Late Poet Shamshur Rahman wrote this poem during the 1969 Gono Andholon (against President Ayub Khan) in which many people from all walks of life were killed by the army. We dedicate it to the memory of “Niloy Neel” (Niloy Chakraborty), Abhijit Roy, Ananta Bijoy Das, and Wahiqur Rahman, secular writers who were killed by Islamists in Bangladesh in 2015.

Where Shall We Keep this Body?

Where shall we put this body?

Where is its fitting grave?

Say the earth, or the mountain,

Or the deep-blue water of the sea–

All are tattered, only trifles.

That’s why we don’t put  this body in earth,  mountain or sea

But have kept it in our hearts.

–Shamshur Rahman (Trans. Chinmoy Banerjee)

From: “Gonojagoron Moncho”

এ লাশ আমরা রাখবো কোথায় ?

এ লাশ আমরা রাখবো কোথায় ?

তেমন যোগ্য সমাধি কই ?

মৃত্তিকা বলো, পর্বত বলো

অথবা সুনীল-সাগর-জল-

সব কিছু ছেঁদো, তুচ্ছ শুধুই !

তাইতো রাখি না এ লাশ

আজ মাটিতে পাহাড়ে কিম্বা সাগরে,

হৃদয়ে হৃদয়ে দিয়েছি ঠাঁই।

– কবি শামসুর রাহমান

Homeless

Chinmoy Banerjee

I cannot enter

Where he sits

On the freezing sidewalk

Beside the bank

With his head bent on his knees

The snow has gone

With the rain

But the man who sat

In his wheelchair

Where I cross the street to the coffee shop

Watching people go by

Talking with those who stopped

Is no longer there

Nor is the man in the baseball hat

Who weaved his way through the walkers

Passing and re-passing the window of the pizza shop

To be seen

The old man with the long white beard

Stands in the doorway

At the side of the barber shop

Conversing with a friend

Round the corner

Where the roses and potted plants

Light up the pavement

The man with the black beard

And denim jacket

Hails me as always

With wish for a nice day

The woman sometimes beside him

Is bent on the book in her lap

Crossing the street to the new tower

That I have made my home

I see the shopping cart

Covered in blue tarp

An umbrella protecting

Something I cannot see

Under the hoarding of

“Blue Sky” developers

A sign on the cart reads

“Blueberry Hotel”

Culture Supersedes Religion in  Establishing  National     Identity

By Promod Puri

Culture is a distinctive feature of one group of people comprising of several aspects. One of them is religion, and the others are language, cuisine, social habits, music and arts. Obviously, one aspect of a culture does not represent the totality of it.

The expression “Hindu culture” is as vague as saying Hindu cuisine (except by airlines referring to “Hindu meal”). And it is as much blurred as trying to contrive a language, music, arts, customs, etc with suffix of Hindu. This applies to all other religions as well who try to create a culture exclusively linked to their faiths.

Culture in most cases is secular in nature.

When we talk about a cultural community, we mean an all inclusive explicit way of life. It represents all the group of people sharing common identities despite belonging to different religious denominations. But all speaking same language and sharing same social and cultural traits.

Often people of one cultural community have several religions. These sub differentiations are covered by conventions and customs. Together these are represented by the sanctified rituals on which Hindu tradition, Sikh, Muslim or Christian traditions establish their respective identities.

The unity of India lies in its cultural plurality. This factor was the basis of states’ reorganization at the time of India’s independence in 1947. Each state was constituted representing the cultural homogeneity of that region. And wherever there were more than one homogeneity states split respectively. Thus the cultural aspirations of people have been adequately addressed.

“India is a colorful country” mainly because of the exuberant nature of its diverse cultures. The cultural sameness in each Indian state along with the religious diversity is the accepted model for both political and administrative purposes.

Whereas each Indian state mostly represent one single cultural distinctiveness, it is the state of Jammu and Kashmir which within itself does carry more than one identity. The state has three regions, namely Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. And each one of them is culturally, religiously, geographically and even climatically different. Azad Kashmir under Pakistan domain has its own identity which is again quiet varied from rest of Jammu and Kashmir state.

The Kashmir problem has never been examined and tackled from its diversity aspect. The politics of the state has always been dominated, controlled and represented by the Muslim leadership of the Valley from the Kashmir region. The multi-facet and heterogeneous character of the state is the undetermined reality which otherwise can play a dominant role in resolving the Kashmir problem. Aligning the issue only on religious basis because about 64 percent of the state’s population is Muslim is a futile exercise to determine its fate. By not allowing the diversity factor in the Kashmir debate is suppression of its other identities as well.

In a democratic setup regions or nations which play only the religious factor in politics and governance, always have cultural identity crisis.

That has been the fate of Pakistan. It does not recognize and accept that the country’s cultural affinity lies with India which it can’t shake off. Both the political and military leaderships of the country in their hatred toward India try to establish a religious-based Arabic identity. Naturally, this is not working.

Pakistan must realize that cultural-based identities cut across religious-based identities. And the former can play more decisive and healthier roles in determining a cohesive and stable future for the country.

Pakistan may find some motivation from the Canadian society, not from its mostly racist governments, as how this multi- ethnic nation is establishing its national identity.

In a diverse Canadian society there are a multitude of cultures, traditions and religions, with lot more sub banners within each group. It is a myriad with a diversified web which gives Canada an image of acceptance and tolerance.

This evolutionary trend is being established despite the known retrogressive and discriminatory policies embraced by most Canadian governments over the years particularly toward the First Nation and visible minorities.

The Canadian cultural plurality is a unique experience in human social history which is trying to weave a frictionless social fabric from its distinct and assorted fibers. This multi-facet aspect gives Canada the color and character of being ever involving and exciting.

( Promod Puri is a former editor and publisher of South Asian Canadian weekly newspaper, The Link, retired and resides in Vancouver, Canada). The views expressed are those of the author.