The Mangars: Identity Conciousness and Ethinicization Process in West Bengal

Abstract

The identity aspirations and sense of identity have offered a new dimension to the assertiveness of the ethnic groups. ‘A sense of identity means a sense of being at one with oneself…it means, at the same time, a sense of affinity with a community’s sense of being at one with its future as well as history or mythology (Erikson E.,1975). The political and cultural pressures of a numerically dominant and educationally far ‘superior ’Bengali Race (Smith, 1996) forced the various Nepali communities like the Gurung, Tamang, Rai, Limbu, Mangar, Newar, Chhetri, etc to come under the umbrella of the Nepali or Gorkhali in the region. The United Nations declaration of 1993 as the Year of the Indigenous Peoples gave further impetus to the already changed political climate and brought a new lease of life to the marginalized and subjugated communities in the region. They began to organize themselves vigorously in search of lost identities (Subba, T.B., 1999). It is this quest that assembled the Mangars of this region and the formations of various associations was a boost for an overall development of them. The formation of “Mangar Development Board” on 16^th September, 2015 in West Bengal paved the way for reinventing themselves amidst the clash of cultures. Thus, my attempt will be to highlight the present Cultural scenario and the circumferential adaptation of the Mangars in this region.