Invisible Lines - Rub Zaman

 

84th of 2020 was Invisible Lines by Ruby Zaman, on the partition of East and West Pakistan, and its effect especially on the people. India's support,  people divided with their desire of  United Pakistan and love for Ethnicity, fear of selfish motives behind kindness, commitments, convictions and conveniences. Country appeared to be full of miscreants, to one beliver others were villainous. Literal meaning of miscreant is disbeliving person, one who holds a false religious belief. 

The story keeps moving from 1984 when Zeb is wanting to revisit Bangladesh and is visiting the London Embassy, and her mind drifts to 1971.

Young Zebunnesa Rahim was born in East Pakistan to a Bihari father and a Sylheti mother, her maternal grandfather’s family being an affluent political empire. The prim and proper Zeb grew up in Chittagong- a melting pot of cultures amidst wealth and warmth. She knew peace until 1971, when her seemingly perfect world came crashing down and she became a victim of both sides of the war. The events in the run up to the war catch the protagonist and her upper middle class surroundings completely off guard. Families are torn apart; lovers are separated by previously negligible cultural differences and countless lives are lost. The spotlight is almost equally shared by Shafiq, first a determined young boy and then a valiant freedom fighter who loses a leg in the war. Yet another strong presence is Zeb’s caretaker ‘Didi’, a woman of unmatched dignity, wisdom and loyalty that even some of the more educated characters lacked. The story starts to jump time and place and shuttles back and forth from Chittagong to Sylhet to London.

The murder of Biharis during and after the Liberation War for example has never been considered as part of our poignant wartime losses. This for Bengali writers is a taboo topic, and hence not many have touched it in their works. Ruby deserves praise for developing the Bihari’s character in an unemotional way. When the story moves to Sylhet, and as the war breaks out, Zeb’s world turns upside down. Her father was brutally murdered in a train and her mother tortured and killed by Pakistani soldiers. Ironic was the fact that in spite of her grandfather’s pro-Pakistani political stand and reputation, it was the Pakistan army that caused havoc in her life.

Shiver run down her spine as she reads Bismillah hir Rahman nir Rahim - In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Those with brain, tact and most prized ingredient of success - adaptability, survived. 

In a way, Invisible Lines is a journey, not only Zeb’s journey but also those of various families - the three Musketeers - Sakina, Husna and Zeb; Thareq and Shilu through the maze of war and human relationships.