Lajja (16 page)

‘See, there is nothing to say about our enemies,’ said Kajol, interrupting him. ‘However, it hurts badly when we find that the people we are banking on have moved away from their ideals.’

‘Everyone is talking about impartiality towards religion. Impartiality means that one will take a similar view towards all religions; there is no question of favouring one over another. And secularism means “of this world”, or to put it simply, there will be no relationship between religion and the state.’

‘During Partition, Islamic fundamentalism won and gave birth to Pakistan,’ said an agitated Kajol Debnath. ‘However, Hindu fundamentalism lost in India. And because it lost, India has managed to be a modern, democratic and secular state. For the sake of Indian Muslims, the Hindus of this country were declared enemies as an excuse to chase the Hindus out. The idea is to grab the properties of the Hindus. And why shouldn’t the Hindus feel scared when the idea of an Islamist arrangement is brought up, reminiscent of Pakistani times? It is impossible for Hindus to survive in this country unless it becomes a secular state. One of our demands is that the Enemy Property Act has to go. There are no Hindus in the administration. From Pakistani times, there have been no Hindus at the level of secretary. There are very few Hindus in the army and the ones who are there don’t get promoted. I also don’t think there are any Hindus in the navy or the air force.’

‘Kajol da, there are no brigadiers or major generals amongst the Hindus,’ said Nirmol. ‘Out of seventy colonels, one is a Hindu; eight out of four hundred and fifty lieutenant colonels are Hindu; forty majors out of a thousand; eight captains out of thirteen hundred; three second lieutenants out of nine hundred; five hundred Hindu soldiers out of a total of eighty thousand. Out of forty thousand people in the Bangaldesh Rifles only three hundred are Hindus. And why are you only saying that there are no Hindu secretaries? There aren’t any Buddhist or Christian secretaries either! There are also no additional secretaries. There is one Hindu joint secretary out of a total of four hundred and thirty-four joint secretaries.’

‘Is there anyone in the Foreign Service from any of the minorities?’ said Kajol. ‘I don’t think there’s anyone.’

‘No, Kajol da, none,’ said Subhash, as he got up from the
mora
he was sitting on.

Suronjon was sitting on the carpeted floor, leaning against a cushion. He was rather enjoying himself, listening to the discussion.

‘If we look at Pakistani times and continue till the present, we find that under the Awami League, Monoronjon Dhar was in Japan for some time as the ambassador from Bangladesh.’

‘Hindus are usually overlooked for opportunities for higher education or training. Hindus no longer control any profitable businesses. If you want to start a business and don’t have a Muslim partner, you can’t be sure that a Hindu organization will get a licence. And of course, the industrial loan organization does not give loans to such businesses.’

‘Yes, I wore out my shoes trying to set up a garments business,’ said Onjon. ‘I didn’t get any help from the banks. I got a loan once I had a partnership with Afsar.’

‘Have you noticed that programmes on radio and television begin with readings from the Koran? The Koran is always referred to as a holy book. However, when there are readings from the Gita or the Tripitakas those books are never described as holy.’

‘Actually, no religious book is holy,’ said Suronjon. ‘All this is just mischief. We should get rid of religious texts. We can demand that there should be no proselytizing on radio or TV.’

The group went a bit quiet. Suronjon would have loved a cup of tea but it did not seem like anyone in that house was going to make any. He felt like stretching out on the carpet. He wanted to lie down and savour the pain that everyone present was regurgitating.

‘Verses from the Koran are read at all government functions and meetings. Why are there no readings from the Gita? All through the year there are only two holidays for Hindu government officials and workers. They really don’t have much opportunity for taking leave at will. Every institution announces plans of building mosques but there are never any plans for temples. Every year tens of million takas are spent on building new mosques or on the renovation of old mosques, but is there any spending on temples, churches or pagodas?’

‘Will you be happy if there are readings from the Gita on radio and TV?’ asked Suronjon, raising his head from his prone position. ‘Will people benefit greatly if temples are built? The twenty-first century is nearly here and we still want religion to be present in society and the state. Please ask for the spheres of state, society and education to be free of religion. We have to stop religious functions and religious worship in schools, colleges and universities. Textbooks should no longer carry biographies of religious leaders. Political leaders should be forbidden from supporting any religious activities. If any political leader participates in any religious programme or patronizes any such activity, that leader must be expelled from the party. No government media of communication should be used for proselytizing. Application forms should not ask for the religious affiliation of the applicant.’

‘You have moved far ahead in your thinking,’ said Kajol Debnath, laughing in response to Suronjon’s remarks. ‘Your proposals may work in a secular country but not here, in this country.

‘We, the Bangladesh Forum for the Unity of Students and Youth, had a meeting today, in front of the Press Club. We have submitted a petition to the home minister asking for the rebuilding of damaged temples, compensation for damaged homes, compensation and rehabilitation of the destitute, punishment for the guilty and an end to the politics of communalism.’

‘This government will not accept even one of your demands,’ said Suronjon, getting up. He had been lying on the floor all this while, resting his head on a cushion.

‘And why should they?’ said Kobir Choudhury. ‘The home minister is a traitor, a
razakar
. All of us know that in 1971 this man used to stand on the Kachpur Bridge and guard Pakistani camps.’

‘It is the razakars who are in power now,’ said Saidur Rahman. ‘Sheikh Mujib forgave them. Ziaur Rahman brought them to power. Ershad made them even more powerful. And of course, Khaleda Zia came to power with the direct support of the razakars.’

‘I heard that in Cox’s Bazar they have broken the Sebakhola temple. They’ve broken the
chitamandir
too. They’ve destroyed the central Kali temple in the Idgaon Bazar of Jalalabad; the main Durga temple in Hindupara, the Monosa temple, the Hori temple and the clubhouse in Machhuapara have all been burnt to a cinder. The Sarbojonin Durga temple in the Islamabad Hindupara, the Durga temple in Boalkhali, the Advaita Chintahori Math, the house of the head of the math and along with these five other family temples have also been reduced to ashes. The Hori temple in Boalkhali has been plundered. Eight temples in Choufoldondi, six houses and two shops have been completely burnt. A total of one hundred and sixty-five families in the Hindupara have had all their possessions plundered. Five Hindu shops in the bazar have been ravaged and Hindus are being beaten up everywhere. The rice silos in Hindu homes have had kerosene poured on them and been set on fire. The Bhoirobbari in Ukhia has been destroyed completely. The Kali temple in Teknaf and the priest’s house have been burnt down. The temple in Sarbang too has been broken and burnt. Three temples and eleven homes in Moheshkhali have been burnt. Four ‘Gita schools’ have been burnt. They have burnt and broken the Kali temple and the Hori temple in Kalaram Bazar. Six temples including the Kali temple and the naatmandir in the Kutubdia Boroghop Bazar have been set on fire. In the market, the shops of four artisans have been plundered. In Ali Akbar Dale, all the household possessions of fifty-one fisherfolk families have been completely burnt. Three children have died in such fires in Kutubdia. The Sarbojanin Kali temple of Ramur Idgorh and the Hori Mandir of the Jelepara have been broken and burnt. So many homes in Fatehkhankul have been burnt and devastated.’

‘Oh, let your news of burning and destruction be,’ said Suronjon, interrupting Taposh Pal. ‘Why don’t you sing something instead?’

‘Sing?’ Everyone present was stunned. Was it possible to sing at such a time? Was today a day like any other? The homes, shops and temples of the Hindus of the land were being plundered, broken, burnt. And Suronjon wanted someone to sing!

‘I am very hungry, Kajol da,’ said Suronjon, moving away from the idea of the song. ‘Can you give me a meal? Some rice?’

Some people were surprised that Suronjon had chosen such an inconvenient time to ask for rice. Suronjon wanted to eat a bellyful of rice. He wanted a plateful of rice with dried fish. There would be flies buzzing all around—he would wave them away with his left hand and eat. He had once seen Ramratiya eat like that, sitting in the courtyard of their Brahmopolli house. Ramratiya was the sweeper of the Rajbari School. She had brought Maya home from school. Maya had an upset tummy that day. She was very young then and had not had the sense to rush to the toilet and was crying as she stood in the school compound because her pyjamas were soiled. The headmistress had asked Ramratiya to take Maya home. Kironmoyee had given Ramratiya some rice to eat. If he had not seen Ramratiya eat, Suronjon would never have believed that something as commonplace as rice could be eaten with such pleasure! But now he had asked for rice before a roomful of people! Was he going mad? Maybe not mad—does madness bring such heart-wrenching tears? There were grave discussions going on in the room and it would create a terrible scene if he were to burst into tears. He had roamed around in the sun all day long. He was supposed to go to Pulok’s house to return the money. The banknote that Maya had given him was lying unspent. He must go to Pulok’s house tonight. He was hungry and sleepy as well.

In his slumber, Suronjon heard someone saying that the villagers of Norsinghdi Loharkanda village had turned Basona Rani Choudhury out of her own home. They frightened Basona’s son with a knife and made the family sign on blank sheets of paper. They also said that if they let anyone know of this incident they would kill Basona and her two sons. Did Basona look? Was she as soft, meek and unwilling to create a fuss? Yunus Sardar’s people raped Sobita Rani and Pushpo Rani in Romjanpur village of Madaripur. In Dumuria in Khulna, two sisters, Orchona Rani Biswas and Bhogoboti Biswas were both dragged off a rickshaw van at Malopara on their way home and raped at Wajed Ali’s house. Who raped them? Who were they? Men called Modhu, Shaukat and Aminur. In Chittagong in Patia, Badsha Mian, Nur Islam and Nur Hussain had entered the house of Uttom Das, son of Porimol Das, at three in the morning and killed him. Uttom’s people had gone to court and so now there was a plan afoot to evict them from Uttom’s house. Sobita Rani Dey, a student of Borolekha School, was studying at night when Nijamuddin came with some men and abducted her. Sobita was never found again. Shefali Rani Datta, the daughter of Nripendro Chondro Datta of Bogura, was abducted and forced to change her religion. The administration did not help at all. In the Shuro and Bagdanga villages of Joshor, armed men surrounded the houses of Hindus, plundered and beat up the people inside, and then raped eleven women through the night. And then? What happened after that? It seemed like someone wanted to know. And the person who wanted to know—were his eyes wide with fear, disgust or with some other kind of thrill? Suronjon’s eyes were shut, he was sleepy, he had no desire to find out who was so curious as to want to hear details about Sabitri Ray of Ghoshbag in Noakhali, who was now wandering in the streets with her husband, Mohonbashi Ray, and their daughter. Abdul Halim Nonu, Abdur Rob and Bachchu Mian went to Sabitri’s house in Alipur one day, threatened the family with knives and took away 18,000 takas. They had that money because they had sold some agricultural land to raise money for their daughter’s wedding expenses. The men also told the Rays that they should transfer their remaining land to them and leave for India, otherwise they would be killed. As they left, the men took away the cows from the shed. What would happen if Sabitri did not go to India? Nothing very much—she would be killed. Three hundred and sixty families of Shapmari village in Sherpur, belonging to the caste of cowherds, had left the country because they were tortured by fundamentalists. Local Muslim men of Katiadi in Kishorganj forged documents and usurped land and property belonging to Charu Chondro Dey Sarkar, Sumontomohon Dey Sarkar, Jotindromohon Dey Sarkar and Dinesh Chondro Dey Sarkar. Efforts were on to present forged documents and evict the family of Ronjon Rajbhor of Dapunia in Mymensingh from their family home. Ronjon’s sisters, Maloti and Ramroti, were forcibly converted to Islam and married off to Muslim men and then turned out of their marital homes soon after marriage. Muslim sharecroppers had forcibly occupied twenty bighas of land in Balighata village in Joypurhat belonging to Narayan Chondro Kund. They built their own homes on the usurped lands. Suronjon was asleep, yet awake. He did not want to hear the voices that were floating into his ears. Ali Master, Abul Bashar, Shohid Morol and others launched a commando-like attack with guns in Chorgorkul of Narayanganj and destroyed the houses of six families. They grabbed everything belonging to Subhash Mandal, Sontosh, Netai and Khetromohon, and evicted them from their homes and lands.

‘Wake up, Suronjon,’ someone called him. ‘Eat, here’s some rice for you.’

He thought that it was Kajol da calling him. Maya usually called him like that. ‘Come, Dada, I’ve served your food, come and eat.’ He planned to spend Maya’s money that night. He would buy some sleeping pills. He felt like he had not slept in ages. Bedbugs attacked him every night. His bed was full of bugs—as a boy he had watched Kironmoyee kill bedbugs on the floor by hitting them with ‘hand fans’. He must tell Maya and kill all the bedbugs in his room that very night. They bit him all night long. They bit him inside his head. Suronjon’s head started buzzing. He felt nauseated. Amidst all this, someone said that he was from Rajbari—that was probably Taposh’s voice—and that they had burnt thirty temples there and houses and other buildings near those temples.