The number-game has popped up again about our martyrs of 1971. While there are killer Maolanas and corrupt politicians (almost al of ours) to play with this, I prefer not to take any NFB-writer as any of them. While trust on our writers is important, distortion or simply presentation of information has profound impact on the result. Far from being a musician I am trying to clarify this with basic music-math, to address an accredited musician-writer in his language of mind (mine too!).
One change of NISHAD from “KOMOL” to “SHUDDHO” changes Malkosh to Chondrokosh, an altogether different Raag with complete different taste. One change of “KOMOL GANDHAR” to “SHUDDHO GANDHAR” changes Bagesree to Ragesree, again a very different Raag with different taste. Small changes in Raag Mollar create Meghmollar, Surmollar, Notmollar, Mia-Ki-Mollar, Ramdashi-Mollar (there are others, don’t remember now) etc, all with very different impressions and impacts. Inclusion of NISHAD to Raag Abhog transforms it to Bagesree, exclusion of KORhI-MA (MA as a whole) could not stop Bhupali from being included in the KOLLYAN-THAAT.
Without any note-change, if the SA of Bhupali is shifted to its own PA, then the Sargam changes from SA RE GA PA DHA SA to SA RE MA PA DHA SA, which is nothing but Raag Durga, again with a very different impact. EVEN WITHOUT ANY CHANGE OF NOTES (information), ONLY DIFFERENT MOVEMENT (presentation) OF THE TUNE CHANGES RAAG DARBARI TO JOUNOPURI, AND RAAG BHUPALI TO DESHKAAR. Please correct if this non-musician is wrong.
The spirit of 1971 has been victimized form all the angles of the examples given above, by our own people. So the spirit did the very right thing, it just evaporated. The recent number-game of 3-million resulted in confusion in people’s mind. We do have figures from World Bank, foreign Universities, Newspapers and other establishments like National Geographic, even from the UN-Human Rights Department, ranging from 0.25 to 3 million, thanks to Mukto-Mona, (NOT so called “Murkho-Mona”, Sir! Let us break the nasty prison of name-calling and get out of it, all of us.) That is a huge span, never academically addressed. These figures, though from accredited institutions, do not enjoy the support of any documented research in our vast villages.
Without any backing of formal research and survey, “3-million” always remained vulnerable though it went unchallenged for many years and got its wide acceptability. Nobody, except a character of Humayun Ahmed’s TV-Drama, took the initiative of such an important follow up of number-count of our genocide. Now as the wind has changed its direction, there are innocent academic / ill-motivated efforts to verify / challenge it. We must realize that it is only natural, unless our Govt. gives the job to an International Institution (Uuuups! His Excellency The Mottya-Razakar & Co. is right there sitting in our Parliament!). Now we can only speculate, “debate” endlessly, and get more confused about the seriousness of the genocide. Keeping in mind that the criminals of 1971 and their supporters want that, the only healthy way left for us now is to take “3 Million” as not an absolute but as an arbitrary number, because we need a number to address the issue of genocide. ALL NUMBERS ARE NOT ABSOLUTE, WE DO USE ARBITRARY NUMBERS EXTENSIVELY ALL THE TIME IN OUR LIVES.
In the Qura’an when God changes his oneness to plurality, uses “WE” or “US” for Himself, the expression is only “SHOMMANARTH-E BOHUBOCHON”, He is still one. When the young Prince criss-crosses Seven Seas and Thirteen Rivers in search of the life-bird of the demon, he only travels from horizon to horizon. When we pardon “SHAAT KHOON” of our dear ones, we never mean seven killings. “PONCHO BYANJON” may not be exactly five dishes; “PONCHOBOTI” may have fifty “Bot”-trees. “SHOPTODINGA” is only one huge boat. “DOSH NEKI” or “SOTTOR SAWAB” is far from real numbers. “SHOPTO ASMAN” does not exist at all. There are not seven but twelve different notes in each “SHOPTOK” of a harmonium or keyboard, “CHALSHE” also may happen before or after 40 years of age. You could buy “ASHEE” mangoes in fifties in the mango market, which was really a hundred, and during the ”NEEL”-time of British Bengal the ignorant peasants actually had to pay 25 bundles of their produce to meet the “KURhI” of the system. “3 million” today is like the existence of god. If one does not believe in it, there are “proofs”. If one believes in it, there are stronger “proofs”. While it is so, in the absence of a Judge why must we be lost in this endless debate where none but only the killers win?
I repeat, we need a number to address the issue of 71’s genocide. We may get an all-acceptable number if and when the criminals will be dragged to the court and a formal investigation will be done. Until then our best option is to regard “3 million” as not an absolute but an arbitrary number.
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Courtesy : Muktomona
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