Meghna: A Gripping Novel on the Journey of a Refugee

Book Review

- MALABIKA PATEL

THERE are English novels written on refugees of 1947 Partition, the most famous one being 'A train to Pakistan' by Kushwant Singh or 'Memoirs of Homeland: Refugees of 1947 Bengal Partition in India' by Sachi Ghosh Dastidar.

While the former is about Punjab refugees, the latter is a collection of 22 stories of East Bengal refugees of 1947 partition.

However, this Odia Novel titled 'Meghna' by Priyabrata Patro (Publication: Aama Odisha 2023, 390 pages) is the first of its kind: it is the life story of a Bangladeshi refugee stretching from the mid-1960s up to the 2nd decade of the 21st century. Over a period of five decades, the protagonist is pitted against three faiths; Muslim, Hindu and Christian. In the backdrop are the volatile events leading to Bangladesh Liberation War (1971) and the mammoth task of resettlement of Bengali refugees in India. In that sense it is a unique novel, where the protagonist's life blends with the political events. But to call it a political novel would not be accurate for the reason that the human stories depicted in the novel are more poignant than the political events. Based on the real life story of the protagonist, with whom the author has a chance encounter, the novel incorporates elements of an auto-novel too.