We need to Silence the Oppressed
The inexplicable reality of issues that silence the oppressed
By: Erika Aldana
We see the government and authoritarian figures hiding secrets and silencing people everywhere. Greed and power overtake leaders and for selfish reasons, lack empathy to those who are considered of “lesser worth.”
From an extract of Rebecca Solnit’s book, The Mother of All Questions, she says, “[Predators] rendered them voiceless to refuse and afflicted with unbelievable stories. Unbelievable means those with power did not want to know, to hear, to believe, did not want them to have voices. People died from being unheard.”
People choose to silence the oppressed because they choose not to acknowledge the truth. Silencing the oppressed give oppressors a sense of power. And through this power, society has become frightening.
The book, “The Adivasi Will Not Dance,” by Hansda Sowvendra, was banned by the Jharkhand government for being suggestive and portraying the Santhal culture in a negative manner. The collection of short stories deliver a truth to the problems of the world, but instead of acknowledging them, people choose to silence them. We choose to silence the stories of the oppressed so that the people around the world won’t know the struggles they face. And I think that that needs to stop.
Sowvendra’s deliverance in his collection of short stories is extraordinarily eye-opening. Human trafficking, discrimination, violence, poverty, male dominance vs women inferiority… problems we hear around the world constantly. And the sad part is, many people choose to not believe in these stories because they either a) have not been oppressed and therefore have not been silenced or b)it does not concern them. He conveys Louis Althusser’s concept on the Repressive State Apparatus which “consists of the police, the courts, prisons, the federal government, and the army — essentially any entity that controls citizens through the use of force, to even the possible extent of violence.” Similarly today, the issue concerning force and violence is closely related to people of color seen through police brutality.
The following excerpt is from the Adivasi Will Not Dance, exemplifying force and violence to the Santhal people.
“They pinned me to the ground. They did not let me speak, they did not let me protest, they did not even let me raise my head and look at my fellow musicians and dancers as they were being beaten up by the police. All I could hear were there cries for mercy.”
The cries for mercy are a call for help. When authority figures feel threatened, they feel the need to silence and often times, that silence is accomplished by killing people. Through this feeling of superiority, authority figures instill fear in the oppressed making them feel helpless. However, sometimes it is necessary to break the law and test it, and by doing so, we break a barrier in which our voice can be heard instead of being silenced.
Similarly, the Santhals in Jharkhand struggle to get by in their everyday lives. They are silenced by the government and looked down on.
It’s an inexplicable reality in which we live in. Poverty, the color of our skin, our gender… it all frames us to be how we’re perceived by society. And the silence is quickly affecting many and killing them.
In “The Adivasi Will Not Dance”, the chapter, “November is the Month of Migrations,” was very difficult to read for me. The story focuses on a Santhal woman, named Talamai, having sex with a Diku, an oppressor. The irony of it is that the Diku is a policeman who is meant to serve and protect. She has sex with him to receive money for food because her family is starving. In response, the Diku tells her that that is all Santhal women are good for. And so here we see that the people at the top of the pyramid, are the oppressors seeking to silence the ones near the bottom of the pyramid. By telling her, her worth is solely to please others, he is establishing her value in life and his power over her.
I find it appalling, that this book was banned because it sounded suggestive and pornographic. Sowvendra’s purpose was not meant to address the Santhal in a negative way, it was meant to address reality. Banning the book was a form of silence. Women become reluctant to speak in a patriarchal society for this very reason. People’s stories cannot be heard if they can’t voice them.
Furthermore, this short story conveys the issues women and men face through sexual assault. Similarly, through the #metoo movement, many women have voiced their stories of sexual assault. And yet still, when a case is brought up to court, the punishment for the abusers is lenient. Women are silenced when this happens because if it seems that people don’t care for them, they are not going to want to be humiliated. In no way is the victim at fault. Everywhere throughout the world women struggle against the fear of rapists. It is a very well-known problem and it sucks that the topic has become so desensitized, women are scared to speak up. The psychological deficit is heartbreaking, but the perseverance continues because there is an existing support system. But the support system also needs to become better through a judiciary standpoint.
The world is full of injustice, hatred, and violence. We need to acknowledge that there is a problem first. We all have a voice and it is essential that we use it, not silence it. A glorious [bloodless]revolution is long overdue in attempts to having all voices heard instead of being oppressed.
“By redefining whose voice[are] valued, we redefine our society and its values.”
References
Solnit, Rebecca. “Silence and Powerlessness Go Hand in Hand — Women’s Voices Must Be Heard | Rebecca Solnit.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 8 Mar. 2017, www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/08/silence-powerlessness-womens-voices-rebecca-solnit.
“The Adivasi Will Not Dance.” The Adivasi Will Not Dance, by Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar, 2015 p.169
“Repressive State Apparatus vs. Ideological State Apparatuses.” Theory Hunter, 16 Oct. 2015, jallred.net/wordpress/306/2015/10/16/repressive-state-apparatus-vs-ideological-state-apparatuses/.
