Lajja (14 page)

Suronjon knocked on Rotna’s door. Rotna opened the door and did not seem surprised. It was as if she had expected Suronjon to visit. She took him to her bedroom as though he were a close associate of many years. She was wearing a cotton sari, which she had wound around herself without pleats. A red bindi would have been perfect. And a slight streak of sindoor in her hair! Suronjon was not superstitious, but he was always moved by the Bengaliness evident in conch-shell bangles, sindoor powder, ululation and the sounds of the conch shell. Religious rituals and worship were forbidden in their house but he had never objected to going out in a gang during festivals to see images of the goddess, dancing for fun during the arati, enjoying the music in the Puja mandap or eating
naroo
and other goodies offered there.

Rotna had gone to make tea. She had greeted him but had not said anything more. Neither had Suronjon. He had not found anything to say. He had come here to show his love. He had shaved after many days, bathed, put on an ironed shirt and even applied a dash of perfume. The household comprised aged parents, her older brother and Rotna. The brother had a wife and kids. The children kept coming up to the door to figure out who this new person was and why he was there. Suronjon beckoned a seven-year-old girl and asked her name.

‘Mrittika,’ said the girl pertly.

‘That’s a lovely name. And Rotna is your . . . ?’

‘Aunt.’

‘Ok.’

‘Do you work in my aunt’s office?’

‘No. I don’t work anywhere. I simply roam around.’

Mrittika liked the idea of roaming around and was about to say something more when Rotna came back. She was carrying a tray with cups of tea, biscuits, spicy snacks and two kinds of sweetmeats.

‘There’s not supposed to be any food these days in Hindu homes,’ said Suronjon. ‘They are unable to leave their homes. And we have a food shop here! When did you get back from Sylhet?’

‘Not Sylhet. I’d been to Hobiganj, Sunamganj and Moulvi Bazar. I saw three temples being demolished in Madhobpur Bazar of Hobiganj.’

‘Who demolished them?’

‘Cap-wearing, bearded Mozzies. They also broke the Kali temple in the market. Topon Dasgupta, the doctor, is my relative. They plundered and destroyed his office. They demolished two temples in Sunamganj on the eighth. On the ninth they broke, plundered and burnt four temples and fifty shops. They have broken and burnt six temples and akharas in Rajnagar and Kulaura of Moulvi Bazar. They have also ravaged seven shops in Brahmon Bazar.’

‘Shops belonging to Hindus, right?’

‘Of course,’ laughed Rotna.

‘Do you think it’ll be possible to carry on living in this country?’ asked Rotna as she offered him the tea and snacks.

‘Why not? Does this country belong only to the fathers of Muslims?’

Rotna smiled a pensive smile.

‘Apparently in Bhola, people are putting their thumbprints on documents, selling their property and leaving. Some are getting a bit of money, some none,’ said Rotna.

‘Who’re the people leaving Bhola? Hindus, aren’t they?’

‘Oh yes.’

‘Why don’t you say that clearly?’ asked Suronjon as he sampled the snacks that he had been served.

There really was no need to mention the word Hindu. Despite this, Suronjon wanted to explain to Rotna that the people who were leaving, whose lives, homes and shops were being ravaged, were no longer ‘people’ of Bhola or Hobiganj but merely ‘Hindus’.

He did not know what Rotna made of his question but she looked deeply into his eyes. He didn’t want to beat about the bush.

‘I like you,’ he wanted to say. ‘Let’s get married if you want to.’

Rotna stood up to get some water. Her sari brushed his left hand. He savoured the feeling. It would be so easy for Rotna to be his wife, he told himself. But it was not as if he wanted to get married simply because his unruly life
should now be steadied by his own family. He could lie in bed and play with Rotna’s fingers all day long and they would talk about their lives from the time that they were naked babies and there would be nothing unknown, no walls between them. She would not really be his wife, but his friend.

What did Rotna’s deep stares mean? Suronjon felt a little flustered.

‘I came to see whether you were undamaged, all in one piece,’ he said.

‘Undamaged! That has two meanings—one for women and another for men. Which one did you come to see?’

‘Both.’

Rotna smiled and bowed her head. Her smile did not rain pearls but it certainly looked very nice. Suronjon found it difficult to tear his eyes away from her face. Was he really much older? Did men of his age look very old? Was he no longer eligible for marriage? As he was pondering these questions, Suronjon found Rotna looking at him, mesmerized.

‘Are you still sticking to your decision of not getting married?’ Rotna asked, smiling.

‘Life is like a river, you know that, don’t you?’ Suronjon said, taking some time to answer. ‘Does a river ever stay still? Decisions are also not unmoving. They change.’

‘What a relief!’ said Rotna, laughing, during this terrible time when outside, beyond their walls, there were communal attacks on all Hindus.

Suronjon did not ask her why she was relieved. He understood. Rotna had brought him unstinted happiness.

He wanted to touch her hand and say: ‘Come, let us walk in the sal forests and lie in the green grass all night. The moon will guard us. We’ll not ask the moon to hide her light.’

‘Let’s change our rigid decisions and do something right now,’ he wanted to tell her as he reached the stairs. She stood holding the door.

Suronjon did not manage to tell her anything.

‘Come again,’ Rotna said, as she came down two steps. ‘When you come I feel that there is someone to stand by me and I haven’t become absolutely alone.’

It was clear to Suronjon that he felt about Rotna what he used to feel for Parveen. He felt the delight he used to feel when he was with her, his naughty bird.

Suronjon picked up the newspaper along with his morning cup of tea. He felt good that morning. He had slept well too. He skimmed the papers and then called Maya.

‘Hey Maya, what’s the matter with you? Why are you always so sad?’

‘Matter with me! You’re the one who’s down in the dumps. You never sit with Baba even for a bit.’

‘I don’t like it. I get angry when I see that a strong and healthy man is now like a corpse, lying in bed. And you folk are constantly snivelling there next to him—I hate that even more. Tell me, why didn’t Ma keep the money I gave her? Does she have a lot of money?’

‘Ma sold her jewellery.’

‘That’s nice. I don’t like jewellery and stuff.’

‘Don’t like jewellery! Remember, you gave Parveen Apa a pearl ring?’

‘I was young then and had stars in my eyes. Also, I wasn’t wise.’

‘So you are wise now!’ exclaimed Maya, laughing.

Suronjon hadn’t seen Maya laugh in a long time! He wanted to keep her smiling and so pointed out the news item on the first page.

‘Look,’ he said. ‘There’s been a peace march in the city. We’re in Bangladesh irrespective of our religion or caste. The All-Party Peace March has boldly called for resistance to communalism. They’ve said that never mind the cost, we should stand up to all those who let loose plunder and mayhem. The violence in India is also dying out. The High Court has declared that the takeover of the Babri Masjid land by the government of Uttar Pradesh is illegal. Narasimha Rao has said that it is the government of Uttar Pradesh that should be held responsible for the destruction of the Babri Masjid, and not the Government of India. The army is still out in West Bengal, Gujarat and Maharashtra. The leftists here have declared jihad against fundamentalists. The CPB will gather today at Polton More. The Awami League has said that a Peace Brigade has to be created to preserve communal harmony. The City Coordination Committee has said that people like Nizami Kader Mollah should be arrested for provoking riots. The Nirmul Committee too is meeting today. There is an All-Party Peace March at Tongi. The Cultural Alliance has come up with the slogan: “Bangladesh will stop those who create communal riots.” Fifteen eminent citizens have issued a statement saying that it is the responsibility of citizens to preserve communal harmony. Colonel Akbar has said that fascist powers like the Jamaat have to be banned. In Borishal, they have formed the United Forum for Protecting Communal Harmony. The Teachers’ Council of Dhaka University has said that if communal harmony is destroyed then the sanctity of the Month of Liberation will be lost. Twenty-eight people have been arrested in connection with the destruction of the temple at Dhamrai. Jyoti Basu has said that India is hiding her face in shame.’

‘So, you read out just the good news?’ Maya sat cross-legged on the bed and took the newspaper from him. ‘And all the other things? Ten thousand families homeless in Bhola. Seven hundred houses burnt to ashes in Chottogram. Temples destroyed in Kishorganj. Section 144 imposed in Pirojpur. Seven hundred houses set on fire in Sitakund Mirsorai.’

‘I don’t want to listen to any bad news. I am happy today.’

‘Why? Because Parveen Apa is getting divorced? She was here yesterday. She said that her husband thrashes her every night.’

‘Why is she saying all this now? Wasn’t marriage to a Muslim supposed to ensure endless peace? No, it isn’t Parveen. My emotions have found another haven. But this time not with a Muslim. There won’t be tearful pleas before marriage asking me to become a Muslim.’

Maya laughed. Maya was laughing after a long time.

‘How is Baba now?’ asked Suronjon, suddenly sombre. ‘Won’t he get well soon?’

‘He’s better now. He can talk quite well. He holds me and walks to the bathroom. He’s able to eat soft food. Oh yes, Belal bhai had come to see you last evening. He visited Baba too. He said that you shouldn’t leave home. It’s risky to leave home now.’

‘Oh.’ Suronjon jumped up at once.

‘What’s up? Looks like you’re going somewhere,’ said Maya.

‘Am I the kind of guy who sits at home?’

‘Ma worries greatly if you go out. Dada, please don’t go. I feel scared too.’

‘I have to return Pulok’s money. Do you have some money? After all, you’re a woman with an income. Can’t you give me some cigarette money from your fund?’

‘Oh no, I won’t give you money for cigarettes. I don’t want you to die early.’

Maya said that she would not give him anything but she gave her older brother a hundred takas, nonetheless. When she was little, Maya had wept uncontrollably one day. The girls in her school had been chanting ‘Hindus, O Hindus of the holy basil leaves / Hindus, O Hindus who feast on cows’.

Maya came home and cried to her brother. ‘It seems I am a Hindu. Dada, am I a Hindu?’

‘Yes,’ Suronjon had replied.

‘I don’t want to be a Hindu any more. They make fun of me because I’m a Hindu.’

‘Who has said that you’re a Hindu?’ Sudhamoy had asked when he heard about what had happened. ‘You are a human being. There is nothing greater than a human being in this world.’

Suronjon had felt his heart fill with regard for his father. He had seen many different people but he was yet to meet someone as idealistic, logical, intelligent and full of integrity as Sudhamoy. If he had to call someone God, it would be Sudhamoy. How many such open-minded, compassionate and logical people can one find in the world?

In 1964, Sudhamoy was part of the group that had declared ‘Resist, East Pakistan!’ Those riots had not spread. Sheikh Mujib had stopped them. The Pakistan government had engineered riots to contain the revolt against Ayub’s government. Then it had filed criminal charges against student leaders and political leaders because they had been involved in the movement against the government. Sudhamoy was one of the accused in the case. Sudhamoy did not like thinking about the past. However, the past tended to uncover itself and make its presence felt. His country had always been important to him but what had really happened to his country? How much had the situation improved? Since 1975, the country had been moving into the grasp of the fundamentalists. The people knew this, they understood everything, yet they were unperturbed, calm. Was this generation lacking in consciousness? Did they not have that same blood in their veins—the blood that was spilt on roads in 1952 as people fought for a national language, the blood that had led to the collective uprising of 1969 and the blood of 3 million people sacrificed in the war of 1971? Where was that passion? Where was that passion and excitement that had led to Sudhamoy jumping into movements? Where were the fiery young people? Why were they now as cold-blooded as snakes? Why had fundamentalism rooted itself in a country that was to be impartial to religion? Could no one understand what terrible times were ahead? Sudhamoy wanted to use all his strength to leave his bed but he could not. His face turned blue with pain, inability and rage.

The law minister of the Awami League brought back Ayub Khan’s Enemy Property Act into Parliament. Of course, he changed the name and made it the Vested Property Act. The property left behind by the Hindus who had left the country was called enemy property. Were Sudhamoy’s uncles—his kaka, jyatha, mama—enemies of the country? His jyatha and mama had possessed big houses in Dhaka. They had properties in Sonarga, Norsinghdi, Kishorganj and Foridpur. Some had been turned into colleges, some into veterinary hospitals, or family-planning offices or offices for the registration of income tax. When Sudhamoy visited Anil kaka as a child, there were ten horses in that enormous house on Ramakrishna Road. And his kaka would take him horse riding. Sudhamoy Datta now spent his days in a dark, dank house in Tikatuli, and his uncle’s house, which was not too far away, now belonged to the government. Many Hindus could improve their desperate circumstances if the Vested Property Act were changed to benefit heirs or vested in the same community. Sudhamoy had spoken about this idea to many powerful people but it had not helped. He was now tired of his unchanging, useless life. He found no meaning in staying alive. He knew that if he died silently in his bed, no one would lose very much. In fact, Kironmoyee would be relieved from endlessly staying awake at nights and looking after him.

In 1965, the Enemy Property Act came into being in the background of the war between India and Pakistan and because the colonial Pakistani ruling class felt fierce communal hatred. Sudhamoy was amazed that the Act was craftily kept alive in a liberated Bangladesh. Was this not a scandal for an independent country, for the Bengali race? This law had taken away the fundamental, human, democratic and citizenship rights of 20 million people. This law contradicted the governance principles of equal rights and social equality, and in keeping the law alive, 20 million people had been evicted from their ancestral homes and pushed into a helpless and terrible situation. Therefore, if Hindus felt extremely insecure, were they to be blamed? The seeds of communalism had been planted deep in society. Although the Constitution of Bangladesh enshrined the principle of equal security and equal rights for every citizen, the government, in keeping the Vested (Enemy) Property Act alive, was violating basic constitutional directives and showing great disrespect to national independence and sovereignty. However, the following clauses in the section on fundamental rights in the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh say:

26. Laws inconsistent with fundamental rights to be void.

(1) All existing law inconsistent with the provisions of this Part shall, to the extent of such inconsistency, become void on the commencement of this Constitution.

(2) The State shall not make any law inconsistent with any provisions of this Part, and any law so made shall, to the extent of such inconsistency, be void.

(3) Nothing in this article shall apply to any amendment of this Constitution made under article 142.

27. Equality before law.

All citizens are equal before law and are entitled to equal protection of law.

28. Discrimination on grounds of religion, etc.

(1) The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.

31. Right to protection of law.

To enjoy the protection of the law, and to be treated in accordance with law, and only in accordance with law, is the inalienable right of every citizen, wherever he may be, and of every other person for the time being within Bangladesh, and in particular no action detrimental to the life, liberty, body, reputation or property of any person shall be taken except in accordance with law.

Clause number 112 clearly states that ‘all authorities, executive and judicial, in the Republic, shall act in aid of the Supreme Court.’

The clauses in the Pakistan Defence Act, 1965, were:

a) any state, or sovereign of a state, at war with, or engaged in military operation against Pakistan, or

b) any individual resident in enemy territory, or

c) any body of persons constituted or in corporation in enemy territory, or in or under the laws of a state at war with, or engaged in military operations against Pakistan, or

d) any other persons or body of persons declared by the Central Government to be an enemy, or

e) a body of persons (whether incorporated or not) carrying on business in any place, if and so long as the body is controlled by a person who under this rule is an enemy, or

f) as respect any business carried on in enemy territory and individual or body of persons (whether incorporated or not) carrying on that business.

169. 1. Enemy subject means:

a) any individual who possesses the nationality of a state at war with, or engaged in military operations against Pakistan, or having possessed such nationality at any time has lost without acquiring another nationality, or

b) a body of persons constituted or incorporated in or under the laws of such state

169. 4. ‘Enemy property means: any property for the time being belonging to or held or managed on behalf of an enemy as defined in rule 161, an enemy subject or any enemy firm, but does not include the property which is ‘Evacuee property’ under the Pakistan (administration of evacuee property) Act, 1957 (xii of 1957).’

It also says, ‘Where an individual enemy subject dies in Pakistan any property, which, individually before his death, belonged to or was held by him, or was managed on his behalf, may notwithstanding his death continue to be regarded as enemy property for the purpose of rule 182.’

There were riots in the eastern part of Pakistan after 1947 and many hundreds of thousands of Hindus left for India. The Pakistan government of that time brought in the East Bengal Evacuees (Administration of Property) Act VIII of 1949, the East Bengal Evacuees (Restoration of Possession) Act XXIII of 1951 and the East Bengal Evacuees (Administration of Immovable Property) Act XXIV of 1951.

The East Bengal Evacuees (Administration of Immovable Property) Act XXIV of 1951 said:

The evacuee property committees constituted under this Act shall not take charge of any evacuated property

1. if the sole owner or all the co-share owners of the property object to the management of such property by the committee on the ground that he or they has or have made other arrangements for the management and utilisation of the property and if the committee is satisfied that the arrangement so made is proper and adequate, or

2. if an objection is filed and allowed under this section.

The Act also said that ‘the property shall be vested only on the applications of the evacuees and it shall be vested with the right to dispose of property as he likes’.

In 1957 the Pakistan government made some more changes in the Act and introduced the Pakistan (Administration of Evacuee Property) Act XII of 1957. This law said that ‘properties of the person who is resident in any place in the territories now comprising India or in any area occupied by India and is unable to occupy, supervise or manage in person his property in then Pakistan or is being occupied, supervised or managed by a person’. This law did not pose as many problems for Hindus as did the East Pakistan Disturbed Persons and Rehabilitation Ordinance, 1964.

On 6 September 1965, the Pakistan government brought in the Defence of Pakistan Rules, 1965, similar to the Defence of Pakistan Ordinance No. XXIII, after declaring an Emergency because there was a war between Pakistan and India, and limiting the fundamental rights of people as defined in paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Pakistan Constitution, 1962. Clause 182 of the Defence of Pakistan Rules, 1965, said:

with a view to preventing the paying of money to an enemy firm, and to provide for the administration and disposal by way of transfer or otherwise of enemy property and matters connected therewith or incidental thereto, the Central Government may appoint a Custodian of enemy property for Pakistan and one or more Deputy Custodian and Assistant Custodians of enemy property for such local areas as may be prescribed and may, by order—vest or provide for and regulate the vesting in the prescribed custodian such enemy property as may be prescribed.

According to this clause, properties in the jurisdiction of the Defence of Pakistan Rules were vested in the government. The Pakistan government passed the Enemy Property (Custody and Registration) Order, 1965, with the promise that the enemy properties that were being temporarily managed and administered by the government—because the owners were under arrest during the war or their movements were restricted and the properties were not safe—would be returned to the owners and their interests protected. This was followed by the Enemy Property (Land and Building) Administration and Disposal Order, 1966, with an officer of the Pakistan government being entrusted with getting the required price and compensation for those properties, keeping the accounts and protecting them, and making arrangements for transfer and exchange.

Even after the war between India and Pakistan ended, the Enemy Property (Continuance of Emergency Provision) Ordinance No. 1 of 1969 was passed with the objective of keeping the earlier laws valid. India was a friendly power in the Bangladesh Liberation War and there was no war between the two countries. Yet there was the Presidential Order No. 29/1972 and according to the Bangladesh Vesting of Property and Assets Order, the properties that were vested in the Custodian of the Pakistan government were vested in the Bangladesh government. Carrying on with the Enemy Property (Continuance of Emergency Provision) Ordinance of the Pakistani ruling class was a betrayal of the promise of securing human dignity, rights and social equality for all people. Even in a liberated Bangladesh, the Pakistan government’s idea of managing enemy property was unjustly kept alive! The demands of the people were ignored and the Enemy Property Act (Continuance of Emergency Provision) Repeal Act XLV of 1974 was introduced and in the guise of the Vested and Non-Resident Property (Administration) Act XLVI of 1974 all the properties vested with the Pakistan government and the properties of those who were no longer permanent residents of Bangladesh or had become citizens of another country were vested in the government and a committee formed to manage and administer those properties. Responsibility for identified properties was given to the committee and they had to either act on their own initiative or according to appeals made by non-residents. Under this Act, not only were enemy properties of the former Pakistani regime taken over but arrangements were also made to include properties that had earlier not been included by the Pakistani regime or the custodians of enemy property. But before the law could be enforced, Ordinance No. XCIII was introduced and it said: ‘Those properties which have been vested under the Act shall be administered, controlled, managed and disposed of by transfer or otherwise, by the Government on such officer or authority as Government may direct.’ Within a year, on 23 May 1977, an order or ‘circular’ said: ‘Ten
kathas
of vacant non-agricultural land shall be given long term lease to a person deserving to get it, realising full market value as premium and proper rent, that non-agricultural lands situated in business centres shall be settled in open auction with the highest bidder.’ In effect, the government organized to have auctions for long-term lease of non-agricultural lands that belonged to the 15–20 million people of Bangladesh. The thirty-seventh paragraph of this order also said that workers of the tehsil office would be rewarded, be it the tehsildar or any other, if they could uncover unknown vested properties, or any information about such properties. The thirty-eighth paragraph said that the additional district administrator (Revenue), all the block administrators, the circle officer (Revenue), and the land administrator as well as all the workers in the land reform department would also receive awards. So, in this scramble to be rewarded, they began to evict Hindus from their ancestral homes or from properties that they had managed to acquire by themselves.

After 1966, the government of East Pakistan had conducted a survey in the country and found that houses, ponds, gardens, family crematoriums, temples and agricultural and non-agricultural properties were listed as enemy property if people had left during the exodus of 1947, or the riots of 1950 and 1954, and had given the management and protection of the properties to their family, co-shareholders, other relatives or other citizens, and through an agreement or arrangement had left for India. Other than this, the properties of those Hindus who had not gone to India but lived in some other country, or lived temporarily in India, were also marked out as enemy property. However, the properties of those Muslims who had left for India or other countries were not identified as enemy property and neither were those properties surveyed. According to the Hindu Undivided Family Act, the ownership of the property would devolve to the other survivors in the family and they would occupy and enjoy the property. However, the ownership of all these properties had been vested in the government.