Mala Sen (3 June 1947 – 21 May 2011) was a
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
-
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n-
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
writer and
human rights activist
A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing campai ...
. As an activist, she was known for her
civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...
activism and
race relations
Race relations is a sociological concept that emerged in Chicago in connection with the work of sociologist Robert E. Park and the Chicago race riot of 1919. Race relations designates a paradigm or field in sociology and a legal concept in the ...
work in London during the 1960s and 1970s, as part of the
British Asian
British Asians (also referred to as Asian Britons) are British citizens of Asian descent. They constitute a significant and growing minority of the people living in the United Kingdom, with 6.9% of the population identifying as Asian/Asian Brit ...
and
British Black Panthers
The British Black Panthers (BBP) or the British Black Panther movement (BPM) was a Black Power organisation in the United Kingdom that fought for the rights of black people and racial minorities in the country. The BBP were inspired by the US ...
movements,
and later her
women's rights
Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...
activism in India. As a writer, she was known for her book ''India's Bandit Queen: The True Story of
Phoolan Devi
Phoolan Devi (1963–2001), popularly known as the Bandit Queen, was an Mallah woman who grew up in poverty in a village in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Her family was in a land dispute which caused many problems in her youth and after b ...
'', which led to the acclaimed 1994 film ''
Bandit Queen''. After researching the oppression of women in rural India, she also published ''Death by Fire'' in 2001.
Biography
Early years
Born on 3 June 1947 in
Mussoorie
Mussoorie is a hill station and a municipal board, near Dehradun city in the Dehradun district of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is about from the state capital of Dehradun and north of the national capital of New Delhi. The hill st ...
in
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...
, Mala Sen was the daughter of
Lt-Gen Lionel Proteep Sen and
Kalyani Gupta. Following her parents' divorce in 1953, she was brought up by her father. Sen was of
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
heritage. After attending
Welham Girls' School
Welham Girls' School is a private boarding school for girls located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India.
History
The school was established in 1957. Welham was named after the little Welsh village from where its founder, H.S. Oliphant hailed. A ...
in
Dehradun
Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislative As ...
, she studied home sciences at Nirmala Niketan College in
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
.
[ In 1965 she eloped to England with ]Farrukh Dhondy
Farrukh Dhondy (born 1944) is an Indian-born British writer, playwright, screenwriter and left-wing activist who resides in the United Kingdom.
Education
Dhondy was born in 1944 in Poona, India, where he attended The Bishop's School, and obtai ...
, who had won a scholarship to Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
. They married in 1968 but divorced in 1976, although they continued to maintain a friendly relationship.[
]
Activism in London
After arriving in England, Sen began working as a seamstress to help to pay the bills.[ Increasingly taking an interest in race relations, she fought for the rights of Indian factory workers in ]Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city l ...
.[ Writing in the journal '']Race Today
''Race Today'' was a monthly (later bimonthly) British political magazine. Launched in 1969 by the Institute of Race Relations, it was from 1973 published by the ''Race Today'' Collective, which included figures such as Darcus Howe, Farrukh Dh ...
'', she reported on how Bangladeshi
Bangladeshis ( bn, বাংলাদেশী ) are the citizens of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centered on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the eponymous bay.
Bangladeshi citizenship was formed in 1971, when the ...
s in the East End of London
The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...
worked in sweatshops while living in dormitories where beds were shared around the clock by shiftworkers.[ Separated from their Indian families, they did not qualify for housing accommodation as they were listed as single. Together with her husband and other activists, Sen founded the Bengali Housing Action Group, which led to the establishment of ]Brick Lane
Brick Lane (Bengali: ব্রিক লেন) is a street in the East End of London, in the borough of Tower Hamlets. It runs from Swanfield Street in Bethnal Green in the north, crosses the Bethnal Green Road before reaching the busiest ...
as a safe living area for the Bangladeshi community in East London
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...
.[
Along with Dhondy, Sen was also an active member of the ]British Black Panthers
The British Black Panthers (BBP) or the British Black Panther movement (BPM) was a Black Power organisation in the United Kingdom that fought for the rights of black people and racial minorities in the country. The BBP were inspired by the US ...
movement. She was an early member of the ''Race Today'' Collective. Her writing is included in ''Here to Stay, Here to Fight – A Race Today Anthology'' (Pluto Press
Pluto Press is a British independent book publisher based in London, founded in 1969. Originally, it was the publishing arm of the International Socialists (today known as the Socialist Workers Party), until it changed hands and was replaced ...
, 2019), edited by Paul Field, Robin Bunce, Leila Hassan and Margaret Peacock, which features contributions to the journal between 1973 and 1988.
Research and writing
As a result of her effective involvement, Sen was invited to research television documentaries. While in India, she became particularly interested in press reports about a lower-caste, poverty-stricken woman called Phoolan Devi
Phoolan Devi (1963–2001), popularly known as the Bandit Queen, was an Mallah woman who grew up in poverty in a village in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Her family was in a land dispute which caused many problems in her youth and after b ...
who had suffered forced marriage at 11, gang rape and kidnapping. Seeking revenge as she grew older, Devi sought justice for rape victims while supporting the poor by stealing from the rich. When 24, she was charged with the murder of high-caste Thakur men who had been involved in gang rape. In 1983, she negotiated her surrender, serving a prison sentence of 11 years. Sen visited Devi in prison where she succeeded in persuading her to dictate her story to fellow prisoners as she was unable to write herself. Her book ''India's Bandit Queen'', based on Sen's research over a period of eight years,[ was subsequently published in London (]Harvill Press
Harvill Secker is a British publishing company formed in 2005 from the merger of Secker & Warburg and the Harvill Press.
History
Secker & Warburg
Secker & Warburg was formed in 1935 from a takeover of Martin Secker, which was in receivership, ...
, 1991; edited by Margaret Busby
Margaret Yvonne Busby, , Hon. FRSL (born 1944), also known as Nana Akua Ackon, is a Ghanaian-born publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster, resident in the UK. She was Britain's youngest and first black female book publisherJazzmine Breary"Let' ...
).
In the early 1990s, Sen was invited by Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
, where Dhondy was now a commissioning editor, to draft the screenplay for a feature film based on her book about Devi. Directed by Shekhar Kapur
Shekhar Kulbhushan Kapur (born 6 December 1945) is an Indian filmmaker and actor. Born into the Anand-Sahni family, Kapur is the recipient of several accolades, including a BAFTA Award, a National Film Award, a National Board of Review Award a ...
, 1994's '' Bandit Queen'' became one of India's most critically acclaimed films ever. But it led to considerable controversy when, after its première in Cannes
Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...
, the activist Arundhati Roy
Suzanna Arundhati Roy (born 24 November 1961) is an Indian author best known for her novel ''The God of Small Things'' (1997), which won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997 and became the best-selling book by a non-expatriate Indian author. S ...
, supported by Sen, called for court action to ban its release in India in view of the gang rape scene, which invaded Devi's sexual privacy.[ After receiving a settlement of £40,000, Devi withdrew her objections and the film was released for Indian audiences. Devi became an Indian member of parliament in 1999 but was shot dead two years later.][
While investigating the background to Devi's life, Sen researched the general victimisation of women in rural India where they frequently undergo such pressures that they consider themselves worthless. As a result, she published her second book, ''Death by Fire: Sati, Dowry Death and Female Infanticide in Modern India'' in 2001.][ Adopting a semi-autobiographical fictional style, she tells the story of three women, an 18-year-old woman who is burnt alive on her husband's funeral pyre, another woman is set on fire by her husband, and a third is sentenced to life imprisonment for allegedly killing her infant daughter. These examples are presented to show the differences in law enforcement for the rich and poor which have led to the creation of women's groups to work towards improvements in justice.
]
Death
Mala Sen died, aged 63, on 21 May 2011 at the Tata Memorial Hospital
The Tata Memorial Hospital is situated in Parel, Mumbai, in India. Also popularly known as TMH. It is a specialist cancer treatment and research centre, closely associated with the Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer ...
in Mumbai, after undergoing an operation for oesophageal cancer
Esophageal cancer is cancer arising from the esophagus—the food pipe that runs between the throat and the stomach. Symptoms often include difficulty in swallowing and weight loss. Other symptoms may include pain when swallowing, a hoarse voice ...
, which had been diagnosed earlier that year; at the time she had been working on a new book about women with HIV
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...
in India.[ A memorial event for her was held in London at the ]Nehru Centre
Nehru Centre is a centre to promote the teachings and ideals of the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, through educational and cultural programmes in the city of Mumbai, India. The Centre organises scientific, cultural and educat ...
in July 2011.
Bibliography
* ''India's Bandit Queen: The True Story of Phoolan Devi'', London: Harvill Press, 1991.
* ''Death by Fire: Sati, Dowry Death and Female Infanticide in Modern India'', London: W&N, 2001.
Popular culture and legacy
'' Bandit Queen'', a highly acclaimed 1994 Indian film
The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Ko ...
, is based on her book, ''India's Bandit Queen: The True Story of Phoolan Devi''.
'' Guerrilla'', a 2017 British drama mini-series based on the British Black Panthers
The British Black Panthers (BBP) or the British Black Panther movement (BPM) was a Black Power organisation in the United Kingdom that fought for the rights of black people and racial minorities in the country. The BBP were inspired by the US ...
, features a female lead inspired by Sen, Jas Mitra, who is played by Freida Pinto
Freida Selena Pinto (born 18 October 1984) is an Indian actress who has appeared mainly in American and British films. Born and raised in Mumbai, Maharashtra, she resolved at a young age to become an actress. As a student at St. Xavier's Colle ...
.
Mala Sen is depicted in a mural Brick Lane by artist Jasmin Kaur Sehra, part of a series commissioned in 2018 by the Tate Collective to celebrate the contributions of "unknown".
A portrait of Mala Sen by photographer Paul Trevor was purchased by the National Portrait Gallery, London
The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...
in 2021 for its permanent collection.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sen, Mala
1947 births
2011 deaths
20th-century British women writers
20th-century Indian women writers
20th-century Indian non-fiction writers
Activists from Uttarakhand
Alumni of the University of Cambridge
Bengali activists
Bengali novelists
Bengali writers
British women activists
Indian women activists
Indian women's rights activists
People from Mussoorie
Women writers from Uttarakhand
Writers from Uttarakhand
20th-century Indian novelists
Novelists from Uttarakhand
Indian social sciences writers
21st-century Indian women writers
21st-century Indian non-fiction writers
Welham Girls' School alumni
Indian emigrants to England