HUMAN SHIELD
I.
Rashna was in Professor Julfikar Ali's English poetry class where the topic today was classic British poetry. She enjoys and waits for this class all week because the professor's method of teaching is a little different from the other teachers. Before going over a set of poems, he usually discusses the life of the poet to contextualise the works being studied. However, today, while analysing a poem by Byron, he began to talk about Keats, Byron, and Shelley's extraordinary talents and their unfortunate demise at a young age. Rashna listened attentively and as he spoke, she observed his greying hair and disheveled appearance. She noticed that Professor Ali became melancholic as he spoke about the tragedy of the poets' early death, and the despondency seemed to spread through the classroom.
While listening to the professor, Rashna slowly became aware of an approaching commotion, which sounded like clapping and chanting of slogans. It sounded like an advancing crowd of people shouting in unison. The words became clear as they came towards the classroom, "Mani na, manbo na! Jalo jalo aguun jalo!" We don't accept, we won't accept! Burn it all! Professor Ali looked outside the window and nervously left the classroom to find out what was happening.
Rashna heard her classmates discussing that the students in the procession were protesting some change in university policy that they claimed was motivated by local politicians from their rival party. From her seat beside a set of windows Rashna saw that as the procession was moving past the classroom towards Kola Bhaban, the arts centre in the middle of Dhaka University's campus, another crowd was coming towards the procession from the opposite side. They confronted each other and the two groups began to curse and scream profanities, "Dhor shalader! Get those s***! Kill them!" A chaotic fight erupted and policemen arrived in their vans.
Rashna and her classmates went outside to gauge the seriousness of the event, and to see whether it would be safe to go home. By this time, the two groups were fighting each other with iron rods and hockey sticks. A few of them had fallen to the ground, battered and beaten down, and members of the opposite group quickly fell upon them, increasing their attack on the already injured. Like reserved troops in a war, a third group, belonging to one of the two groups already fighting, appeared with long machetes and iron rods.
Rashna suddenly heard one of her classmates shout, "Look that's Abedin! They're going to kill him!" Rashna turned to see a young man on the ground and recognized Abedin immediately. He was their batch-mate, an attentive and serious student who usually sits in one corner of the first row in class.
As Rashna watched, the scene seemed to unfold in slow motion…two men with long machetes were running towards Abedin as he lay on the ground, squirming and moaning in pain. She turned to see policemen standing to the side, silently witnessing the action.
As soon as Rashna realized that the men with machetes had almost reached Abedin, she ran forward, threw herself over Abedin's body, covering him like a shield, and screamed "No! Don't kill him!"
The men stopped in their tracks, their machetes raised in mid-air. One said to the other "Boss, look at this, immortal lovers like Shiri-Forhad! But leader wants a dead body. What now?"
"Let's get someone else," the other replied, and began to run in another direction. Their group seemed to have come out victorious, and the machete-wielding men followed the their group members as the crowd dispersed.
A policeman slowly walked over to Rashna and Abedin, who was still on the ground, stunned and motionless. "No use lying there," the policeman said. "Take him to the hospital!"
Rashna saw that two of Abedin's friends were walking quickly towards them. One of them called a rickshaw, heaved Abedin up on it, and rode away to the hospital.
Rashna stood still for a few moments, trying to grasp what had just happened. She barely found her way to the bus stop and remained distracted even after she reached home. Why did she, who has no connection to Abedin or the political causes of the student groups, put her own life in danger? She hadn't even talked to Abedin properly in the six months they have been attending the same classes.
2.
Rashna thought about this incident that whole evening, and eventually came to feel embarrassed for her dramatic actions. For the next few days, she decided to not go to her classes, because her close friends will definitely tease her about Abedin, "This is true love…" they'll say. "Ready to give up your life!"
Rashna thought she would get such a reaction from her friend Ferdousi. Instead, when she went back to the university, in between classes, Ferdousi informed her she had heard around campus that the infamous student leader Taleb, who is known for being an unscrupulous murderer, is looking for her. It was common knowledge that when Taleb sets his attention on a woman, she disappears within a few days.
Rashna was alarmed and pondering whether she should go home for the day, but Professor Ali's class was next so she decided to stay for that class period. At the end of class, Rashna was walking out of the classroom when Taleb appeared in front of her.
"You're Rashna?"
"Yes."
"I am Taleb. I wanted to talk to you. Come with me…"
By this time, Rashna's classmates noticed that Taleb was talking to Rashna, and they seemed to disappear within minutes, as if someone had hurled a stone at a flock of birds.
Rashna stood where she was, anxious and hesitant.
Taleb looked at her, and a faint smile spread across his mouth. At that moment, Rashna didn't sense any danger in the behavior and expression of this individual who is supposed to be a murderer. In his red and white striped t-shirt and jeans, he looked like just another university student.
"You're afraid of coming with me?" he asked
Rashna didn't reply.
"Okay. We'll sit here and talk here then," he said as he nodded towards the chairs in the classroom. After Rashna slowly took a seat Taleb sat down and continued, "The incident that day…Abedin came out alive, but only because of you. He wasn't supposed to live. If I target someone, they don't escape. I am the leader of the official campus armed cadre of the ruling party. Campus violence begins and ends on my command. I arranged for Abedin's seat in the residence hall and made him a part of my group. But at the instigation of a teacher from our rival group, he joined their procession. He shouldn't have done that."
Taleb's mobile phone began to ring. He received the call, but kept it brief, and continued his conversation with Rashna. "Right when I was about to bring my machete down on him, I noticed your face. You look like my cousin Sakhina. Very similar. I couldn't bring myself to finish the job."
Taleb continued to tell her that he and his cousin had grown up together in a small village town, and when they were teenagers, they fell in love. Sakhina was a kind and warm person, and in Taleb's eyes, very beautiful. When Sakhina was in her last year of high school, a few miscreants from the local college began to pursue her. One day, while coming back from school, she disappeared. Two days later, they found her body, maimed and violated, a victim of gang rape. Taleb recounted that in grief and trauma, he had lost his ability to speak for some time. He somehow finished high school, and broken and demoralized, he left his village and came to Dhaka. That first day in this big city teeming with people, he decided he was going to take over the network of terrorism in Dhaka, feeling that by killing people mercilessly he could somehow avenge Sakhina's death. He enrolled at a small private college and got involved in student politics. When he finished his degree, he was admitted to the university through political considerations. He was soon involved in seven or eight murders, but those cases were the responsibilities of his party. Taleb continued to tell Rashna that he could never forget the way Sakhina had been violated, and he knew that on his current path, a violent death was inevitable for him too. "So be it," he said to her with a melancholy smile.
He looked at Rashna, as if waking up from a reverie, and seemed embarrassed. "I guess I've said too much. When I talk about Sakhina, I loose myself. I hope you don't mind. I shouldn't have taken so much of your time. I'll have to leave now. Stay well, Rashna."
Taleb started to walk away as Rashna sat there watching him, but he turned towards her and came back. "By the way, if you face any problems on campus, let me know. I'll take care of it. Here, give me your cell phone…"
Rashna was taken aback and followed his instructions. He took her phone, saved his number and gave it back to her. "Whatever you need…okay? My number is saved as "Killer," so you remember," he said and smiled at her.
As Rashna walked to the bus stop, she considered the profound tragedy that lay behind the motivations of the terrorist leader Taleb, who is feared across campus. There was no doubt that he would also come to a brutal end, and strangely, Rashna felt sad at this thought.
While she was waiting for the bus, a young man came running towards her. Breathless, he said to her, "You're Rashna? I am Abedin's friend Mushfiqur. He's at Pongu Hospital. He has a bad fracture on his right leg."
The bus was here and Rashna had to get on board, but he continued in a rush, "Abedin would like to see you if it is possible for you to go to the hospital, he wants to express his gratitude. He is in your debt because you risked your life for him…" Before she got on the bus, Rashna quickly jotted down Abedin's hospital room number.
3.
Dhamrai is not too far from Dhaka and since there are direct bus services, if one can get on a bus, which can be difficult because of the buses' mid-road stop, it's an otherwise easy commute. Abedin got into Dhaka University's English Department since he scored high marks in the entrance exam, and when classes started a few months ago, he began commuting to campus from Dhamrai, where he lived with his maternal uncle's family. At one point, he realized that he couldn't get too far in his career by only attending classes and doing well in exams. Abdein understood that to move ahead on campus and to advance in a future career, it was important to participate in social and political groups, cultural events, and even be present for adda.
Abedin discussed this with his maternal uncle, who was a teacher at Dhamrai College. The uncle discussed with Abedin's parents who lived in the village, and assured them that since Abedin was a merit scholar they will find a way to get Abedin a seat in the residential halls. Abedin could also support himself by tutoring younger students.
When Abedin went to the Provost's Office to apply for a seat at one of the residence halls, the clerical officer looked him up and down, adjusted his glasses, and asked, "Do you have connections to the Prime Minister's office, or someone influential to recommend you?"
Abedin was taken aback and while trying to grasp what the officer had just asked, he was pulled aside by a young man standing beside him. "You are new on campus? Oh, that's why! I don't have time right now, but come to room 38 in Dhaka Hall in the evening."
Between classes, Abedin asked a few of his classmates about securing a seat in the residence halls, and they all said he needs connections. "Nobody can give you a seat. You have to go through the right channel," one senior student advised. "Keep talking to people about it. You'll find the channel…more likely that the channel will find you. Where are you from?"
"Dhamrai," Abedin replied.
"Explains. You haven't figured out Dhaka's ways yet."
(To be concluded in the next issue.)
Munjulika Rahman is a Senior Lecturer in the Cultural Centre at University of Malaya in Malaysia, where she teaches academic writing, research methodology in performance studies, and performance theory.
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