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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Barun Biswas: An unsung hero-Prithvijit Mitra

Barun Biswas: An unsung hero-Prithvijit Mitra

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published Published on Jul 15, 2012   modified Modified on Jul 15, 2012
-The Times of India

It was a rainy July evening ten years ago. A motley group of villagers from Sutia gathered at the local market to protest the spate of rapes that had left the area terrorized. They were angry but terrified of reprisal. And they did not know if anyone would join the fight. Speaking in hushed tones, they distributed leaflets asking people to join the protest. Some took the leaflets hesitantly, cast a furtive glance, and threw them away. A hired microphone lay silent in a corner.

Suddenly, a young man walked boldly through the anxious crowd and grabbed the microphone. He stood tall on a wooden stool and started speaking. "If we can't protect our daughters, sisters, wives and mothers, then we shouldn't be living in a civilized society. If we lack the courage to take on the rapists, we deserve more severe punishment than they do.... So come and join us to protect the honour of our women," Barun Biswas pleaded passionately to rapturous applause from the crowd.

The seeds of a movement - unparalleled in the country - were sown. And that very moment, Barun was marked for death.

In the two years running up to the meeting at Sutia market, the locality had been ravaged by a gang of rapists - led by Sushanta Choudhury - who used sexual torture as a weapon of dominance. Officially, there had been 33 rapes and a dozen murders but the actual number of rapes was many times more because victims were too terrified to complain. Anyone who even murmured in protest was gangraped for weeks. Worse, the gang sometimes raped every woman in the family, regardless of age, to teach a lesson. Apart from the half-a-dozen villages in the area, no one knew about the terror. And the police did not quite bother.

That was till Barun Biswas broke the fear barrier that rainy evening and sparked a spontaneous protest. He formed the Pratibadi Mancha and waded into battle with a copy of Ramakrishna Paramhansa's works and no hate in his heart. When Sushanta was eventually arrested, thanks to Barun's crusade, the young idealist handed the gangster a book of Ramakrishna and advised: "Jele boshe poris (read it in jail)."

Sushanta and four of his gang are serving life terms in jail. It doesn't seem he read the book because police suspect him of plotting Barun's murder from behind bars.

Barun not only brought justice for the raped, he also rehabilitated them socially. Though it made him a hero in Sutia, his commitment never changed. He helped poor boys study, bought medicines for the elderly, coached job-seekers, and even campaigned for the dredging of a canal to prevent Sutia and nearby areas from flooding.

"Barun knew his life was under threat but he didn't bother. He always had a daring streak. He looked like the boy next door but believe me, he had nerves of steel. He was scared of no one and he loved helping people, often at the cost of his own comfort. Barun kept nothing for himself, other than his bed which he would give away to the students he helped. A year ago, he finally gave it to a neighbour and would sleep on plastic sheets. Even the man who pointed him out to the assassins at Gobardanga station had received rice from him a week ago," said Asit Biswas, Barun's elder brother.

He had scores of visitors every morning, so many, in fact, that had to build a kutcha road in his backyard to avoid crowding at the front door.

There were hints of this selfless, bold nature when Barun, the son of a landless farmer, was growing up. In school, he was never afraid to speak out, even against teachers. He was polite and very disciplined, say his teachers. Once, when in Class IX he protested against a decision of the headmaster in Panchpota Bharadanga High School. He did his masters in Bengali and then a Bed and even cleared the state civil services exam but his heart was set on social work.

Chucking a bureaucrat's cushy life, he settled for a teacher's job. And he loved it. More so because it gave him ample time to continue with his social work. "Nothing pleased him more than helping people. He did it passionately, out of genuine love for the people," said Arun Biswas, his brother.

It was probably born out of the immense hardship that he and his four siblings went through. His parents Jagadish and Geeta had migrated from Faridpur in Bangladesh after the 1971 war with what they had on their backs. Jagadish worked as a labourer during the day and by singing for a theatre group at night. Barun and his siblings understood that their father slogged so that they could continue in school. "We imbibed the love for hard work from our parents," said Asit, adding that they could not afford even a quilt in winter. "We would chop off the skin of banana trees and tie it to our legs to protect from the cold," he said.

In 2000, Barun chalked out a blueprint for a canal that would help check flooding of the Ichhamati and Jamuna rivers, which left Sutia, Bongaon, Swarupnagar and Gaighata waterlogged every year. He approached local leaders but no one paid any heed. "He was convinced that somebody would eventually realize its importance one day. He was proved right when the government did accept it," said uncle Atul Chandra Biswas.

Barun landed a teacher's job at Mitra Institution in Kolkata in 1998. "He was delighted because he could now help more people. It was amazing. He had no plans for himself but was actually chalking up a list of people he would help," said childhood friend Nilotpal Mitra.

He was busy campaigning for the canal when peace was shattered in Sutia in 2000. A group of hoodlums invaded the locality. "Women were being raped and molested in front of their husbands and children. We were forced to pay for even for a puja at our home. The gang enjoyed political support and no one could stop them," said Hitlal Bayen, a neighbour who formed the Mancha with Barun. When everyone buckled under the terror, the usually quiet and peace-loving young man raised his voice. He started gathering some friends. "None of us knew how to start until Barun walked into that street-corner meeting. It was just the spark that we needed and the protest snowballed into an agitation that eventually ended the reign of terror," recalled Bayen. Several rape victims filed complaints with police and identified the criminals. Barun even got two of them married.

While peace reigned, the goons started plotting his death. He and his fellow crusaders were repeatedly attacked. Some were injured. "But Barun never talked of revenge or violence," said Bayen.

Barun chose not to get married lest it make him weak or endanger his family. He always had a couple of youngsters accompanying him to and from Gobardanga station. "He had got used to living in the shadow of death," said Indrajit Choudhury, his schoolteacher.

On July 5, Barun had none for company. The killers, who had been waiting for a decade, finally had their chance. Ironically, no one helped him as he sat bleeding to death on the steps at the station entrance. With his last breaths, he called his uncle for help. "Barun was fearless but the rest of the world is not. He showed us what can be achieved if you overcome fear. We are yet to take the lesson," said brother Arun.

After passing out of university, while most of his contemporaries were busy searching jobs for themselves, Barun formed a group of young graduates who helped each other prepare for competitive exams. Even though he didn't have a room to stay, he coaxed uncle Atul Biswas to let him share one of his rooms with four poor students. "He helped them in every possible way. It was amazing for he had no job, nor a place to stay. Barun didn't even know where the next meal was going to come from but he didn't care. His brothers had migrated to Kolkata and his parents shared a small hut," Biswas said.

His family built a new house in Sutia and Barun moved into a room. It remained furtinureless, barring the bed till he gave it away, too. Barun shared the room with poor students. And his dog Bholu, who still sits near the door waiting for his master.

The Times of India, 15 July, 2012, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Barun-Biswas-An-unsung-hero/articleshow/14917978.cms


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