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Sankha Subhra Devbarman may be touted as prolific writer. But in
contemporary Bengali literature in Tripura and the rest of North
East India – he is one of the rare talents who can excel himself
in almost all spheres of Bengali litrerature; be it
novels, stories, poems or essays – with élan. Devbarman already
got published six books to his credit. All of them brought him
high praise from literary critics of the region. The strongest
point of Devbarman’s writing is his characteristic boldness. And
in the field of creativity boldness plays a decisive factor. But
presenting the facts and fictions to the readers in lucid and
subtle manners is indeed a delicate craft. Undoubtedly Devbarman
possesses both the craft and artistic acumen which he proved
through his writings on number of occasions.
His latest book is compilation of essays on religion, society
and the role of intelligentsia which is titled in Bengali as
DHARMA, SAMAJ EBONG BUDDHIJEEBI. The book consists of eleven
essays. As an sensitive writer with deep insight in human nature
and his society around he dealt with various burning
socio-political issues. Thus he ranges his views from animal
sacrifices to the impact of globalization. In one article he
argues that the capital punishment should outright be abolished.
He also strongly advocates for development through
industrialisation. But at the same time he does not forget to
express his concern against the state sponsored terrorism on
uprooted helpless poor villagers –who turn out more than often
worst victims of so called development. He feels development is
must but not at the cost of poor people in our country. He
firmly believes that the objective of development is to narrow
down the gap between rich and poor which would ultimately put an
end the inequality in society. He expresses his disappointments
regarding the over enthusiastic state’s role at Nandigram. He
believes state’s vision about industrialisation in West Bengal
was not transparent.
Other than industrialisation and development, Devbarman mainly
focuses on religion and obscurantism. Certain points raised by
him in these articles might not be acceptable to some who are
having intense faith in religion. But it is the blind faith
which actually lead chaos in the society. And there a number of
universal enigmas which have been perplexing to the human beings
since time immemorial. Spiritualism or religion could not solve
these mysteries. Devbarman argues through rationality and
science - human beings have been persistently striving to
enlighten it self for exploring the truths. Moreover, nobody can
also refute Devbarman’s contention that under no circumstance
bloodshed in the name of religion is supportable.
DHARMA, SAMAJ EBONG BUDDHIJEEBI is a compilation of well written
essays. Enriched with information and bold ideas – Devbarman’s
essays would certainly elevate readers. His command over the
language is indeed praiseworthy. Artist Partha Ganguly nicely
designed the cover.
SROT PRAKASHAN, NORTH TRIPURA, Rs.70
E-mail :sdevbarman@yahoo.com
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