In feminist theory, the personal is the political. On International Women’s Day I dedicate to my forefathers, who were either killed, ethnically cleansed or persecuted and fled. Here are pictures from my maternal forefathers, and next I will post from my paternal forefather’s place in Bikrampur Dhaka, Bangladesh. July 2024, Arai Hazar, Narayangung, Bangladesh: This is the house where my mother and her elder sister, my aunt, were born and stayed till she was 8 years old. My Grandfather, whose forefathers were Zamindar’s in East Bengal, had to move out one batch at a time. This was ethnic cleansing of Kafir Hindus, 1946, 1947, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1971. I visited this place in 2024 and they showed us one part of the huge palace of the Zamindar’s. We were told that in 1971 the Pakistani soldiers use this palace as their residence. The only thing left now is a small place and the Devi Kali MAA house, where the Pujari comes and does puja every day. Dr. Abdul Barakat talks of the “Enemy Property Act” by which the property of all Hindus are taken away by:
