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Yes, in Sudeep Chakravarti’s account, anti-Marwari prejudice exists in Bengal. But his 2017 excerpt from The Bengalis: A Portrait of a Community is an author’s social critique, not a survey: it cannot show how common those attitudes are among Bengalis today.
What Chakravarti argues
In an excerpt published by Scroll on 29 October 2017, Chakravarti links prejudice against Marwaris to what he describes as the cultural self-regard of Bengali elites and the aspirations of the middle classes. In his interpretation, a strong sense of cultural identity can be reinforced by diminishing people regarded as outsiders, and he sees particularly pronounced ill will toward Marwaris.
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That is the author’s interpretation of social attitudes, not evidence that prejudice is an inherent trait of either community. The excerpt gives no population survey or other method for measuring how widespread such views are.
Language and literary memory
Chakravarti points to derogatory labels such as “Mero” and “Maura” as examples of language that marks Marwaris as outsiders. He writes: “But for most Bengalis they remain Mero. Maura. Whatever, as long as it’s derogatory.” This is his characterization in the excerpt, not a measured finding about what most Bengalis say or believe.
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He also discusses Nabendu Ghosh’s short story Bostrong Dehi. In Chakravarti’s reading, a Marwari cloth trader becomes a villain against the backdrop of wartime scarcity, rationing and a black market in cloth. He uses the story to show how anti-colonial and anti-capitalist anger can become attached to a community in public memory.
Historical claims need careful framing
The excerpt connects contemporary attitudes with inherited stories about Bengal’s past, including allegations that Marwari merchants profited or contributed to grain deprivation during famine. Chakravarti presents these stories as part of the public imagination around the community. The passage does not provide a systematic historical audit of the allegations, so it should not be treated as proof that Marwaris collectively caused famine or scarcity.
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Marwaris as participants in Bengal
Chakravarti describes Marwari families and businesses as having a substantial commercial and cultural presence in Bengal. He says they employed Bengalis and supported art and cinema, while still being treated by many Bengalis as outsiders. These are broad claims in his account and should be read as his characterization rather than as a quantified assessment of businesses, employment or public opinion.
What the excerpt can—and cannot—establish
- It can establish Chakravarti’s argument: he sees anti-Marwari prejudice and relates it to cultural self-regard, class aspiration, xenophobia and historical memory.
- It illustrates that argument: through derogatory terms and his interpretation of Bostrong Dehi.
- It cannot establish prevalence: it does not compare attitudes across regions, generations, classes or religious groups, or provide survey methodology.
- It does not settle historical allegations: literary examples and inherited memories are not a substitute for a dedicated historical account.
The book is listed by Aleph Book Company as The Bengalis: A Portrait of a Community by Sudeep Chakravarti; its catalogue records the book as shortlisted for the Hindu Prize (Non-fiction), 2018.
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