Contrivance Intervened

Mir Mahboob Ali

Maimuna was very young, and very innocent and very naughty, a bit of tomboyish. She preferred boys to girls as her playmates and played cricket and soccer. No inhibition has made her distinguish between boys and girls, in spite of her mother’s constant admonishments. As she attained her puberty, her mother tried her best to deter her from mixing with boys, as the society demands. Carefree, as Maimuna was, she resisted all efforts to restrain her. Nevertheless, repeated admonishments made her ponder as to why she should restrict her associations with boys, who had been her playmates, since her childhood. She could not reach any plausible conclusion. The matter remained a mystery for her until she started feeling a sort of unexplainable attraction for a boy, a bit older than her, at reaching puberty at around thirteen. All day she would remain expectantly waiting for the evening when the boy would appear in the field in front of her residence to play football. Her eyes would remain glued to his face. Gradually, she disassociated herself from other boys, as she was preoccupied with thoughts of Muid. She would invent all sorts of antics to attract Muid’s attention. Slowly, but surely, she succeeded for she was a beautiful girl. The boy was quick to spot her and responded enthusiastically. Since they were neighbours, they started visiting each other’s house, she on the pretext of meeting his sisters whom she never liked, and he to meet her brothers, though, they were younger to him and earlier he would shun their company, because, they were his juniors. Her success put her life back to normal and she resumed her friendships with other boys. Muid, normally, would not mind her mixing with other boys, if they were not taller and handsomer than him. As he was short, he would be gripped by an unexplainable inferiority complex and jealousy at the sight of taller and handsomer boys having a friendly chat with Maimuna. Muid objected to her uninhibited behaviour with other boys and sounded almost like her mother while lecturing her on why she should not meet other boys and become friendly with them. Her liking was growing for this boy but she also felt irritated at his smallness for she viewed his objections as an attempt to curtail her freedom, she was naturally inclined to liberty.

Her mother, a very witty lady, and at times under the insatiable desire to show off her wit, would do very foolish and embarrassing things, was quick to discern a budding relationship between two very young, innocent and immature souls. She did not want her daughter to know that she suspected anything, for their mutual liking was yet to develop into an affair. Both the boy and the girl just attained puberty a very critical age, when the mind is keen to explore new horizons in human relationship without understanding the consequences.

Maimuna’s mother decided that the situation was very delicate and she had to make her moves cautiously without raising any suspicion. She therefore, decided to use her husband- a simpleton- working in a department that can easily find accommodation for civil servants. Without telling her husband the reason behind her desire to move to a new location a few miles away, she pursued the matter doggedly. A very valid reason, schooling, she put forward as the school for the children was very near the new housing estate she proposed. Thus, the lady ensured their relocation to a new locality hoping to break the developing liaison. However, even after Maimuna’s family moved to the new locality, the friendship survived, but it did not develop into a more meaningful relationship, as the boy and the girl could not meet as frequently as they did.

Meanwhile, Zubair, Maimuna’s cousin arrived at the scene, seriously trying to gain affection of the beautiful, very young Maimuna. More than Maimuna her mother’s imagination was ignited by the prospect of her daughter finding an able partner in this new candidate, since, he was studying in a medical college. Zubair was supposed to pass out a few years earlier, but for his amorist activities. He fled his Alma Mater and joined a new institution in western part of the country where one of his uncles lived. Though, his aunt’s imagination was inflamed, she was also worried because of the reputation of this nephew. In spite of the risks, she resolved to net him as her son-in-law. She planned to encourage her daughter into a relationship under her watchful eyes, for she had great faith in herself. This newfound prince would often entertain his young cousins by gulping in whole bottles of decongestant cough syrups in the name of treating cough and colds. The poor cousins and the very simpleton uncle were blissfully unaware of his addiction to decongestant syrups. A very good man tainted with minor vices like flirting, occasional drinks and the aforesaid addiction.

The aunt with her natural gift of invoking liking or disliking in people about others almost à volonté took up the project in all earnestness to enkindle an affair between Maimuna and her cousin. Relentlessly, she worked on adolescent Maimuna, conscious of the risk of being betrayed by the hard nut, she is dealing with. Sure in her mind that given the slightest chance Zubair would not hesitate to take advantage of the opportunity to sleep with her daughter, she proceeded. She did not have to work on the boy much, for he was attracted to the girl from the time he laid his eyes on her and in the new place there were very few girls he came into contact with. He was not used to such paucity as he grew up with brigades of cousin sisters and friend’s sisters and cousins. Girls, in his clan outnumbered boys almost by one to four. Therefore, in his subconscious self he was unhappy always haunted by the feeling of an emptiness that he was unable to identify. Maimuna’s lively boisterous presence quickly caught his attention, he started to feel at ease and the feel of nothingness readily vanished. At last, he was at peace with himself after moving to the western part of the country- a new environment, for the first time. His aunt was torn between her wishes and fears. She swayed, for a while, between “to be or not to be” because of her nephew’s disputable reputation as a Casanova. “My daughter is very young”, she thought, “and could absorb a few shocks and start anew.” The lady decided to gamble and began working on her plan of netting the fish.

In a conservative society, any liaison between sexes is a taboo though the youngsters these days have become much bolder to defy society. In those days, only the desperate would do so. Therefore, some ambitious mothers would play the role of matchmakers planning, encouraging and directing the female child under her watchful eyes, like producing and directing plays on a stage, whenever an eligible boy was in sight, much more frequently. The whole thing was fraught with danger. Auntie, Nafisa Mirza was conscious of the fact that the scheme might backfire with serious consequences, as had been the case with her.

Nafisa Mirza was supposed to be married to one of her very brilliant cousins whom her father, Saeb Monpuri groomed for her and she in her innocence accepted him as her husband. But it was ‘not to be’, the young man, Fuad, while pursuing higher studies away, staying with another uncle Zaed Monpuri, got married with a women clandestinely with the blessing and help of uncle Zaed’s wife, Ashiqa. The bride was a relative of Ashiqa and in fact Ashiqa was behind the whole mischief. The whole Monpuri clan family unofficially knew that Fuad would marry Nafisa. Saeb Monpuri, like a father borne all educational expenses of Fuad from his childhood, was terribly shocked. He never recovered from the blow. Naturally, Nafisa did not want the same fate for her daughter who was much more beautiful than her. And with Zubair, she risked an added risk of seduction, which was almost none in her case. She, therefore, embarked on a very dangerous voyage always under the threat of a tidal bore. At a time, almost half a century ago, in a very conservative society, consequences of a failed affair was much graver and infinitely risky. In a situation like this in spite of all efforts on the part of the guardians to keep the matter secret, words spread like wild fire. Consequently, with a failed scheme it was difficult to marry the girl elsewhere. The perception of risk has changed drastically today even in the conservative Muslim society, and mixing between the sexes has become dramatically open causing the religious leaders great concern.

Defying all her vigilance, the lovebirds found out opportunities to drink the elixir of passionate kisses every now and then as Zubair started passing most of his time at his uncle’s house under different pretexts and understandably was welcome. The uncle was blissfully ignorant of all that was happening under his nose. Nafisa could guess the intensity in the couples eyes and body language of a very passionate affair. She was afraid that Zubair, a mature man much older than Maimuna, given the opportunity might seduce his very young cousin under passionate zeal. She was not sure that her husband’s relatives and Zubair’s father would agree to the union, Zubair being the only son. Moreover, she was unable to gauge if Zubair would stand up to his father to marry his love. She was therefore, looking for an opportunity to catch Zubair in such a situation where she could force marriage on him invoking moral obligation, and at the same time hoping against hope that the situation would not go beyond her control. She was torn among many conflicting limitations and desires. Just around that time, she caught the lovers in a passionate embrace. She was furious beyond her own imagination, for she has many times imagined such a scene, but when was confronted with one, she could not control her anger. She was surprised. She was surprised at herself for losing her temper.

Zubair was severely scolded and branded a scoundrel, a debauch and a filthy dog, etc., and he did not spare the lady. In their temper, they called each other names beyond their own imagination and they never realized before that they were endowed with such rich vocabulary of filthy words. In her uncontrollable rage, Nafisa even beat innocent Maimuna. Maimuna was really at a loss to comprehend why she should be punished for just kissing the man she was going to marry one day. Zubair told her that he is going to marry her and since they were going to marry there was no bar in kissing each other, and her mother asked her to obey Zubair and not to give him any cause to be offended. She cried her heart out. She kept crying all day not for being beaten but for the fear of losing Zubair. She was truly in love with much older Zubair. In his turn, Zubair swore on God not to ever look at her and have any relationship with them as long as he lived. Later a bit sober he expressed his compassion for Maimuna saying that he might marry her but even than he would have nothing to do with her mother. He let it be known that even if he married her, he expected her to severe all ties with Nafisa whom he branded a superbly manipulative bitch. Seemingly, the break was permanent for they vowed in the name of God not to see each other’s face ever in their lives. ‘Man proposes, God disposes’; God was smiling above at the ignorance and utter innocence of his creation, for He was about to intervene.

At the intervention of Providence, the aunt decided to utilize the other nephew, Babban, who was living with her after his parents left to live in another part of the country. This was a younger man working and studying in the University for his Bachelor’s in Arts, and therefore, was not considered a good prospect compared to Zubair, but was considered a threat, since he was young and the girl was nearer his age. The superbly wise aunt weighed all possibilities and probabilities and conceived her strategy, accordingly. And according to the demand of the circumstances, she recruited the services of Babban.

The aunt repeated to herself a thousand times ‘ira furor brevis est’, which cooled her down considerably. Now, she was impatient to have Zubair back and was repentant that she acted the way she did. After the unwanted showdown the aunt a master strategist allowed a week’s period of cooling time and than she made her move. A single member mission was sent to Zubair’s hostel, which in fact was his temporary shelter as he actually lived with his uncle.

Faced with Babban, Zubair vented his anger eloquently in obscene and filthy language, denying any wrongdoing and in fact alleged that his aunt, for no valid reason, had taken him to task. For the mission, Babban’s terms of reference did not allow him to refute Zubair. Therefore, he remained silent, and took care to display his eager inclination of agreeing with Zubair’s allegations against his aunt. After about an hour of venting his anger and grievances unhindered, Zubair cooled down considerably to listen to Babban. Zubair was really in love for the first time in his life. For all his innocent looks, he was a master pretender as far as girls were concerned and masterfully used his advantageous state of being a technical student with assured job prospects, which added glamour to his not so glamorous looks. All this time he pretended love, but for this time, he loved and therefore, felt impatient and a fear of losing his beloved until now unknown to him. This was a new experience for him. He felt a void within and suddenly the world seemed different. He used to bask in the knowledge of being in demand and of being responded to, if he extended his hands, and never before was threatened with failure in the affairs of the heart. Though, even this time, he had conquered the heart of the girl, he was not as confident as in earlier cases where losing was not a threat. It was he who always was on the look for ways to squeeze out of relationships, whenever, those took a serious turn. This girl is very young and very susceptible to change and may change finding an alternative, in the absence of her suitor. Alternative prospective candidates were there. The matchmaking mother and her suitor were conscious about this natural propensity of human beings. Therefore, Zubair eager to go back to his uncle’s house in his mind was looking for an excuse. Therefore, naturally, after he could vent out his anger unrestrained, he was pacified and felt content. Now, he felt an indomitable urge to go back to his uncle’s house.

Babban rightly assessed the situation and invited Zubair to accompany him to his uncle’s house. Zubair pretended to be unwilling and asked if his aunt had sent Babban to fetch him. Babban, on his part, after showing reluctance to reveal the truth, pretended as if he was being forced to say something he was honour bound not to, told him the truth and requested Zubair not to tell his aunt that he divulged the secret to him. “Pretension is so necessary and such an integral part of life!” Feeling triumphant Zubair returned like a conqueror and he was given a reception befitting a prince. In the entire hullabaloo, Babban’s contribution was made to look very inconsequent, for not to recognize his efforts suited both the parties.

Zubair appeared in the final examinations at a time when political temperature was running very high and the country was proceeding fast toward a civil war of far reaching consequences. The country was under Military Rule of a shortsighted, bull-headed, power hungry, Junta, who was totally oblivious of the consequences of their actions. Zubair was in a fix, as he could not find a job in that part of the country where his uncle was stationed. He decided to move to the eastern part, where, he rightly calculated that his influential connections could fetch him a job, but his aunt was against such a move fearing that Zubair’s parents would marry him elsewhere and she had no faith in Zubair. The country was in turmoil, anything could happen, everything looked very uncertain and so was her grand plan.

Majority of the population lived in the eastern part of the country, which was grossly neglected by the ruling clique that enjoyed the support of the military, overwhelmingly, comprised of men of a particular area of the western part.

This time a very able, courageous, lionhearted leader and statesman who intensely loved and cherished his poor deprived countrymen whipped the docile easterners to reality. Their wellbeing was dearer to him than his own life. People could feel his love touching them and with each beat of his heart their heart pulsated, they readily united behind this great man to demand their due. He was their voice, apple of their eyes. He thundered like a thunderbolt, moved like lightening, shone like the Sun and roared fear into the hearts of the military Junta. The political leadership of the western part was extremely fidgety about handing over power to him as the leader of the majority, for he won the election that the junta tried hard to influence as they did earlier. With almost a hundred percent vote for him the eastern part stood firmly behind him like the Himalayas, not ready to budge from their rightful position. The western politico-military alliance was taken aback, since, all their calculations and prophecies proved wrong. They expected a majority vote for him but not anything like the results showed. Despite earlier promises and understanding of abiding by the outcome of elections, they started dilly-dallying to think over their strategy of denying power to the Bengalis.

Before the elections, Sheik Mujibur Rahman visited the western part of the country on an electioneering campaign, despite being advised otherwise. He was undaunted to carry on, even with a threat on his life. He is immortal. Mundane threats by mortal souls cannot withhold him from his determined actions charting the course of history. He embarked on the campaign of the western part starting his journey in Karachi. Right at the beginning while he was coming out of the airport an attempt was made on his life. For security reasons he was whisked out of the airport through a byroad connected to the main road bypassing the main entrance of the airport. A truck, apparently, waiting at the roadside came roaring, targeting the car, he was in, missing the target it hit the next car injuring the passengers. The convoy did not wait and proceeded on to its destination. In the hotel journalist from vernacular dailies were nagging for an interview. In spite of being tired, he came out to meet them. To all their questions, he kept on repeating that the next day in the public meeting they would have their answers. Journalists being journalists kept on pressing him. He stood up to leave but a courageous journalist ventured forth with another question, at that he thunder back, “I told you” with such might that the poor fellow virtually fell down on his chair. At that Sheik Mujib with his natural warmth pulled him up and patting him on the back softly told him “I love journalists, please come to my public meeting, I will give all the answers”, and resumed his chair for a while. The ever-zealous journalist seizing even this opportunity started throwing questions at him. They were intent upon gauging his own perception of his popularity in the East. Quoting others, they said, “Some say you would garnish 50% of the eastern votes, some say forty…. And Sardar Abdul Quayyum claims that he would fetch some votes there as well as other parties, which would reduce your votes.” As soon as the Sardar’s name came up the Sheik flared up and said in his lofty thundering voice “Sardar Quayyum will get zero plus zero plus zero… how much it comes to, write it down ‘Zero’ votes.” Next day, amidst rumours of disturbances at Sheik Mujib’s public meeting, people gathered at Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar Park, a much smaller venue compared to the Historic Ramna Race Course to hear the great leader, the great ‘Sheik’. The Sheik is a towering darkish-brown very handsome man, with the thundering roars of the Royal Bengal Tiger. The dark handsome messiah began in his all-consuming voice, thus, “After even two decades your leaders (leaders of the western part) cannot speak a word of Bangla. But, we from the east can, at least, speak intelligible Urdu (Tumhara leaders to Bangla bool nahi sakta, ham to phirbhi tuta fata Urdu bool letay hain), and he proceeded to address the gathering in Urdu. The audience was apprehensive as at the back of their mind the possibility of violence was lurking like a ghost. When his thundering voice began to deliver the eagerly awaited speech the audience was instantly mesmerized into silence, by the booming sound that completely drowned the park and the adjoining areas. Except the exhilarating enthrallment of listening to him, all other perceptions were benumbed. Mujib said, (in Urdu) “while I was planning a visit to this part of the country everybody advised me against it, saying ‘your life is at great risk’. Listen to me; even a slight scratch on Mujib’s body would start an unquenchable flame that would consume everything.

On that day, the Sheik said in Urdu: “Hamare logon nay kaha mat jain aap magrebi Pakistan. Aap ke jaan ko khatre hain. Soon lo agar Mujib ke badan may hanth laga … aag laag jaiga…. Aag … Mujib said that with such intense clarity that the field went ablaze, the audience, perhaps, even could feel the heat of all engulfing incandescence. In the mean time, armed hooligans jumped onto the dais with unholy intent, everybody else ran for shelter but the Lion. He kept on delivering his speech unperturbed. Policemen entrusted with his security cordoned him off and, virtually, physically removed him from the cathedra.

Zubair and Babban both attended that meeting and were convinced that this time Bengalis could not be fooled and Sheik Mujibur Rahman is the only leader endowed with qualities needed to achieve the long awaited emancipation for the Bengalis. A fiery orator, a brave and honest human being, an astute politician and statesman devoted to the cause of his people is determined to unshackle his beloved brethren from the bondage of deprivation, betrayal and denial, could not fail. Zubair, therefore, decided that after the exams he would move to the other part, as soon as possible, to look for a job before the uncertainties take hold of everything. He anticipated mere political uncertainties but never dreamed of a war. In the ensuing political imbroglio, he at the most expected a slow down in the job market but not a civil war of the magnitude he later witnessed. Oblivious of the future he moved to the other part of the country in face of determined opposition from his aunt and Maimuna. They were apprehensive of losing Zubair.

From before, Zubair moved to the other part, the political atmosphere kept on changing, every day in the west. The populace in general was not very assertive and was unaware of the situation in the east. With the changing stance of their political leaders, they would change their opinion as if they had no mind of their own. The cunning political leadership of the western part, perpetually, contriving and conspiring with the myopic armed forces was busy in devising ways to prevent the Bengalis from taking over power, in accordance with democratic norms. To camouflage their intrigue, they kept issuing statements that they were willing to go by the democratic practices and were totally committed to abide by the outcome of the recently concluded elections in which Sheik Mujib party won a landslide victory, and almost a hundred percent vote in the east. Nevertheless, they would mix their promise of attending the parliamentary session, which Sheik Mujib insisted on holding in the eastern part, with threats of boycotting the session. The leaders caught off guard by election-results were not sure about whether to convene parliament in the eastern part, as demanded by the victor, or to insist on holding it in the west. One day they would be willing to convene parliament in the eastern part and the next day would refuse to go there on the pretext of lack of security. Meanwhile, Sheik Mujib had already established a parallel government in the east, which he was running by decrees. Everybody watched mass opinion in the west swaying like a pendulum with the leaders’ oscillating decisions, with bewildered amusement. When the leaders would say that they would attend the session of the parliament, convened in the eastern part as demanded by Sheik Mujib, the people would say, “Why should not they, after all that is the demand of democracy.” The very next day, with the refusal of the leaders to attend parliament in the eastern part, people would say that it was not possible to attend the sessions there amidst uncertainties. In the western part of the country, people were too ready to believe whatever was dished out to them by their leaders. They had been benumbed by the heavy bombardment of lies by the Junta and political clique that was eager to deny the natural right of the people of the eastern part to form the government, and govern, according to the will of the majority of the people. Genuinely, they believed in their leaders who told them that Pakistan’s integrity was at stake at the hands of the leaders of the eastern part – Indian stooges. Anti Indian feelings were always kept at an inflammable stage that would burst into flame given the slightest cause. That, the myopic leadership in collaboration with the military brass played up to their own benefit, to the utter detriment of national interests, causing the war that ripped the country apart. Sheik Mujib is singularly responsible for whipping up the sleeping Bengalis into a roaring tiger that blocked all the sinister moves to continue the perpetration of lording them over by the west. He put his life at stake and his beloved countrymen responded with their blood and honour.

After Zubair's departure, before the elections, Maimuna received Zubair’s tidings through letters written to her mother. Letter to her was strictly forbidden to keep the affair hidden. This continued through the elections and the later period of civil disobedience. Maimuna was very inexperienced at that point in time in her life to keep her emotions to herself. She very naturally looked to the other cousin to vent her anguish and constantly sought his company, as no other inmates were suitable for such a companionship. There was a potential threat of another alliance growing into a relationship, which was quickly discerned by the ever-watchful aunt. After the initial whining and pining Maimuna was really longing for male companionship, though her love for Zubair did not die down. In the meantime, she passed her school examination, joined a college, and started enjoying her newfound freedom. An unexplainable sort of attraction was building in her towards her other cousin. Since, her relationship with Zubair was gradually becoming more and more physical by the time Zubair left she started enjoying the sensuousness aroused by an exploring male hand. Once she tasted the sublime, heavenly whirling in her beautiful head the mere sensuality of a desirable male presence played havoc with her emotions. The attraction was almost irresistible. Once, thus driven by a maddening desire, she rubbed her nascent womanhood against Babban’s body. Babban was too naïve to understand the frailty. She was outraged. Seething within, she vowed to teach Babban by winning him over and then discarding him.

To devise a way out without any ripple, Auntie Nafisa swiftly energized her dormant faculties. Citing the ever-deteriorating political scenario, she encouraged Babban to leave for the eastern part to assess the situation there, for possibilities to move there to settle with his parents- a very thoughtful suggestion, indeed! The idea was noble and Babban, thankfully, took the bait. She thought she killed two birds at a time- sending a message to Zubair and removing the Babban-threat. She was a wise lady having profound understanding of human nature, at least, in relationships between the sexes.

Zubair after moving to the eastern part of the country went on to acquire a job and pursued a career as a physician. However, events overtook his destiny. By the time limited and heavily censored intercommunication was restored between the two parts, he had already joined the Liberation War. He had to be on the move all the time after receiving short training in warfare. Mostly, he was engaged in treating wounded soldiers. He lost all contact with Maimuna. He was wounded in the war while working at a field hospital in the war zone. When he regained his consciousness, he found himself in a hospital in India. Marium a graduate student of economics from the Dhaka University who opted to work as a nurse to look after the wounded fighters of the Mukti Bahini was assigned to look after Zubair among others. After fighting a long battle with death, Zubair survived partly, due to Marium’s devoted nursing. He felt immensely indebted to Marium. After Liberation, on returning to the liberated motherland, Zubair joined the Army Medical Corps and Marium joined a Medical School leaving economics.

The combined forces of the Indian Army and the Mukti Bahini (Liberation Forces) comprehensively defeated the much-vaunted Pakistani Army. Bangladesh came into being. In one of the most ignoble event in the history of humankind, the Pakistani Army surrendered to the joint command of the Mukti Bahini and the Indian Army. They have not done so before they wreaked unprecedented havoc on the innocent people of the eastern wing. The Army of a so-called Islamic Republic perpetrated all kinds of satanic barbarism, brazenly, violating the shariah and all Islamic cannons, against their own brethren in faith. The sane people in the west when challenged with the facts still to day bow their heads in shame. There are a few, as it happens in every society, shameless, insensitive bigots who have the temerity to brag about increasing the population of the former eastern part of their country. Those who committed heinous crimes against innocent undefended people, and kept their countrymen in the dark by dishing out false stories, do not have any right to call themselves Muslims.

Auntie Nafisa was dying to come to the east and wed her daughter to Zubair. She was confident of surmounting all obstacles with Zubair’s love for Maimuna still intense. She dispatched Babban to the east with a message for Zubair to hasten the marriage, otherwise to forget about the whole affair- a veiled threat! It was just before the elections were held. Babban came but did not find the situation to his liking and left for the west just after the elections.

After Bangladesh came into being, in the west, Maimuna’s education was disrupted as her family was moved to a concentration camp for Bengalis. Babban, however, avoided being sent to the camp. The ever-smart Auntie, somehow, managed to buy their freedom out of the camp and later tried to flee Pakistan through Sind border- an extremely dangerous undertaking full off natural hazards, as well as, marauding bandits, despite Babban’s advise otherwise. The other route to freedom was via Afghanistan, which was still ruled by King Zahir Shah. It was much safer compared to Sind border crossing through the wilderness of Kutch desert. However, auntie Nafisa preferred Sind because of the prevailing freezing cold weather in Afghanistan. It was a snowy winter and heavy snowfall was reported in Afghanistan. She for the shake of the children who were not accustomed to snowing bitter cold chose Sind to avoid a stay in Afghanistan. This was one of the very few stupid decisions she took in her life that proved fatal.

Babban and Maimuna’s family tried to cross the Sind border into India to come to the newly found Bangladesh and none reached Bangladesh except Nafisa. She was the only one who survived the ordeal and reached Bangladesh but had lost her mental balance. Meanwhile, Babban’s family in the East perished in the war. Travellers from other groups that travelled at around the same time gave different accounts of their fate. Some say, “The marauding bandits of the Sind desert killed him.” Others say, “People who befriended him just to get close to Maimuna, who remained glued to Babban for her own security, perchance killed him, quarrelling over her.” Yet, some others say, “He was lost in the wilderness, while he strayed from the group he was travelling with, responding to nature’s call.” Some even reported that Babban and Maimuna ran away to Karachi. However, they never reached their dreamland, for sure. It is very possible that bandits attacked them, this was very common in the Sind desert and in the ensuing confusion, Babban and Maimuna were separated from the main entourage and later went back to Karachi.

Among all the hearsay, the most plausible account is that the bandits attacked Babban and the entourage, all the males were killed or fatally wounded and later died from bleeding, and the women were savagely dishonoured and left to die in the desert. Babban luckily survived the carnage and went back to Karachi. Later, perchance, he found Maimuna in a brothel and rescued her from there with the help of the law enforcing authorities.

…. And much, much later, people claimed to spot Babban in Karachi with his wife and children. It is rumoured that he was in love with a Kashmir- origin-Pakistani girl and he must have married her.

After the liberation of Bangladesh Zubair frantically tried to locate Maimuna and her family, among the repatriates and those that fled through various routes to newly liberated Bangladesh. He finally stumbled on to Nafisa by chance living with a family that fled came to Bangladesh before repatriation started. They were a part of the next entourage that was passing through the same route as was taken by the ill-fated group of Maimuna. They saw the traces of the carnage perpetrated by the bandits and found Nafisa alive. She survived miraculously all alone in the desert for how many days who knows. This people compelled by compassion brought her with them to Bangladesh She could remember anything and was oblivious of her surroundings. She kept on mentioning ‘…animal like human beings…, looting…, plundering…., killing and dishonouring …’ Zubair brought his auntie to his house and she began to live with him. Zubair cannot find Maimuna but her mother becomes a part of his life!

Marium’s dedicated nursing had already softened Zubair toward her, and on top of that, from a particular angle Marium strongly resembled Maimuna. Finally, Zubair found it too much to resist Marium in the absence of Maimuna and married her. Zubair wished hard that the Kashmiri girl supposedly seen with Babban were Maimuna for she had Kashmiri features. At the thought, surprisingly, he never felt the pain of jealousy, but was rather relieved of a sort of guilty consciousness. He wished, wished, and wished and even prayed “Oh God! Let that be the case….” He desperately in his heart’s heart wanted that it was Babban spotted with his wife in Karachi, and the so-called Kashmiri girl with him was the Bengali Maimuna.