kangsa, the playwright wants to present a sad picture of the abduction and rape of Indian women by some drunken English servants or miscreants before the audience.

             The reason for the playwright Manmath Roy to adopt this metaphorical disguise in the play ‘Karagar’ is to avoid royal anger. In subjugated India, speaking against the powerful royal power is tantamount to treason. The patriotic playwright knows this very well. A mythological environment has been created in the play ‘Karagar’. The playwright talks about national social reform and political struggle under the guise of mythological words. Kangsa’s prison is a symbol of the British’s crushing machine, the prison in India. The playwright has used the form of Kangsa’s prison to highlight the real problems of India at that time.