Finchu Mama

Then rumours started flowing in. Any and everyone coming from any direction was telling one story or another and some of which was that the muslims were mustering all around the town and the outskirts for attacking the Hindus in the town. In Jalpaiguri town the Hindus were a vast majority. There were hardly more than ten percent muslims after independence and partition of the country. Some ares in the outskirts and adjoining villages there were a number of muslims who were mostly poor farmers with one or two landholders among them. The elders congregated in a meeting on the varanda of Ghatak Bari and after much deliberation it was decided that all women and children would be sent inside the jail compound for their safety and all youngmen would stand on guard at all the places of entrance to our locality with whatever weapons they could gather. Though we were college students but we and all our friends were given the duty of guarding the streets, lanes and by-lanes within the Para mostly guarding our own houses. Jiban Gati Ray, with his double-barrelled gun stood on the ist floow varanda of his huge mansion. My father with his single barrel gun was posted on the crossing in front of Umagati Vidya Mandir. A group under the leadership of Sambhu Mukherjee took position near Raikut Bari More (Street crossing). A group took position near Dinbazar Post Office just near the Bazar er pool. Two other groups assembled at Dhardhara bridge near sub-area school and on the road from Walkergunge. It was a scene when the ladies of our locality with their gold and jewellery bound in a corner of their sarees and small children in hand started walking towards the jail compound water pouring profusely from their eyes and lamenting loudly at the loss of everything in their lives and at the same time giving solace to each other.