THE
REFUGEE -
ASIF CURRIMBHOY
Asif
Currimbhoy is an Indian playwright who wrote exclusively in English. His plays
have contemporary relevance as they deal with the complexities of life in
modern post-Independence India. The
Refugee is a one act play that deals with the influx or arrival of refugees
from erstwhile East Pakistan or modern day Bangladesh into West Bengal in India
in the aftermath of the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war.
East Pakistan was carved out of Bengal and became a part of
Pakistan when undivided India was partitioned by the British in 1947. East
Pakistan was predominantly Bengali speaking. They resented the domination of
Pakistan which comprised of an Urdu speaking majority that considered the East
Pakistanis to be second class citizens and imposed restrictions and regulations
on them. The people of East Pakistan refused to accept Urdu as their official
national language and this led to large scale violence and dissatisfaction.
These events led to the East Pakistanis rising in revolt
against the Pakistani military regime led by its president General Yahya Khan.
India, under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi supported the East Pakistani quest
for independence from Pakistan. The Indian Army provided full support to East
Pakistan’s civilian rebel army, the Mukti Bahini, who were fighting against the
might of the Pakistani Army. This was one of the shortest wars in history. It
began on 3 December 1971 and lasted until 16 December 1971, the day Dhaka, the
present capital of Bangladesh fell into the hands of the Mukti Bahini supported
by the Indian Army.
The plot revolves around a young Muslim refugee Yassin,
who is a student in a university in erstwhile East Pakistan or East Bengal. He
has escaped from the massacre of Bengali intellectuals and fled to India. Yahya
Khan had ordered the mass killing of Bengali students and teachers and Yassin
had witnessed the death of many of his teachers and friends. He arrives at the
home of Sengupta, his mother Rukaiya’s childhood friend. Sengupta himself had
been a refugee who had arrived in India twenty four years ago, after the
Partition of India. Sengupta talks with Yassin about Comilla in East Pakistan/
East Bengal where he had been born. He shares memories of his young love
Rukaiya.
Sengupta is married and has a son Ashok and a daughter
Mita. He welcomes Yassin warmly and offers Yassin his study as his room and
refuge. Refugees start pouring into Sengupta’s home and the surrounding areas
as it is a place close to the border. His house becomes a refuge for the many
refugees arriving from war torn East Pakistan. Soon the number of refugees
arriving from the conflict zone increases and they occupy Sengupta’s backyard,
the open fields and unused sewage pipes. Sengupta’s initial warmth and hospitality
is replaced by a growing sense of insecurity. He sees the refugees as a threat
to him and his family.
Meanwhile, Yassin the refugee is unaffected by the plight
of the refugees forced to live in the open backyard of Sengupta’s house in very
difficult conditions. Yassin gets a job in the university and goes on with his
life, indifferent to the plight of the refugees, just outside his room.
Ironically, it is Sengupta’s son Ashok who joins the Mukti Fauj while Yassin,
the East Pakistani prefers to lead the life of a young, non- committed
intellectual.
Ramul, the leader of the refugees in the refugee camp is
a perfect foil for Yassin, the intellectual. Ramul is aware of the misery and
the difficulties of the people living in the refugee camp. Yassin is comfortably
settled in his intellectual life and it is Sengupta’s kind, sensitive and
social activist daughter Mita who reminds him of his passivity and
indifference. Mita is deeply involved in helping the refugees and blames Yassin
for his apathy.
Sengupta’s worries increase. He believes that India must
declare war against Pakistan and save the Hindus being driven out of East
Pakistan. Yassin argues with him and at night Yassin visits the refugee camp
with Professor Mosin. There they see Ramul conducting a trial in the refugee
camp. Yassin intervenes and the man is set free. Yassin is deeply disturbed by
what he sees in the refugee camp and he returns alone to the camp, after some
time. He helps a young woman bury her dead mother and he decides that he must go
back to his homeland.
The play concludes with Yassin leaving the safety of the
Sengupta family home and returning to the strife torn East Pakistani town of
Comila. Sengupta’s double standards are evident in the story and the zeal and
social activism of youngsters like Mita, Ashok provide a contrast to Sengupta’s
middle class complacency and hypocrisy.
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