Away from Home:The Movement and Settlement of Refugees from East Pakistan in West Bengal, India

■Article■ Away from Home:The Movement and Settlement of Refugees from East Pakistan in West Bengal, India

●

Tetsuya Nakatani

1.•@ Introduction

India achieved her independence in 1947 through the partition of the

Indian subcontinent into two states, India and Pakistan. The partition caused the mass exodus of refugees from both states. Since Pakistan consisted of West Pakistan and East Pakistan, the exodus took place in two regions. According to the Census of India 1951, 4.7 million Hindu and Sikh refugees came over from West Pakistan. The majority of them

came from West Punjab (72.5%) and Sind(16.5%). They were scattered

in many places in India, but the major concentration of them can be

found in Punjab (50.5%), Delhi (10.5%), and Uttar Pradesh (9.5%). From

East Pakistan came 2.55 million Hindu refugees with 94% of them being

from East Bengal. Refugees from East Pakistan were not scattered like refugees from West Pakistan, that is, 81.2% them were concentrated in

West Bengal, though Assam (10.7%) and Tripura (4.0%) accepted many

refugees, too [Government of India 1954]. Furthermore, the influx of

refugees to West Bengal continued for decades even after partition.

中谷哲弥 Tetsuya Nakatani, Department of Commerce, Nara University of Commerce. Subject:Cultural Anthropology. Publications:(in Japanese)"Kyodotai saisei no hibiki (The Sound of reviving Commu- nity:Kirtan in West Bengal,India)," Kikan Minzokugaku 70, pp. 74-83, 1994. "Refugees ," in Veena Das (ed.) Oxford India Companion to Sociology and Social An- thropology, New Delhi, Oxford University Press, forthcoming. 74 Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies, 12, 2000

In spite of the fact that the independence of India and Pakistan, accompanied by a large-scale population movement, was, as Hague [1995: 186] states, an important historical event, the number of refugee studies for the subcontinent is limited to a handful, whereas studies on the historical explanations of partition are voluminous. It seems to be true that refugee issues have not attracted much attention of scholars in comparison with partition itself. In particular, Bengal has been given relatively little scholarly attention [Kudaisya 1996: 25]. In recent years, however, with the growing concern of scholarly works on transnational phenomena like international migration , the relation between the nation and the state, ethnicity and so on, the population movement in or from South Asia, particularly South Asians who migrated overseas, has attracted much attention [see Clarke 1990; van der Veer 1995]. In relation to refugees, too, studies have gradually appeared that try to give a comprehensive picture of refugee issues in the subcontinent, though their number is still limited (see [Muni and Baral 1996; Weiner 1993; Zolberg et al. 1989]). Concerning the partition refugees, some studies that reflect recent scholarly interests have been made since the mid-1980s. For example, there are works on the partition refugees' identities [Chatterjee 1990, 1992; Kudaisya 1996], experiences and memories [Chakrabarty 1996; Raj 1997;Samaddar 1997], the relation between nationalism and household worship [Ghosh 1998], gender and state [Butalia 1993; Das 1995; Menon and Bhasin 1998], and adaptation [Mukerji 1991(1985); Talukdar 1986; Waseem 1997]. These studies seem to be successful for understanding refugees from a particular aspect, such as the squatters' movement [Chatterjee 1990], worship [Ghosh 1998], environment [Mukerji 1991(1985)] , recovery of abducted women [Butalia 1993; Das 1995; Menon and Bhasin 1998], and so on. However, it is also true that while these studies take into account the context of the macro process of partition , they tend to represent the refugees as collective beings in the respective context. Chatterjee [1990] represents refugees as subject-agents, denying the image of a passive mass, Ghosh [1998] as the bhadralok class, and Butalia [1993] as women under state patriarchy. In this sense they treated refugees as having a homogeneous existence in a particular context and did not pay enough attention to the micro factors of individual refugees. The concern of this paper is to understand the experience and identity Away from Home 75 of refugees from East Pakistan both in the context of the macro process of partition and the micro aspect of individual refugees. By tracing the process of movement and settlement of refugees from East Pakistan who settled in West Bengal since the partition of India, I will attempt to illustrate how such factors as policy and measures taken by the government, the geographical condition of migration, the choice by refugees, and caste affiliation interrelated with each other, and had a combined effect on the identity of refugees. In other words, this paper tries to unite the macro and micro perspectives. Refugee studies have usually been categorized into macro and micro approaches within the framework of "migration" studies. Actually the "refugee" was regarded as a type of migrant. For example, Holborn [1968: 362] stated, "the refugee is an involuntary migrant, a victim of politics, war, or natural catastrophe. Every refugee is naturally a migrant, but not every migrant is a refugee." That the refugees had been treated in the context of migration studies naturally affected the field of refugee studies. First, the difference between refugees and migrants was attributed to whether or not someone's movement was "involuntary (forced)" migration. Then, under the "push and pull theory" it is as- sumed that the "push" factor was dominant for refugees. Therefore, refugee studies primarily shared their efforts in the pursuit of the macro factors that pushed refugees and induced their flight. In addition, the legal aspects of refugees were another major concern because of the practical needs of how to deal with them. The concerns on the micro aspects of refugees also basically followed migration studies: the mental and psychological condition, motivation, decision-making, adaptation to the host society, and so on. However, in both refugee and migration studies, studies to unite the above mentioned macro and micro approaches have not been yet done sufficiently (see [Richmond 1988, 1993; Miyaji 1993; Koizumi 1998]). At first, I will briefly illustrate the macro process of refugee influx to West Bengal. As Muni and Baral [1996: 11] argued, the generation of refugees in South Asia has been related to state and nation-building processes in this region. As will be shown later, the refugee influx shows a sharp fluctuation in accordance with the political process, particularly incidents like riots, of this region. In this sense, refugees were by-products of the nation-building process and also the reflection of how such a 76 Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies, 12, 2000 process was going on. The other significant aspect of the macro process is the series of policies and measures taken by the Indian government. How policy and the relief and rehabilitation activities of the government affected the process of the movement and settlement of refugees is one of the major concerns of this paper. However, we must at the same time consider the fact that refugees are usually not homogeneous existences. Refugees responded in different ways to the macro process. Therefore, it is necessary to look at how the individual micro aspects of refugees such as the distance of migration, the timing of the movement, choice by refugees, and caste affiliation played an important role affecting the process of refugee settlement, and to construct the experiences and identities of refugees. Another concern of this paper is that it will focus not on the relation between refugees and hosts, but on the relation between refugees. Stud- ies dealing with refugees used to focus on the relation between refugees and their host society. One of the reasons for this is that intensive research on refugees has mainly dealt with the integration of refugees from developing countries into a cross-cultural context in developed countries [Kuhlman 1991: 1]. In such cases, it is understandable that the relation between refugees and hosts is a prime and decisive factor for refugee settlement. However, it is also a fact that refugees do not always enter into a cross-cultural situation, but very often enter into a neighboring and culturally homogenous situation. In that case, relations between refugees have relatively more importance, particularly where the number of refugees is huge and outnumbers the host population. The case study that I have attempted though fieldwork in a village of the Nadia district , West Bengal, is an example of this. In the next section we will look at the chronological process of refugee influx from East Bengal and review the policies and measures taken by the government. The third section outlines the village where I conducted fieldwork. In the fourth section, we will look at the reasons for the refugees' flight, the contexts of the movement, and the refugees' response to government measures. The fifth section deals with patterns of refugee settlement. In the sixth section, we will discuss the identity of refugees. Away from Home 77

Source:[Chatterji 1995: 258]. Note:"The Radcliffe Line" was a model of border line which was awarded by Sir Cyril Radcliffe, the chairman of the Boundary Commission. It is not identical with the present international border between two regions.

Figure1 West Bengal and East Pakistan, 1947 78 Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies, 12, 2000

2.•@ Refugee Influx into West Bengal and Government Policy

2.1•@ The Influx of Refugees into West Bengal First of all, it must be noted that the process of population movement from East Pakistan showed a sharp contrast with the situation in the west. Over five million Hindus and Sikhs were said to have fled from West Pakistan by the middle of 1948, leaving only a few thousands behind [Rao 1967: 141]. This means that the flight of refugees was so acute that in the west the influx of population was completed by 1948. As Table 11) shows, the influx of refugees from East Pakistan was characterized as an unending trail, and the trend of the influx reflects the communal and political processes in India and Pakistan at the time. The exodus began a year before actual partition. A call by the Muslim League for "direct action" on August 16, 1946 to force the two-nation concept resulted in riots in Calcutta. The flames of the riots spread eastward to Noakhali and Tipperah in East Pakistan and then spread westward to Bihar, Punjab and North-West Frontier Province [Rao 1967: 4]. The peak of the influx was not in the year of independence. The year of 1948 saw more refugees because the annexation of the Muslim princely state of Hyderabad by the Indian government caused a fear among Hindus of retaliation by Muslims. From December 1949, anti-Hindu riots occurred in Khulna and Barisal, and the peak of the influx came in 1950. Later, unrest in East Pakistan in the mid-1950s over the national language issue and the adoption of an Islamic Constitution led to the flight of Hindus to India. In 1964 a mass exodus again took place when the theft of holy hair from the Hazrat Bal mosque in Kashmir was attributed to the Hindus. This incident led to a series of attacks and retaliation between Muslims and Hindus, which turned into a communal riot in both West Bengal and East Pakistan. When Bangladesh won independence from Pakistan, about 7.5 million people came to India in 1971, though a large number of them are said to have returned to Bangladesh. As a result of these continuous influxes, the total number of refugees in West Bengal stood at 3, 959, 000 in 1971.2)

2.2•@ Policy and Measures Taken by the Government on Refu-

gees from East Pakistan There was another sharp contrast here between the two regions. In Away from Home 79

Table1 Chronological Distribution of Refugee Influx from East Pakistan

Source: Modified from [Government of India 1976, Appendix-III]. the west, although both the governments of India and Pakistan initially tried to discourage the flight of their people, both of them soon changed their policy and began organizing evacuations. Consequently, a so-called "exchange of population" took place between the two countries . In Punjab, the "exchange of population" created a vacuum filled by refugees from West Pakistan. Evacuee properties left by Muslims who migrated to 80 Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies, 12, 2000

Pakistan became the most important resources for rehabilitating refugees in East Punjab. Therefore, it was stated in the Second Five Year Plan that the greater part of the task of rehabilitating West Pakistan displaced persons had been accomplished before the end of the first plan (1951-56) [Government of India 1956: 611]. In contrast, in Bengal the movement of refugees was almost one way from East Pakistan to West Bengal, now merely one-third the area of United Bengal. The number of evacuees to East Pakistan was less, and more importantly, evacuee properties were not available in Bengal because the Muslims who left for East Bengal were relatively poor and did not possess substantial land holdings [Kudaisya 1995: 89]. For this reason the shortage of resources made the government, particularly the central government, very reluctant to accept and rehabilitate refugees. Therefore, a series of measures was taken to restrict the inflow of refugees from East Pakistan. In April 1950 the Nehru-Liaquat Ali Pact was enforced to assure the rights of minorities in the two countries. However, the migration of Hindus to India did not cease, because the pact failed to create confi- dence in the minds of Hindus about their security [Bengal Rehabilitation Organization 1950: 1-3]. In October 1952, the "passports system" was introduced to regulate the population movement. Actually the border was still open after partition in 1947. This attempt, however, caused panic among the Hindu minorities in East Pakistan and invited a fresh exodus of refugees who tried to migrate before the implementation of the system. In October 1956, the Indian government introduced another measure that was called the "migration certificate" to control refugees by regulating it as authorized migration. Subsequently, the government decided that no relief or rehabilitation would be given to persons coming over to India after March 31,1958. Despite these measures, the influx of refugees did not cease. According to the report of the government of West Bengal, it was only in and after 1955 that the Indian government really settled down to tackle the problem of refugees from East Pakistan [Government of West Bengal 1973: 4]. This was because there had been the expectation that refugees from East Pakistan were temporary migrants and they would return home when conditions in East Pakistan recovered. The government had, therefore, provided relief measures only in the early stages. Away from Home 81

The measures taken for refugees from East Pakistan were broadly divided into "relief" and "rehabilitation". For relief work, transit camps were set up by the government of West Bengal where food and shelter were provided to newcomers until they moved to rehabilitation sites. Rehabilitation work was divided into rural and urban rehabilitation. For rural rehabilitation, various types of loans for housing, land purchase, agriculture, and small trade were provided. In urban areas, refugees received loans for land purchase, housing, small trade and business. In addition, the opportunities for education and technical and vocational training were offered. Along with them, the important task of the government was the development of refugee colonies. In the mid-70's, there were 1570 refugee colonies in West Bengal which included 496 government sponsored colonies, 324 squatters' colonies and 750 private colonies [Government of India 1976: 42].3) The government colony was the outcome of government rehabilitation but it covered only a small proportion of refugee families.4) For this reason, it can be said that the majority of refugees lived in settlements that were not developed and maintained by the government. The village where I conducted my fieldwork is one such settlement.

3.•@ Setting of the Village My fieldwork was carried out in a village in the Nadia district, West Bengal (see Figure 1). Nadia had the second largest refugee population in West Bengal and 75.0% of it has settled in rural areas.5) The village, hereafter to be called "village M," is located about 150 km north of Calcutta, the capital city of West Bengal, and it is not far from the border with Bangladesh. The population of village M was 16, 037 in the 1991 census. The major agricultural products are rice, jute and wheat, and there are some fisheries, which utilize ponds, embanked low land and marshy land. Along the bus road there are various shops, a bank branch, the office of the "gram panchayat (village council)," wholesale fish of- fices, and so on. Village M is characterized as a rural settlement and is not a "refugee colony" developed by the government, though some refugees received government loans for rehabilitation. I conducted a household sample survey in village M.6) Of 207 sample 82 Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies, 12, 2000

Table2 Caste Structure

Source: Author's fieldwork. Note: Bagdi, Maio, Muci, and Namaiiidra are categorized under "scheduled caste."

households, 19 had their origin in West Bengal and 188 were from East Pakistan. It can be said that village M is apparently a refugee dominant village. Table 2 shows the caste structure of the 207 households. Namalfidra considerably outnumbers other castes. All of them came from East Pakistan. Mahisya and Mdlo are respectively the second and the third largest groups and a large part of both groups came from East Pakistan, too. Those groups that had their origin in West Bengal include Bagdi and Muci as relatively large groups, and next in size Miihisya and Mezlo. However, this does not mean that all of them had settled in village M before partition. Out of 19 households, only 5 (Bagdi[3], Miihisya[1], Tanti[1]) were identified as being there even before partition. Others Away from Home 83 came to village M after partition for reasons such as seeking better agricultural or residential land, or for family reasons. At present there is no Muslim population in Village M. According to the old refugees, when they came in the early 50's, the area surrounding the village was less populated. Jungle remained everywhere. There were houses left by the Muslims who had evacuated to Pakistan, and they settled down in those houses for a while. Thus, when the influx of refugees in village M commenced, the Muslims had already left and a relatively small number of Hindus remained.

4.•@ Process of Refugee Movement

4.1•@ Refugee Population in Village M As Table 3 shows, the trend of refugee influx in village M was gener- ally similar to that of West Bengal as a whole. It is, however, remarkable that only Namaifidras have shown continuous influx over two decades. On the other hand, the influx of Meihisyas was completed by 1951 and the main influx of Mdlos and Baniks ceased by 1949 and 1948 respectively. If we look at the place of origin in East Pakistan, there is an another characteristic in relation to caste. Table 4 shows the place of refugee origin by caste. Faridpur and Nadia were the two major areas from which refugees originated. About 90% of the sampled households were from these two districts. Since Nadia was divided into two regions following partition, here Nadia means the other side of the district that was incorporated into East Pakistan.') While all the Meihisyas, Malos, Goyalas, Tantis, and Mucis and most Baniks and Mayrds came from Nadia (particularly from Meherpur sub-division, which had shared 93% of them), 86% of Namaifidras came from Faridpur. Namaiiidras were nearly the only people who came from Faridpur.8) Therefore, we can observe two major groups in village M: Mahisyas and others from Nadia and Namaifidras from Faridpur. Some comment on castes in pre-partition Bengal is necessary here. The castes in Bengal, like castes in other regions, had both a hierarchical and a territorial character. In terms of the so-called varna system there are only two varnas in Bengal, the Brahmans and the &-tdras. Baidyas (physicians) and Kayasthas (scribes) occupy the highest position among 84 Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies, 12, 2000

Table3 Chronological Distribution

Source: Author's fieldwork. Away from Home 85 of Refugee Influx by Caste 86 Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies, 12, 2000

Table4 Place of

Source: Author's fieldwork. the Sutdras [Sanyal 1981: 17-19] .9) In the British period, the number of castes were enumerated in the census. In the census of 1941, 118 castes were counted in Bengal, including 62 scheduled castes [Sarma 1980: 28]. There were five castes in Bengal which were numerically dominant (in the 1931 census). Mahisya was the largest and Reljbamii, Namaifidra, Kayastha and Brahman were next to in that order. Thus, both Miihisya and Namasiidra, the two most numerous castes in village M, were major castes in pre-partition Bengal. Each of them had a territorial character. While Mahisyas predominated in the Burdwan and Presidency divisions, Namasudras were found in large numbers in the Dhaka and Chittagong divisions of East Bengal10) [Sarma 1980: 31]. This means that Mahisya was the major caste in the western region of Bengal and Namasiidra in the eastern region.")

4.2•@ Reasons of Flight from Home

We will here examine the reasons for the refugees' flight from home.

According to the orthodox understanding, refugees are regarded as "forced -migrants ." Their movements often take place suddenly and under highly stressful, life-threatening circumstances [Independent Com- mission on International Humanitarian Issues 1986: 14-15]. The expla- Away from Home 87

Origin by Caste

nations of some refugees in village M remind us of such an understanding. They told me that riots broke out in their village and their houses were burned down by Muslims. However, as shown in Table 5, if we closely look at the conditions faced by the refugees, the cause of their flight was more complex. First, while many people mentioned arson, riots, or violence in different forms, the number of those who actually suffered from such violence was only 9. Other people gave up their home not because of the actual violence they suffered, but because of their fear of suffering it. Second, though the people did not necessary experience violence, they claimed the experience of daily harassment by Muslims. Some told that Muslims stole their harvests, cows, and boats. Others mentioned the changed attitude of Muslims. For example, the way Muslims talked to Hindus became rough and a poor Muslim day laborer demanded to marry a rich Hindu girl. We can observe that when they felt that their

position in society had changed, they preferred to move. Third, the recognition that their position had changed in society seemed to be borne out by their sense that the two countries had been built for the two communities. Not a few people commented that Muslims said to them, "Go to your country. Go to Hindustan." Similarly, the refugees 88 Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies, 12, 2000

Table5 Reasons for the Flight of Refugees

Source: Author's fieldwork.

themselves shared this idea with the Muslims, saying, "Our country became a Muslim country." Fourth, the recognition of a Muslim country caused another fear, that is, a fear about the future. They insisted that there was no future for Hindus in a Muslim country. This fear gave them the idea that there would be more opportunities for better education and employment in India. Fifth, the loss of social relations in the native village caused further flight. Some people came to India because "Everybody got out of the village and no one remained there. We could not live alone ." Others said, "landlords and other rich men had gone. How can a poor man like me be there alone." In many cases these five factors overlapped and had compound ef- fects. There were a few cases where suffering from flood or land erosion by the river simultaneously added motives for flight. It is to be noted that in any case if some family members or relatives were already in India, migration was easier. Thus, the case of village M suggests that the flight of refugees took place not only through macro factors like riots or political events that pushed refugees and induced sudden and imminent flight. The reason for their flight was complex and micro aspects of individual refugees simultaneously played important roles too. It means that their movement was based on how each refugee recognized his indi- Away from Home 89

Table6 Contexts of the Arrival at Village M

Source: Author's fieldwork.

vidual situation at the time and that their decision to leave was not sudden but very often gradual and voluntarily made. In this sense, it is not easy to distinguish involuntary and voluntary movement. Therefore, it is important to examine the reasons of the flight both from the macro process and the micro aspects of individual refugees.

4.3•@ The Contexts of Movement The refugees who passed the border did not necessarily reach village M directly from their home in the east. While some people went to stay with their relatives, others surrendered themselves to government offi- cers at the border check point and were sent to camps. Out of 188 samples, only 56 (29.8%) directly came to, and settled down in, village M. Others settled in village M after changing their living place again and again. 64 (34.0%) households stayed at least at another place for a while before coming to village M. 44 (23.4%) households stayed at 2 places, 14 (7.4%) at 3 places and 9 (4.8%) at 4 places. 90 Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies, 12, 2000

Table7 Types of Migration by the Place of Origin

Source: Author's fieldwork.

Refugees migrated in various contexts, but here only the basic characteristics are noted. As Table 6 shows,12) nearly half (83 cases) of the sampled households came over to village M through relatives. They utilized not only kinship relations, but also affinal relations. Social ties like "people from same locality" and "caste" played an important role, too. Quite a few (19 cases) people came without any connection. The process of migration to India was not always accomplished at one time. There were 24 cases in which people came and went repeatedly. For example, some people came to the west, purchased a certain amount of land for migration in the future, and went back to sell their land in East Pakistan, and then migrated to the west after a while. Other people went back to East Pakistan with the expectation that the situation in East Pakistan had recovered. But in most cases, they migrated to India again later.

4.4•@ Refugee Responses to the Measures Taken by the Govern- ment As already mentioned above, a series of measures was taken by the government to control the influx of refugees from East Pakistan. It is worth examining the patterns of the responses taken by individual refu- Away from Home 91 gees to these measures because whether to utilize the measures or not was an important factor influencing the later process of settlement. Table 7 shows the number of household with the category of the district place of origin that applied such measures. 142 (75.5%) households relied on neither the passport system nor a migration certificate. They came to India without any documented procedures. If we think about the matter in relation to the pattern of settlement, the "migration certificate" was important because it legitimized the migration of Pakistani nationals to India. 37 (19.7%) households migrated this way. Legitimacy of migration enabled refugees to access educational opportunities or to apply for government employment in India. There were 3 cases among them where students from the east gained the opportunity for higher education in West Bengal and 2 cases for employment. The certificate provided them with the chance to get assistance from the government, that is, admission to camps and the chance of subsequent rehabilitation. Out of 37 households, 16 were admitted to camps and out of them, 8 households received rehabilitation by the government. Though the number of rehabilitated refugees was limited, it is a fact that the migration certificate functioned as a way to access the rehabilitation. For example, there was a case where a refugee, who had already been in India when the migration certificate system was introduced, went back to East Pakistan to apply for it and came to India again with the certificate. He was successfully admitted to a camp and granted rehabilitation in village M. This point is reinforced by the fact that out of the 22 cases of rehabilitation which will be examined in the next section, 19 cases were through this certificate. It is also to be noted that migration certificates were applied for only by those from Faridpur and Dhaka. Both districts were relatively far from the border. All the refugees were Namaiiidras. By contrast, the refugees from Nadia did not have the opportunity to apply for the migration certificate as they had already migrated before the introduction of the system. The distance from home and the timing of the migration also correlated with the patterns of settlement, as will be discussed in the next section. 92 Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies, 12, 2000

5.•@ Three Patterns of Refugee Settlement

This section deals with the patterns of refugee settlement in village M by focusing on the matter of "land," because land was the most crucial concern of both the refugees and the governments, at least in the initial stage of the settlement. At the same time, the most difficult problem which the governments faced was the scarcity of land in West Bengal able to be utilized for the rehabilitation of refugees. While this problem caused squatting on land in urban areas of Calcutta, it also caused great difficulties in rural areas, especially for the rehabilitation of agriculturist refugees. To examine the different patterns of settlement sought by individual refugees, we will focus on three patterns in the acquisition of land.") The first was through rehabilitation by the government. The second was an "exchange of properties" bet ween Hindus who left their properties in East Pakistan and Muslims who left their properties in India. They exchanged their properties with each other. The third was the purchase of land by the refugees themselves.

5.1•@ Settlement through the Government Rehabilitation In spite of the scarcity of land in West Bengal, the government provided assistance to refugees in one form or another including loans to purchase agricultural land.14) As already mentioned, out of 188 sample households in village M, 8 (4.3%) households were rehabilitated with such loans. In addition to these 8, we will take another 14 cases, which I collected in village M, into account to elaborate the discussion. Table 8 shows in outline 22 cases of government rehabilitation. In village M, there were two types of rehabilitation scheme. I shall denote them as type A and type B. The aim of the schemes was to provide agricultural land to agriculturist refugees. Both types of scheme were implemented based on the same category of loan, called "agricultural land purchase (L. P.) loan,"") mainly in the second half of the 1950s. The rate of land purchase was prescribed at 100 rupees per 0.33 acres (1 bighd). It is to be noted that the land for rehabilitation was not only procured from the local habitants but also from the refugees who had come earlier and purchased a large amount of land in village M. Yet there were some differences between the two schemes in how they Away from Home 93 operated. Type A can be expressed as a "voluntary scheme" in the sense that the land was voluntarily found by the refugees themselves. Camp refugees sought land by making use of their own connections with people like relatives who had already settled in village M, and negotiated pri- vately with landholders. When refugees found suitable land, they applied to the government authority in charge. After certifying the legitimacy of the title of the landholder and conducting other necessary procedures, the government paid the money to the landholder. But this does not mean the land was given free. The cost for acquisition of the land was then advanced to the applicant as a land purchase loan along with a certain amount as a house building loan and an agricultural loan. In this scheme applicants were entitled to 3 acres (9 bighiis) for agricultural land and 0.17 acres (0.5 bighiis) for a housing site per family. Type B was locally known as the "Candranath Basu scheme." In this scheme, refugees did not need to find land by themselves, because a social worker called Candranath Base) arranged everything for them with the help of his associates. Basu and his associates visited several camps in West Bengal and recruited candidates who wanted to be rehabilitated in a rural area like village M [Nakatani 1999]. At the same time, they tried to procure land in village M that could be supplied under this scheme. In type B scheme, 4 acres (12 bighds) for agricultural land and 0.17 acres (0.5 bighas) for a housing site were prescribed per family. As Table 8 shows, it is noteworthy that all of the 22 recipients were Namasiidras from Faridpur and that all of them were ex-camp refugees, since the targets of rehabilitation were camp refugees who had been stranded in camps for years. Admission to camps was not necessarily difficult for them, because their route of migration was connected with camps through the arrangements of the government. They came to the border by train and crossed over it through government check points. From there, they "were in the hands of the government, " as they de- scribed it. The government automatically sent them to camps. If we make a comparison between the scale of landholding in East Pakistan before migration and that given by rehabilitation, we can see that in 10 out of 18 cases (excluding the unknown 4 cases), the scale of landholding increased after migration as a result of rehabilitation.17) It seems to be clear that rehabilitation provided the refugees with a means of a livelihood at the initial stage of settlement. 94 Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies, 12, 2000

Table 8 Households Rehabilitated by the Government (in acre)

Source: Author's fieldwork.

However, the maintenance of the rehabilitation land was not easy for many people. Table 8 shows that only 4 households still maintain the scale of the original rehabilitation land today. In 6 cases, the rehabilita- Away from Home 95 tion land was lost totally. There are some reasons for the loss or decrease of land. Some people sold the land either partially or totally, because it usually did not consist of a single plot but of several plots scattered in different places. The maintenance of such land was not easy. In addition, the quality of the land for cultivation was not uniform. The unfertile land was likely to be sold or abandoned. There were quite a few cases where the lands were gradually sold for the sustenance of the household.

5.2 Settlement through the Exchange of Properties The exchange of properties was a popular and a favored way to get land, and it might be regarded as an alternative to compensate for the

properties left behind in the homeland. In village M, when I visited villagers for interviews, quite a few people said without being asked, "We could not exchange our property ." As Table 9 shows, out of 188 sampled households, there were 20 cases of exchange in village M, in which all of the people migrated from the other side of Nadia. Most of them migrated to West Bengal between 1949 and 1950. Ml ithisyas were dominant in number among them. The process of exchange had to be based on legal procedures, though negotiations were on a private basis. As India and Pakistan were already partitioned, the purchase and sale of land between the two regions were not allowed. Therefore, people resorted to the procedure of the general "power of attorney (ammoktarniimei) ,"18) and the Hindus and Muslims exchanged documents of power of attorney with each other. This power of attorney was to entrust a particular person with the management of one's properties. For example, Muslim A entrusted Hindu B to manage his properties in India and Hindu B as a trustee had the power either to maintain or sell the properties on behalf of Muslim A. Similarly, Mus- lim A had the same power over the properties of Hindu B in East Paki- stan. Since a trustee was not allowed to sell the properties to himself or to register them in his name, he sold and registered the land in the name of his wife, son or his close relatives. We found two types of exchange. In type 1, the necessary negotiations and procedures were carried out by the individual refugees. However in type 2, they were carried out by a single person, namely a village leader. I was sometimes told during my fieldwork in West Bengal that in some places an entire village was exchanged. Later I found that this meant 96 Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies, 12, 2000

Table 9 Exchange of Properties between

Source: Author's fieldwork.

that a village leader had the responsibility of the exchange of other villagers' properties, too. Since the procedure for exchange needed a certain knowledge of, and experience with, the legal formalities regarding land, it was not possible for ordinary villagers to do it by themselves. For this reason, villagers relied on their leader, who was regarded as an educated man, and was used to taking care of other villagers. In Table 9, 8 cases of type 2 were done by the same village leader. This leader was Away from Home 97

Hindu Refugees and Evacuated Muslims (in acre)

said to have accompanied all the villagers to India and arranged ex- changes in different villages. Exchange did not necessary mean the equivalent exchange of properties. In most cases, the area of the land received from Muslims was smaller than the land given to Muslims. While there were some cases where people sold the land gained from Muslims and bought alternative lands, many people gradually sold the land during the course of time for 98 Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies, 12, 2000

such reasons as the sustenance of the household, the distress caused by disease or the payment related to the marriage of daughters. As a result, only 5 households still maintain a certain amount of land gained from Muslims. In contrast to settlement by rehabilitation, the exchange of properties was executed mostly by Meihisyas and others from Nadia. The reason for this is related to the distance of migration. Village M was only about 10 km from their native village in Nadia. So, village M and its surrounding area were within the territory of their daily movements. Therefore, they came over to the Indian side without any documented procedures and without being admitted to camps. The counterpart for exchange was sought in the context of daily comings and goings. There was no need of middleman-like persons. By contrast, the exchange of properties was difficult for those who came from a long distance like most Namasrldras, because the longer distance did not allow the parties to check each other's land during negotiations. In such cases, the alternative method based on the power of attorney, was applied, though this was not an "exchange of properties." For example, some people from Faridpur gained an alternative method based on the power of attorney from Muslims who left for East Pakistan. They themselves gave money to the Muslims instead of giving them the

power of attorney over their own properties left behind in Faridpur. In other words, they bought the power of attorney from Muslims.

5.3 Settlement by Refugees Themselves Out of 188 samples, 160 households relied neither on rehabilitation by the government nor on the exchange of properties. This, however, does not mean that these people did not wish to apply for rehabilitation or the exchange of properties. There were some people who wanted to be admitted to camps but were not. Others were once in camps but had left them on their own, before they received rehabilitation. In fact, 18 more households were in camps beside the above 8 households but they dis- persed themselves from the camps for different reasons. One hated the poor conditions in the camp and others escaped from it as they were about to be transferred to remote rehabilitation sites outside West Ben- gal. It is also true that there was a negative idea among some refugees Away from Home 99 about being admitted to camps. Such people even today contemptuously mention, "The camp refugees were lazy, solely depended on handouts, and spent several years in vain." They by intention avoided camps out of pride.19) For those who resorted neither to rehabilitation nor the exchange of properties, it was very hard to get land at the initial stage of the settlement. One might receive help from persons like relatives, villagers, or friends who came earlier, but it was very rare that a refugee got land from them free of cost. Therefore, the only way was to bring movable property with them and purchase land. Some refugees sold immovable property such as land and house buildings in East Pakistan and brought the money with them. Others brought the money or gold that they had saved down to the time of migration. Out of 160 samples, there were 32 (20.0%) cases of such transfer of properties to India. Of these, in 27 (16.9%) cases, refugees sold their land and brought the sale money with them, and in 5 (3.1%) cases refugees brought their savings. There are, however, 9 (5.6%) cases in which such money was lost on the way to India. They claimed that Muslims, middlemen or policemen at the border seized their money. Some people successfully brought money but the money was gradually spent for daily maintenance during the initial period of settlement. For these reasons, we see only 8 (5.0%) cases in which refugees were able to buy a certain area of land as soon as they came to India. The majority of people said that they came to India with their hands empty because the unstable condition did not allow them to sell their properties before migration. Therefore, as already mentioned, not a few people went back again to East Pakistan after they settled down in India and tried to sell the land left there. In addition, there are 21 (13.1%) cases in which refugees intentionally did not sell their properties, because their brothers, fathers, or relatives still remained in East Pakistan after they left for India. Lastly, Table 10 shows the landholdings among those who settled by themselves. At present 88 (55.0%) households hold less than 1 acre, including 18 (11.3%) landless households. If we compare the present landholding scale as a whole with the scale in East Pakistan, there has been a relative fall after migration to India. In fact, 112 (70.0%) households out of 160 cases had decreased landholdings after migration.20) 100 Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies, 12, 2000

Table 10 Households Settled by Themselves

(in number of household)

Source: Author's fieldwork.

Only 28 (17.5%) cases saw an increase in land after migration.21)

6. The Identity of Refugees and Settlement

We have seen above the different patterns of movement and settlement of refugee. Here, how such patterns are related with the identities of refugees is examined. First of all, the distance of migration played an important role in mutual perceptions among refugees. Namasiidras from Faridpur often call the people from Nadia "local people (sthaniya lok)." For Namasiidaras, people like Mähisyas, Goyfilds and Ma-los are local people since they came from a very near place, despite the fact that they crossed over the border, too. Actually, village M had been within an area of daily movement for the people from Nadia. However, this does not imply that they have not felt themselves to be refugees. In fact, the experience being uprooted within their own territory gave them complex feelings. Away from Home 101

In addition to distance, the "time" or "date" has created different feelings among refugees. As mentioned earlier, the timing of migration to India was different for each caste. While in the case of Miihisyas, Goyiilas and Miilos, their migration was completed by 1951 at the latest, the migration of Namasrldras continued for decades. For Ma-hisyas and others, migration was over long ago and most of the people of the first generation are of a great age today. But Namaifidras still have among the first generation of refugees relatively younger people. For this reason, migration is still an ongoing reality for them. The fact that not a few households of Namaiiidras (37 cases), having experienced the long-lasting chain migration of brothers and close relatives, have maintained the continued mental ties of Namairtdras with East Pakistan even after migration to India. The difference of identities can be observed in the cultural sphere, too. In village M, a religious function called "ndm-kirtan (repeated reci- tation of the name of the gods with music)" has been carried on every year by the people from East Pakistan. In the beginning, Mahisyas and others from Nadia commenced the nam-kirtan in the 1950s, and Namasildras joined it later. However, from 1986, Namaifidras separated themselves and started to organize their own nam-kirtan. The reason was not only discord over hegemony in the organization of the function, but also the discontent felt by Namaifidras over the quality of the music. The nam-kirtan was not satisfactory for Namaslidras because it was different from the one they used to perform in East Pakistan. According to Namaiiidras, they used to spend more money on this function, inviting professional music groups, but most importantly their nam-kirtan must be performed based on "raga and ragini", a classical music system of India. The nam-kirtan organized by Miihisyas and others, however, had been modified by the tunes of modern songs, performed by amateur musicians, and organized at minimum expenditure. In this way, Namasrldras hold to the cultural identities derived from their former life in East Pakistan, which differ from those of Mahisyas and others. There have been mutual tensions particularly between Namasrldras and Mahisyas. In daily conversation, both of them often mention that they had a different culture, held antagonistic feelings to each other, and stayed away from each other. They say, "It has been only recently that we came closer and mixed with each other." 102 Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies, 12, 2000

7. Concluding Remarks

In this paper, I have tried to illustrate the experience and identity of refugees from East Pakistan by uniting the macro and micro perspectives. In particular, I put the focus on the micro aspects of individual refugees, because while they have left home following the macro process of political and communal conditions, the actual process of their movement and settlement has been determined by micro factors. In this sense, refugees are not always a mass that was involuntary pushed according to the highly stressful macro circumstances, and neither are they collective or homogeneous beings in a particular situation. Each refugee had different reasons for flight. They came to India at different times, from different distances, and responded in different ways to government policy and measures. All these differences had a close connection with the caste affiliations and identities of the refugees. We have seen these most apparently in two caste groups, the Namasiidras from Faridpur and Mithisyas from Nadia. Namasiidras came over longer distances for longer periods. They could not practice the "exchange of properties" which was popular at that time. Instead, they had the chance of government rehabilitation if they wished. Some Namaifidras by intention went to camps, expecting subsequent rehabilitation. Mahisyas came from a short distance within a short period. Village M was a place well-known to them prior to migration. This fact enabled them to practice the exchange of properties, though it was not always successful. They did not go to camps and received no rehabilitation. The migration from a longer distance makes Namalfidras feel that Miihisyas are "local people". The long-lasting migration over decades of Namaifidras has created the sense of the on-going reality of migration and their continued mental ties with the east. There has been a sense of cultural difference between Namairtdras and Milhisyas. I have focused in this paper on the initial stage of settlement in village M and paid special attention to the relation between refugees, namely Namasiidras and Mahisyas. However, if we look at the subsequent process of settlement, some points should to be noted. First, neither Namaliaras nor Mahisyas constituted a singular being. A large community such as Namasiidras, in particular, naturally shows internal differen- tiation in terms of educational, occupational, political, and religious char- Away from Home 103 acteristics. Second, the continuous existence of the leadership must be given attention. I have already mentioned how the leadership played an important role in the process of settlement, i.e., rehabilitation and the exchange of properties. Such leadership continued to exist even after the initial stage of settlement.") Lastly, a long-term perspective is indispens- able for the study of refugees like the people from East Pakistan whose influx and settlement process has lasted for years. As the process of settlement is not always accomplished within a generation, but very often requires several generations, the long-term perspectives that cross over generations are significant.

Notes 1) The breakdown of figures for West Bengal between 1946 and 1952 was 14,000 in 1946, 258,000 in 1947, 590,000 in 1948, 182,000 in 1949, 1,182,000 in 1950, 140,000 in 1951, and 152,000 in 1952 [Chatterjee 1992: 27]. 2) The enumeration of refugees was problematic because it was very difficult to check all the people who came in from different directions. According to estimates by the Government of West Bengal, the refugee population in 1973 was 5,999,475, 13.5% of the total population of West Bengal [Government of West Bengal 1974]. Apart from simple enumerations, some sporadic surveys were conducted by the govern- mental organizations from time to time. For example, [Chatterjee 1975], [Govern- ment of West Bengal 1981: chapter xi], and [State Statistical Bureau 1951; 1956]. Also see [Pakrasi 1971]. 3) The government-sponsored colony was a settlement where the government acquired land and prepared a layout plan, and then refugees in transit camps were brought. Squatters' colonies emerged as refugees sought shelter by illegally occupying vacant land and these colonies received no government aid. Private colonies were set up by the refugees themselves, with or without government assistance, mostly through legal means, i.e., by acquiring or purchasing land [Chaudhuri 1983: 14-30]. There were other refugee colonies outside West Bengal developed by the government, too. Dandakaranya, which was located over the borders of Orissa and Madhya Pradesh States, was the most famous and also controversial project of this kind (see [Kudaisya 1996; Mukerji 1991(1985); Nakatani 1999]). 4) According to a government report in 1976 [Government of India 1976: 42], the number of families covered by the government sponsored colonies was only 95,000. This figure is quite small compared with the refugee population, 3,959,000 even in 1971. 5) Of the total population of refugees in West Bengal in 1973, Nadia district had 1,500,750 (25.0% of the total). The largest population was found in 24 Parganas (1,650,000) and the third in Calcutta (900,000). This means that 67.5% of the refugees were concentrated in these three districts. The percentages of rural settlers were 75.0% in Nadia, 45.7% in 24 Parganas, and none in Calcutta. Of the total refugee population in West Bengal, while 45.5% settled in urban areas, 54.6% settled 104 Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies, 12, 2000

in rural areas [Government of West Bengal 1974]. 6) The samples were randomly selected from the voter's list of the State Assembly election in 1995. Voters of Village M numbered 9,646 and were divided into 12 parts. Out of them I first selected 6 parts, which constituted the main habitat of the population. There were 4,167 voters in the 6 parts and I randomly selected 5% of them as samples for the survey. As a result, the households surveyed in village M

numbered 208. After excluding invalid household data , 207 samples are used as the main source for my discussion. The survey was first conducted in 1996 when I was a Ph. D. student of the University of Calcutta , and thereafter continued intermit- tently in 1997 and 1998. 7) There were 5 sub-divisions in Nadia district before partition . Kustia, Meherpur and Chuadanga were incorporated into East Pakistan and Ranaghat and Krishnanagar (Sadar) remained in India as the Nadia district. 8) The State Statistical Bureau [1951; 1956] in West Bengal carried out surveys of the refugee population twice in 1950-51 and in 1955. According to the survey in 1950- 51, in the Nadia district, refugee families mostly came from Nadia (42 .0%), Faridpur (12.6%), Jessore (11.6%) and Dhaka (10.7%). 33.8% of the total refugee families in Nadia were scheduled castes, while the percentage in all West Bengal was 20 .8. In the 1955 survey, the percentage of scheduled caste families in Nadia had slightly decreased, but Nadia, along with 24 Parganas , shows the largest concentration of scheduled caste refugees in West Bengal. 9) According to Sanyal [1981: 36-38], the castes of Bengal are traditionally divided into six groups: the Brahmans (priest), the Baidyas and Kiiyasthas , the Nabalakh castes (artisans), Ajalchal castes (castes who are not capable of giving drinking water to Brahmans or to castes who are referred to as Satifidra) , intermediary castes, and Antyaj castes (untouchables). Miihisya is ranked as an intermediary caste and Namalgdra as Antyaj. 10) There were five divisions during the British rule in Bengal. Burdwan division included Birbhum, Burdwan, Bankura, Midnapur , Hooghly, and Hawrah districts. Presidency division included Mursidabad, Nadia, Jessore, Khulna, 24-Parganas , and Calcutta districts. Dhaka(Dacca) division included Mymensingh , Dacca, Faridpur, and Bakarganj districts. Chittagong division included Tippera , Noakhali, Chittagong, and Chittagong Hill Tracts. (see [Chatterjee 1947]) 11) Miihisya was previously called "Cash' Kaibarta." It was a breakaway group of Kaibartas (fishermen). More precisely it was a dissident group, which elevated itself to a higher position by adapting the new occupation of "Car (agriculture)" and so became Casa (peasant) Kaibarta. It is said that Casa Kaibartas emerged between the mid-sixteenth and eighteenth century, and in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century established itself as a full-fledged caste [Sanyal 1981: 41]. Namaliidras were earlier known as "Chandals". They occupied a very low social position and were considered to be untouchables. Their principal concentration was found in the marshy areas of north-west Bakarganj and south Faridpur. Though they had earned their livelihood through boating and fishing, the rapid reclamation of these marshy wastes in the course of the nineteenth century provided them with an opportunity to im- prove their lot as pioneer cultivators. By the late nineteenth century, they had emerged Away from Home 105

as a settled peasant community [Bandyopadyay 1995]. In Nadia, the population of Namalfidras increased remarkably after partition. It was 26, 891 in 1941 but stood at 72, 179 in 1951 [Mitra 1953]. In the 1971 census their population was 980,524 and occupied 11.2% of the total population of the scheduled castes in West Bengal. Namairtdra was the third largest scheduled caste community in West Bengal in 1971 [Das 1989: 75-7]. 12) As seen in the next section there were 20 cases of "through the exchange of properties with Muslims". However, table 6 shows only 14 cases of it, because in another 6 cases, refugees arrived at village M in different contexts like "Relatives were there" and tried to exchange properties later. In the 14 cases, refugees came to village M at the same time as the exchange of properties. "People from the same locality" includes those who lived in the same village in East Pakistan as well as those who were thought to share their "country (del)." "Kin in distant relationship" designates here a broad category of "dtmiya-svajan (one's own people)" which includes not only relatives but also persons who are regarded as their own people in different contexts (see [Inden and Nicholas 1977]). Hence, this category may over- lap with other categories in the table. I included in this category the persons whom the interviewee addressed as iitmiya and did not or could not specify the particular relationship, though most of them seemed to fall into the range of relatives in distant relation. 13) I do not say that "land" was the sole factor which affected the process of settlement of refugees in rural areas. Even in a village or peasant society the existence of non- farm work was very important [Takada 1991]. In village M, too, landless does not necessarily mean a poor economic condition. There are jobs other than farm-work: for example, there are not a few salaried men such as office workers and teachers and we also find shop-keepers, fishermen, wholesalers, etc. Nevertheless it was still true that the land was the most crucial concern of refugees from agricultural communities such as Mähisya and Namaiiidras. In addition, land was a prime concern in urban areas like Calcutta, too. The settlement of refugees was largely accomplished by the squatting of lands and the dispute over, and movement of, the squatters have had a significant influence on the local politics of West Bengal. Particularly, it was associated with the development of communist politics in West Bengal (see [Chakrabarti 1990]). 14) According to the report prepared by the government of West Bengal in 1973, the government gave assistance to 136,000 agriculturist families and 247,000 non-agriculturist families in rural areas in West Bengal. Regarding agriculturist families, 6,620 families were given loans to purchase agricultural land along with homestead land purchase loans, agricultural loans and house building loans [Government of West Bengal 1973: 44-45]. 15) This scheme was implemented based on the recommendations in 1953 submitted by the Fact Finding Committee set up under the Government of India. (See [Govern- ment of West Bengal 1954: 26-28; Government of India 1976: Appendix-V]). 16) Candranath Basu (1893-1979) was a locally renowned social worker in Faridpur. He engaged in various social activities both in East Bengal and West Bengal. One of his major activities in West Bengal was the rehabilitation of refugees stranded in camps. 106 Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies, 12, 2000

He collaborated with the government of West Bengal in rehabilitating camp refugees particularly in the border area of Nadia, where the land was relatively more available than in other congested regions. About 400 families are said to have been rehabilitated by him. 17) The area of "land given by rehabilitation" differed, because in some cases the procedure of land acquisition was not successful and the recipients could not gain the prescribed area. "Present total landholding" includes land other than rehabilitation land. It includes land purchased by refugees at their own expense. 18) According to a personal correspondence of 1st October, 1997 from Mr . Anil Sinha who was a member of the Refugee Rehabilitation Committee set up by the Left

Front Government of West Bengal in 1978, "After partition , transfer of landed property to a foreigner was forbidden in both parts of Bengal. Hence, during exchange, this method of delivering the power to sell, make gift , etc., was adopted by the giver on the basis of this 'power of attorney'. The receiver could register title deeds in his home country. The restriction was by-passed in this manner ." 19) The idleness into which camp refugees often fell had been a concern of the government, too, since the early stage of relief and rehabilitation work. To cope with this, the government started "work-site camps" where refugees had opportunities to work and earn by themselves. 20) The figures for landholding in East Pakistan might be higher than the actual figure . This is because I cannot ignore the comment by Guha [1954: viii] that it is a common trait among refugees to exaggerate their former condition. 21) With regard to the type of settlement alone, no outstanding characteristic regarding the caste or the place of origin can be found. 22) I referred to the name of Candranath Basu, who had taken the initiative for the rehabilitation of camp refugees. After he passed away , his associates at that time inherited his leadership and started different social activities. They established NGO and presently run schools, old-age home, vocational center in village M , and or- phanage in near village.

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