Two Martyred Pandits: Sharada & Annada Charan
In the wake of the 'Mountbatten Plan' on June 3, 1947, which set the date of independence for August 14 of the same year, British India was slated to be divided into two dominions: Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan. Sir Cyril Radcliffe was swiftly tasked with drawing the borders of these entities. However, when he obliged, the exercise ended up severing the limbs and soul of the nation. In erstwhile Punjab, there was mostly an exchange of people across the two borders, but it was not the same for Bengal. While large groups of Hindu families migrated to India after partition, some remained in the former East Pakistan because they felt rooted in their motherland.
This sense of pride and patriotism were major reasons why one such joint family, generationally known as the 'Pandits,' owing to their expertise as Sanskrit scholars and renowned astrologers, continued to reside in their homeland which is now Bangladesh. This family, consisting of the scholarly brothers Pandit Sharada Charan and Pandit Annada Charan, resided in the village of Gharua, situated near the town of Moulvibazar in what was once the South Sylhet sub-division.
They lived in their ancestral joint property and continued to reside in the same ancestral home, maintaining a joint family arrangement. While Iresh and Srish migrated to India for work, Sharada Charan and Annada Charan along with Naresh remained and resided in their ancestral property with their immediate families. Subsequently, as Naresh Pandit managed to flee from the former Pakistani army, Pandit Sharada Charan and Annada Charan were martyred during the Liberation War of 1971. However, their memory has been lost in collective amnesia over time.
These two brothers were not only scholars but also educators serving people of the village and its adjacent parts. Their residential space also housed a varied collection of books with rare copies of manuscripts in a library (burnt down by the Pak-army as well) in search of which many intellectuals of that time used to frequent this 'Pandit household' and held regular discourse circles. Syed Mujtaba Ali, the well-known novelist, is believed to be one of those intellectuals who visited this household on his holidays. The house these brothers resided in is still renowned in the area and referred to as "Pandit-Bari" literally meaning the abode of the scholars which probably prompted their brutal assassination in the summer of 1971.
On May 12, 1971, the Pakistani army, aided by the Razakars, ambushed the home of these scholarly brothers. They mercilessly gunned down Sharada Charan, aged 90 at the time, and his brother Annada Charan, aged 85, and subsequently set the entire house ablaze. Binodini Devi, Annada Charan's wife, witnessed these horrific killings and sought refuge in the bushes surrounding the house. The remaining members of the household fled as far as they could, watching their home engulfed in flames from a distance. The next morning, in the neighboring village of Barohal, the family members reunited and decided to return to their ancestral property.
Upon arrival, they found the partially burnt corpses of their loved ones being torn apart by wild dogs. With the help of neighbors, they wrapped the bodies in rugs and proceeded to immerse them in the Manu River. However, due to the ongoing war, they were unable to perform the last rites, and the traumatic events left Binodini Devi clinically deranged. These savage murders remain etched in my family's memory as one of the most horrific episodes in our history, filled with terror and trauma.
Last year, we established the "Shoheed Pandit Sharada & Annada Memorial Foundation" not only to honor our ancestors but also to contribute to education, healthcare, and the promotion of art and culture in society. The foundation's objective is to support underprivileged students by covering their educational expenses, providing stipends, and awarding scholarships annually.
Kanak Das Gupta, Director of Kapital G Corporate Partners in London, is a descendant of the Shoheed Pandit family and currently resides in Great Britain. He can be contacted at kanakdasgupta123@gmail.com.