Marichjhanpi

Probably I will never forget this name, and there are still more than a thousand men and women who too will never forget this name. The massacre of hundreds of men and women of this lonely island in the Sundarbans in 1979 may not find much mention in the history book of West Bengal, but if we go slow going through the history of Bengal in that year, we may be shocked to know that the voiceless men and women who could be dispensed just because they received the patronage of an opposition party, which was not in power. Police joined the vile tactics of a political leader who has his name in the Guinness Book of records as the longest surviving chief minister in the world. Did the people deserve such a gruesome treatment just because they were refugees?

What can power do to a person is so very conspicuous in the story of Marichjhanpi; human beings are pawns who can be bought and sold, made use of to reach one’s selfish gains. If this game on the lives of people were to continue, there may be hardly enough people to inhabit this world. What the guru had done about 30 years ago, that is what precisely his faithful disciple tried to do in Singur, Nandigram. But if the chief minister was an opportunist, who wanted to remain in the seats of power at the expense of the people, the opposition leader was no different; with her sentimentality going beyond all reasonable limits, she too was trying to sell the sweats and blood of the peasants to get into ministerial berth in Delhi.

The world we live in today seems to be so corrupt that no one can be easily spared; each one of the leaders we have today have a dream which is sure to put the lives of the speechless, voiceless and sightless people into danger. The leaders of today have no hearts; all they have in front of their eyes is power, prestige, and wealth. They would do anything in order to get their dreams fulfilled. It may be hard to find a leader who is prepared to shed his/her sweat, leave alone the blood, for the sake of the people they work for. In that case, I take my hats off for such people’s leader as Medha Patkar, who may sit in hot sun with voiceless people, to stand by the peasants and farmers.

One great consolation in the whole process is that there had been some leaders at the ground, who were prepared to face gun firing, lathi charge, teargas in order to get justice done to the people. They may not have succeeded in reaching their dreams; they may still have lots of grudge against the political systems of today and yesteryears, but one thing is true, their indomitable hope and trust had probably given the much needed stamina for people to face all opposition. These men and women are like stars who brighten up our lives, and thank God there are still men and women of such stature, and it is their sweat and blood which is the vital link between life in its fullness and our lives.

The dark pages of history cannot be easily burnt and be forgotten; they will have to be embraced with all their sweat and blood; it may be too hard for the people who had gone through those bone-chilling days and incidents, and still we have no option. We may only wish that history does not repeat in the case of our future generations. We need to open the dark chapters of each of our histories, full of tear and blood, and relive our past, because out of these pages may emerge phoenix, with new vigor and energy, and that may be enough to change the world. We each one then will have a greater responsibility to fulfill.

Breaking the Benign

If we term a group of animals as ferocious, often we see that there is no greater ferocious animal than the human beings; it is only men and women who can be very ruthless, and heartless. Some are so hard hearted that nothing can move them. And that is a tragedy that is responsible for so much of terror and bloodshed in our world. We blame the circumstances, and even point an accusing finger at the up-bringing, but more than all, we cannot but blame the new-age value system, which still believes in survival of the fittest and the fastest (imagine the notion of speed that is at the helm of all present day advancements!). Anything can be dispensed with in order to soar high in the business ladder or to achieve the targeted goals. That includes even the life of innocent men and women, the voiceless, deaf-dumb-mute human beings, who cannot be given the dignity that befits them.

Three days ago, we got the news that one of our companions was going through a minor depression, and felt lonely. Some of the past events and incidents had aggravated a sense of loss and insecurity in him, that led him to think that he was not worthy of being what he had been for the past thirty years. He was in tears when he narrated to me how some of our friends had humiliated him in public, without even the least qualms of conscience. That this friend of mine could go to such a situation was something that I could not imagine. So some of our friends began to call him up to boost his morale and bring him back to a feeling that he was wanted and his past efforts to contribute to the institution he was attached to was worth its while. One of his regrets was that no one acknowledged how much he had given himself to build the institution where he had been for the past fourteen years. Instead of some good words, there were brickbats and accusations that chased him to take recourse in brooding and finally to minor depression.

It was quite surprising for me to hear from a close associate of mine, who said that one friend had told him, that the man undergoing depression was in fact feigning. Another important friend warned me not to give undue importance to him. I found it extremely difficult to understand how crude and hard we could be in the judgment of our companions. Many of us at sometime or other go through such moments when we feel that all our efforts were in vain, and it would be better to move out to some other place where we may at least be noticed. If I cannot be sympathetic towards my neighbor, how much of sympathy can I expect from others when I am in trouble? We all of us wish to be treated fairly, and is it not just that we too treat others in the same measure?

I am quite convinced that there are times in the life of persons, when we need to go across the boundaries of familiarity, friendship, relationship and legalities. When the very life of a person is at stake, we cannot afford to bargain with mean and silly issues and things. If we think that the life of a person can be sacrificed in order to prove a point right or wrong, then the time may not be far off for us to bear the consequences of such a notion. The modern society has taught us to be tough with ourselves and with the outside world, even encouraging us to be strict with our feelings and emotions. No wonder many of us turn out to be more of machines than lively human persons. That is where the danger lies; if we cannot look at others as an extension of myself, all my philosophies and world wisdom will be of no value. I am called primarily to be human, fully human, fully alive.

Today I take a few moments from my busy life, to quieten myself and enter into my inner self to look at the corners where I still carry certain amount of stones that can break a soul and shed blood. Let me look at them, and see them slowly transformed into soft, gentle wool. Let me also look in my mind all the people whom I had treated with ruthlessness and made them realize that they were not wanted, and deep down feel sorry for such moments. I also will think about the moments when I could have reacted differently to people and incidents, instead of going by the letters of the law. Let me see that the brother and sister whom I ill-treat or mis-treat is my extension, and they too demand the dignity that I claim for myself. It may not be possible that I am transformed into a different being in a day or two, but if I am aware that I have a heart that is capable of turning men and women into beasts, then there are chances that one day I may truly be able to enter into the shoes of others, and truly empathise with them. And that is the moment of self-victory for me!