‘What are you lot? Will you live in fear all your life?’
‘Where’s the need to create trouble?’
‘Shall I tell you something, Suman? If you were in Sadnahati but not a Hindu, couldn’t the girl called Riziya have been yours?’
Suman kept quiet. All he could think of was how Sandip Da had read his mind! Sandip continued, ‘Now that your student Riziya is in trouble, don’t you want to help her?’
‘I do! But how exactly can I be of help?’
‘From all that you told me, I think there’s plenty that you can do.’
‘What’s that? I really want to do something for her. I have a good relationship with her family. And especially since Kakima came to meet me, I ought to do something.’
‘Shall I tell you?’
‘Tell me.’
‘You run away with her. Get married.’
Suman was so shocked and stunned to hear Sandip that even if the building they were on suddenly collapsed, he wouldn’t have noticed. He gaped at Sandip. He thought if Sandip knew this was Sadnahati, he could never have said something like this so candidly. He replied, ‘Have you lost your head? We are Hindu. And Riziya is a Muslim girl. It’s like listening to all seven chapters of the Ramayana and then asking whose father Sita was!’
‘My head’s perfectly all right. Can’t something like that happen? Just think about it, Suman, a Muslim married Sujata Pishi, a Muslim married Rakhi Di. Girls from your Jogipara married Muslims before that too. Didn’t they?’
‘Hmm.’
‘Then what’s the problem if you do the same?’
Sandip was only giving voice to what was in Suman’s mind. He had thought along such lines many times, from the time he was young. But he never had the courage to express the thought in words. As it is, even if he were to marry someone belonging to the same religion, they followed the custom of considering so many things, like caste, gotra, etc. Imagine if it was a Muslim girl! Impossible! Besides, why would Riziya agree? And exactly like Rafiq Ali, he, too, would be fishing in murky waters. Would it be correct to make her an outcast in her community by taking advantage of her vulnerability in her moment of peril? He also happened to be the son of a teacher. He himself was educated. He, too, would lose face in society.
Suman walked out of the room without a word. Sandip, too, followed him. There was a sitting place outside. Sandip lit a cigarette. He sat down next to Suman. He relaxed and took a puff, let out the smoke and said, ‘I understand that you lack the courage. But just think about it, Suman, the girl is in great danger. You like her. You wish her well. Don’t you? So don’t you have to gather your courage? If there’s any trouble, I’ll be able to handle that. You can be certain about that.’
‘Rubbish! You have no idea. You don’t know what a mess it could lead to. I will never be able to enter Sadnahati again for the rest of my life.’
‘You don’t have to come! I’ll tell Abhijit too later, to sell off everything and come away. You can buy land or a house somewhere else and live there. What do you have here? You live here like an earthworm as a minority. You call that living? Besides…’
‘It’s all so easy for you to say. Can someone who doesn’t even have a job run away with a girl belonging to another religion and marry her? No! It’s just not possible.’
‘But you got a job recently, didn’t you?’
‘If I did get a job, wouldn’t I tell you?’
‘Why, didn’t Tamal Da give you a job? What did you decide about that? Listen Suman, you can get several birds with one stone. Get married as I say. Am I not around? You don’t have to worry about money. Think of it as a kind of revenge. Revenge for the wrong perpetrated on Jogipara.’
When Sandip uttered the word ‘revenge’, his face took on another appearance.
Suman did not say any more. His ears had turned deaf from hearing such things ever since he was a child. It was the Hindu boys from other villages with whom he mingled who voiced all that. After a long pause, he said, ‘Will Riziya agree, willingly, and with all her senses intact?’
‘I think she will. You need to be beside her in this calamitous time to be a source of strength. You can start doing that right away. Actually, I think you should go to Riziya’s house now, Suman.’
Sandip’s words seemed to work magic. Or maybe Suman too subconsciously desired that. He set aside dithering over whether he should go and got up. And then he set off for Salaam Miya’s house, with no other thought in his head. Riziya had said that she wasn’t able to reconcile the balance sheet of life. He had to teach her that now!
After Suman left, Sandip chuckled wickedly to himself. There wasn’t just violence in the chuckle, but also machination and crookedness. He began planning how to lend a communal colour to the whole thing. He pondered – if Suman ran away with Riziya, people would certainly be enraged. They would target Jogipara for intimidation and attack. If that could be publicized as oppression of Hindus by Muslims, it would give a fillip to his organization’s activities here. If some journalists belonging to his ‘camp’ could be brought here, it would be an even more spectacular affair. Yes, Probir could be brought. After all, it was he who had helped to create a stir in an incident somewhere in Nadia. But that time, although the organization received a lot of publicity, it hadn’t really been fruitful. The administration had responded very firmly to the situation. Probir was a freelance correspondent for a few major newspapers. He was already there. Making up a juicy, provocative story on this would be an easy matter for him.
But even amidst such thoughts, Sandip had another plan in mind. Suman wasn’t here now, he had gone to visit Riziya. Sandip put on his shirt, got on Suman’s bicycle and headed towards the marketplace. Would any shop be open at this time of night! If there was at least a phone booth open, that would be great. And if there was a typewriter there, there was nothing more one could ask for.
fifty-seven
It was quite late at night. Was it right to visit the Miya household all alone at this time? So Suman called one of Maruf’s friends, Farid, to accompany him. Although Farid was poorly educated, he enjoyed the company of educated youths like Maruf and Suman. He was also of an emotional disposition. He too was addicted to caring about others, while himself being a burden at home. Using Farid as a shield, Suman entered Riziya’s house. Salaam Miya was in such an anguished state that seeing these two well-meaning youths of the village he was unable to hold back his tears. Salaam Miya lamented, ‘No one even peeped at us, Teacher. Even my own brother and nephew didn’t come, out of fear of Rafiq. But you’ve come, and that’s a lot. I feel a lot stronger now.’
‘No, Kaka, don’t worry about anything. Everything will be all right. Aren’t we there! Why should people listen to Rafiq Ali Sheikh if he says something wrong? Is there no justice in the country?’
‘You’re with me, aren’t you, son? Will you be with me till the end? I am awfully scared. That Rafiq’s boys are back. They’ve been terrorizing us.’
Farid didn’t know about the Rafiq Ali angle. He had heard the rumours involving Imam Saheb and Riziya, and he had also heard that many people were enraged with the Miya household and had attacked it. But what role did Rafiq Ali play in all this? How did he come into the picture! Farid asked, ‘Chacha, what’s with Rafiq Ali Sheikh?’
In order to explain what Rafiq Ali was up to, Salaam Miya began telling him a lot of things – with more digressions than facts. Farid was in a fix. But since it was a man in trouble, he continued to listen to him. Salaam Miya was really afraid. Farid knew very well that Salaam Miya was otherwise quite a capable person. Sensing an opportunity as Farid and Salaam Miya were talking, Suman asked, ‘Where’s Riziya, Kaka?’
‘She’s in her room upstairs.’
‘May I go up and see her?’
‘Go, Teacher, take Ayan along. He’ll show you the way.’
Salaam Miya’s son took him upstairs. He showed him the room and returned downstairs. Suman had never gone upstairs. Riziya was lying down in the first of the two rooms there. She had probably just eaten. There were used plates lying on the floor. As soon as she saw Suman, she sat up, covering herself properly with her odna. She didn’t say anything. She stared at Suman with a guilty look in her eyes. Suman sat down opposite her on a plastic chair. He asked her, ‘How are you, dear?’
Although Riziya tried to bring a synthetic smile on her face, her voice choked when she was about to speak. Tears ran down her face. So Suman said, ‘Don’t be sad at all. What can one do, tell me? None of us ever thought that the situation would turn so bad. But now I see that it’s you that the whole of Sadnahati is furious with. Kaka can’t even step outside. Kakima had come to meet me. But how terrible of Imam Saheb!’
Riziya suppressed a lot of anguish and finally said, ‘Maybe I am a terrible girl! I might have dragged him to hell. That’s why he left.’
