The last of the Pals of Rayer Bazaar

Retailers all over the country use these traditional earthen pots to sell halim during the month of Ramadan

Imagine a large Hindu community of around 100,000 households spread over an area of ten square kilometers. Here, we are talking about Rayer Bazaar, in the western part of the city, in the early 1960s. Every household had one thing in common— a traditional fuel wood kiln for firing potteries. The Pals (potters) of Rayer Bazaar were then one of the largest producers of earthenware in the country. In the absence of cheap aluminum utensils then, most people in the country used earthenware for all sorts of kitchen and outdoor utensils.
For centuries the community thrived. Huge sailboats carried the Rayer Bazaar potteries throughout the country from the landing stations (ghat) along the river Buriganga. The area bustled with activities centered on the industries that grew inside every household. Each member of the families living there had a designated role in the craft. There were hardly any hired laborers. Yet, children went to school and even to university for higher studies. The Rayer Bazaar High School, set up by the potter community, played the pivotal role from the early years of the last century.
The clusters of the home-based industries involved people from a wide range of backgrounds. Muslims were supplying the fuel for the furnaces comprised of dried water hyacinth and logs. They also provided the raw material such as good quality earth. The transportation of the produces to far-fetched areas was mainly the job for the Muslims too.
Amar Paul, over 70, a graduate from Dhaka University and a retired government official, recalls how vibrant the area once was. He says the harmony between Hindus and Muslims could be seen during the religious festivities. During Pujas and Eids, both the groups celebrated together.
“There was never a hitch between these two groups living side by side for centuries,’ Amar says, sitting at his residence in Rayer Bazaar. Amar’s earthen home on a small piece of land opposite the Rayer Bazaar main temple still bears some testimony of the époque. All around the area, high-rise buildings are rapidly replacing the old rickety tin-shed structures. In the early days of this locality, Rayer Bazaar represented a slice of ancient artisans in our history.
But the south Asian violent politics of religion were not far from the peaceful Rayer Bazaar. The minority Hindus in the predominantly Muslim military ruled East Pakistan, were far from safe. The communal violence in neighboring India had its effects here too. The conspiracy was hatched.  Peace and prosperity among the minority could not be accepted.

A shop owner with stockpiled earthen pots used to sell halim during the month of Ramadan, in the city’s Rayer Bazaar area.

It was in January 1964, the days of Pouche Sankranti, a festive occasion for the Hindus when a gang of about 50, armed with machetes and knives descended on Rayer Bazaar. Their sole motive — slay the Hindus. “They came from the north (Mohammadpur) and we were running for our lives,” recalls Amar. But between the murderers and the Hindus of Rayer Bazaar stood a group of Muslims led by one Jinnat Ali, a local resident. “You cannot go past us, Jinnat told the marauding invaders,” added Amar.
Right when Jinnat and his men resisted the gang, the attackers stabbed Jinnat to death. Jinnat was the first of about 87 people murdered on that day. Hindu elders in Rayer Bazaar still remember Jinnat, who sacrificed his life trying to protect his neighbors.
The massacre (similar events occurred elsewhere in the country) immediately shattered the confidence of the Hindu minorities living in the then East Pakistan. A silent but sure exodus thus started. Hundreds of thousands of Hindus silently left their ancestral homes and crossed the border into India. Stories of Hindu families leaving their homes in Rayer Bazaar are still vivid in the memoirs of the few who braved staying back; a few who clung onto the homes left behind by their forefathers.
“There were instances when Hindu families left in the middle of the night switching on lights inside their homes in a bid to avoid detection and persecution,” says an elderly resident of Rayer Bazaar requesting anonymity. Many did not even have the chance of selling their land. Local thugs, instigated by fundamentalists and opportunists took full advantage of the situation and grabbed the land left behind by the panic-stricken victims.

Thousands of earthen halim pots stockpiled to be used in iftar markets all over the city

Over 50 years later, Rayer Bazaar now has only about 100 Hindu households, of which only handful are in the pottery business. The kilns have totally disappeared. The few Hindus who are still in the pottery business, have to procure their merchandise from the southern regions of Pirojpur and Patuakhali, to satisfy today’s demands. In fact, demand for certain earthenware has increased manifold with time. For instance, during Ramadan the potters work extra hours to produce bowls of different sizes for thousands of outlets selling halim, a very popular iftar delicacy found all over the country.
Interestingly, the handful number of potters who still worked during the War of Liberation, were in fact protected by the occupational forces for their unique skills, says Amar Paul. They were the only craftsmen making clay ovens and the Pakistani army needed those to feed their forces throughout the country. Top army officers would come and ask everyone to leave the craftsmen and their families alone, recalls Amar Paul.
These days Rayer Bazaar has become an urban nightmare. Canals and channels have been filled up and replaced with high-rise structures in the narrowest of lanes and by-lanes. All along the area from Hazaribagh to Katashur it is a dismal scenario of unplanned urbanization devoid of proper drainage or other amenities. The population continues to be crammed up into small spaces, with shops of every different trade imaginable found in these residential areas. Yet for most in the area, life goes on.
Story by Morshed Ali Khan 
Photos by Mishel Ali Khan

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Posted by Reportsbd on Jul 12 2015. Filed under Business, Home Slide. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry