Noakhali Noakhali --- Introduction by Author Shantanu Singha
BangaLakshmi
Introduction
I have not seen East Bengal. I was born in the 60s in Kolkata. So, I
cannot feel from heart the pain of losing everything and becoming a
refugee. But sometimes when I used to hear my elders talking about our
ancestral home somehow, in a corner of my heart, I feel a void for
that unseen place which makes me yearn for it.
But why did they come. They came to escape the riots. They had to
accept the division of the motherland to be free from the constant
terror of riot. RIOT – this word had changed the entire socio-economic
picture of Bengal.
I had wanted to write a book on incidents just prior to the division
of India. But that is not possible at this time. Lack of money and
time is the prime cause. But I was able to finish this booklet. Here
one may find a lot of controversial issues. But they came because I
wanted to keep history as it was.
Lack of informative writings was the main problem. Thus my main source
is the write-ups from different newspapers and periodicals. Also I had
to depend upon the interviews of those people who were the
eyewitnesses of the riots. Their interviews are assets of this book.
When the memory of the tears and historical accounts of the division
of Bengal is being removed from the mind of Bengalis, we are trying to
keep the history alive. The previous editions were sold out within
months of being published. That gave us confidence for the future
editions. We have added some new facts in this edition.
Kolkata
Shantanu Singha
August 1, 2008
http://www.eastbengal.org/noakhali.pdf
--
Mouli Ghosh
Bengal Voice Communications
www.bengalvoice.com