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<p>This article explores the reclamation of the Sundarban Mangroves at Marichjhanpi (West Bengal, India), focusing on refugee resettlement, casteism, and post-colonial ecocentrism. Large-scale refugee influx from East Pakistan (present Bangladesh) during and after India–Pakistan Partition led to upper- and middle-class refugees settling in Kolkata; while marginalized Dalits were relocated to uninhabitable colony-camps of Dandakaranya in Chhattisgarh. In 1978–79, many Dalit families counter-migrated to Marichjhanpi. The then leftist state government tried to forcibly evict them, citing environmental reasons, which resulted in the much-contested ‘Marichjhanpi Massacre’ of 1979. Analyzing satellite images and dissimilar accounts of events, we find that, contrary to the state government’s claim, the refugees (approximately 10,000) cleared only a minor extent of the forests within an area previously designated for an experimental plantation. Although the episode was portrayed unfavourably for the refugees by the environmentalists, a more nuanced view involving the idea of environmental justice would argue that the refugees were ill-treated because of their caste orientation and they indirectly paved the way for reforestation.</p>

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The tale of reclamation at Marichjhanpi, Indian Sundarban, through lenses of refugee resettlement, latent casteism, and post-colonial ecocentrism

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年12月17日

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  • Nabendu Sekhar Kar,
  • Sunando Bandyopadhyay,
  • Anindya Basu

摘要

This article explores the reclamation of the Sundarban Mangroves at Marichjhanpi (West Bengal, India), focusing on refugee resettlement, casteism, and post-colonial ecocentrism. Large-scale refugee influx from East Pakistan (present Bangladesh) during and after India–Pakistan Partition led to upper- and middle-class refugees settling in Kolkata; while marginalized Dalits were relocated to uninhabitable colony-camps of Dandakaranya in Chhattisgarh. In 1978–79, many Dalit families counter-migrated to Marichjhanpi. The then leftist state government tried to forcibly evict them, citing environmental reasons, which resulted in the much-contested ‘Marichjhanpi Massacre’ of 1979. Analyzing satellite images and dissimilar accounts of events, we find that, contrary to the state government’s claim, the refugees (approximately 10,000) cleared only a minor extent of the forests within an area previously designated for an experimental plantation. Although the episode was portrayed unfavourably for the refugees by the environmentalists, a more nuanced view involving the idea of environmental justice would argue that the refugees were ill-treated because of their caste orientation and they indirectly paved the way for reforestation.