Clad in flowing robes, strumming an ektara, the Bauls have long been an integral part of the region s lush landscape, wandering from village to village singing of a universal God. And it s happening once again in the Bengal of the 90s. Though Bauls are found throughout the state, the cases of persecution are being reported from the border districts of Murshidabad and Nadia, where a tiny band of these minstrels is struggling to survive against a renewed wave of intolerance. Take the case of Sadar Fakir of Kurchaidanga, a village in Nadia. His life revolved round his ektara and the songs that debunked religion.
Salvation lies in a universal love for mankind.
But the local maulvis don t agree. That, in itself, was not so bad as Sadar had never pretended to be a believer. The real damage, however, was done when his land was forcibly cropped and his thatched house completely ransacked. Even worse, he was sternly forbidden from singing within the village boundaries. I still can t sing inside my village.