User:AbulQuasem

Anecdote of Partition: From Dhubri to Raumari

Last week marked the sixty years not only the independence of India and Pakistan, but of the partition trauma. Those who lived through such agony still long to go back to the place they once called home. Although I was born much later, I hear many accounts of partition in my very own family. The accounts are not much different from the ones that are recently being aired on the BBC. My ancestors hail from Dhubri, Assam which is a Hindu-dominated area. My grandfather the late Abul Quasem had been a Member of the Assam Legislative Assembly prior to the years of the partition. Despite being from Dhubri, he had been a popular leader affiliated with the Muslim League. His profession seemed to be constantly championing the cause of a separate Muslim nation and free the Muslims from subjugation. Goalpara's fate Bangladesh's National leader Moulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani was the President of the Assam Muslim League; they both voiced for the cause of Pakistan. Both the leaders understood well that Goalpara district in Assam, a Muslim majority area, should be part of Pakistan. They made their position clear and demanded that Goalpara should be included in Pakistan. But a certain man in authority schemed otherwise. The last Viceroy in Delhi, Lord Mountbatten had called a judge named Sir Cyril Radcliffe to demarcate the borders of the two countries. Radcliffe clearly lacked the understanding of the needs of the two nations of India; besides it was his first visit to the subcontinent. Because of this lack of knowledge about the demands and requirements of the two major communities he failed to include Goalpara in the Pakistan boundary. Mountbatten favoured India Recent writings and reports suggest that the Viceroy had constantly pressured Radcliffe to favour India. The Muslims all over Pakistan - especially those of Goalpara - had been utterly offended at this cruel gesture. One can only imagine how awestruck the Muslim Leaguers could have been. My grandfather Quasem could not accept that Goalpara be excluded from Pakistan and nor could Moulana Bhashani. Therefore, on the eve of partition Quasem established Pakistan Kella in Raumari Upazila (at present in Kurigram district and bordering Goalpara). They united local youths and formed a group at Baraibari of Raumari upazila (near the border of Assam) in support of inclusion of Goalpara district of Assam (Muslim majority area) in Pakistan. Speech campaign They constructed a stage there and assembled people from nearby locality with bamboo sticks. Moulana Bhasani delivered speeches for seven days from this stage. The seven-day long speeches had inspired and encouraged the already irate populace. In this way the speech campaign was over. But a section of disorderly Muslim people attacked the Hindu neighbourhoods. Houses were looted and burnt and many lost all they owned. All hell broke loose and murders including all brutalities took place. This sparked an unforgettable scene of communal violence. Pacifists' frustration Moulana Bhashani had been a life-long pacifist, so was Abul Quasem. They were very depressed. None of them expected any breach of peace, let alone such ferocious bestial activities by rowdy elements. After stern, firm and resolute efforts they managed to stop violence. Quasem appeared on the scene and asked the group of youths to rush to the spot immediately and control the thugs and hooligans to stop violence. His arrival coincided with the arrival of Police. The District Magistrate was a good friend of his, so he sent a short message to Quasem: "Quit this place. Leave for Pakistan immediately, I will send two sentries with you. Something very wrong is being hatched up. You are in danger. Leave just now!" Goodbye to Dhubri The reason was that the Hindu people had always been angry with him for championing Muslim rights. That occurrence was their right pretext for reprisal. Quasem was literally put in his car and with armed protection he was sent to Raumari. He was dejected and he remained disconsolate throughout the journey as he was leaving the place of his birth for which he had worked and lived for. His patriotism was being snatched away. My grandfather had been distressed for many days as he was rightfully worried about his family. My father was then an infant. The whole household left in the middle of the night. They took a boat through the Brahmaputra river and walked for miles before they could see my grandfather, Abul Quasem the patriarch of the family. Along with the family came numerous supporters as they believed life in India, then called Hindustan, would be hard, without Quasem. Despite an affluent background, there was no food security or shelter. It is beyond imagination what a horrific flight it must have been. All the people had migrated, due to the conspiracy of his opponents to murder Quasem. Such conspiracy is responsible for the loss of priceless matters such as memories, legacies, relations, friends and more. There are many untold stories like this one. Last week marked sixty years of celebration and sorrow. Many more saddening tales are associated with the partition. Those took place in Punjab and Bengal. However, not much is being said about the large scale migrations that took place from Sindh to Gujarat and from Assam to East Pakistan. Many today ask the vital question if religion is a strong enough argument reason for partition. Maybe, it is an ambiguous, vague theory to create a nation solely on the basis of religion. Maybe, we fail to appreciate the problems of those days. After sixty years, today we cannot possibly comprehend what the Muslim League leaders had practically experienced firsthand in those days; eventually those incidents had forced the making of a nation. My family eventually moved to Ulipur from from Raumari in Kurigram; since then we have been spreading throughout the world. Abul Quasem had later been named "Bagha" Quasem or "Tiger" Quasem for his gallant behaviour throughout his life including his throbbing political career in East Pakistan.