New Delhi, Oct. 24 -- Can humanity survive when religious identity takes precedence amid riots? IAS officer and author C Murugan explores this question in his latest novel, 'Rustam Khan S/O Noakhali', set against the backdrop of the Direct Action Day riots in Calcutta and the subsequent communal violence in Noakhali.
The English novel and its Bengali translation, 'Noakhalir Rustam Khan', were launched at Press Club, Kolkata, on Saturday by eminent author Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay and actor Gargee Roychowdhury.
Mukhopadhyay said that even belonging to Tamil Nadu, Murugan depicted the riot of Noakhali and also wrote extensively on Durga Puja and Bonbibir Pala which are typical of Bengal.
Gargee said that the novel has a potential for a feature film as she has read the novel partly. Social worker and book critic Golok Debnath highlighted the work's social relevance and humanistic concerns. Dhiraj Mohan Chanda who had witnessed the riots of Noakhali shared his experience and said how the novel bears similarity with 1946.
Murugan said: "Rustam Khan, a young man from Noakhali, dreams of a life with Nilanjana, the daughter of a zamindar with barriers of religion and class as political turmoil and communal hatred spread across the region. Rustam travels to Calcutta in search of his fortune but is eventually drawn back to Noakhali."
Having spent over two decades in West Bengal, Murugan researched the Noakhali riots, migration to Calcutta for work and the suffering of innocent victims. He said people should be judged by their humanity and compassion, not religious identity.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.