Jul 01, 2009 01:33 PM
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After reading Taslima Nasrin’s Girlhood I thought the book Lajja must be a continuation to it, explaining the struggles of a younger girl. This must have bought her the ‘fatwa’. The preface immediately clarified my preoccupations and I am all set to turn pages. ‘I detest fundamentalism and communalism’ ‘It is disgraceful that the Hindus in my country were hunted by the Muslims after the destruction of the Babri Masjid…..Lajja is a document of our collective defeat’.
The book is the story of a Hindu family lived in Bangladesh, in the backdrop of Babri Masjid demolition. Sudhamoy do not believe in any religion as he was a communist. Sudhamoy have Kiron Moneyee, the suffering housewife, Maya, the practical young daughter & educated but unemployed Suranjan in the family. When Babri Masjid was destroyed in India, the Hindus in Bangladesh faced the fear of attack from fanatic fundamentalists and many were considering an exodus to India. Sudhamoy and Suranjan thought otherwise, if one is not safe at home, he is not safe in anywhere in the world. Maya on the other hand take shelter in a Muslim family. How the Sudhamoy family cope with the growing situation? How the circumstances forced them to change their perceptions is the book all about.
The ending sentence of the book states, ‘…that was the way it would have to be because the strong mountain that he had built within himself was crumbling day by day.’ This is a true example of the losing number, confidence and safety for the minority in Bangladesh. The author gives a lot of statistics in the book to prove that number of minority in the country has been systematically reduced. At the same time, tells that this is a universal behaviour. ‘The Powerful rule the powerless.’ The author however walks a little extra hour because she felt that unlike the minorities or oppressed in other places, the minorities in Bangladesh never tried to rebel the oppression. The author find that, ‘When two opposing groups clash, only then we can call it a riot…..What is happening in this country is nothing short of communal terrorism’.
Taslima Nasrin throws light to the history of Bangladesh and tells us that the ruling party and the opposition both are equally responsible for converting a secular state to a state based on religion, as they don’t like to risk vote banks drawn on communal lines. The communists, who were suppose to fight for secularism keep mum on the spreading violence. When Suranjan says, ‘…This country is making me communal. I am not to be blamed’, we can see that the author lost her hope on communists. ‘Perphaps the illiterate masses needed to cling on to the comfort and security that religion provides’. But the educated lot? The question remains. At the same time, she suspects that there is some hidden agenda which the fundamentalists and communalists of two countries shares.
The author failed a bit as a storyteller. Once the characters are established and the stage is set, the story doesn’t move an inch where the statistics of temples destroyed and the history of Bangladesh occupy most pages. Though they were supplementing the knowledge base, the same doesn’t support the story. The inevitable twist in the tale was delayed unnecessarily to the later part of the book and there had not much drama in the first half. The character of Suranjan doesn’t invite our sympathy on the first place, nor the stubborn father Sudhamoy.
The feminist in Taslima Nasrin made sure that the leading male characters in the story are irresponsible and selfish, projecting the two female characters as good souls. ‘He made hardly any contribution to the family and yet he expected a lot from them’. The damage control ordered by the doctor later was not affective where this irresponsibility assigned on the male characters took away the chance to create sympathy for them. There is one place the author goes to the extent of saying that, ‘It is the daughter who always looks after her parents in their old age. Sons always move out with their wives to live separately; but daughters…they even forsake their husband’s homes to look after their parents.’ Here I could not stop laughing where the daughter in law of one is definitely a daughter in the first place. If all daughter in laws behave like that, it is equal to say that all daughters don’t care about the parents of their husbands and don’t permit their husbands to go away to his own parents. I know this is not a general rule, but a different perspective. ‘Woman after all were like commodities, and therefore stolen just like gold and silver.’ Yes, there is a point in her view as well.
What went wrong with the book? There had many books on communal riots. What provoked a fatwa, in this case? I can see two points. The book turn to be a one sided story. The other side doesn’t get a representation and it was natural that they completely turned against it. The second reason is that the author doesn’t give a viable solution to sort out the situation. Complaining about the situation giving the facts is fine. At the same time the writers should take responsibility and suggest possible alternative ways how to surpass it. Here, the author suggested, an eye for an eye, a head for a head and a rape for rape. If the administration feared that this suggestion will instigate communal violence, it is natural.
Despite its drawbacks, the author deserve applauds for the courage she took to bring a serious issue to the eye of the world. Before ‘Lajja’, I had no idea whatsoever about such an existing problem. I fully endorse the view that ‘Let other name for religion be Humanity.’ Also, when Taslima Nasrin says that ‘Shame most affected those who inflicted torture, not those who were tortured!’, I cannot agree more! When we turn our eyebrows looking at the openness the author gives, we can see that the author speaks through Maya, ‘Her father had always advised her to be a straight arrow, and true to herself’. Lajja, no doubt is an eye opener for many. It brought shame on all who throw away humanity for the sake of money, religion and power. The book is a war cry to fight with tooth and nail to defend bloodthirstiness of fundamentalism before the insanity kills humanity. The book fall short of heights, thanks to the not so gripping story and data listing, the message but was good enough to read the book at least for once.
