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Devi situates her story against the Naxalite movement (1967-71), the Bangladesh Liberation War
(1971) of West Bengal and the ancient Hindu epic of Mahabharata, engaging with the complex
politics of Bengali identity and Indian nationhood. The tribal uprising against wealthy landlords
brought upon the fury of the government which led to Operation Bakuli that sought to kill the so-
called tribal rebels.

Draupadi is a story about Dopdi Mehjen, a woman who belongs to the Santhal tribe of West
Bengal. She is a Robin Hood-like figure who with her husband, Dhulna, murders wealthy
landlords and usurp their wells, which is the primary source of water for the village. The
government attempts to subjugate these tribal rebel groups through many means: kidnapping,
murder, rape. Dopdi is captured by Officer Senanayak who instructs the army officers to rape her
to extract information about the rebel uprising.

Ironically, the same officers who violated her body, insist that she covers up once she is ‘done
with’. Intransigently, Dopdi rips off her clothes and walks towards officer Senanayak, “…naked.
Thigh and pubic hair matted with dry blood. Two breasts. Two wounds”. Senanayak is shocked
by her defiance as she stands before him “with her hand on her hip” as “the object of [his]
search” and exclaims, “There isn’t a man here that I should be ashamed.”

IN BOTH, THE CASE OF DURGA AND DRAUPADI, WHAT HAPPENS TO THEIR BODY IS A
RESULT OF PATRIARCHAL VOICES WHICH DENIES THEM AGENCY.

The story is stripped away from the Mahabharata’s grand narrative and royal attributes and
situated in Champabhumi, a village in West Bengal. The ‘cheelharan’ of Draupadi is
reconstructed in Devi’s story, subverting the narrative where Draupadi is rescued by a man, Lord
Krishna. Instead, in Devi’s narrative, Dopdi is not rescued, yet she continues to exercise her
agency by refusing to be a victim, leaving the armed men “terribly afraid”.
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Image Source: Scroll.in

Dopdi is a woman of strong mind and will as she defied the shame associated with rape and
sexual abuse, which is extremely relevant to India today. Especially in the onset of the #MeToo
movement where many brave women came forward with their stories.

“DOPDI IS… WHAT DRAUPADI — WRITTEN INTO THE PATRIARCHAL AND

AUTHORITATIVE SACRED TEXT AS PROOF OF MALE POWER — COULD NOT BE.”

Breast Stories. 2010. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak

Due to reading Draupadi with the knowledge that it was translated by Spivak I was constantly
reminiscent of her essays: Can the Subaltern Speak? (1983) and The Trajectory of Subaltern in
my Work (2003). Devi’s representation of Dopdi encapsulates what Spivak means by a gendered
subaltern. Through the dislocation of the epic princess Draupadi to the tribal rebel Dopdi, Devi is
able to present voices and perspectives otherwise unspoken and unheard of.
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Image Source: Isha Foundation

The Hindu mythology of the subaltern female body which is never questioned and only ever
exploited is rejected by Devi. For example Goddess Durga in her form of Sati, ‘a good wife,’
self-immolates her body in pain over her father’s abuse of her husband, Lord Shiva. Enraged,
Lord Shiva dances over the universe with Sati’s body on his shoulder. Lord Vishnu then
dismembers her body, and her body parts are strewn over the universe. Each relic of Sati’s body
becomes a place for worship and pilgrimage. Also in the Mahabharata, Draupadi’s marriage to
all the Pandavas and her re-virginisation is another way in which the female body is exploited. In
both, the case of Durga and Draupadi, what happens to their body is a result of patriarchal voices
which denies them agency.

The character of Dopdi allows us to view the subaltern’s identity vis-à-vis the hegemonic
structures seen through the policemen and Officer Senanayek. Thus, Dopdi’s body becomes a
site of both the exertion(effort)of authoritarian power and of gendered resistance. Dopdi bears
the torture as she is raped by many men through the encouragement of the voice of another man
Arijit, that urges her to save her comrades and not herself. However, the attack on her body fades
this male authority’s voice as she candidly reacts to the police. Her refusal to be clothed goes
against the phallocentric power, and the exploitation of her body gives her the agency to step
away from the hegemonic patriarchy of the policemen.

Also read: Book Review: Breast Stories by Mahasweta Devi, A Metaphor For Exploitation

Devi illustrates how any conflict or war results in the women’s body being the primary targets of
attack by men. In the contexts of both the Naxalite movement and the Bangladesh Liberation
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war, both men and women are tortured, but it is much worse for women as they additionally
undergo sexual abuse. Thus with Spivak’s concepts on the subaltern in mind, through Dopdi,
Devi represents the gendered subaltern subject who exists at the periphery of society and dares to
go against the existing patriarchal structures. Spivak has shown concern regarding the
representation of the subaltern in the mainstream discourse on the basis that the subaltern cannot
be represented; only re-presented. However, Devi’s use of polyphony not just re-presents the
subaltern, it also explores the politics around the category of the ‘subaltern.’

DOPDI SUBVERTS THE PHYSICALITY OF HER BODY FROM POWERLESSNESS INTO

POWERFUL RESISTANCE.

Although there are many facets to the mythical Draupadi’s character, Devi focuses on the
infamous incident where the princess is almost disrobed and subverts it to suit Dopdi’s context.
Devi has always said that she is interested in the stories of ordinary people which is evident
through the subversion of Draupadi’s
rape. Towards the latter part of her life, she focused on presenting the narratives of ordinary peop
le. In Draupadi, Devi has not allowed her female protagonist, Dopdi, to be submissive and
conquered by the male-dominated society, unlike Draupadi from the Mahabharata.

Draupadi is a narrative that is universal in its portrayal of women as the most brutal victims of
conflict and war. This approval on the part of Officer Senanayak in the story for the officers to
‘make her’ is reminiscent of the situation of Bangladesh’s Birangona and Japan’s comfort
women. At the end of the story as she confronts the army officers with her bare body, the body
that was violated and tortured is also in reverse used as a weapon. Even though Dopdi has been
physically abused, she refuses to be emotionally wounded.

In Draupadi, Devi presents a strong woman who despite being marginalised and exploited,
transgresses conventional sexual and societal standards. Dopdi subverts the physicality of her
body from powerlessness into powerful resistance. She does not represent the tribal woman by
romanticising her depiction of Dopdi but instead realistically re-presents her through simple
language and complex emotions. Draupadi recognises a woman’s body as an asset through
which they can resist the socio-political objectification of their bodies and overcome oppression.

References

1. Devi, Mahaswata. ‘Draupadi’ in Breast Stories. Translated by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak.

Calcutta: Seagull Books, 2010.
2. Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. Can the Subaltern Speak?. (1983)
3. Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. The Trajectory of Subaltern in my Work. (2003)