Lajja (6 page)

‘No, Horipodo, that’s not it. Because you have some facilities and advantages here doesn’t mean you can’t think of leaving. And even if you didn’t have any, why would that automatically mean that you had to leave? Isn’t this your country?

‘I’m retired now. I no longer have a regular salary. My son doesn’t have a job either. I run my family with the money I earn from my patients’ fees. The number of patients I have is dwindling. But does all this mean I should leave? Are they human—the people who leave their country? Never mind what happens, however many riots there are, Bengalis are not a savage people. There’s some commotion now but it’ll stop.

‘These are two countries situated side by side. Obviously fire in one country will singe the other somewhat. Remember Horipodo, that the riots of 1964 were not instigated by Bengali Muslims. They were started by the Biharis.’

‘I am wrapping myself in this shawl and hiding my face,’ said Horipodo, as he wrapped the shawl around himself. ‘It is not because I’m afraid of the Biharis. Dada, I’m terrified of your Bengali brethren.’

Horipodo let himself out gently and then disappeared down the lane on the left. Kiron kept the door open slightly and grew restless waiting for Suronjon. Every so often there were processions that went past shouting the slogan ‘
Naraye takbeer Allah ho Akbar’.
The slogan-shouting crowds demanded that never mind what it took, the Government of India must rebuild the Babri Masjid, otherwise there would be mayhem.

Suronjon was unsteady on his feet when he came home very late at night. He told Kironmoyee that he was not hungry and did not want any dinner.

Suronjon turned the lights off and went to bed. However, he could not fall asleep easily. Feeling restless, he kept tossing and turning. Since he could not sleep, the past kept coming back to him. This nation was founded on four main principles—nationalism, neutrality towards all religions, democracy and socialism. Beginning with the language movement of 1952 there was a long period of democratic struggles that culminated in the Liberation War and led to the defeat of the forces of communalism and fundamentalism.

When the groups that had been opposed to the principles and sensibilities of the Liberation War managed to grab power in the country and change the character of the Constitution, the communal and fundamentalist groups that had been defeated and decimated during the Liberation War were rehabilitated. The awful strategy of using religion as a political weapon was adopted and Islam was made the state religion in an illegitimate and unconstitutional way and soon after, the communal and the fundamentalist powers became very active and alert.

On 8 February 1979, very early in the morning, those belonging to the Hindu Rishi sect in Sabahon village in the Daudkandi sub-district of Comilla were attacked by a mob of nearly four hundred people from nearby villages.

‘The government has declared that Islam is the state religion. If you want to stay in an Islamic country all of you must become Muslims. If you don’t become Muslims you will have to run away from this country,’ they shouted.

These men addressed the Rishi folk using the disrespectful
tui
form and they ransacked their houses, burnt them down, razed temples to the ground, kidnapped many of them, some of whom are still missing. Many of the women were raped. There are many who still bear serious injuries from these attacks.

In Abirdia village, in the sub-district of Shibpur in Norsinghdi , Nripendro Kumar Sengupta and his wife, Onima Sengupta, were held captive in the house of an advocate and forced to write off eight and a half bighas of their land. On 27 March 1979, Onima wrote to the superintendent of police saying that the culprits had frightened her and the neighbours too were very frightened and could not protest. As a result of her complaint, Onima was imprisoned for three or four days and tortured.

Later in 1979, on 27 May, about ten or twelve armed men attacked the Haldar house in Baulkanda village in the Kaukhali sub-district of Pirojpur. They plundered the house and destroyed the temple.

‘Kill the infidels, break temples and make mosques,’ they shouted. They also added that all Hindus should leave the country as soon as possible.

On the afternoon of 9 May, about a hundred or hundred and fifty Muslims went on a rampage—bombing, burning and shooting—in the house of the Baidyas in Gaschi village in the Raujan sub-district of Chittagong.

On 16 June, eight or ten policemen caught hold of fifteen or sixteen Hindu men including Gourango Mandal, Nogendro Mandal, Amulyo Mandal, Subodh Mandal, Sudhir Mandal, Hirendronath Mandal and Johor Deuri of Atghor village in the Sorupkathi sub-district of Pirojpur and began beating them up in the courtyard of Gourango Mandal’s house. Gourango Mandal’s wife, Renu, went to stop them but the policemen pounced on her, took her to another room and raped her. When other women went to stop them the police insulted them as well. Sonaton Mandal’s daughter, Reena, was taken away by force and raped. She was abducted after this and since then there has been no news of her.

Around eleven o’clock at night, on 18 June, three policemen, the local watchman and a few armed men began search operations in Chandkaathi village in the Najirpur sub-district of Pirojpur and while they searched they asked the Hindus there to leave the country. Dulal Krishno Mandal and four or five other Hindus were taken to the local police station and had to face unspeakable torture because they were accused of being members of the Sorbohara Party. Later, they were released after eight or ten thousand takas changed hands. Many Hindus of that area left the country.

Unspeakable cruelty was unleashed on the minority Hindu community in twelve villages of the Gajirhat Union in the Dighalia sub-district of Khulna. After losing the election for chairman, Mollah Jamaluddin hired people to prevent the Hindus from farming. They cut off the ears of paddy from Hindu fields, stole cows and goats from Hindu houses and ravaged their shops.

On 10 December 1988, in Durgapur village of the Borishal district, Abdus Sobhan Bhuiyan and a Union Porishod (UP) member Ghulam Hussain arrived at the home of Rajendronath Das with a band of armed men because Das had gone to court about the inappropriate lease of a trust property and illegal occupation. Threatening murder, they looted all the precious gold ornaments and set the house on fire. They took away the image of Radha and Krishna that had been carved out of eight precious metals, after thoroughly thrashing those who had tried to stop them. Before leaving, they instructed Rajendronath Das and his family to leave the country.

Spurred on by a few fundamentalists, some policemen stormed into the home of the octogenarian Lokkhon Chondro Pal of Talbunia village in the Rampal sub-district of Bagerhat and severely battered his grandson Bikash Chondro Pal. They also beat Lokkhon Chondro’s eldest son, Pulin Behari Pal, and his second son, Robindronath Pal. Pulin’s wife tried to stand in the way of these activities of the policemen and so they thrashed her cruelly. The police then trussed up Pulin, Robindronath and Bikash and took them to the police station and had them arrested under false charges. Needless to say, they were not given bail. Some time before the Liberation, Abdul Hakim Mollah of Sholakura village had raped Lokkhon Chondro’s niece. He had also assaulted others in the family. Consequently, Hakim Mollah had been in prison for a long time. Once Hakim Mollah was out of jail, he ganged up with Siraj Mallik, Harun Mallik and Abdul Jobbaar Kazi of Talbunia village and avenged himself by punishing Lokkhon Chondro’s family thus. Many Hindus felt insecure after this incident and began preparing to leave the country.

All the Hindus in the Gopalganj district including those in Kotalipara and Maksudpur were regularly subject to theft, cheating, the ravaging and illegal occupation of their property, rape of their women, destruction of their temples, and to all this was added torture by the police. The pet gangsters of Montu Kazi, the chairman of the Kotalipara sub-district, attacked the village of Mandra Lakhirpar of the Kushla Union in broad daylight. They tortured Hindu women and girls. They frightened the Hindus of Madarbari, Lakhirpar, Ghaghor Bazar, Khejurbari and Kandi, and took money off them, robbed them of anything expensive they owned and made them sign documents. Many Hindus from these places left the country because they were frightened. Montu Kazi abducted Mrs Bhowmik of the Sonali Bank and then tortured her like a beast. Momota, Modhu and many others were enticed with promises of jobs, confined to the sub-district office and raped continuously.

In the dead of the night on 3 July 1988, the police entered the home of Anil Chondro of Goribpur village in the Chitolmari sub-district of Bagerhat. Anil Chondro was not at home. The police beat his wife and child severely. That night, the police also ransacked the house of Amulyo babu, the schoolmaster. On 4 July, the police attacked the house of Khitish Mandal in Surigati village. They didn’t find any men in the house but they carried out savage cruelties on Khitish Mandal’s wife and daughter. In the same village, the police attacked the home of Shyamol Biswas on 5 July. Shyamol babu was not present. The police raped his daughter and took away many valuable things from the house. After these incidents, a criminal forcefully moved into the home of Nirod Bihari Roy in Chitolmari village. The administration was informed but did nothing. In Kalasira village, a Hindu was evicted from his own home by UP member Monsoor Mallik. Mallik now lives in that house and the homeless Hindu wanders the streets.

An education official of Gopalganj, Johur sahib, promised Hindu women jobs and raped them. Two women of the Biswas family of the village of Demakoir were also raped in a similar way. This man also extorted money from Hindu teachers, both men and women, by threatening them with transfers.

The police and the young armed men of the locality together attacked Jogodish Halder’s home in Alti village of Gopalganj. The house was wrecked, members of the family beaten up and much was plundered. As they left, they threatened to kill everyone in the family. Later in the year, on 12 August, the police and armed local youth attacked a few more Hindu homes and smashed some temples. Ashutosh Roy, Sukumar Roy, Monoronjon Roy, Anjoli Roy, Suniti Roy and Bela Biswas were tortured. The attackers prophesied that there would be no more temples in Bangladesh.

The death of Khayer Mollah, chairman of the Ujani Union of the Maksudpur sub-district of Gopalganj, provided an occasion for the police and fundamentalists to persecute local Hindus. In Basudebpur, the police raped Shibu’s wife and in Mahatali village they raped Anjoli Biswas, who was not married. Twelve people of Shimulpur village were arrested and tortured and charged with being supporters of the Sorbohara Dal, but they were released after a large sum of money was paid.

On 20 June, the police suddenly attacked unsuspecting Hindus of Bastukathi village in the Sorupkathi sub-district of Pirojpur. They destroyed the crops of Hindus in fields on either side of the Bastukathi River. They caught hold of all the people who were at work in the fields and let them go only in exchange for large sums of money. On 11 June, in the same village, Minoti Rani, a worker of the sub-district health department, was on her way to Adamkathi with her brother and sister-in-law to meet her friend, Chhobi Rani. They were captured and kept in the temporary police camp and threatened with torture. They were released after the police got a thousand takas from them.

Shiuli, the fourteen-year-old daughter of Sudhanshu Kumar Halder of Purbojalabari village of Sorupkathi, was raped on the way to her uncle’s house by a man called Rustam Ali. She was found lying unconscious on the road. When Sudhanshu Halder asked prominent people in his locality for justice, they told him, ‘If you can’t put up with things like this you’d better leave the country.’

On 7 April 1979, in Buriganj Bazar in the Shibganj sub-district of Bogura, the people of the masjid committee attacked Dr Sochindro Kumar Saha’s house in connection with the construction of a mosque close by. They broke the doors and windows of the building, plundered it and finally set it on fire. They razed the adjacent temple to dust. They carried on with the destruction for nearly two hours and carried away belongings worth more than 1 million takas. During the attack, Dr Saha’s son managed to get away and inform the police station. A police officer along with a contingent of policemen reached the scene of action. The culprit, Altaf Hussain Mandal, and his henchmen attacked the police with sticks, iron rods, bricks and stones. Some police officers were injured too. Later, the officer in charge of the Shibganj sub-district registered a complaint against Altaf Hussain Mandal and sixty-five other people and initially they were arrested. However, the accused were let off after instructions came from a higher level. Dr Saha’s family then received death threats. All of this led to a great feeling of insecurity among the Hindus of the area. Many began to think about leaving.

On 3 and 4 May 1979, Hindus of Tikrapara village in the Alfadanga sub-district of Foridpur were tortured. The Hindus of the area feared for their lives, left their own homes and sought refuge elsewhere.

Horen Biswas had lived in Rahatpur village of the Raypur Union in the Mohammadpur sub-district of Magura for a very long time. His wife, young daughter and daughter-in-law were raped by an influential crook of the same area, Nojir Mridha. A case was registered. However, Horen Biswas and his family and relatives had to leave the country because of continuous persecution by Nojir and his cohorts.

On 19 and 20 May, the police of Debogram village in the Kotalipara sub-district of Gopalganj arrested Anil Kumar Bagchi, Sushil Kumar Pande and Makhan Lal Ganguly on charges of being involved with the Bongobhumi movement. They were let go after large sums of money were paid as bribes.

A drunk Romesh Chondro Ojha of Mirakathi village, in the sub-district of Jhalkathi of Jhalkathi district, was forcibly made to change his religion. Romesh Chondro’s wife, Minoti Rani, and his older brother, Nirod Ojha, were also pressurized to convert. When Minoti Rani complained about this matter to the eminent people of the locality, they threatened her and told her that there would be beastly torture coming her way. Minoti Rani ran for her life and is still on the run.

In Jobai village in the Kochua sub-district of Gopalganj, a sacked policeman called Sultan raped Sudhir Baidya’s wife. She was so ashamed that she went into hiding, and Sudhir Baidya received threats to his life. In the same village, some people slaughtered a cow belonging to Upendro Malo and ate it. Upendro was abused and humiliated when he appealed to the administration for help.

Kartik Ray of Boultoli village of Boultoli Union of Gopalganj lost his life to the Muslims of his neighbourhood when he tried to protect the paddy that was growing in his fields. His wife, Renuka, was forced to say that his brutal murder was a natural death.

Premanondo Sheel belonged to Dokkhin Chandpur in the Laksam sub-district of Comilla. On 4 December 1988, at about eight o’clock in the evening, Abdur Rahim had Premanondo’s daughter, Monju Rani, who was studying in Class IX, abducted by his students. A case was registered the next morning at the Laksam police station. Even now, there is no news of Monju Rani. The supporters of the abductors continue to threaten Premanondo Sheel and his family, and the police play the role of silent spectators. The Hindu parents of this area are afraid to send their daughters to school.

On 25 April, the police arrested sixteen Hindus while they were singing kirtans in Gutia village in the Ujirpur sub-district of Borishal. They were daily-wage labourers in betel-leaf plantations.

After the National Religion Bill was passed, many Hindus of Siddhirpasha village in the Abhoynagar sub-district of Joshor sold their land worth 20,000 takas a bigha
for seven or eight thousand and left for India because of rumours that Hindus would no longer be able to sell their properties. Madhob Nandi, a local, tried explaining to many of the fleeing Hindus that they should not heed such rumours. A few days later, Madhob Nandi’s home was attacked in the dead of night by a dozen men carrying knives, lances and other such instruments. They raped Madhob Nandi’s daughter and also his daughter-in-law, who was seven months pregnant.