Specters and Spectators: On Memory, Responsibility and Identity in Ritwik Ghatak’s Agony (Jwala)

The partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947 has caused a massive dislocation of people from their homeland and a sturdy economic downfall across the country. Amidst the growing uncertainty an incident took place in 1950s’ East Kolkata where many suicides had been reported within the span of one month. Indian film maker Ritwik Ghatak’s play “Agony” is the immediate reflection of the incident on stage. The text tries to capture and investigate the harrowing situation of the people who committed suicide at that time. In so doing, Ghatak brings the specters of the dead on stage and allows them to speak in front of the spectators about the crisis they felt both inside and outside. This essay aims to address a few questions-why these people committed suicide? Is it the prevailing sociopolitical chaos that forced them to commit suicide? Or does the reason lie deep in the very formation of identity? When ghosts appear from the bosom of the past, they appear as a metaphor of memory. But do ghosts appear only to elaborate the injustice that has happened to them? How do they establish and justify their relationship with the spectators? Is there something common among the specters and the spectators? This article tries to shed light on the important role play of memory in identity construction and thereby hope to underscore the fact that recognition and responsibility both depend on memory.