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| Madrassa students outside the Nesarabadi Islamic Complex in Jhalokati. |
The
small eatery, Sumon Chotpoti, has no space for a kitchen. The establishment on
Kalibari Road in Jhalokati occupies a ground floor room barely big enough for its
few tables and chairs. That leaves proprietor Shonkor Chandra, 67, standing on
the roadside of an afternoon, surrounded by his ingredients.
Chandra,
a Hindu, makes up for the lack of space by being organised. Various chotpoti
elements are neatly arranged in plastic bowls and baskets of purple, red and
blue – chillies, boiled egg, onions. He knows the value of combination. He’s
expert in entertaining his fellow townsfolk.
Unlike
chotpoti, society is made of people and flavoured by ideas rather than tamarind
and spices. While Chandra might not find room for a kitchen he is lucky. In Jhalokati’s
society there is no shortage of space. Contemporary Jhalokati District is one
of the most communally harmonious in the country – and local people deservedly
take pride from that.
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| Shonkor Chandra, of Sumon Chotpoti on Kalibari Road, Jhalokati |
“We
just took tea together,” says Muslim Anisur Rahman, proprietor of Siam Motors,
referring to a Hindu friend. “We are neighbours. We live in one place. We are
often guests at Hindu weddings. There’s no disturbance in Jhalokati.”
“There
are no problems here,” agrees Hindu Nirmal Mandal, 50, who’s been running the
Sun Studio photography store for 25 years.
“We
are not Hindus and Muslims,” says Chandra, “but people. You do your religion
and I do mine. What does it matter? Jhalokati is a bit good in this way.”
While
a connoisseur might detect the various elements in Chandra’s chotpoti, the
factors which produce an enlightened Jhalokati are not so obvious. Yet on the
wall of Sumon Chotpoti are a number of small stickers that hold a clue to at
least part of the reason.
On
them is written, “Oh Muslim boys, in which hadith have you found that your
prestige will decline if you work?” It is to be assumed that for Chandra the
mantra for constructive activity applies in equal measure to those of other
faiths – yet more telling is that those are the words of the late Islamic
theologian Maulana Md. Azizur Rahman Nesarabadi.
Regarded
as a saint and commonly referred to as Quaid Saheb Hujur, his shrine is at the
expansive Nesarabadi Islamic Complex by the Bashanda River not far from town.
His son Md Khalilur Rahman Nesarabadi is the current Principal of the large
madrassa there and responsible for the more than forty organisations under the
Nesarabadi umbrella.
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| The Nesarabadi Islamic Complex in Jhalokati. |
“He
was the mirror of Islam,” says his son, “He believed Islam was not only for Muslims
but for everybody.” Indeed, Quaid Saheb Hujur’s contribution to Jhalokati is
well-regarded by all religious communities. Both Mandal and Chandra have
visited his shrine – Chandra is a regular.
Born
in 1911, by all accounts Quaid Saheb Hujur lived a simple life. According to
his son, he believed it sinful to save money and never had a bank account or
his own home. Khalilur remembers on one occasion when his family was in a
particularly bad financial state, his father received cheques for substantial
amounts from the Islamic Foundation of Bangladesh as proceeds from books he had
written. The son took the cheques to his father hoping it could alleviate the
family’s difficulties.
“My
life is for Allah,” Quaid Saheb Hujur told him, “My writing is not for earning
money. This money is for the welfare of the people.”
Quaid
Saheb Hujur believed in an Islam of leading by example and constructive engagement.
In 1960 he founded an institution to provide mediation for villagers when the
nearest court was in Barisal. He pursued an interest in allopathic treatment,
encouraging locals to understand the properties of plants and cultivate those with
health benefits. Even today at the madrassa complex the tea served is sourced
from joshanda, the mehendi plant,
which is thought to be healthy.
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| Returning from class at the madrassa. |
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| True Muslims serve humanity.. |
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| Madrassa students also need technical education. |
He
founded numerous educational institutions and was instrumental in introducing
technical education alongside religious instruction at madrassas. After all,
practical skills could only enhance religious knowledge in providing the
student with a better opportunity to engage with society on its own terms. He
also believed in the rights of women to be educated, and the Nesarabadi complex
includes a women’s madrassa.
“We
Muslims have forgotten that serving fellow humans is one of the cardinal
principles of our religion,” Quaid Sahed Hujur is reported to have said, “In
order to become true Muslims we must serve humanity.”
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| The madrassa grounds |
Believing
it to be Islam’s work, Quaid Saheb Hujur organised an anti-corruption committee
and participated in many anti-corruption processions over the years. According
to his son, he was once detained for his efforts. At a rally he had called out
dishonest officials by name, which had forced them through shame to return
ill-gotten sums.
A
great admirer of Rabindranath Tagore and a reader of Swami Vivekananda, Quaid
Saheb Hujur was not averse to visiting Hindu religious ceremonies. After all,
how could one hope to be of assistance to broader humanity if one does not
engage with it? It is documented that he once went to listen to kirtan chanting in the bhakti tradition, performed by a group
of kirtankars. After that experience Quaid
Saheb Hujur said, “All religions say the same things.”
Visiting
a kirtan was not a challenge to his Islamic faith but rather an expression of
it.
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| Md Khalilur Rahman Nesarabadi, son of the late Qayed Saheb Hujur. |
During
the 1971 Liberation War it is recorded that some Hindus approached Quaid Saheb
Hujur seeking to convert to Islam. Their decision was driven by fear, thinking
they might be saved from the Pakistani Army. He discouraged them, saying, “The Pakistani
Army is killing Muslims as well. Life and death are in God’s hands.” For Quaid
Saheb Hujur, conversion motivated by fear was not a proper endeavour.
He
believed that for the betterment of Bangladesh good people of all religions
should stand united against dictatorship and corruption, and rise above religious
difference for peace and unity. That is the legacy he left for Jhalokati.
Unsurprisingly
for a saint, there are miracles ascribed to his life, which are naturally
difficult to verify. Similarly it reads as somewhat out of character that he
took a stand against atheists – though it might do to remember that until the
most recent years the term was not politicized in Bangladesh in the way it is
today, and to him, it might’ve been more of a synonym for immorality and lack
of principle.
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| The madrassa grounds. |
In
any case, one does not need to be a Muslim or agree with all aspects of his
beliefs to find within his teachings compassion and understanding. The Islam
that Quaid Saheb Hujur taught is a faith of the ‘middle path’ with no place for
either slackness or extremism.
In
Jhalokati, the legacy of Quaid Saheb Hujur continues to be both significant and
significantly positive. While a society is made of people, ideas create the
flavour. And leadership matters.
Asked
what his father would have done if he had lived to see these troubling recent
days of Hindu homes being burnt and temples desecrated in several other districts
of the country, his son says, “He would have gone to those districts straight
away and tried to convince the Muslim communities that it is wrong. Islam does
not believe in destruction but in good behaviour and harmony.”
For
Shonkor Chandra it might be even simpler. He knows the value of combination. He
knows that anyone favouring communalism could never enjoy the diversity of
chotpoti. They’d be left, perhaps, to chew on onions. And he could certainly
contemplate such things of an afternoon by the roadside, before the customers
arrive, in a peaceful district like Jhalokati, in a society that’s not lacking
in space.
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| Quaid Saheb Hujur's shrine is simple and decorated with plants. |
*information
sourced from interview and various Nesarabadi Islamic Complex publications.
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