Suronjon, who had been standing by the door, entered the room silently so that Kironmoyee was not interrupted by the sound of his footsteps and could carry on crying. His sense of home and hearth had come tumbling down, everything had shattered and burnt, and his cherished dreams had turned into ashes. Kironmoyee had suddenly broken the silence in their home and begun to cry and, similarly, Suronjon broke through those cries and shouted, ‘Baba!’
Sudhamoy looked at him, startled.
‘Baba, all through last night I’ve been thinking about something,’ said Suronjon, grasping his father’s hands. ‘I know you will not listen to me. But I’m still asking you to heed what I say. Do what I say, Baba. Let’s go away.’
‘Where?’ asked Sudhamoy.
‘India.’
‘India?’ Sudhamoy was shocked, as though he had heard something outlandish. He reacted like the name was an obscenity, a forbidden word, something that should not be said aloud.
Slowly Kironmoyee’s cries stopped. She fell face down on the floor and lay moaning.
‘Is India your father’s home or your grandfather’s?’ asked Sudhamoy, frowning angrily. ‘Is anyone in your family from India? Why are you thinking of going there? Aren’t you ashamed to think of running away from your own country?’
‘Will my country let me live, Baba? What has your country given you? What is it giving me? What has your land given Maya? Why is Ma crying? Why do you groan at night? Why am I not able to sleep?’
‘There are riots in all countries. Aren’t there riots in India? Aren’t people dying there? Do you have any idea how many people are dying there?’
‘Riots are good, Baba. But here we don’t have riots. Here Muslims are killing Hindus.’
‘You’re calling yourself a Hindu?’ asked Sudhamoy excitedly. He wanted to jump out of bed.
‘We might be atheists and humanists,’ said Suronjon, restraining his father, ‘but people call us Hindus. They call us infidels. Never mind how much you love this country or how deeply you feel you belong—this country will push you away. Never mind how much we love our people, they will push us away. You can’t trust these people, Baba. You have treated so many Muslim families for free but in these times of trouble has anyone come to stand by you? Like Maya, the rest of us too will be found floating under the bridge. Baba, let’s go away.’
‘Maya will be back.’
‘Baba, Maya won’t be back. Maya won’t come back,’ said Suronjon, and he could feel pain rising in his throat.
‘Why should we go away if we couldn’t protect Maya? Whom are we going to protect now?’ muttered Sudhamoy as he lay down, listless.
‘We’ll protect ourselves. Shall we stay back to mourn what we have lost? In this terrible insecurity? It’s better to go away.’
‘What shall we do there?’
‘We’ll do what we can. What are we doing here? Are we very well here? Are we happy?’
‘A rootless life . . .’
‘What will we do with roots? If roots were worth anything then why do we have to sit with our doors and windows shut tight? All our lives we will have to live like frogs in the well. They have perfected the practice of attacking our homes and of slaughtering us on the slightest pretext. Baba, I feel ashamed to live like a mouse. I feel very angry. I can’t do anything. Can I burn a couple of their houses when I’m angry? Should we simply sit back and watch like fools as we get destroyed? Do I have the right to say anything, or slap a Muslim back when he slaps me? Let’s go away.’
‘Things are calming down now. Why are you thinking so much? You can’t make life-changing decisions based on emotions.’
‘Calming down? All that’s on the surface. There’s violence within. They are laying their traps and will soon show their terrible fangs and claws. Why did you have to give up your dhoti for pyjamas? Why aren’t you free to wear dhotis? Let’s go away.’
‘No. I won’t go,’ said Sudhamoy, grinding his teeth angrily. ‘You go if you want to.’
‘You won’t come along?’
‘No,’ said Sudhamoy, turning his face away in disgust.
‘Baba, please let’s go away,’ said Suronjon softly with his hand on his father’s shoulder. His voice was full with pain and tears.
‘No,’ said Sudhamoy with his earlier determination.
The refusal felt like a whiplash to Suronjon.
Suronjon had failed like he had known he would. A strong-willed person like Sudhamoy would cling to his land and his country, despite all the kicks and blows that came his way. The snakes and scorpions in the land would bite and sting him but he would dig deep into the soil and tumble face down in that same place.
Kironmoyee had stopped crying. She was bowing before a picture of Radha and Krishna. Suronjon had earlier seen an image of Ganesh in the room. It was likely that the Muslims had smashed it. Kironmoyee may have kept this picture of Radha and Krishna somewhere secret. She was now bowing before the picture and praying to Lord Krishna for protection, for an end to worries, for certainty and a life free of trouble.
Suronjon swam alone in a current of hopelessness. Night fell and deepened. He felt very alone. There was no one with him, no one to support him. He felt like an alien in his own country. He wanted to curl into himself with his logic, intelligence and conscience. His open, tolerant and logical mind was shrinking in this land of strikes, curfews and terror. He was being destroyed by a terrible loneliness. He could not find clean air to breathe in a room where the doors and windows were always shut. It felt like everyone was waiting for a terrible death. Now their hearts were no longer trembling with apprehension about Maya but about their own futures. They were all alone and when the people they knew, Muslim friends and neighbours, came to visit, the visitors did not say: ‘All of you will certainly be alive like us. Don’t be hesitant. Don’t retreat into yourselves. Walk bravely, work without trouble, laugh heartily and sleep peacefully.’
All night long Suronjon felt ripped apart by a terrible restlessness.
Part Thirteen
One
Suronjon finally fell asleep very late that night and had a strange dream. He was walking alone on a riverbank when a turbulent wave struck him and pulled him deep into the water’s currents and he began to sink. He wanted to live but there was no one to hold his helpless hand and bring him to land. He began to sweat and sink in the wild, unfamiliar waters. Suddenly, he felt the touch of a calm, gentle hand. Suronjon awoke, startled. Fear had drained his face of all colour. He had been drowning in the swirling waters and shouting for all he was worth; in his dream he had stretched out his hand to cling to some driftwood. It was as though he had finally found a hand stretched out to rescue him, and Suronjon clung to Sudhamoy’s firm grip.
He had come walking slowly, supporting himself by gripping Kironmoyee’s shoulder. Some strength had returned to his body. He sat next to Suronjon and his eyes were bright like stars.
‘Baba?’
There was a silent question in Suronjon’s beating heart. Dawn was breaking. Light streamed in through cracks in the window.
‘Let’s go away,’ said Sudhamoy.
‘Where shall we go?’ asked Suronjon in surprise.
‘India,’ said Sudhamoy.
Sudhamoy was ashamed to say it, his voice trembled, yet he spoke of going away because the strong mountain that he had built inside him had gradually begun to crumble.
Select Glossary
Ashok Singhal: A leader of the militant Hindu organization, Vishwa Hindu Parishad
Awami League: The Bangladesh Awami League is the party in power in Bangladesh; it won a majority at the 2014 parliamentary elections. The Awami League was founded in Dhaka (then in Pakistan), in 1949, by Bengali nationalists such as Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani, Yar Mohammad Khan and Shamsul Huq. The Awami Muslim League was established as the Bengali alternative to the domination of the Muslim Le
ague in Pakistan.
Sheikh Hasina, the present prime minister of Bangladesh and the daughter of Mujibur Rahman, has been heading the party since 1981.
Bajrang Dal: A militant Hindu organization formed in 1984 in India, closely aligned to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad
Bangladesh National Party (BNP): The Bangladesh Nationalist Party was founded in 1978 by Ziaur Rahman, when he was president of Bangladesh. It has been led by Khaleda Zia, the widow of Ziaur Rahman, since 1983.
Bangladesh Rifles (BDR): A paramilitary force under the ministry of home affairs. It has now been renamed as the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB).
Begum Khaleda Zia: The chair of the BNP. Khaleda Zia was the prime minister of Bangladesh from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP): A Hindu nationalist party formed in 1980 in India. This party launched the Ram Janmabhoomi Movement (movement for the birthplace of Lord Ram) and spearheaded the destruction of the Babri Masjid in 1992. The BJP is the party in power in India now; it won a majority in the parliamentary elections of 2014.
bhori: The traditional measure of silver and gold
Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB): After the Partition of India in 1947, during the 2nd Congress of the Communist Party of India in Calcutta, the delegates coming from regions within the newly founded state of Pakistan met on 6 March 1948 in a separate session and decided to form the Communist Party of Pakistan. The 4th Conference of the East Pakistan Provincial Committee of the Party, which met clandestinely in 1968, declared itself to be the 1st Congress of the Communist Party of East Pakistan and elected a Central Committee for the party. With the emergence of Bangladesh as an independent state in 1971, this party took its present name of Communist Party of Bangladesh.
Ghaatok-Dalal Nirmul Committee: This committee called for the trial of people who committed crimes against humanity in the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 in collaboration with the Pakistani forces. The Ghaatok-Dalal Nirmul Committee set up mock trials in Dhaka in March 1992, popularly known as the Gonoadalot (court of the people), and ‘sentenced’ persons they accused of being war criminals.
Ghulam Azam: The ameer (chief) of Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh, till 2000. He was opposed to the creation of Bangladesh and wanted a unified Pakistan. Many people in Bangladesh believe that he worked with the Pakistani army during the Bangladesh Liberation War to stop the creation of Bangladesh. A people’s court was set up in 1992 in Bangladesh by the Ghaatok-Dalal Nirmul Committee and in a ‘symbolic trial’ it was declared that Ghulam Azam deserved capital punishment for his crimes during the Liberation War. On 15 July 2013, the International Crimes Tribunal found Azam guilty of war crimes such as conspiring, planning, incitement to and complicity in committing a genocide, and gave him a ninety-year prison sentence
Hamad Nath: Religious songs of Islam
Hussain Muhammad Ershad: A former chief of the army staff. Ershad was the president of Bangladesh from 1983 to 1990.
Jamaat-e-Islami: Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, earlier known as Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, and Jamaat for short, is the largestIslamist political party in Bangladesh. The Jamaat stood against the independence of Bangladesh and opposed the break-up of Pakistan. It collaborated with the Pakistani Army in its operations against Bengali nationalists, intellectuals and minorities. Upon the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, the new government banned Jamaat from political participation and its leaders went into exile in Pakistan. Following the assassination of the first president and the military coup that brought Major General Ziaur Rahman to power in Bangladesh in 1975, the ban on the Jamaat was lifted. In the 1980s, the Jamaat joined the multiparty alliance for the restoration of democracy. It later allied with Ziaur Rahman’s BNP. Jamaat leaders became ministers in the two BNP-led regimes of Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia.
Jamaat-Shibir Freedom Party: The Islami Chhatra Shibir is a political students’ organization in Bangladesh. It is the youth wing of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. Before the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War it was known as the Islami Chattra Shangha. In 1971, leaders of the Islami Chattra Shangha formed the paramilitary group Al Badar, which was involved in killing intellectuals in East Pakistan.
Jubo Union: The youth front of the Communist Party of Bangladesh
Jyoti Basu: Jyoti Basu served as the chief minister of West Bengal from 1977 to 2000, which makes him the longest-serving chief minister of any state of India. Basu was a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) from the time of the party’s founding in 1964.
katha: A measure of land. In Bengal, the bigha was standardized under British colonial rule at 1600 square yards (0.1338 hectare or 0.3306 acre); this is often interpreted as being 1/3 acre (it is precisely 40/121 acre). In Metric units, a bigha is hence 1333 m². A katha is a unit of area approximately equal to 1/20th of a bigha (720 ft² or 66.89 m²).
L.K. Advani: A leader of the BJP. He began his political career as a volunteer for the RSS. He was the minister of home affairs in India from 1998 to 2004; he additionally served as the deputy prime minister of India from 2002 to 2004. He was the leader of Opposition in the Indian Parliament from 2004 to 2009. The Liberhan Commission held Advani culpable for the attack on the Babri Masjid.
Metiabruz: A locality in Kolkata, India, with a large Muslim population
Moni Singh: The founder of the Communist Party of East Pakistan. Before the Partition of India in August 1947, Singh was a successful workers’ leader who led movements to abolish exploitative labour practices.
Motiur Rahman Nizami: The head of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. He is suspected of war crimes in 1971. He was the supreme commander of the militia group Al-Badr during the Bangladesh Liberation War.
Muhammad Ayub Khan: A Pakistani general and politician. He served as the second president of Pakistan and its first military dictator from 1958 until his forced resignation in 1969.
Nizami Kader Mollah: Known as the Butcher of Mirpur, this leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami was found guilty of murdering many people of East Pakistan during the Liberation War. He was sentenced to death in 2013 by the Supreme Court of Bangladesh for war crimes and subsequently executed.
P.V. Narasimha Rao: A former member of the Congress Party. P.V. Narasimha Rao was the prime minister of India from 1991 to 1996.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS): A Hindu nationalist organization. It was founded in 1925 by>Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, a doctor. Although it says it is not a political party, it has inspired poitical organizations/parties like the VHP and the BJP, to name a few.
razakar: In Bangladesh, this word means traitor and is used to describe those people of the erstwhile East Pakistan who were against the Liberation of Bangladesh and had collaborated with the Pakistani army.
Sheikh Hasina: The chair of the Awami League. Sheikh Hasina has been the prime minister of Bangladesh since coming to power in 2009. The Awami League also won the elections in 2014. She was also the prime minister from 1996 to 2001. She is the eldest daughter of Bangabandhu, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Sheikh Mujib: This is the popular way of referring to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh. He is also known as Bangabandhu (or Bongobondhu), meaning ‘Friend of Bengal’. He was the head of state of Bangladesh (as president and as prime minister) from its liberation to his death. He, along with most members of his family, was assassinated by army officers on 15 August 1975. He was then the president of Bangladesh.
Surjo Sen Hall: A resident hall in Dhaka University, named after the revolutionary Surjo Sen or Masterda, who led the Chittagong Armoury Raid against the British in 1930.
Tofael Ahmed: An Awami League leader. He became the political secretary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1970 and fought in the Liberation War.
Ulema Mashayekh: A religious leader
Union Porishod (UP): The smallest unit of local government in Bangladesh.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP):
A militant Hindu organization in India. It was founded in 1964 and is closely aligned to the RSS and the BJP.
Ziaur Rahman: He retired from the Bangladesh Army as a lieutenant general andwas the seventh president of Bangladesh from 21 April 1977 until his death on 30 May 1981. During his administration, he founded the BNP.
THE BEGINNING
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