ঋত্বিক ঘটকের নাটকে উদ্বাস্তু সমস্যা/ Refugee problem in Ritwik Ghatak's play

Abstract

The Partition of India in 1947 resulted in a massive social and humanitarian crisis, displacing millions and severing people from their homeland, culture, and identity. In Bengali cultural history, the trauma of displacement found one of its most powerful artistic expressions in the works of Ritwik Ghatak. Although primarily known as a filmmaker, Ghatak’s plays offer a profound engagement with the refugee experience shaped by his personal history of displacement.

This paper examines the representation of the refugee problem in Ghatak’s plays, analysing its social, psychological, political, and cultural dimensions. It explores how post-Partition Bengali existential crisis, memory, nostalgia, and class conflict are articulated through his distinctive dramaturgy. Influenced by the Indian People’s Theatre Association, Ghatak’s dramatic style combines political commitment with symbolic expression, transforming the refugee figure into a site of protest rather than passive suffering. The study argues that Ghatak’s plays function as critical cultural documents that challenge the historical and ethical consequences of Partition.