Bangladesh Intellectuals’ Quiet War
By Manojit Mitra
The stresses and strains of the evacuee’s life have not dampened the morale of the intellectuals from Bangladesh, most of whom are now in Calcutta, They have taken up a number of projects to help their Government and to strengthen the liberation struggle in their own way, carrying on their quiet war against West Pakistan which had begun in the mid-fifties.
There are about 50 teachers of universities and colleges and scholars attached to research institutions, besides nearly 40 musicians, actors, actresses, writers, poets and painters from Bangladesh in Calcutta. A Liberation Council of Bangladesh Intellectuals has been set up to coordinate their work. The Council is in touch with various academic and relief organizations in India. The scholars have also formed a Bangladesh Archives Commission. The singers, actors and film personalities are organizing a cultural troupe which would raise funds to help the liberation war.
“We are keeping ourselves engaged in various activities and are trying to help our country from here; there is no point in yielding to frustration a university professor told me. One can see however that there is plenty of scope to succumb to frustration: most of them have been separated from their families: they have to depend on meagre assistance which, in many cases, falls below subsistence level and few scholars and artists can pursue their respective lines of work under the circumstances. The professor is staying as a guest with a friend in the city and told me that he could not stay there for ever and was looking for accommodation. But he has not budged from his resolution. When I had met him at Agartala two months ago, he said he would be going to Calcutta to “make himself useful” to his country. Now he is in Calcutta, working for his Government while his family is still at Agartala.
FOREIGN OFFERS
The Intellectuals have chosen to stay in Calcutta because of its proximity to Bangladesh and they feel that they can serve the cause of their country better from here than any other part of India. Some of them have refused offers of employment from universities in other States and a few have even turned down offers from abroad. Most of them are in Calcutta and the others at Agratala, Santiniketan and Burdwan. Many of them, especially the college and university teachers, were used to decent standards of living in Bangladesh and their present living conditions are naturally far below the requirements.
Asked about their projects, Prof. Syed Ali Ahsan, Vice-president of the Liberation Council, said a plan was under way to bring out several indepth studies on various aspects of the Bangladesh movement. He said several popular books and pamphlets had been published in West Bengal, but these dealt mostly with the emotional aspects. The council’s projects will deal separately and in detail with the sociological, political; economic and historical aspects.
The dominant theme of those studies will be the metamorphosis of East Bengal-Prof. Ahsan felt that it was necessary to study how the people of East Bengal who were ready to die for Pakistan in 1947. were now laying down their lives for Bangladesh. The sense of dedication persists, while the objective has changed and this had to be probed.
Another major project is with regard to the realization of the people of Bangladesh of the fact that their dependence on West Pakistan had been arbitrarily imposed. According to Dr Ahsan, it dawned gradually on them that Bangladesh, with its rich jute and tea industries, high food output and abundant forest wealth, could have a viable economy of its own. This geographical aspect would be treated separately.
The Bangladesh Sikshak Samity has set up the Archives Commission which will catalogue and preserve the records dealing with the liberation movement. The Commission’s documents have been divided into three categories; confidential, special and general Both the Governments of India and Bangladesh have been requested to help the Commission.
PICTORIAL BOOK
A pictorial book will soon be published on Bangladesh . The Council has approached the University Grants Commission, the India Institute of Social Studies and various other agencies to help the writers, poets and teachers carry on their studies. Some of these agencies have promised to provide books journals and other reading and writing material. Arrangements are also being made for subsidized publication of some books written by Bangladesh writers. A publishing house in Bombay has assured the Council that books will be lent to Bangladesh scholars. These are part of a plan to encourage the poets and writers who are handicapped by the shortage of reading and writing material.
Seminars and discussions on Bangladesh will begin shortly. One of the topics to be taken up is “Secularism and religion in Bangladesh politics”. Indian scholars will also participate. The cultural troupe now being raised will visit refugee camps.
Bangladesh intellectuals appreciate the enthusiasm evinced by the people of West Bengal over Bangladesh and always mention the “genuine sympathy” shown here for the people of Bangladesh. They say that most of the refugees at the camps were receiving adequate food supplies and sincere efforts were being made by the Government of India to cope with the enormous influx. But the fact remains that the relief given to the intellentuals themselves has so far remained inadequate, although their number is small.
None of the intellectuals wants permanent employment here. The teachers are interested in jobs of visiting lecturers and the kind because none of them plans to settle in West Bengal. They hope to return to Bangladesh after independence is achieved, and meanwhile, they would like to make themselves useful and earn their living.
The teachers suffered a bitter disappointment here, because of an assurance given by Calcutta University which could not be fulfilled. In the first week of May there were newspaper reports saying that the Syndicate of the university had adopted a resolution deciding to “appoint” all university teachers from Bangladesh as visiting lecturers. All teachers were requested to apply. More than 1,500 applications were received. Including those from primary school teachers, who hoped to obtain some employment Hundreds of them rushed to Calcutta. Subsequently, similar resolutions were also taken by a few others universities outside West Bengal.
But it was later realized that no university on its own could “appoint” such visiting lecturers and the finance would have to come from the University Grants Commission. The UGC was faced with a high problem after finding that several universities had decided to employ Bangladesh teachers. No decision has yet been taken in this regard. Meanwhile, the rush to Calcutta and the search for employment landed a number of them in great financial difficulties.
From the conditions of the intellectuals, it is evident that no sustained and coordinated effort has so far been made to give them relief. Only two or three of them have been engaged by the Joydabpur and Visva-Bharati universities. Finding accommodation in Calcutta is a big problem. It is also impracticable for a single university to engage all of them.
Dr Ahsan suggested that although the teachers and scholars were generally reluctant to leave West Bengal they might do so ultimately if each of the different universities and other academic institutions agreed to engage one or two of them as visiting teachers or in research projects. For those staying in Calcutta, one or two vacant buildings in the city might be used as hostels so that they might bring their families to live with them.
An important aspect of the situation which deserves special attention from academic authorities here is the fact that providing temporary engagement to scholars and teachers from Bangladesh will not be a oneway traffic. This will mean the begining of the exchange of ideas and a positive step towards removal of the religion-based misunderstanding between the two Banglas.
Reference: Hindustan Standard 9.7.1971