A Gendered Perspective of 1947 Partition Influx in Bangladesh: an Analysis of Inter-Generational Struggle

VOLUME 42 NUMBER 1

JUNE 2018

A Gendered Perspective of 1947 Partition Influx in Bangladesh: An Analysis of Inter-generational Struggle

Farhana Razzak

Abstract This paper analyzes 70 years of struggle of women who migrated to a foreign land established because of partition and division of former homeland in to two countries. Hope and optimism that a new country would offer came to a quick end with continued sufferings. Whether it was persecution including sudden eviction with minimal or no belongings to take along with them, or everyday struggle for survival in a new place, women have other stories than their counterparts. Narrations of men also signify the sufferings of their female family members. Sadly, such stories seldom find their way into conventional archive of political history. This research, therefore, employed narrative approach to analyze life stories into oral history of partition. A key focus of this paper is to explore how women exhibited courage and endurance in a hostile environment and helped families to re-organize. The study relates these stories of memories with the present days where the third generation has already taken place. Overall, the findings display insights on people’s perception on partition, migration, patriotism, border, memory conservation, and nation- hood. A synthesis of oral facts and memories collected by this study uncovers the gendered and generational perspectives of partition. Keywords: 1947 partition, influx, oral narrative, engendered struggle, inter-generational perspective

Background of sanguinity Right after the partition and subsequent riots, a group of Muslim asylum seekers

Corresponding Author Farhana Razzak, Email: [email protected]

110 c A Gendered Perspective of 1947 Partition Influx in Bangladesh broke into and took refuge into an abandoned house. Things went well until a Basil plant (used for worship among Hindus) was discovered and caused rage among them. Exceptionally, Matin, a former railway staff was lost in his own thoughts. Thinking of a woman who used to take care and pray around the plant daily. How is she doing now? Isn’t she going through the same situation like Matin and others? Has she taken refuge in some railway colony where her Sharee (traditional women’s dress) hangs gloomily besides the yard? Or may be her journey to an uncertain future is still on. Doesn’t she shed tears remembering her beloved Basil plant? Surprisingly, someone began to water that plant secretly. But soon they were driven away and the plant was re-abandoned just like the forgotten woman. The poor Basil plant did not know the reason, but surely the humans do. -The Story of a Basil Plant (Ekti Tulshi Gacher Kahini) by Syed Waliullah

Introduction This is an artistic portrayal of forgetfulness that excludes women’s struggle from human history. The partition of 1947 is no exception to that. Under the Indian Independence Act 1947 by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, British India was partitioned into two independent self-governing dominions- Republic of India (Dominion of India) and Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Dominion of Paki- stan, comprising present-day Bangladesh and Pakistan). Three provinces, Assam, Bengal, and Punjab were divided along religious lines resulting in overwhelming influx and consequential communal violence. As the partition came into force after 16 August 1947i, by November 1947 approximately eight million refugees had crossed the borders in both directions in India and Pakistan. In Pakistan that time, 10% of the total population was refugees (Khan, 2017:156). In another estimate, within weeks after the partition, 11.5 million people left their homes. The migration was accompanied with partition riots in which from 200,000 to over one million people were killed (Hay, 2006:86). As the major influx came to an end by 1948, the number of uprooted people stood at more than 15 million and the death toll ranged between one and two million (Dalrymple, 2015). Hun- dreds of years of peaceful co-existence was tarnished and a relation of adversary began. This is how the unholy ghost of Radcliffeii drew the unfortunate line over the Indian subcontinent in 1947. This paper is about the gendered dynamics of 1947 partition and influx, substan- tiated by oral-narratives of victims who came to Bangladesh and their descendants. There is a dichotomy between incoming partition victims of West Bengal, India and the rest of the subcontinent (especially Bihar, India). That differentia-

South Asian Journal of Policy and Governance 111 tion manifested due to the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971 and the affiliation of certain population against independence of Bangladesh resulting in double exile. The creation of India and Pakistan in 1947 by partition was the successful execu- tion of ‘divide and rule policy’ by the colonial ruler. Politicians gained power at the cost of tearing apart the harmonious homogeneity in the Indian subcontinent. As people turned against each other at personal level, there was nobody to be held accountable for the consequent mob violence. The fragile social, economic, and cultural contexts of partition have formulated a different story for women that often remained unheard let apart be analyzed. This paper is the soul search- ing of ‘her story (Women’s History)’ out of this history. The concept of struggle is at the core of every expression of these victims and their descendants. Either it is for overcoming the trauma of loss or its inheritance in the form of assimilation.

Historical cognition of and through oral narrative Narrative inquiry has established itself into significant echelon of social science. Starting from a state of factual resources to texts with a particular form, the multifaceted use of narratives in social science has the capacity to initiate a movement beyond textual application. To investigate a phenomenon, narratives offer open, rich, detail and personal perspective, which can function as a method of investigation and a constituent of social, cultural, and political world. At this point, a theoretical knowhow is evident on narrative construction, its implication, and narrator’s entitlement (Hyvärinen, 2008:447). Attestation of the persecuted Jews from the ghettos during Second World War revealed the cruelest chapter of human history. This revelation of atrocity commenced the filing of oral narratives in texts to constitute memories as part of history. Nevertheless, my introduction to the oral narrative came through participation in a project on 1947 Partition. There I met Manas Rayiii, who quoted Alexzander Kluge, “What is the history of a nation after all but its stories? Numerous stories, stories upon stories, like the many surfaces of a nation” (Ray, 2008:118). Indeed, if we write a diary or screen newspapers daily, we document history. The former being something personal while the latter reflects the universe. We may rarely consider our life stories as a content of history of a nation envisaging that painful, problematic or petty. How- ever, these are the most organic elements to develop an alternative narrative to concurrent political history. For the forgotten past of 1947 partition, stories echo the voice of the unheard. In this world of changing reality, not everyone has a decent share in the collective memory, which exists in textbook history. Patriarchy, decoyed as historical narra-

112 c A Gendered Perspective of 1947 Partition Influx in Bangladesh tor, has mostly muted and deprived women from this discourse. Greenberg (2008:255) discussed about the importance of oral history- citing factors like silence, forgetfulness (Maurice Halbwachs, 1992), and dumbness (Veena Das, 1995, 2000) along with rigorous researches of Eva Hoffman (2004), Marianne Hirsch (1997), Annette Becker (2005), Urvashi Butalia (2000), Dipesh Chakrabarty (2002), and Sudhir Kakar (1996) on the influx and partition. This redirects to a hybrid branch of academic inquiry ‘memory-history’- by French scholar Pierre Nora (Pandey, 2001:9). According to Pandey (2001:4-9), memories of violence do not wash away soon. He assumed this for India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh where violence re-made life and conditions. That imposes skepticism to rely on oral narratives. Still, there is the option to substantiate political history with memory-history and vice versa. Important here is the identity of the historian and memory-history narrator. A historian undertakes extensive research before concluding while a narrator simply speaks of own life and thoughts. Chakrabarty (2004:209-210) identifies and explains this discrepancy. First, partition turned people’s geographical space into a part of memory overnight. Second, this leads to a massive shift in conceptualizing ‘the self’ and ‘the collectivity’ in relation to the politically demarcated boundaries. Third, this shift is not written in the political history of partition. Instead, the transformation of a nation, religious disparity, and ball game of high politics became the core subject matter in political history, which could not meaningfully explain the multifaceted voice of the people. The author (Chakrabarty, 2004:210) finds that ‘ordinary folks’ who hardly had role in the realm of ‘high’ politics suffered the most in the consequence. Remarkably, human voices are powerful enough to surpass this ar- tiﬁcially created divisions along religion. Therefore, it is possible to build a con- structive alternative parallel to high-politics by impinging memory-history into a more academic way. In other words, oral narratives can be utilized in a manner where scholarly research can take a breath away from deeply politicized volumes of political history. It is indeed highly crucial to further conduct research on the near-extinct memory of 1947 partition of an unheeded group of people living in Bangladesh. There- fore, the key objective of this paper is to look into a number of oral narratives to analyze the engendered and inter-generational pattern of struggles and the inter- related issues on partition and the influx with exclusive focus on Bangladesh.

An engendered segregated orientation towards Bangladesh Targeting women during crisis to break the morale of counterparts is a common phenomenon. Many people during the partition sacrificed their lives; hid or

South Asian Journal of Policy and Governance 113 moved away their female family members, left home, and crossed the border to keep them safe. In general, violence was the push factor and assurance of safety was the pull factor. Chatterji (2007:113-125), identified few push and pull factors of Hindu population’s migration during and after partition. The dominant push factors were harassment by Muslims, following other asylum seekers, fear of violence, actual violence, anxiety, and impression that Pakistan was for Muslims and India for Hindus. Pull factors evident at that time were residence of relatives and same caste people in India, property exchange with Muslims, and government rehabilitation. Other known reasons included business, service and study along with unknown reasons played key role in migration decision-making (Chat- terji, 2007). In oral narratives of Indian victims of partition, these reasons were apparent. In this turmoil, women were particularly targeted for their religious and sexual identity. Menon (2013:120-121) mentions such violence against Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh women during partition. She noted: Multiple forms of sexual violence against women such as, rape, mutilation, forced con- version, honor killings, sexual mutilation, inscription of religious insignia on their bod- ies, and parading them naked in sacred spaces such as temples, mosques, and gurdwa- rasiv, and cutting their breasts off…Sometimes families traded their women in exchange for freedom; at other times women were urged to take their own lives in order to protect communal “honor” (Menon, 2013:120). The partition victims who came to Bangladesh also had similar experiences as the narratives suggest. There are stories of struggle to secure a job, ensuring safety of female family members, and sacrifice of women to secure honor. There has been exquisite research on partition and oral narrative in India. For example, post-migration community development like “bhadrolokv”, “ghotivi”, and “bangalvii” became a central research argument in West Bengal. Similarly, in Bangladesh, the case of double exile and negative reception of “Bihariviii”community challenges religious solidarity-based assimilation and makes oral historicizing critical. Still stories continue to live among descendants who are ready to speak it out aloud. To comprehend those, this paper attempts to answer two inter-related questions:

• What defines the gendered dimension of partition in terms of memorization and oral history narration? • What is the implication of this gendered dimension upon their descendants living in Bangladesh?

114 c A Gendered Perspective of 1947 Partition Influx in Bangladesh The answers are not traceable in the volumes of political history but in stories. Stories of the people who kept history alive. Precisely:

• Female victims • Male victims and related to female victims • Female descendants of female victims • Female descendants of male victims • Male descendants of female victims The rarity of organized stories particular to Bangladesh is a great challenge. However, filtering oral narratives of partition victims who came into Bangladesh and their descendants from the following three open access archives made it possible to find patterns to attempt developing a collective memory-history:

• My Parents’ World – Inherited Memories • Bangla Stories • 1947 Partition Archive Being a researcher in one of these projects of collecting oral narratives immensely contributed to my intellectual development of analyzing the few Bangladeshi stories out of hundreds of stories from Indian counterparts.

First generation of partition victims: Issues and cases The first generation suffered and struggled as the direct victims of 1947 partition where safety and security were a major concern along settlement in volatility. Most of them lived to see the double breakdown of once a common land. At present, it is quite difficult to comprehend about women refugees due to the time- gap, missing documented statements, and the conservative culture that kept the woman’s story tightly boxed beyond the reach of curious researchers. However, gradually researchers are coming forward to document oral narratives and few resources are available now to assess several issues of engendered struggles. From these open-access narratives, some of the issues are explained here:

Double exile in a man’s purview Many migrants from Uttar Pradesh, India experienced exile twice for their Bihari identity. In the case of Abdul Qaiyum, the riots of 1946-1947 brought his family from Uttar Pradesh to East Pakistan (present Bangladesh). He was targeted for his identity after the liberation of Bangladesh. For the safety of his family’s women and children, he had to move to the Geneva camp in Mohammadpur, Dhaka.

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People threw rocks at his house and the women and children could not go outside the camp. The fear of a more difficult life refrained him from returning to India or Pakistan (1947 partition archive n.d.).ix This double exile increased the risk of the female family members affecting his life and decision-making.

Transition of apartness The idea is related to women’s helplessness in migration decision-making. Shahezadi Begam is a Muslim woman from Kolkata who migrated to East Paki- stan in 1947 after the partition on family decision. She continued to live in Shah- jahanpur railway colony in Dhaka even after her marriage. She was again home- less as her house was ransacked and she lost some of her family members in 1971. Then she finally moved to Mohammadpur Geneva Camp in Dhaka. Her daughter went to Karachi forty years ago. Since then, the mother has not seen her daughter (1947 partition archive n.d.).x In this way, transition of a woman from daughter, wife, and mother was entirely drawn by struggles of the partition. She suffered for the decisions, which she had not made.

Of terror and integration Religious disparity and communal violence was a major push factor for migration decision-making. Even a simple story reflects this with multiple expression of fear, loss of inheritance, and integration. In Anwara’s memory, a migrant from North 24 Parganas of West Bengal to Shatkhira, Bangladesh, “We (my husband and three children) came over after the people who migrated from East Pakistan came to our village and destroyed our mosque…Some people even left their babies behind along with their possessions thinking they would go back for them later…We got into our boats but couldn't carry anything because of the fear that the boat might sink…My life has been a struggle….but he (Allah) has given me kind neighbors who look after me whenever things go wrong.” (Bangla stories n.d.)xi Apparently, she found her peace among the people and in the place from where people invaded her village and burned the mosque and paddy fields. In this case, a common religious identity mattered the most than the locality to integrate and consume the horrible past.

Notion of homeland Although the notion of homeland is quite different among the new generation, direct victims had their distinguished opinion. For instance, migrated from Milky, Malda in India, Mosammat Nurun Nisa was deeply sad to leave her birthplace. After successful exchange of properties in Rajshashi, Bangladesh, she breathed

116 c A Gendered Perspective of 1947 Partition Influx in Bangladesh her freedom from constant fear of the mobs. After all these years, she says, “I say India. India is my homeland” (1947 partition archive n.d.).xiiNo safety and com- fort could console the woman from her purest affection towards the homeland.

Pursuit of better life and beyond The pursuit of a better life was a dominant pull factor of migration at that time. Hasina Chowdhury’s father felt that it would be better to raise children in a Muslim country, especially when the daughters were approaching marital age. Hasina left behind a fulfilling childhood in a Hindu neighborhood in Krishna Nagar, Bihar. However, in the other part of the border, she suffered a lot and lost family members in the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971 (1947 partition archiven.d.).xiii Thus, the pursuit of happiness went wrong for her and she had to suffer and struggle throughout her life. Even if half of the narratives are partially true, a whole generation of women struggled in their entire life due to the partition. The direct testimonials however are often limited to basic information. In addition, usually a person will not tell about decades of struggle at one go through one interview. Instead, it takes more than a day to comprehend something very personal. Therefore, only a close person can know it, feel the struggle, and make one’s own interpretations. Pres- ently, most of the victims of partitions have their third generation who are adults and can relate themselves into the new identity. The next part of the paper pro- vides an understanding of issues of which the third generation is mostly concerned. This is how the inter-generational journey of perspectives continues.

A gendered perspective of third generation: Issues and narratives Perspectives of the third generation of partition victims are helpful to overcome the limitations of time, age, and notions of silence, forgetfulness, and dumbness. This paper explores their understanding of the struggles of their ‘foremother’. This is also a method to fathom the foregone transition to mainstream in an alien society overcoming victimhood. Unlike a fairy tale or lullaby of a grandmother to her grandchildren, this is the most organic component of ‘memory-history’. The idea here is to listen to the silence of a horrid past that binds generations together. Greenberg (2008:260-261) refers to this with Dori Laub’s research on the second generation of the holocaust survivors of Second World War where the noise of silence is contained in the words of a daughter of survivors. To understand the level of belongingness to their ancestors, in Bangladesh, there is now a matured

South Asian Journal of Policy and Governance 117 and sensitive third generation as modern day storytellers and bearers of oral history. Through these stories, the struggle of the women is visible by a deeper emotional connection between generations. The grandchildren have seen their grandmother’s sighs, their parent’s assimilation as second generation of partition victims, and developed their own interpretation. In this fast-track life, nobody can accommodate time to stop by and ask someone to tell stories. In my personal experience of interviewing a mutual friend, I have to know her story after almost five years of knowing her. She did not tell me about her identity until she knew that the world was interested in knowing her family’s story of struggle. This is how it works. Until someone pays attention to learn the truth, the truth will not be revealed. Interestingly, unlike the first generation, the third generation has strong opinion about several uncharted areas of influx, violence, and struggle. However, they will only tell this to listeners with genuine interest.

A few years back, a projectxivwas developed to create an open access Internet platform between Bangladesh and West Bengal/India to explore the consequenc- es of the Partition of Bengal in 1947. The platform contains twenty interviews of third generation partition victims. Ten of those interviews were conducted in Bangladesh. In this part, stories of four females and one male respondent are analyzed along with one available from Bangla Stories’ archive. These narratives are carefully selected and analyzed with an attempt to identify patterns to trace collectiveness of memory.

Post-partition economic aspect The indiscriminate cruelty of partition effected people irrespective of class de- pending on a number of issues including education, contacts, status, lobbies, professional networks, and access to properties/ government schemes in determining the level of struggle in resettlement (Khan, 2017:173). The third generation of the partition influx victims recognized the economic struggle of their grandmothers. Ms. Tunazzina Shahrin, whose maternal grandmother moved from Kolkata to Chittagong, recalls her grandmother’s childhood stories of economic hardships. She cites, “My (widowed at 22) great grandmother would come to Calcutta once every few months and collect the rent (of their ancestral house in present Kolkata)…After some time she realized that these frequent trips from Baguda to Calcutta weren’t really working out…she decided to sell the house.”(My Parents’ World: Inherited Memories 2015)xv

118 c A Gendered Perspective of 1947 Partition Influx in Bangladesh But the court did not allow her to obtain all the money at once, as she was a widow with three minor daughters. The government was skeptical because, what if, with all that money she decided to marry again and abandon her daughters. Thus, the court took charge of the money, and provided monthly allowance to her for her expenses. Tunazzina still acknowledges this struggle of a single mother in an unsympathetic situation and its effect on her mother’s childhood. Both grandparents’ families of Ms. Sushmita Hossain Natashae moved from Basirhat, 24 Parganas, India to Dhaka, Bangladesh, also have a clear understating on the same issue. In her words, “It seems ‘migration’ now. However, it used to be one country. We had lands on both sides. Somebody needs to look after the land too or the lands might get usurped...I have a feeling that neither part of the family could even imagine in the wildest dreams that it would come to this.” (My Parents’ World: Inherited Memories 2015)xvi In Natasha’s understanding, her grandparents might have taken the decision without thinking about the extreme consequence. On the other hand, perhaps they considered it appropriate to have backup by sustaining presence in both parts. It was normal to have a home and job in two different parts of Bengal at that time. As this decision resulted in partition within her family, for Natasha, this was not a pleasant situation. Both grandparents’ families of another respondent, Ms. Kazi Zahanara Islam, moved from Kolkata to Dhaka, remembers her grandfather’s professional adher- ence and struggle during partition. She said, “During the Partition of 1947, my grandfather was in the air force, and stayed on in Islamabad; he didn’t return to Calcutta. After this he faced a lot of trouble…He couldn’t even go and meet his parents, or do anything. He couldn’t because of his career.” (My Parents’ World: Inherited Memories 2015)xvii Eventually, they (her grandmother with husband and three children) ended up in Dhaka and faced immense economic hardships, as Zahanara’s grandfather did not get the promised job. After doing the rounds in government offices, he finally got a job with a downgraded rank other than that promised and things were somewhat bearable. In such way, these women recognize their ancestor’s economic struggles and aspirations that shaped their perspectives of partition and migration. They developed their own interpretations on economic aspects and realized that the econo- my was not the only factor that mattered in life.

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Understandings on assimilation Assimilation and its reciprocity is a defining characteristic of mainstreaming. Partition influx came as a shock for both migrants and the local people. The third generation, however, is assimilated in Bangladeshi society with sheer sensitivity to their ancestral connection. For example, Tunazzina recalled her grandmother’s experience, “She (grandmother) didn’t face any trouble as far as her neighbors were concerned. They were very supportive, because they knew that they (her family) had been compelled to leave their home and belongings…The adversity they faced here was starting over afresh…I mean starting from scratch.”(My Parents’ World: Inherited Memories 2015)xviii In contrast, Zahanara has reasoned her family’s struggle of assimilation. She stated, “At first it posed quite a problem when neighbors came to know that my grandparents were Bengalis from Kolkata. The local people did not want to accept them in the begin- ning; they maintained a cold distance with them…I feel in those days people were much more emotional rather than practical…they considered all three countries—India, Bangladesh, Pakistan— as their own.” (My Parents’ World: Inherited Memories 2015)xix Zahanara personally never felt any negativity identifying herself as a granddaughter of Kolkata’s migrant. She faced curious questions on how things went for her instead of rejection or identity crisis. Like her and most others, third generation female migrants had an easy mainstreaming without any conviction or struggle of assimilation.

Changing notion of belongingness The mindscape of the third generation is quite logical on their belongingness as Bangladeshis. They can relate themselves and differentiate their perception of homeland and feeling of apartness from their ancestors. For example, in the words of Tunazzina, “Whenever the question is raised about India…she (grandmother) forcefully mentions that India is her country…. She is very specific in her answer. She says, ‘My father’s home is in Calcutta. I’ve come here from Calcutta; and my father-in-law’s family is from Sylhet (a district of Bangladesh).’ She’ll never say, ‘I’m originally from Sylhet or Dhaka’… But to me my home and native land is Bangladesh.” (My Parents’ World: Inherited Memories 2015)xx

120 c A Gendered Perspective of 1947 Partition Influx in Bangladesh In the voice of Natasha, reasoning behind this belongingness of past generations is tamed to be defined by struggle, “My father and mother and my paternal grandparents felt the trauma most of all, because they had to decide which side they would go to…If someone tells me, ‘Look, your Bangladesh will be divided into two parts; you decide which part you want to live in.’ It would be awfully difficult for me…I live in Bangladesh. Forever. And that’s how it will be.” (My Parents’ World: Inherited Memories 2015)xxi

The new generation is much more practical and shaped their belongingness overcoming the struggle. Zahanara shared strong arguments as she believed that the present generation must have a clear sense of the division of the two countries and what exactly should be the nature of relations between the two countries, “I’ll identify myself as a Bengali. I would say I’m a local resident of Dhaka, because my mother has been born and educated here. I’ve been here since my childhood, I’ve grown up here, breathed its air…. All I would like to say is that those who have stayed on in Bangladesh, should remain as citizens of this country…A country gives so much to its people—so much…If my heart is attached to one country, and I have to live in a different country, then I’ll never be able to be either honest or loyal to the country I’m living in.”(My Parents’ World: Inherited Memories 2015)xxii This shift of ideas and overcoming nostalgia has contributed to build the strength of today’s women to mainstream in Bangladeshi society. However, the notable aspect is that, in this process, none has disregarded their past and the struggle of their first generation. This level of understanding has developed a very sensitive and confident persona of the new generation.

Carrying the horrors of ancestors The third generations of Bihari-origin refugees have some bitter stories of the past experienced by their ancestors. Mr. Khaled Hossain, whose family migrated from Patna, Bihar to Naogaon, Bangladesh, has a horrible family history reflecting violent push-factors of migration. In his words, “Hindus were attacking Muslims, and raping and killing women. My grandmother, my father’s phupu [paternal aunt], father’s younger sister—all of them jumped into a large well in our house, in order to preserve their honor. My father was only ten at that time, and he had a younger brother who was seven. Before jumping into the well, grandmother told father, ‘Now you two brothers need to run away from here. Follow the path that other people are taking. We’ll not be able to save or protect you’ Saying this, they jumped into the well and killed themselves. My father saw his own mother killing herself.” (My Parents’ World: Inherited Memories 2015)xxiii

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Fleeing into Bangladesh became another issue for this community. A young woman, Ms. Dolly Akhter, whose paternal great grandfather’s family moved from Bihar to Dhaka, shared her grandmother’s experience of being married to a Bihari man (Dolly’s grandfather), “Grandmother was Bengali and my grandfather Bihari… The most troublesome part was, my grandmother had to learn Urdu. And during the Bhasha Andolan (1952 Language Movement), grandfather taught all his kids to speak Bengali…The war (1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh) was on, but they weren’t supporting any side. When the military came on raids, they would pose as Biharis; and when the Bengalis planned to attack them, they posed as Bengalis…That’s how they saved my one and half year old father at the time.” (My Parents’ World: Inherited Memories 2015)xxiv In the words of Ms. Farzana Banu Shirin, a third generation Bihari, whose grandfather came from Mungher, Bihar just after the 1946 riots, a continuance of intergenerational struggle was perceptible. As she describes, “We never spoke Urdu, even by mistake…When I was a child, especially when I went to school in Khulna, we were scared to talk in Urdu so nobody knew who we were...My mother's family now lives in Pakistan but my father's only sister lived in India…My mother cries at every Eid…It costs a lot of money to go there so we haven't yet been on a visit to Pakistan….I am the only non-Bengali amongst my colleagues (she teaches at school). This is because of discrimination and because Biharis are less well educated than most Bengalis…When you're not Bengali, the chances of you getting one (especially government job) is practically zero.” (Banglastories n.d)xxv Her struggle with career and upbringing has shaped her perspective as a potential storyteller mother. Her priority is to teach Bengali to her children as they are in Bangladesh. Besides, she does not want to impose learning Urdu for the children as Urdu will be of little use in Bangladesh. From the first generation to the latest, Biharis, irrespective of their gender and support towards 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh, are struggling to integrate and mainstream Bangladeshi society and carry the horrors of past till date. De- spite being Muslims, their affiliation has prevented them from being main- streamed.

The idea of border Whether it is jagged like South Asia or straight like most African countries, colonial border demarcation remains a problematic category of political discourse. The women belonging to the third generation of partition victims when about

122 c A Gendered Perspective of 1947 Partition Influx in Bangladesh politics expressed diverse and formative consciousness about the border. Accord- ing to Zahanara, “Since the two countries have been divided, the border should be maintained in such a way that the people of each of the two countries remain within their boundaries. I strongly feel as a Bengali that the border must totally and separately segregate the two countries.”(My Parents’ World: Inherited Memories 2015)xxvi The difference between sharing the border with a country and sharing it with a particular state of a country is also explicit as perceived by Natasha. In her words, “To me a border is a border…If I try to talk to a Marwari or an Assamese or a Ma- nipuri, the border will retain the characteristics of a border, just like it would in my in- teractions with a British, or an American. It is different in the case of West Bengal.” (My Parents’ World: Inherited Memories 2015)xxvii Similarly, Tunazzina explains the border into rather geographical and political representation as in West Bengal and Bangladesh the spoken language is almost the same. She narrates, “The border sought to segregate two regions speaking the same language; it sought to segregate people of a region that shares almost the same cultural specificities, clothes, and food habits. It (border) was constructed geographically, and being used politically.” (My Parents’ World: Inherited Memories 2015)xxviii Noticeably, the descendants of Bihari origin also find the artificial border as a faulty decision. Khaled feels that they are paying the price for the way religion had been used to fool them.xxix Dolly finds that the border is important to restrict cross-border crimes but also problematic for the people whose relatives live on the other side and cannot afford international travel.xxx These personal observations on the border are undoubtedly valuable inputs for understanding the practical effects of political border on human lives.

Transmitting history to the next generation Perhaps, this is how oral history will sustain through generations as respondents strongly favor this transmission. In the words of Natasha, behind her affirmation, “I would surely like to pass on the memories… I don’t know for how long this connection will remain, but this I feel very strongly - that there is a part of our family who are living in another land…I believe that it is their (next generation) right to know. Again, I would also teach them never to be divided on account of religion and ethnicity, because a country is made with all these various elements, and that is where the strength of a country lies.”(My Parents’ World: Inherited Memories 2015)xxxi

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Without knowing others’ responses, Zahanara also shares the same feeling, “The present generation is much more civilized. Therefore, they must have a clear sense of the nature of relations between the two countries. They should form a personal opinion about what they want to do or which country should they identify with, or what kind of relations should be maintained with the other country. If this perspective is clear, then there will be clarity of choice and judgment. That way they will know what they should do, or how they should express themselves in this matter.” (My Parents’ World: Inherited Memories 2015)xxxii She is very positive about the storytelling tradition and sees herself as a responsi- ble representative of the past generations to carry it out and transmit it over. The third generation of the Bihari community also shares the same opinion for pre- serving their history. Khaled is firm on his identity of Urdu speaking Bangladeshi and considers it very important that the next generation learn about their ancestral memories and identity.xxxiii Otherwise, there is a potent risk of identity crisis. Similarly, Dolly loves Bangladesh and is not hesitant to declare her identity. Her opinion reflects that, memories to her mean more than mere photographs and she will pass the stories of her family.xxxiv This collective notion of memory-culture through the descendants indeed is a fascinating finding of the lost history of women’s struggle in a time of disdain. Whether as a story-teller, bearer of culture and heritage, victim of persecution, leader of the family, sole bread earner, shadow of her husband, an obedient daughter, a curious granddaughter or a confident young woman of 21st century- in every aspect, women portrayed history as ‘her story’. Following this, people’s history of struggle will live through stories of memories.

The takeaways Engendering oral narratives of 1947 partition in Bangladesh is considerably at a textual application stage. The oral memory-history is yet to transcend into a collective memory. Therefore, both oral and textual conservation is inevitable. The value of inclusion of gendered dimension imperative to make a comprehen- sive sense of human aspects of partition influx. In order to properly comprehend the micro level realities of 1947 influx in social science research- ‘her story’ mat- ters. These narratives can contribute as an alternative food for thought for future multidisciplinary research. As long as the documentation period is going on, there is a necessity for the stories to sustain and used in a productive manner. The paper has already argued how women, through generations, carry and forwards stories. Compassion is a strong determinant of bonding and stories of struggle of

124 c A Gendered Perspective of 1947 Partition Influx in Bangladesh the elders create an impact over a generation who share a similar past. Main- streaming through theorizing this impact is a major challenge. As a tool for explaining this reality, the theory of trauma can be considered. According to this theory, narratives are important to the idea of integrating, understanding, heal- ing, and recovering trauma. To break the cycle of suffering, a victim passes on trauma. It relates mental function with narration through theorizing trauma. The evolution of psychoanalytical notion of structural trauma to cultural metaphor can help to look into a different mode of history. Furthermore, it opens new avenues of interdisciplinary research and works as a binding formula of collectivity (Schönfelder, 2013:32-86). A gendered dichotomy can help to measure the depth, intensity, and channeling of trauma in multiple ways. For example, for Abdul Qaiyum, it was a horrific experience when people threw stones at his house and targeted women and children. However, in another case, losing a family member caused trauma for victims like for Shahezadi Begam and Hasina Chow- dhury. How their grandchildren feel about this now is a research problem. Be- cause, it was clear that the third generation carries the past trauma where a grownup like Khaled Hussain talks about his grandmother’s suicide on a sad note. Placing them under the theory of trauma, the common factor in these cases was collective melancholy and identity-based persecution perpetrated in different space through different actors. The victims broke their silence and used narratives to channel this trauma. Considering the sensitivity of women’s honor and prevailing masculine dominance on partition influx, it is important to accrue and study the available singular units of gendered trauma through memorization. Other- wise, for Bangladesh, only subordinate facts will be left out without much in- depth information.

Apart from the micro-level theoriesxxxv and theoretical framework, on a broader spectrum of forced migration studies, the 1947 partition influx has already become immemorial. For example, in general, the global refugee regime typically revolves around the political influence of the inter-war, Cold War, post-Cold War, and post-9/11 eras where major theories of International Relations (realism, liberalism, constructivism, critical theory etc.) are applied. In addition, how power relations serve the interest of the powerful determines its place in history (Betts 2009:39-42).Macro-level theoretical analysis looks into states and identifies that a weak or non-consolidated state triggers violence and repression during forced migration (Boswell, 2002:5). In such a manner, role of states are determined and (powerful) state/s takes the upper hand over people’s story of struggle let alone gender dynamics. The unequal relation between genders and states puts the gendered narratives of victims and their descendants at the risk of collective

South Asian Journal of Policy and Governance 125 forgetfulness and minimization into minority. Nevertheless, critical theory sug- gests that minority group’s perspective can challenge the dominant discourse. All is needed is an idea. That idea can hold a powerful linguistic position to shape perspectives. According to linguistic theory, language can give meaning to social structures that emerge in the context of forced migration (Faist, 2018:416-418). This is how Tunazzina’s grandmother’s precise purview on being a native of Calcutta and Tunazzinaon being a native of Bangladesh make sense. She does not associate herself with Kolkata or India like her grandmother but strongly implies the way it has been posited. The same applies in case of Nurun Nisasaying ‘India is my homeland’ decades after repatriation in Bangladesh. On a different note, in the case of Bihari population, there is a notion of ‘Urdu speaking Bangla- deshi’ identity feeling, which may cause discomfort for many to hear or accept. Inclusion of these ideas into public discussion and adaptation of their perspectives can uphold and mainstream the previously unknown areas of gendered dynamics of 1947 partition influx in Bangladesh. In addition, reliability and validity of life history require rigorous standard and approach based methodology. Therefore, three inter-related approaches needed to be applied before considering life histories for social science research. Accord- ing to the narrative approach, the finished product comes because of interplay between interviewer and interviewee with microanalysis of the text. In the induc- tive approach, grounded-theory techniques of interviewing with a hypothesis are applied where the analysis takes place by categorizing the theory-supporting information. This lengthy process involves validation of information through further empirical material transcripts or new interviews. In the neo-positivist approach, a pre-existing work/idea/literature guides the research to validate theories (Ojermark, 2007:5). Following the main idea of the approaches, a sys- tematic study can amplify the previously muted voices and participate in the struggle of power and space to understand gendered dimension of influx. The duty has now bestowed upon the new generation of partition victims to break the habit of recycling stories within family domain and accommodate into Bangla- desh’s share in world history. In addition, it is the duty of researchers to ensure methodological validity and safeguarding the authenticity of narratives. Indeed, it is difficult to study and analyze extreme human suffering and struggle within a gendered domain. However, once it is done, a long forgotten due respect for the women of past century will be paid through gender mainstreaming in history. The analysis of intergenerational transmission of stories of struggle helps to identify the gendered expression of micro-level effect of identity politics. Due to the growing importance of gendered ethnicity for the articulation of identity and

126 c A Gendered Perspective of 1947 Partition Influx in Bangladesh community, it is necessary to manifest individual and collective cultural and political production of ethnicized belongings (Daiya, 2008:26). In broader spectrum, the politics of religious identity played key role in the partition. Neverthe- less, as the narratives suggest, identity had implications beyond religious labels over the lives of partition victims. Sub categories like Muslims from Kolkata and Muslims from Bihar played a major role in determining the social relations especially after the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh. The Bihari identity made life difficult for the minority group while Muslims from Kolkata had relatively easier assimilation. Again, land and border became another determinant of identity. As generations furthered, motherland, and border became a strong identity base for the new generation while religious identity took a back seat. That is why considering Bangladesh as their birthplace, third generation of partition victims associate themselves more with their motherland and have less or no significant attachment with their ancestor’s land. Continuation of this practice over the next generations can create a hybrid multinational sentiment accompanied by drivers of globaliza- tion. For example, the open access digital storage helps them to know and con- nect with counterparts across the globe building a strong sentiment of their present different identities. The new generation acknowledges the fact of artificially created border has shaped their lives differently than the people who did not migrate after partition. The prevailing dominant idea of political history of partition mattered here less than their understanding of partition. This inventory and transmission of memories can function as binding and empowering factor for the previously muted voices of women. Engendering the oral history of partition can develop alternative political history of partition based on ethical grounds beyond textbook references and cinematic portrayal in popular media. It is certainly not the process of inventing a nation through ‘inherently limited and sovereign imagined community’ (Anderson, 1991:6). The non-political nature has shaped the idea of shared stories of struggle differently than the process of creating a nation out of a particular population. Instead, the long lost homogenous harmony can be re-established through these shared stories of struggle. Struggle can be considered as unifying factor for the thousands of women of the sub-continent through learning, inclusiveness, empa- thizing, and embracing plurality. Therefore, engendering memory is a promising area of academic inquiry and requires wider institutional attention in near future.

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Concluding remarks Across generations, observations suggest that the decision to escape initially had been made without the idea that returning will not be an option. Women victims had heartfelt nostalgia of their ancestral home on the other side of the border that they cared to share with their grandchildren. Young women like Tunazzina from Bangladesh actually went to India along with her grandmother to find their lost inheritance. This paper implied that irrespective of social and economic class- everyone suffered due to their exposure to partition induced influx. In addition, as women victims passed stories over generations, they were able to express their struggles, endurance, and understanding of realities. Their silent yet salient con- tribution helped to generate a generation full of stories and conviction on their existence and rights. Still, the ghetto like building with shattered glasses near the Bangladesh Maath (former Pakistan field) in old Dhaka or overpopulated Bihari camps (also known as Geneva Camp) reminds of the people in perpetual exile. The controversies and politics have made their recognition into a bleak issue. Their oral narrative can build up a mountain of stories of struggle where women lived, suffered, and endured. However, the whole idea of developing collective memory-history is a very expensive effort. The existing open access platform came because of partnership among multiple stakeholders who actively worked to collect the narratives. To take such an endeavor to the next level, it is important to continue research to mainstream gender in the political value of adopting timely public policy. This will help enthusiasts to come forward and expand the people’s history of partition with gender sensitivity. Otherwise, only a half-hearted history will remain for future generations.

Notes i. At 5:00 P.M. on 16 August 1947, Lord Mountbatten revealed Radcliffe’s boundary awards to India and Pakistan’s leaders (Hay 2006:82). ii. Cyril Radcliffe was a British lawyer appointed by Lord Mountbatten as the Head of boundary commissions to demarcate Bengal and Punjab provinces. Although he knew almost nothing of the subcontinent, he was chosen to ensure impartiality toward either side. Soon it was evident that his ignorance accompanied by Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh population spread across the vast areas of the provinces would lead to a surge of partition-induced influx. iii. Mr. Ray was the lead researcher of “My Parents' World – Inherited Memo- ries” from Indian counterpart.

128 c A Gendered Perspective of 1947 Partition Influx in Bangladesh iv. According to Britannica Encyclopedia, Gurdwara is the place of worship for the followers of Sikhism. Sikhism is a religion and philosophy founded in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent in the late 15th century. Its members are known as Sikhs. The Sikhs call their faith Gurmat (the way of Guru). v. According to Banglapedia, the term ‘Bhadrolok’ refers to an elitist social class that emerged through the processes of social changes brought under the impact of British colonial rule. The word, however, means gentleman in English. vi. Ghoti refers to a social group of people in West Bengal, India who are considered as the native and mainly distinct from the migrant community. Their dialect, food habit, religious rituals and cultural practice distinguish Ghotis. vii. Bangal refers to a social group of people of former East Bengal (present Bangladesh) who migrated to West Bengal, India during the Partition of In- dia in 1947. The Ghoti people brand these migrant people as Bangal to keep a distinction based on dialect, culture, ritual, and cuisine. viii. Bihari refers to an ethnic group of people of Bihar (a state of eastern India) and their language per se. In the context of 1947 partition, it refers to the people and descendants who migrated to former East Bengal (present Bang- ladesh). Due to their role in favoring Pakistan in the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971, they become effectively stateless since Bangladesh’s independence as neither Pakistan nor Bangladesh agreed to grant citizenship to the Biharis. In 2008 a court ruling found that a large number were eligible to become Bangladesh citizens and get voting privileges. While some were able to assimilate into the Bengali population, most of the Biharisre main stranded in camps in Bangladesh. ix. Interview conducted by Farhana Afroz of Abdul Qaiyum on behalf of The 1947 Partition Archive (Interview summary reproduced with explicit permission from The 1947 Partition Archive), available at: www.1947partitionarchive.org/story/313. Accessed 17 November 2017. x. Interview conducted by Deborshi Chakraborty of Shahezadi Begam on behalf of The 1947 Partition Archive (Interview summary reproduced with explicit permission from The 1947 Partition Archive), available at: www.1947PartitionArchive.org/story/1801. Accessed 17 November 2017. xi. Interview of Anwara on behalf of Bangla Stories Project, available at: www.banglastories.org. Accessed 8 March 2018. xii. Interview conducted by Farhana Afroz of Mosammat Nurun Nisa on behalf of The 1947 Partition Archive (Interview summary reproduced with explicit

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permission from The 1947 Partition Archive), available at: www.1947PartitionArchive.org/story/329. Accessed 17 November 2017. xiii. Interview conducted by Farhana Afroz of Hasina Chowdhury on behalf of The 1947 Partition Archive (Interview summary reproduced with explicit permission from The 1947 Partition Archive), available at: www.1947PartitionArchive.org/story/777. Accessed 17 November 2017. xiv. “My Parent’s World- Inherited Memories” an intercultural exchange oral narrative project on the post-partition third generation in Bangladesh & In- dia by Goethe Institut. xv. Interview conducted by Md Mufazzal Hossain of Tunazzina Sharin on behalf of My Parents’ World: Inherited Memories, available at: www.goethe.de/pro/inm/Tunazzina_Sharin_EN.pdf. Accessed 10 October 2017. xvi. Interview conducted by Farhana Razzak of Sushmita Hossain Natasha on behalf of My Parents’ World: Inherited Memories, available at: www.goethe.de/pro/inm/Natasha_EN.pdf. Accessed 10 October 2017. xvii. Interview conducted by Farhana Razzak of Kazi Zahanara Islam (Brishti) on behalf of My Parents’ World: Inherited Memories, available at: www.goethe.de/pro/inm/Kazi_Zahanara_EN.pdf. Accessed 10 October 2017. xviii. Interview conducted by Md Mufazzal Hossain of Tunazzina Sharin. xix. Interview conducted by Farhana Razzak of Kazi Zahanara Islam (Brishti). xx. Interview conducted by Md Mufazzal Hossain of Tunazzina Sharin. xxi. Interview conducted by Farhana Razzak of Sushmita Hossain Natasha. xxii. Interview conducted by Farhana Razzak of Kazi Zahanara Islam (Brishti). xxiii. Interview conducted by Md. Shahadat Hossain (Farhan Apurbo) of Khaled Hussain on behalf of My Parents’ World: Inherited Memories, available at: www.goethe.de/mmo/priv/16370783-STANDARD.pdf. Accessed 10 Oc- tober 2017. xxiv. Interview conducted by Mahde Hasan of Dolly Akhter on behalf of My Par- ents’ World: Inherited Memories, available at: www.goethe.de/mmo/priv/16370777-STANDARD.pdf. Accessed 10 Oc- tober 2017. xxv. Interview of Farzana Banu Shirin on behalf of Bangla Stories Project, available at: www.banglastories.org. Accessed 8 March 2018. xxvi. Interview conducted by Farhana Razzak of Kazi Zahanara Islam (Brishti). xxvii. Interview conducted by Farhana Razzak of Sushmita Hossain Natasha. xxviii. Interview conducted by Md Mufazzal Hossain of Tunazzina Sharin.

130 c A Gendered Perspective of 1947 Partition Influx in Bangladesh xxix. Interview conducted by Md. Shahadat Hossain (Farhan Apurbo) of Khaled Hussain. xxx. Interview conducted by Mahde Hasan of Dolly Akhter. xxxi. Interview conducted by Farhana Razzak of Sushmita Hossain Natasha. xxxii. Interview conducted by Farhana Razzak of Kazi Zahanara Islam (Brishti). xxxiii. Interview conducted by Md. Shahadat Hossain (Farhan Apurbo) of Khaled Hussain. xxxiv. Interview conducted by Mahde Hasan of Dolly Akhter. xxxv. Macro theories emphasize the structural, objective conditions, which act as "push" and "pull" factors for migration. Meso theories focus on locating migration flows within a complex system of linkages between states. Micro theories focus on the factors influencing individual decisions to migrate (Boswell 2002:3-4).

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At 5:00 P.M. on 16August 1947, Lord Mountbatten revealed Radcliffe’s boundary awards to India’s and Pakistan’s leaders (Hay 2006:82).

ii Cyril Radcliffewasa British lawyer appointed by Lord Mountbatten as the Head of boundary commissions to demarcate Bengal and Punjab provinces. Although he knew almost nothing of the subcontinent, he was chosen to ensure impartiality toward either side. Soon it was evident that his ignorance accompanied by Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh population spread across the vast areas of the provinces would lead to a surge of partition-induced influx.

iii Mr. Ray was the lead researcher of “My Parents' World – Inherited Memories” from Indian counterpart.

iv According to Britannica Encyclopedia, Gurdwara is the place of worship for the followers of Sikhism. Sikhism is a religion and philosophy founded in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent in the late 15th century. Its members are known as Sikhs. The Sikhs call their faith Gurmat (the way of Guru).

v According to Banglapedia, the term ‘Bhadrolok’ refers to an elitist social class that emerged through the processes of social changes brought under the impact of British colonial rule. The word, however, means gentleman in English.

vi Ghoti refers to a social group of people in West Bengal, India who are considered as the native and mainly distinct from the migrant community. Their dialect, food habit, religious rituals and cultural practice distinguish Ghotis.

vii Bangal refers to a social group of people of former East Bengal (present Bangladesh) who migrated to West Bengal, India during the Partition of India in 1947. The Ghoti people brands these migrant people as Bangal to keep a distinction based on dialect, culture, ritual, and cuisine.

viii Bihari refers to an ethnic group of people of Bihar (a state of eastern India) and their language per se. In the context of 1947 partition, it refers to the people and descendants who migrated to former East Bengal (present Bangladesh). Due to their role in favoring Pakistan in the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971, they become effectively stateless since Bangladesh’s independence as neither Pakistan nor Bangladesh agreed to grant citizenship to the Biharis. In 2008 a court ruling found that a large number were eligible to become Bangladesh citizens and get voting privileges. While some were able to assimilate into the Bengali population, most of the Biharisre main stranded in camps in Bangladesh.

ix Interview conducted by Farhana Afroz of Abdul Qaiyum on behalf of The 1947 Partition Archive (Interview summary reproduced with explicit permission from The 1947 Partition Archive), available at: www.1947partitionarchive.org/story/313. Accessed 17 November 2017.

x Interview conducted by Deborshi Chakraborty of Shahezadi Begam on behalf of The 1947 Partition Archive (Interview summary reproduced with explicit permission from The 1947 Partition Archive), available at: www.1947PartitionArchive.org/story/1801. Accessed 17 November 2017.

xi Interview of Anwara on behalf of Bangla Stories Project, available at: www.banglastories.org. Accessed 8 March 2018.

xii Interview conducted by Farhana Afroz of Mosammat NurunNisa on behalf of The 1947 Partition Archive (Interview summary reproduced with explicit permission from The 1947 Partition Archive), available at: www.1947PartitionArchive.org/story/329. Accessed 17 November 2017.

xiii Interview conducted by Farhana Afroz of Hasina Chowdhury on behalf of The 1947 Partition Archive (Interview summary reproduced with explicit permission from The 1947 Partition Archive), available at: www.1947PartitionArchive.org/story/777. Accessed 17 November 2017.

xiv “My Parent’s World- Inherited Memories” an intercultural exchange oral narrative project on the post-partition third generation in Bangladesh & India by Goethe Institut.

xv Interview conducted by Md MufazzalHossain of Tunazzina Sharin on behalf of My Parents’ World: Inherited Memories, available at: www.goethe.de/pro/inm/Tunazzina_Sharin_EN.pdf. Accessed 10 October 2017.

xvi Interview conducted by Farhana Razzak of Sushmita Hossain Natasha on behalf of My Parents’ World: Inherited Memories, available at: www.goethe.de/pro/inm/Natasha_EN.pdf. Accessed 10 October 2017.

xvii Interview conducted by Farhana Razzak of KaziZahanara Islam (Brishti) on behalf of My Parents’ World: Inherited Memories, available at: www.goethe.de/pro/inm/Kazi_Zahanara_EN.pdf. Accessed 10 October 2017.

xviii Interview conducted by Md Mufazzal Hossain of Tunazzina Sharin.

xix Interview conducted by FarhanaRazzak of Kazi Zahanara Islam (Brishti).

xx Interview conducted by MdMufazzalHossain of TunazzinaSharin.

xxi Interview conducted by FarhanaRazzak of Sushmita Hossain Natasha.

xxii Interview conducted by FarhanaRazzak of KaziZahanara Islam (Brishti).

xxiii Interview conducted by Md. Shahadat Hossain (FarhanApurbo) of Khaled Hussain on behalf of My Parents’ World: Inherited Memories, available at: www.goethe.de/mmo/priv/16370783-STANDARD.pdf. Accessed 10 October 2017.

xxiv Interview conducted by MahdeHasan of Dolly Akhter on behalf of My Parents’ World: Inherited Memories, available at: www.goethe.de/mmo/priv/16370777-STANDARD.pdf. Accessed 10 October 2017.

xxv Interview of Farzana BanuShirin on behalf of Bangla Stories Project, available at: www.banglastories.org. Accessed 8 March 2018.

xxvi Interview conducted by Farhana Razzak of Kazi Zahanara Islam (Brishti).

xxvii Interview conducted by FarhanaRazzak of Sushmita Hossain Natasha.

xxviii Interview conducted by MdMufazzal Hossain of TunazzinaSharin.

xxix Interview conducted by Md. Shahadat Hossain (Farhan Apurbo) of Khaled Hussain.

xxx Interview conducted by Mahde Hasan of Dolly Akhter.

xxxi Interview conducted by FarhanaRazzak of Sushmita Hossain Natasha.

xxxii Interview conducted by Farhana Razzak of KaziZahanara Islam (Brishti).

xxxiii Interview conducted by Md. Shahadat Hossain (Farhan Apurbo) of Khaled Hussain.

xxxiv Interview conducted by Mahde Hasan of Dolly Akhter.

xxxv Macro theories emphasize the structural, objective conditions, which act as "push" and "pull" factors for migration. Meso theories focus on locating migration flows within a complex system of linkages between states. Micro theories focus on the factors influencing individual decisions to migrate (Boswell 2002:3-4).