Ramna – A rise from the wrecks

Swooshh… Swooshh…the aerial flares flew high up in the moonless night-sky illuminating the Ramna Race-Course ground and everything around it. The century-old Kali Mandir and its Shikhara glistened in the purple light for one last time as Pakistani military descended on the ill-fated civilians with their artillery and armor. Relentless firing of cannons broke the silence of the night curfew. The field that had witnessed countless historical events including the declaration of independence by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib only a few weeks back was now going to catch sight of one of the cruelest ethnic cleansings of all times – “Operation Searchlight” was on.

For the next few hours, the Pakistani military went on a complete rampage putting an end to sacred human lives as if they were no better than cattle. What was most worrying was the fact that such a grotesque bloodbath of unarmed civilians was planned by the government meticulously. With Bengali officials either already dispersed or disarmed and differing generals relieved there was none to oppose. By, morning the world was shocked into speechlessness – The Ramna Kali Mandir, that adorned the central Dhaka skyline for centuries was razed to the ground using dynamites. One of the holiest shrines in the entire subcontinent, which in any other part of the world could have been a site of heritage, was demolished ruthlessly. Hundreds of innocent men, women and kids, who took shelter in the temple and adjoining Ma Anandamoyee Ashram, thinking any possible military action would at least spare a religious place, were first woken up from their sleep and then brutally massacred. Swami Paramananda Giri, the priest of the temple, was forced to read ‘kalma’ and then bayonetted to death. In an unprecedented assault on human rights the dead and wounded were rounded up together and set on fire using gasoline killing everyone instantly. More than a dozen Hindu girls were picked up and carried away to unidentified destination, never to be seen again in public. What followed in the next eight months was cold blooded genocide of over 3 million people and rape of countless Bengali women perpetrated by Pakistan Armed forces and Islamist militia groups.

While the entire of East Pakistan was aware of an imminent crackdown the attacks on Hindu sites without any military value like Ramna Kali Mandir and Jagganath Hall of Dhaka University were particularly baffling. What would a government get by systematically targeting its minorities? A closer look would reveal how much petrified the western rulers were about the Hindu influence among the Bengalees. The Hindu community was the primary focus of the animal brutality as part of the government policy to purge East Pakistan of the Hindu presence and influence. There was no place in the entire of East Pakistan where the Hindus were spared. Whether it be slaughtering of their enclaves, robbing of their land, or treating their women folk as war booty the Hindus had to pay a heavy price for the Bangladeshi independence struggle.

When Bangladesh was born after much bloodshed it was widely believed that Hindus would finally get their due in the new nation. But, surprising as it may sound, nothing of that sort ever happened. The Enemy Property Act changed to Vested Property Act post-independence and continued to be abundantly used to confiscate land and property belonging to Hindus. Instead of restoring the former glory of Ramna measures were taken to denigrate it further. The debris of the demolished temple was bulldozed to the ground. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib, regarded as the beacon of secularism, also failed to give a fair hearing to the demand of the Hindus for reconstruction of the Ramna Temple. To make matters worse the government seized the temple land and handed over the same to the Department of Public Works and finally to Dhaka Club, an elite club for entertainment of the rich. The Ramna Race-Course Road was renamed after Hussain Suhrawardy whose role in the Great Calcutta Killing was controversial, to say the least. The surviving members of the temple and the ashram were forced to move to Postagola, a barren land near a cremation ground, and live-in tents and makeshift houses. Even this privilege was taken away when Ziaur Rehman became the president scattering the asylum seekers majority of whom fled to neighboring India.

Ever since Bangladesh shrugged off the Pakistani yoke Hindus and eminent Bangladeshis demanded reinstatement of the Ramna Kali Mandir and Ma Anandamoyee Ashram but met with stiff resistance from the Islamic radical groups in Bangladesh. Only makeshift pandals were allowed from time to time for Kali Puja. The construction of the temple was entangled in bureaucratic rigidity and legal complications.

It was not until the erstwhile Minister of External Affairs, Smt Sushma Swaraj’s visit in 2017, that the re-construction of the temple gathered steam. India pledged financial help to the Bangladesh government for construction of the Ramna Kali Temple. The current government’s ‘neighborhood first’ policy and the special friendship with Sheikh Hasina administration helped re-build the iconic Hindu temple, symbolic of the Bengali resistance that led to independence. In an event that can be termed as a “First ever” the Hon’ble President of India, Sri Ramnath Kovind inaugurated the newly constructed Ramna temple in December 2021, an apt commemoration of the “Victory Day” 50 years back.

With the growing apathy of the rulers in neighboring countries India is the only source of optimism for the persecuted Hindus. For ages we have shed tears for “crimes against humanity” in far-off lands; for ages we have taken to the streets raising alms for Vietnam and Cuba. We have been completely oblivious of the atrocious conditions under which our blood kins lived just across the border, who were not as lucky as we are to have a safe haven in India. Thanks to the almighty we finally have a government, at the center, that is not dismissive of the sacred duty of protecting all who follow the “mother of all religions”. Hindus across the globe are now not alone for they have India and Indians as well-wishers and protectors.