With all its flaws, Taslima Nasreen’s Lajja (1999) diagnosed the crisis at the heart of Bangladeshi identity. On the last page, after a week of violent communal riots, the Bengali Hindu family is finally defeated…“Shudhamoy was walking while leaning on Kiranmayee’s shoulder. Gradually the strength was coming back to his body. Kiranmayee held on to Shudhamoy with both hands.
Father? Shuranjan says that one word and then no more. A silent question perched on his lips. It was already dawn. A few holes in the window were letting in slivers of light.
Shudhamoy said, come Shuranjan, let us leave.
Shuranjan said, astonished, Where are we going to go father?
Shudhamoy said… India.
Shudhamoy is ashamed to say this, His voice shakes. But still he talks of leaving. Because after all this time, the strong mountain built up inside him has collapsed to the ground.”
[Taslima Nasreen, Lajja/Shame, July 1999; translated from Bengali]
Tonight. My heart is bleeding. The chess game will end, perhaps now, or later with an election, with a banning, with a fight, with a third force. Who knows what? Rajae Rajae juddho. When the rubble clears, when the puppetmasters are satisfied, pound of flesh obtained, they will go back to their rooms. Meanwhile, Bengali Hindus will have been the collateral damage, a reality that will not be unraveled or reversed by whoever “wins” this round. They are always the losers of our history.
From 1999 “fiction” to 2013 “reality.” This evening, I received a note from an uncle in Bangladesh:
“I have struggled long and hard with this, watching my brothers, cousins, sister, nephew all leave one by one.I knew they all would, i just always prayed they would go to those places everyone else is desperate to go to: Australia, Canada, USA, Dubai. With those destinations, maybe, perhaps, that would salvage something of trust and respect from our neighbors always gossiping about when we may cross the border with our non-existent wealth. But of course it is easiest to go to India – how can people like us dream of visa to USA if we have to leave at a moments notice? And what would we do if we went there without money or support? But if I go to India I am apparently a traitor.
But now I realise, at this stage in my life, I have nothing left to prove, the battle is lost, and I would rather be a “traitor.” I cannot live through this constant insecurity any more. Forty two years of independent Bangladesh, and I, a Bengali Hindu, still do not feel safe. My nephew has offered to facilitate my trip to India, and once I am there, he knows people, I will be able to stay on. So this is what it comes to. I am the last from my generation still left here. Everyone else is either passed away or is somewhere else. My son now abroad does not want to come back and is at last stage of Canada immigration. My daughter as you know was married overseas, and she won’t be coming back.
So it’s finished.
Our family, after so many generations of history, will disappear from the trace of this land, and know one will miss us or care. You may think me too naive and idealistic, but more than the memories, the unfairness of having to make this decision against my will, my biggest pain is that somewhere in the fields of this land lies my brother’s remains from 1971 and I will have to leave that behind. but even that now seems like having no value to anyone but my little secret.
Adieu Bangladesh.”
Source: Alal O Dulal
Sudhamoy may not be false or imprudent to his belief; but it’s not his fault. It’s the fault of those who failed to give both Hindu and Muslims their due. The truth that after the British Raaj Indian National Congress leaders wanted to turn the table which the Muslim rulers set on the subcontinent upside down brought about the inevitability of partition. Is it not a fact that what Muslims are in India is worse than Hindus in Bangladesh? Here the writer tells us about Shudhamoy but doesn’t care to tell anything about Adam Alis who met with the same fate in India? What are India’s RSS, Shivsena, Bajrang Dal etc other than the worse version of Jamaat in Bangladesh? One pertinent question arises: Taslima Nasrin being driven out of Bangladesh, was welcomed by India, awarded Anand Puraskar for writing ‘Lajja’ etc vilifying Muslim beliefs and values. And Muslims of Bangladesh have been castigated ever since. But why was Maqbool Fida Hossain Khan was driven out of India for painting nude Saraswati? Was it very unusual in India where, many say, there are even sculptures of copulation and nudes in Ilora and Ajanta caves? In fact a one-eyed view from either Muslim or Hindu side will never solve the problem. I like to quote Tagore who said ‘boichitrer majhe oikko’ and it’s sure that only one species of plant can’t make a garden. Swami Vivekananda said, ‘For our motherland a junction of the two systems – Hinduism and Islam – Vedanta brain ad Islam body – is the only hope. . . .I see I my mind’s eye the future perfect India rising out of the chaos and strife, glorious and invincible, with Vedanta brain and Islam body. (Swami Vivekananda – His speech in the US). We all ignored his vision and make partition inevitable. Now we must taste the fruit we had sowed.
Bengali Hindus in Bangladesh cannot be and should not be equated with citizens in other countries, particularly at a time like this when their lives and property have been the target of violence in Bangladesh. This is not a balancing game about who killed how many and where.
Bengali Hindus have existed in Bangladesh before Islam or Christianity was born, and have glorified this land from time immemorial. More closer to our times, from the lilting tunes of SD Burman to the magical lines of Jibananda Das, not to speak of globally reputed stalwarts like JC Bose, Satyen Bose, or Amartya Sen and hundreds of others in the arts and culture, there cannot be a Bangladesh without Hindus. Bangladesh Hindus have been the pioneers of education not just in Bengal, but in the entire subcontinent. Most of the reputed schools and colleges in Bangladesh have been established by this most patriotic, and law abiding community who brought glory to Bangladesh. Not one became a Rajakar, or the procurer who went door to door to kill Bengalis, or provide innocent,helpless women to be raped, to the savage Pakistan army in 1971.
It was in the orders of the Pak Army in Operation Searchlight in 1971 to cleanse E. Pakistan of Hindus. Post Liberation we have seen Durga Puja pandals destroyed with alarming regularity, brutalizing of entire Hindu villages by groups of religious militants like Bangla bhai through Tahrir, and Jamati Islami. Pre Liberation we have seen the infamous Enemy Property act to appropriate Hindu property or drive them out.
Today, things are extremely bleak for this most peaceful, law abiding and colorful Bangladesh Hindu community more known for their wonderful year round festivals than anything related to violence. If current events are any indication, it portends terrible times ahead. It is possible, the remnants in Bangladesh of the Pakistan ideology of a “Land of the Pure’ would aim to completely drive out or annihilate this community, as pluralism of ideas and faiths, are unacceptable to these fanatics. We see quite clearly the fate of Kadianis, Shias, Hindus, and Christians in Pakistan.
Mr. Ali in his eloquence with his reference to RSS, Shiv Sena etc and the unrelated MF Hussain episode is simply providing an impetus to wannabe tormentors of Hindus. Sad!
Muslims in India are growing in numbers every year, and hindus in bangladesh are decreasing every year.
It is difficult to live wth muslims when they are in a majority. they cry for democracy when they are minority, else they cry for sharia.
Will Mr.Ali say the same thing if a hindu in Bangladesh draw a cartoon of the prophets in Islam? The entire hindus will be killed in Bangladesh.
With most muslims the problem is they have no respect for other believers and they believe their religion is the best.
This sheer arrogance and intolerance, combined with illiteracy, makes the muslims very unpopular among non-muslims.
Mr. Ali: “The truth that after the British Raaj Indian National Congress leaders wanted to turn the table which the Muslim rulers set on the subcontinent upside down brought about the inevitability of partition.”
Not true. Partition stems from the ” Pan Islamism” of Iqbal.The Two Nation Theory which proved Hindus & Muslims are separate people. All Muslim societies have problems coexisting with other communities from Lebanon to England.
Mr. Ali: “Is it not a fact that what Muslims are in India is worse than Hindus in Bangladesh”
Not true. Bangladesh Hindus are down to 10% from 35-40%. Pakistan is quite gone – down to less than 2%. Bangladesh like Pakistan reneged on it’s promise to be a secular country and was never comfortable with that tag. Rank killers, Rajakars who killed and raped in collusion with the Pak army were reinstated as ministers. Temples like Ramna Kali bari razed to the ground was never rebuilt. Dhakeswari temple destroyed several times. Destryoing Puja mandaps became a recurring event.
Mr. Ali: “What are India’s RSS, Shivsena, Bajrang Dal etc other than the worse version of Jamaat in Bangladesh”
Half truth. Bangladesh cannot be considered alone in the context of N & W India to which those groups belong. Pakistan is the hub of terror with countless groups LeT, Sipahis, and now the blood thirsty Jhangvi, who kill and behead, close girls schools, and terrorize the few remaining non Muslims with blasphemy laws. Gazhwa e Hind promises complete annihilation of all kafirs of India. Not exactly a hollow promise with hundreds of bomb strapping suicide attacks. Several attacks on India carried out, from Ahmedabad to Pune. The Indian groups are barely a match for the fully equipped state sponsored terrorists who can carry out operations Mumbai Taj. You clearly dramatize.
Mr. Ali: “But why was Maqbool Fida Hossain Khan was driven out of India for painting nude Saraswati..”
It was wrong to go after MF Hussain. MF Hussain being a devout Muslim himself, had no business to ridicule religious symbols of others, particularly when Muslims can go amuck over cartoons, teddy bears, and kill movie makers such as Van Gogh in Amsterdam.
MF Hussain could of course go even by drawing Islamic symbols as well. Erotica is plentiful in the Islamic world as well.
Mr. Ali: “boichitrer majhe oikko’ and it’s sure that only one species of plant can’t make a garden”
Ironical that you should quote this when you equate & morally justify plight of Hindus in Bangladesh with an Indian equivalent, defend the creation of Pakistan on wrong premises, which by its very name ‘Land of the Pure’ excludes all impure unbelievers, and has actually self destructed in the pursuit of that Islamic purity. Thanks.
Excellent analysis Mr. Ali. Thank you.
I left bangladesh in 1964 when there was a communal riot in dhaka. We went back after a year. But in 1971, I was 14 years old, and I told my father enough is enough. We left the country in June 1971, and I am glad we did it. My children never went to Bangladesh, and watching many bangladeshis here in UK, they have no desire to go there.
Muslims have a problem. They are obsessed with religion. You cannot blame them. Islam is the only religion in the world who always needs constant protection from its followers.
I wonder if the moderator would publish my letter, but then at least he has read it.