Nikhil Chandra Dey

Migration Geography

1943 - Kotalipara village, Faridpur (Bangladesh) [born]

1948 - Khulna (Bangladesh)

1948 - Sealdah (India)

1948 - Government Refugee Camp, Ballygunge - Kolkata (India)

1954 - Government Colony, Bansdroni - Kolkata (India)

“Meanwhile, some of our land and property had been taken away by people. At very, very low prices. Suppose buying a land with the price of 20 kg rice. Once I was told: “Sign here, since you need rice, we'll provide you.”

“ইতিমধ্যেই আমাদের বেশ কিছু জমি বেদখল হয়ে গেল। অতি অল্প মূল্যে। এখনকার মতে, 20 kg ধান দিয়ে একটা জমি (হয়তো পাঁচ কাটা জমি) কিনে নিয়েছে। আমাকে বলেছে, “এখানে সই করো, তোমার তো  চাল লাগবে, এখানে ধান দিয়ে গেলাম।”

Interviewer – Sumallya Mukhopadhyay

Summary – Sumallya Mukhopadhyay

Transcript – Aisik Maity

Portrait Image - Aurgho Jyoti

Interview Location – Kolkata, India

Interview Date – 11 November 2021

Summary

Born on 22 November 1943, at Kotalipara village in Faridpur district of undivided Bengal, Nikhil Chandra Dey vividly remembers what his family had to go through during the turbulent days of the 1947 Partition. Within a year after his birth, his father, Raj Kumar Dey, and his four siblings passed away due to cholera. He recalled stories of how as a child, he too was sick, and everyone thought that he would not survive. He referred to a superstition where it was believed that Hindus could not die inside the house. So, he was kept outside at the entrance of the house. Somehow, he managed to survive. After his father’s death, his eldest uncle took charge of the family. However, he also passed away in 1946. In retrospect, he thinks that having no patriarch, to a reasonable extent, impeded his family’s transition from East Pakistan to West Bengal. When the Partition was declared, they had to leave in a hurry, relinquishing their properties. They took a steamer to Khulna and then came to Sealdah on a train.

Nikhil Chandra Dey’s family shifted from the squalor of the Sealdah railway station to a government-sponsored camp in Ballygunge, Kolkata. He narrated that the camp belonged to the army. It was used during the Second World War. Each day fresh refugees were given shelter in the camp. Nikhil Chandra Dey stayed in the camp for six years, from 1948 to 1954. In the camp, refugees, who migrated from various parts of East Pakistan, formed a collective of their own to put their demands before the government. A colony committee was established. Despite his age, Nikhil Chandra Dey clearly remembered the names of the committee members. They were Sudhir Ghosh, Shankar Mukherjee, Jiten Dey and Kanti Gupta. To give their collective an identity, the residents of the Ballygunj Camp formed the club ‘Sangha Sri’ in 1949. People would gather at the club and share stories of their struggles in the city. The budding camaraderie among the refugees motivated them to conduct a satyagraha before the house of Renuka Ray, who was the Minister of Relief and Rehabilitation in West Bengal between 1952 and 1957. Eventually, Renuka Ray took notice of their struggle and offered the residents of Ballygunge Camp land near Barasat and Bansdroni. 

Along with other camp members, Nikhil Chandra Dey shifted to Bansdroni, where they were rehabilitated in an area called ‘Government Colony’. The residents of the colony were handed 5 kata of land per family. He recollected that those who were rehabilitated later in Bansdroni were kept at the ‘New Government Colony’, and they were offered 3 kata of land. It was during this period that Nikhil Chandra Dey became actively involved in the refugee movement in Kolkata. He remembered how multiple jabardakhal colonies mushroomed in South Kolkata without government support. Though he was lucky to get land, others like him, who were not so favourably received, took to the streets to oppose the government’s unsympathetic attitude. Nikhil Chandra Dey felt that those affected by the Partition deserved proper rehabilitation. Hence, he joined the refugee movement. At present, Nikhil Chandra Dey lives with his family in Government Colony at Bansdroni.

Transcript in English

One_Video (0:15-1:10)
Khulna, Jessore and Faridpur, these three districts were supposed to be a part of India. And Murshidabad, and few other districts, to be a part of Pakistan. At that point, my cousin, who was a Headmaster of a school, said that my mother (whom he used to address as Sona Kaki, and everyone else will stay in East Pakistan.

Three_Video (2:55-3:39)
Meanwhile, some of our land and property have been taken away by people. At very, very low prices. Suppose buying a land with the price of 20 kg rice. Once I was told, ‘sign here, since you need rice, we’ll provide you.’

Four_Video (2:06-2:52)

We had a double-storeyed wooden house, with a wooden loft and a staircase, and in the first floor, we had all the storage items like utensils and accessories. The ground floor, where we used to stay, was made with bamboo and wood (for supporting the structure).

 Six_Video (1:10-3:00)

From Patgati we went to Khulna by a Steamer, and then to Sealdah by train. Our clothes were very lowly and humble, the bare minimum.

Eight_video (0:11-0:30)

It was compartmentalised like military barracks, and the Sanitation was very poor with 4 to 5 toilets.

Transcript in Bangla

One_Video (0:15-1:10)
খুলনা, যশোর আর ফরিদপুর এই তিন টে ডিস্ট্রিক্ট, এরকম একটা কথা হচ্ছিল, India তে ঢুকে যাবে। আর মুর্শিদাবাদ জেলা ও আর কিছু জেলা, পাকিস্তানে।
তখন আমার জ্যেঠতুতো বড়দা (হেডমাস্টার ছিল), ও বলল না। (আমার মা কে সোনা কাকি ডাকতো।) ‘সোনা কাকি, আমরা, ইস্ট পাকিস্তানে রয়ে যাব।

Three_Video (2:55-3:39)
ইতিমধ্যেই আমাদের বেশ কিছু জমি বেদখল হয়ে গেল। অতি অল্প মূল্যে। এখনকার মতে, ২০ কিলো ধান দিয়ে একটা জমি (হয়তো পাঁচ কাটা জমি) কিনে নিয়েছে। আমাকে বলেছে এখানে সই করো, তোমার তো  চাল লাগবে, এখানে ধান দিয়ে গেলাম।

Four_Video (2:06-2:52)
আমাদের দোতলা কাঠের ঘর ছিল। কাঠের মাচা, কাঠের সিঁড়ি দিয়ে, দোতলায় সব স্টোরেজ থাকত, থালা, বাসন ইত্যাদি। একতলাতে শক্ত বাঁশের বেড়া, তার ওপর কাঠ দিয়ে দোতলা।

Six_Video(1:10-3:00)
পাটগাতি, সেখানে নদী। স্টীমার এ করে খুলনা, তারপর ট্রেনে শিয়ালদহ। পরনে ছিল দড়ি দেওয়া প্যান্ট, দাদার ছেড়া গেঞ্জি, মায়ের একটা পার ছাড়া থান।

Eight_video (0:11-0:30)
যেমন মিলিটারি দের জন্য এক একটা Barrack, চার পাঁচ টা টয়লেট, স্যানিটেশন সে অর্থে ভাল ছিল না।