Purnia’s Pakistan Tola against politicisation of armed forces

PAKISTAN TOLA (PURNIA): Nationalism may have become a key poll issue in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections after the Pulwama terror attack and subsequent air strikes by the Indian Air Force in Pakistan’s Balakot, but the tribal residents of this village, especially the Santals, think that the martyrdom of 40 CRPF jawans in Pulwama terror strike should not be politicised.
Pakistan Tola is a nondescript village under Shrinagar block in Purnia district, which will go to the polls in the second phase on April 18.
The original inhabitants of Pakistan Tola were a few Muslims who had first come here to settle after the 1946-47 Partition riots. They had come from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). The Muslims of Pakistan Tola, however, left the village in 1971-72 after the 1971 India-Pakistan War.
Residents of the village said they do not feel odd about the name Pakistan Tola. “The Muslims of Pakistan Tola left the village in 1971-72 after the 1971 India-Pakistan War. We don’t know where they went. They probably went back to (East) Pakistan or Bangladesh after selling their land and other property to Santals. My father had also purchased some plots of land from them,” said Surendra Kumar Tuddu (34), a resident of the village.
Asked about the recent tension on Jammu and Kashmir border, Surendra said, “The martyrdom of 40 jawans in the Pulwama terror strike was very painful. Like others in the village, I also felt the pain. The sight of their bodies being carried to their respective villages was very painful and touching. However, netas should not seek votes by raising the issue of nationalism and insulting the sacrifices made by our security forces.”
A few other Santals, like Sonelal Soren from neighbouring Prithvi Tola, Ashish Murmu from Pakistan Tola and Bhagan Tuddu from Prem Nagar village, too nodded their heads in agreement.
Pakistan Tola has people belonging only to the Santal tribal group – around 30 families in number. The village lies between two old and dead tributaries of the Kosi – Murlia Dhaar or Kari Kosi and Singhia Dhaar – which get inundated during monsoon every year. If excess water is released from the Kosi barrage on the Indo-Nepal border in Supaul district, some 65km away, the floodwaters threaten to overtop the kutcha road that passes by the village.
Yet, what first strikes any unfamiliar passer-by or an outsider-visitor to the village is its name – ‘Pakistan Tola’. For, Pakistan is the name of a country that was invented and formed on the basis of “two-nation theory” as propounded by Mohammad Ali Jinnah in the 1940s. It had led to the Partition of India, and the creation of Pakistan (West Pakistan and East Pakistan, both existing 1,000 miles apart on the two sides of India, but under one sovereign government!). It had also led to the 1946-47 ‘Partition-riots’ and the killing of lakhs of people, besides displacement of million others in the entire Indian sub-continent.
“The original Muslim inhabitants of Pakistan Tola cleared the jungles and made the plots of land cultivable. They also became legal possessors of the plots of land. These Muslim settlers also gave the name Pakistan Tola to this village,” tribal Ashish Murmu of the same village said.
Incidentally, among a dozen of tribal villages in the vicinity, one such village is called ‘Patna Rahika,’around 2km away from Pakistan Tola. “Someone from Patna wanted to establish a factory at the village. He brought Manjhis (Mushahar caste people) from Patna. The factory could not come up. However, the village was later named as Patna Rahika,” Surendra said.