The New Nation - Internet Edition

A Mole in the Breast

By : Dr. Bharat Chandra Kalita

Publisher: Ms Lila Kalita, MVTC Production

Mirza, Kamrup (Assam), India

Pages: 98

Price: IRs 100.00

A Mole in the Breast - written by Dr. Bharat Chandra Kalita from Assam, India and published by Ms Kila Kalita- the wife of the author is a fiction based on the Liberation War of Bangladesh. So it is quite natural on the part of the publisher to see the appeal of the book on the people here. After the death of Dr. Kalita his daughter Dr. Juri B Kalita sent a copy of the book to the editor of the New Nation for review.

BC Kalita was born in Assam in India in 1935. He did his MA from the University of Guwahati and Ph.D from the University of Poona. Dr. Kalita taught history in D.K. College, Mirza, Assam and latter joined National Defence Academy, a degree level college of Arts and Science under the Ministry of Defence. Dr. Kalita taught world history as well as history of warfare and strategy and tactics at NDC. His book "Military Activities in Medieval Assam 1200-1671" is highly acclaimed to be an authentic account of the Assamese bravery, statesmanship and fighting skill of the medieval period. He has more than three hundred research articles in English and Assamese published so far in various journals.

Dr. Kalita had a lot of information about the war, which he gathered from different documents as well as from wounded soldiers he met at military hospitals. But, A Mole in the Breast is not just a narrative of bare facts. Instead of writing just another book of history, the author opted to present the story of the birth of a new nation in a more readable form - a fiction. The book is actually a blend of facts and fiction that depicts the role of the student community, teachers especially of Dhaka University, women and other sections of the common masses in the Liberation War. The narrative of the book is simple and the characters life-like. The central message of the book is that the indomitable spirit of the people and a just movement cannot be suppressed with guns.

Dr. Kalita correctly identified the root cause of the struggle of the people against the exploitation by Pakistani ruling classes. He termed the nature of exploitation as economic, political and military. Though people of East Bengal joined Pakistan with a hope of getting economic emancipation, the Pakistani ruling elite - instead of creating the scope of economic development for the people here - used East Pakistan as a hunting ground from the very beginning. Attempts of imposing Urdu was an integral part of the overall strategy of exploitation. The basic character of the struggle of the Bengalis was national, which ultimately turned into one for liberation. It was not a question of 'racial hatred' as Dr. Kalita asserted.

Another basic element of the struggle of the people was the national unity. As the anti-Pakistan struggle gained momentum with the passage of time, the political forces increasingly felt the indispensability of national unity irrespective of religious and ethnic identity of the people. During the Liberation War the whole nation closed its rank. The author was correct to assert that the question of Hindu and Muslim rarely surfaced though there were forces to instigate communal hatred.

In his narrative, the author upheld the role played by different sections of the common people. He narrated how people helped the freedom fighters defying difficulties and risking their lives. The guerrilla fighter enjoyed tremendous support and sympathy of the people. At the same the author depicted the savagery and atrocities of the Pakistani forces and their accomplices. Dr. Kalita allocated sufficient space to narrate the role of women in the liberation struggle. However, role of the main architects of the struggle, the political forces, did not get sufficient reflection in the book. Rather the author downplayed their role when he asserted that the political forces were not capable of organising people into military squads. The rare references of the political forces that one can get in the book are only about Awami League and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. A common idea among a section of the political and intellectual circle in India about the liberation struggle is that it was organised and led singularly by Awami League and Sheikh Mujib. Dr. Kalita does not seem to be any exception in this respect. But the truth is that the whole nation and hundreds of political forces fought against Pakistan politically and militarily. Ziaur Rahman did not as mentioned by Dr. Kalita join Mukti Juddha at the fag end of the struggle when Rangpur was already liberated from Pakistani forces. He is rather revered as announcer of the war and joined it from the very beginning. A Mole in the Breast failed to give a total picture of the struggle of the people. It will not be unnatural if readers, unfamiliar with the total history of the anti-Pakistan struggle, form a wrong idea about the role of the political forces. On rare occasions, references have been made about Moulana Bhashani but, regretfully, in a very negative manner. The book on page 74 (fifth paragraph) reads, 't curfew has been imposed by the government thereby helping the Pak soldiers, Razakars and followers of Maulana Bhashani to rob, loot, and rape.' On page 31 Nausad Mia, a character in the novelette says, "Except for the followers of Moulana Bhashani, all our people will daringly face the Pakistani army." The author does not seem to know that Moulana Bhashani was the first political figure to say 'Assalamu Alaikum' to Pakistan as back as 1956, that during the Liberation War Moulana Bhashani was the head of the advisory committee of the liberation struggle.

There are some other references, which do not correctly reflect history. Common religious identity of the majority of the people played little role in the relation between East Pakistan and West Pakistan, though religion played a significant role in the decision of the people of East Bengal to join Pakistan. In the specific socio-political realities of the then undivided India, the Muslims of this region opted for joining Pakistan with a hope of gaining economic emancipation. The Pakistani ruling classes neither considered Islam as an obstacle to the exploitation nor did the Bengali Muslims refrain from fighting against that exploitation because of Islam. But the people of East Bengal and now Bangladesh did never throw away their own identity. So there is no scope of explaining the history of the Bengali people in any other way. The people fought for an independent Bangladesh, not for any 'Banglastan'. The book does not give accurate number of seats in the Pakistan National Assembly. No source has been mentioned regarding the assertion that Captain Dalim and others plotted to kill Mujib well before he and his associates joined the Liberation War. Chronology of events has not been maintained properly. For example, the Bangladesh government was formed by mid-April 1971, not before or immediately after the military crackdown on 25th March. This shortcoming will make it difficult for the readers to have a good grasp of the history of the liberation war. Sufficient care should have been taken in presenting major records and incidents of history.

However, there are diverse perspectives and angles of vision about the Liberation War. Historians will find materials from these views for drawing correct picture of the liberation struggle of 1971. A Mole in the Breast reflects one such an important angle. The important aspect of this book is that it expresses Dr. BC Kalita's sympathy and support for the right cause of the people of Bangladesh.

Reviewed by: Sarker Nazrul Islam