0:00:06 > 0:00:08Sunetra Sarker is an actress,
0:00:08 > 0:00:12best known for her role as Doctor Zoe Hannah in Casualty.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15You tell ITU they are taking this patient now.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18Even if I have to wheel her there myself.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21She got her first break at just 15-years-old,
0:00:21 > 0:00:23when she appeared in Brookside.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25- Hiya, Sam.- What are you doing here?
0:00:25 > 0:00:28- Come to spy on me like everyone else?- No, I just wanted to see you.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31Well I don't want to see you, all right?
0:00:31 > 0:00:34I've always been really proud to say that I'm from Liverpool.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36It's something that comes so easily to me.
0:00:36 > 0:00:37The minute anybody says, "Where are you from?"
0:00:37 > 0:00:43I say, "I'm from Liverpool." And I really like saying that, actually.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46It's such a cliche, isn't it, a ferry across the Mersey!
0:00:46 > 0:00:48And yet it's so nice.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53Growing up was definitely an Indian household.
0:00:54 > 0:00:59Mum always wore a sari, and a bindi on her forehead.
0:00:59 > 0:01:05We only really ate Indian food, even Christmas dinner was Indian.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09I preferred to be more British.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12So, I would speak with a Liverpool accent.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15As many British and English,
0:01:15 > 0:01:19Anglicised things that I could bring into my life, I did.
0:01:19 > 0:01:24Me and my mates were secretly buying Bovril soup,
0:01:24 > 0:01:28which is, like, unheard of, because Hindus don't eat beef.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31And I probably denied being Indian as much as I possibly could.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37Mum's always been really good at talking about family
0:01:37 > 0:01:39and it just used to go in one ear and out the other.
0:01:39 > 0:01:41I wasn't paying attention.
0:01:41 > 0:01:43I didn't really see any point knowing my history,
0:01:43 > 0:01:46because we weren't in India.
0:01:46 > 0:01:51I really wish I had paid more attention, because now I'm grown up,
0:01:51 > 0:01:54I know it's not about being cool any more.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57My family's all from India, and I actually like it.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59I want to know more about it.
0:02:00 > 0:02:04I know we've got a really important great-grandfather somewhere
0:02:04 > 0:02:08in the family, who was a lawyer and wrote novels.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12And he's talked about as a god, almost, in our family.
0:02:12 > 0:02:14So, I suppose, now,
0:02:14 > 0:02:18is a chance when I get to see if I can find out some of that,
0:02:18 > 0:02:21some of that history that I didn't want to know back then.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01Sunetra's parents settled in Liverpool after moving from Kolkata
0:03:01 > 0:03:05in India a few years before Sunetra was born.
0:03:05 > 0:03:07She's come to see them,
0:03:07 > 0:03:09to find out more about her great-grandfather
0:03:09 > 0:03:13on her mother's side, who was a revered figure in the family.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19- Hello!- Hi!
0:03:19 > 0:03:23- How are you?- Hi, Mum. Hi, Dad.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26I want to have a little chat with you, Mum.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29Dad, would you put the kettle on? You can do the teas.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31You make a great cup of tea.
0:03:31 > 0:03:32One sugar, please.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35Let's go in, Mum.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37OK, so what I've realised, Mum,
0:03:37 > 0:03:41is that I don't actually know a lot about our family history.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43So, before I start this journey,
0:03:43 > 0:03:46I want to ask you to tell me the things that you've probably already
0:03:46 > 0:03:48told me that I didn't listen to.
0:03:48 > 0:03:50Where do I start from?
0:03:50 > 0:03:55I can show you a picture of Ma and Dadu.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57You have heard about him?
0:03:57 > 0:03:59Dadu is my mum's dad.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02Yeah. Your grandad. I mean, everybody talks about him.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04- Which one is he?- There he is.
0:04:04 > 0:04:06OK. Is that you?
0:04:06 > 0:04:08Yeah, that's right.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10I can see that's you straightaway.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13And this is a better picture of Dadu.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16So, Dadu is this sort of character in the family
0:04:16 > 0:04:19that you all talk about. What was his full name?
0:04:20 > 0:04:22Doctor Nares Chandra Sen-Gupta.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26He was the famous lawyer and novelist.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28- He was a lawyer and a writer. - A writer.
0:04:28 > 0:04:33He was in touch with all the great literary figures of that time.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37And even, Tagore, whose name you hear all the time.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39- Yeah, I know him. - Yeah, he knew him.
0:04:39 > 0:04:41He's like the Shakespeare of India, isn't he, almost?
0:04:41 > 0:04:47Yeah, yeah. And actually, Tagore wrote a letter to him.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51- Saying what? - It's almost a letter of apology.
0:04:51 > 0:04:53Oh, you've got the letter?
0:04:53 > 0:04:56I've got the letter here.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59The letter to Nares from Rabindranath Tagore,
0:04:59 > 0:05:01India's greatest ever writer,
0:05:01 > 0:05:05has been hanging on a relative's wall for decades.
0:05:05 > 0:05:06- Wow.- And this is his signature.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09What is he saying in this letter, "I like your books,
0:05:09 > 0:05:11- "I like what you're writing"? - No, no.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14He's not saying that.
0:05:14 > 0:05:18"I know that this kind of letter is not easy to write,
0:05:18 > 0:05:22"very few people can write a letter like that.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26"Sometimes trying to hurt each other,
0:05:26 > 0:05:30"we get into... ourselves, into a trap.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33"I hope now we have both come out of that."
0:05:33 > 0:05:36So, I don't know exactly what he's talking about.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39- "Trapped"?- Maybe you can...
0:05:39 > 0:05:42- ..find out, yeah, maybe I can. - Then we will know.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44Did he have any brothers or sisters?
0:05:44 > 0:05:48We just know his one younger brother and younger sister,
0:05:48 > 0:05:50Charuprobha Sen-Gupta.
0:05:50 > 0:05:55Who, actually, went to the prison at one time.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58- What, his sister did? - Yeah.- Why?
0:05:58 > 0:06:03Because she was involved in the freedom movement.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07She was a very emancipated woman.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09- How old was she? - I don't know the exact story.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13Oh, Mum, that's quite rock and roll, isn't it?
0:06:13 > 0:06:16She went to prison. It must have been quite a big deal.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20It seemed like it was a bit of a mystery,
0:06:20 > 0:06:23behind what did that letter really mean?
0:06:23 > 0:06:27So, that intrigues me, and it also intrigues me that there is a sister
0:06:27 > 0:06:31of this great-grandfather of mine who went to jail,
0:06:31 > 0:06:33for who knows what.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36So, I think we might have to go to India to find out a bit more.
0:06:38 > 0:06:41Sunetra is travelling to Kolkata, in India,
0:06:41 > 0:06:44where her great-grandfather, Nares used to live.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55HORNS BLARE
0:06:55 > 0:06:58Wow, listen to that! Argh!
0:07:01 > 0:07:05It seems to fit Kolkata so well, that noise, and these colours.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08They just, sort of, work.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12I remember visiting as a child, actually.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16I do remember everything was, like, in super-colour.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19And then you'd go back to England and it would just be drab,
0:07:19 > 0:07:21brown and grey.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27I am off to try and look into the letter that Mum showed me,
0:07:27 > 0:07:30which was the letter from Tagore to Nares.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33Maybe that letter can shed a bit more light
0:07:33 > 0:07:37on what my great-grandfather was about.
0:07:37 > 0:07:39In the early 20th century,
0:07:39 > 0:07:43when Rabindranath Tagore and Nares lived in Kolkata,
0:07:43 > 0:07:46the city was the capital of British India.
0:07:46 > 0:07:50It lies at the heart of the ancient state of Bengal,
0:07:50 > 0:07:54which was hugely influential across India.
0:07:54 > 0:07:59- Hello, I'm Shamapita. - Hi there, I'm Sunetra.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03Sunetra has come to Tagore's family home, now a museum,
0:08:03 > 0:08:08to meet literary historian Doctor Shamapita Mitra.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11So, I've got this letter, which my mum gave me,
0:08:11 > 0:08:14which is a letter from Tagore to my great-grandfather.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17My mum's grandfather.
0:08:17 > 0:08:24Tagore seems to be repenting that he has hurt Nares Chandra Sen-Gupta.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26What seems to have been the problem
0:08:26 > 0:08:31is that they had a series of letters exchanged,
0:08:31 > 0:08:37and there was a debate about what literature could talk about,
0:08:37 > 0:08:40and what it could not talk about.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42Oh, like taboos? And what's not taboo?
0:08:42 > 0:08:45- Yeah.- So, give me an example of something
0:08:45 > 0:08:47that my great-grandfather would have written
0:08:47 > 0:08:49that Tagore would never have written.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52- I mean, did he talk about sex? - He did. He did.
0:08:52 > 0:08:56And here I have a short story,
0:08:56 > 0:09:03which is about a widow who does not lead a very conventional,
0:09:03 > 0:09:05way of life.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07Like, the ordinary widows.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09It's quite scandalous. It's quite scandalous.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11"If my hunger remains unsatisfied
0:09:11 > 0:09:14"even after having consumed this noble man..."
0:09:14 > 0:09:16This is borderline X-rated kind of stuff.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19I mean, I don't know whether I'd have been allowed to read this,
0:09:19 > 0:09:26- you know, in my mother's house. - In the 1920s, this is quite radical.
0:09:26 > 0:09:31- Yeah.- It's not just in his fiction that he is talking about women,
0:09:31 > 0:09:36he was also taking up this point in his essays.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38"A housewife cannot be satisfied with little learning,
0:09:38 > 0:09:40"we need to educate our housewives and mothers
0:09:40 > 0:09:43"if we desire to make our country glorious.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47"We need regular education, and the longer the training process is,
0:09:47 > 0:09:52"the better." So, he was paving the way for women's rights before,
0:09:52 > 0:09:55I suppose, people were even discussing women's rights.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59These kinds of writings did make an impact.
0:09:59 > 0:10:06Not too many people would talk about the fact that women were equal,
0:10:06 > 0:10:12in terms of their rights, in terms of the choices that they could make.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15That women too were human beings.
0:10:21 > 0:10:26I felt quite proud to hear that my great-grandfather was a bit daring,
0:10:26 > 0:10:27and he was going away from the norm.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30And I think I recognise a bit of that in me.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33I'm not your average anything.
0:10:33 > 0:10:39I don't think I fit in a box quite as easily as some people do.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41So, it really resonated with me, that.
0:10:46 > 0:10:50Sunetra has discovered that her great-grandfather was a maverick,
0:10:50 > 0:10:54who was using his writing to break new ground.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56To try and learn more about the impact of his work,
0:10:56 > 0:10:59she's come to the Lake School For Girls,
0:10:59 > 0:11:02which was set up by one of Nares' daughters.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06She's come to meet Doctor Jayanta Sen-Gupta.
0:11:06 > 0:11:08- Hello. I'm Sunetra.- Hello. I'm Jayanta. So nice to meet you.
0:11:08 > 0:11:10Nice to meet you, too.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12Actually, did you know your mum came here?
0:11:12 > 0:11:14- My mum?- Yes.
0:11:14 > 0:11:19- My mum?!- Yes.- I thought she went to a different school.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21Don't tell my mum I forgot that!
0:11:21 > 0:11:25When Nares was living in Kolkata, at the start of the 20th century,
0:11:25 > 0:11:27the city was part of British India,
0:11:27 > 0:11:32which stretched all away from what is now Pakistan through India
0:11:32 > 0:11:34and Bangladesh to Myanmar.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38But people in India were increasingly looking to a future
0:11:38 > 0:11:41free from British rule.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45This Nationalist Movement was particularly strong in Bengal,
0:11:45 > 0:11:47Nares' home state.
0:11:47 > 0:11:53To try to stifle it, in 1905, the British divided Bengal in two.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56Hoping the majority Muslims in East Bengal
0:11:56 > 0:11:59and the majority Hindus in the West
0:11:59 > 0:12:03would rise up against each other, rather than Britain.
0:12:03 > 0:12:07That is clearly driven by a motive to drive a religious wedge
0:12:07 > 0:12:12between Hindus and Muslims, and to undermine the Nationalist Movement.
0:12:12 > 0:12:17And it is against that decision to partition Bengal in 1905
0:12:17 > 0:12:21that your great-grandfather translated a very dangerous book,
0:12:21 > 0:12:24the Bengali version is banned by the British.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27And we're lucky to have an original copy of this translation.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30Of his translation? Of that book?
0:12:30 > 0:12:32- Of his translation, yeah.- Oh, wow.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36This is it. The novel is actually about one of the first rebellions
0:12:36 > 0:12:40- against the British imperial rule. - A real one or a fictional one?
0:12:40 > 0:12:41A real one.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44It also has Vande Mataram, which is India's national song.
0:12:44 > 0:12:45Oh, yeah.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47It's translated into English for the first time
0:12:47 > 0:12:49and also appears in this book.
0:12:49 > 0:12:50"Hail, thee, mother.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52"To her, I bow..."
0:12:52 > 0:12:54It's an ode to your motherland,
0:12:54 > 0:12:57which the British considered to be extremely dangerous.
0:12:57 > 0:13:02It eventually comes to be sung by other nationalists
0:13:02 > 0:13:04across the Indian subcontinent.
0:13:04 > 0:13:09And this song, sort of, was the anthem to that movement?
0:13:09 > 0:13:13- Yes, it's the answer some of the Nationalist Movement.- OK.
0:13:13 > 0:13:14Nares had translated a song
0:13:14 > 0:13:18which became a rallying cry for Indian independence,
0:13:18 > 0:13:21and by translating it, he'd made it available
0:13:21 > 0:13:25to a far wider audience, not just Bengali speakers.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28Instead of pitting Indian against Indian,
0:13:28 > 0:13:31the Partition of Bengal had backfired,
0:13:31 > 0:13:33fanning the flames of the Nationalist Movement.
0:13:35 > 0:13:37And if you read this, especially here,
0:13:37 > 0:13:41you will see a reference to the singer of the national song,
0:13:41 > 0:13:43- Vande Mataram.- Oh, yeah.
0:13:43 > 0:13:47"Official orders were issued that no procession could be allowed and that
0:13:47 > 0:13:53"no organised shouting of the national song, Vande Mataram,
0:13:53 > 0:13:55"or any other such cry should be permitted.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58"One man was mercilessly beaten and thrown into a tank,
0:13:58 > 0:14:02"another was felled senseless, bystanders in lanes were also
0:14:02 > 0:14:07"assaulted by the police, who made a attacks upon them with clubs."
0:14:07 > 0:14:10So, given the way that the police treated people
0:14:10 > 0:14:15who dared to sing this song on the streets, would you then say it was
0:14:15 > 0:14:19either foolish, or extremely brave, for somebody, to at that same time,
0:14:19 > 0:14:21be translating the song.
0:14:21 > 0:14:23Absolutely. Absolutely.
0:14:23 > 0:14:28This is a book which is, you know,
0:14:28 > 0:14:31a very dangerous book to touch,
0:14:31 > 0:14:35at that time, and he's not only touching it, he's translating it.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38So, he's addressing a wider-reading public,
0:14:38 > 0:14:41who are getting the message of that book for the first time,
0:14:41 > 0:14:44because of his translation. So, it's a huge, huge risk to take.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47- It's high treason. - I knew he was a feminist,
0:14:47 > 0:14:50and he was very much into women's rights and education,
0:14:50 > 0:14:54but I didn't realise he was at the forefront of politics as well.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57He was very, very politically active.
0:14:57 > 0:14:59He was in the thick of it.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03- I'd like to see in here, something. - OK. Yes?
0:15:03 > 0:15:06Today, India's national song, Vande Mataram,
0:15:06 > 0:15:11the rallying cry for nationalists originally translated by Nares,
0:15:11 > 0:15:15is still sung at assembly in schools across the country.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17Wow. Guest of honour, I feel quite...
0:15:17 > 0:15:21- Yes, you are.- I'm very flattered.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25# Vande Mataram
0:15:25 > 0:15:31# Vande Mataram
0:15:31 > 0:15:37# Sujalam suphalam
0:15:37 > 0:15:43# Malayajasitalam... #
0:15:43 > 0:15:48Seeing the kids all lined up, looking pristine
0:15:48 > 0:15:51and singing that song, it got me a little bit.
0:15:51 > 0:15:53# Vande mataram... #
0:15:53 > 0:15:58It, sort of, symbolises a lot.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01# Subhra jyotsnam
0:16:01 > 0:16:06# Pulakita yaminim
0:16:06 > 0:16:10# Phula kusumita
0:16:10 > 0:16:15# Drumadalasobhinim
0:16:15 > 0:16:21# Suhasinim. #
0:16:21 > 0:16:23Wow. That's amazing.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25- Wasn't it?- Thank you.
0:16:25 > 0:16:27Thank you.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31I was already proud to say, "Guess what, my great-grandfather was
0:16:31 > 0:16:35"something to do with women's rights," but now, I'm finding out
0:16:35 > 0:16:39that he brought the message to nationalists that it was OK
0:16:39 > 0:16:43to fight against the British Empire.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46And I'm really quite humbled to be part of that,
0:16:46 > 0:16:49somewhere along the line, yeah.
0:16:51 > 0:16:56Six years after the Partition of Bengal, in 1911,
0:16:56 > 0:17:00the British finally gave in and reunited the state.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05Nares' goal had been achieved.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11But Nares had a younger sister, called Charuprobha,
0:17:11 > 0:17:15who was also involved in the Nationalist Movement.
0:17:21 > 0:17:23Sunetra knows from her mother that Charuprobha
0:17:23 > 0:17:25went to jail for her beliefs.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28And she's managed to get hold of her biography.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33By the 1920s, support for the Nationalist Movement was becoming
0:17:33 > 0:17:36increasingly difficult for Britain to contain.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41Mahatma Gandhi was emerging as an inspirational leader
0:17:41 > 0:17:43in the movement.
0:17:47 > 0:17:53So, "Charuprobha met Gandhi for the first time in the beginning of 1931.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57"She later recorded this meeting in writing."
0:17:57 > 0:18:02Oh, wow. "A long nurtured dream of mine was fulfilled,
0:18:02 > 0:18:06"when we entered the room we saw him sitting on the floor,
0:18:06 > 0:18:09"a vision of absolute grace.
0:18:09 > 0:18:13"We all touched his feet, which is a show of respect for the elderly.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16"He greeted us all with a smile on his face.
0:18:16 > 0:18:20"I had a request for Gandhiji, and was wondering how to initiate that."
0:18:20 > 0:18:23She's brave, wow.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25"When the time came for us to leave
0:18:25 > 0:18:30"I solicited my appeal to him, 'Bapuji, I have a request for you,'
0:18:30 > 0:18:32" 'if while at work, I have any question
0:18:32 > 0:18:37" 'or face difficulties to take decisions, may I write to you?'
0:18:37 > 0:18:41"He gracefully nodded his head and said, 'Of course.'
0:18:41 > 0:18:45"It was beyond my imagination that I would, without much of an effort,
0:18:45 > 0:18:48"receive such an award."
0:18:48 > 0:18:54She's got guts, to meet Gandhi is a big deal.
0:18:54 > 0:18:56It's great. It's such an honour.
0:19:00 > 0:19:05To find out whether her great-great aunt Charuprobha
0:19:05 > 0:19:07ever took Gandhi up on his offer of advice...
0:19:10 > 0:19:13..Sunetra has come to meet Sarmistha Dutta Gupta,
0:19:13 > 0:19:18an expert on the role of women in India's independence movement.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22Hi, Sarmistha. Shall we sit down? I've got some questions to ask you.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25- Of course, yeah, yeah.- So, I've got some information that I found out
0:19:25 > 0:19:29about my great-grandfather's sister, Charuprobha Sen-Gupta.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32I think one of the most amazing paragraphs I read was about the fact
0:19:32 > 0:19:34that she actually met Gandhi.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37And I'm intrigued to know, did she get in touch with him again?
0:19:37 > 0:19:39- Do you know?- Absolutely.
0:19:39 > 0:19:45She did. They were in touch through letters, and in person, also.
0:19:45 > 0:19:49She met Gandhi a couple of times more after that,
0:19:49 > 0:19:52- just look at this photograph. - No way, is that her?
0:19:52 > 0:19:55- Yes.- It wasn't just a couple of letters then?
0:19:55 > 0:19:57- She actually met him again and...? - Yes, yes.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01I can't believe that is somebody in my family.
0:20:01 > 0:20:05Honestly, I could have joked about this with friends and family, about,
0:20:05 > 0:20:09"Oh, I wonder if I'm connected in any way to Gandhi."
0:20:09 > 0:20:13And here I am, actually seeing my great-grandfather's sister...
0:20:13 > 0:20:15Absolutely, let me show you,
0:20:15 > 0:20:21there were many letters that Gandhi and Charuprobha exchanged.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24- No!- This was written some time in 1934.- This is a letter?!
0:20:24 > 0:20:26Yeah.
0:20:26 > 0:20:28"My dear Charuprobha, nonsense.
0:20:28 > 0:20:30"You must not give way to despair like that,
0:20:30 > 0:20:34"let us work knowingly and voluntarily, not for self,
0:20:34 > 0:20:36"but for the whole of humanity.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39"And we shall surely see God face-to-face.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42"This don't write doleful letters to me,
0:20:42 > 0:20:45"just begin the service that easily comes to you,
0:20:45 > 0:20:49"and you will soon expand and find joy.
0:20:49 > 0:20:50"Love, Bapu."
0:20:50 > 0:20:53- He was like, mentoring her. - Absolutely.- Wasn't he?
0:20:53 > 0:20:57It blows me away, slightly. How have you found these?
0:20:57 > 0:20:59Where have these letters been?
0:20:59 > 0:21:02They are all preserved in the National Archives of India.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06Charuprobha, she had emerged as quite a powerful local leader.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09She's very much out there in the public sphere.
0:21:09 > 0:21:14Giving speeches, taking part in nationalist marches.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16And also going to jail.
0:21:16 > 0:21:18I keep forgetting she went to jail,
0:21:18 > 0:21:23because there's just so much more about this whole story.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27She was arrested three times, actually.
0:21:27 > 0:21:32This is a newspaper announcement of her first arrest.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35"Lady arrested. Charuprobha Sen,
0:21:35 > 0:21:38"a prominent lady worker of the district,
0:21:38 > 0:21:41"was arrested by the police."
0:21:41 > 0:21:45She was arrested for, you know, giving what the police called,
0:21:45 > 0:21:47"Treason inciting speech."
0:21:47 > 0:21:50And then she was arrested twice later,
0:21:50 > 0:21:53the next time was in 1932, when, actually,
0:21:53 > 0:21:56she was imprisoned for nearly 16 months.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00- What? 16 months?- Yeah, absolutely.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04This is a pointer to the kind of sacrifices and the challenges
0:22:04 > 0:22:07that, you know, Charuprobha and women like her,
0:22:07 > 0:22:10who participated in the Nationalist Movement,
0:22:10 > 0:22:13actually had to take on themselves,
0:22:13 > 0:22:16service to the nation was more important to her
0:22:16 > 0:22:19than anything else.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22After Charuprobha had devoted decades of her life
0:22:22 > 0:22:24to the Nationalist Movement,
0:22:24 > 0:22:29in 1947, India finally won its independence from Britain.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34You can take a look at this photograph,
0:22:34 > 0:22:36- it's actually quite late in life. - Oh, wow.
0:22:37 > 0:22:42After India's independence, she was very active,
0:22:42 > 0:22:44always working for social change.
0:22:44 > 0:22:46She looks like a strong woman.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50- She does.- She'd fight her own corner.- Yeah.
0:22:52 > 0:22:54I don't know if everyone realises,
0:22:54 > 0:22:59but being connected in any way to Gandhi is really sacred,
0:22:59 > 0:23:01and that's what I take from this,
0:23:01 > 0:23:04I had a great grand aunt, who was so important
0:23:04 > 0:23:06that she was connected to Gandhi,
0:23:06 > 0:23:09and a great-grandfather, who was her brother,
0:23:09 > 0:23:11and who did so much, and it just makes me feel
0:23:11 > 0:23:14like I'm such a small piece of this big puzzle.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22To see if she can find out more about Nures or his sister,
0:23:22 > 0:23:25Sunetra has come to meet a distant cousin, Sirkanya,
0:23:25 > 0:23:28whose mother kept a treasure trove of family memorabilia.
0:23:28 > 0:23:30How are you? Tell me where we're going?
0:23:30 > 0:23:34- We're going to Santiniketan. - Yay!- And we're taking a train.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37Really? It's been, like, 30 years since I've been on a train.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40- 30 years!- To Santiniketan. - And Santiniketan, too?- All right.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42I'm so glad you're my tour guide.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46Sirkanya is taking Sunetra north of Kolkata to Santiniketan,
0:23:46 > 0:23:48to the house where Sirkanya's mother,
0:23:48 > 0:23:51one of Nares' daughters, used to live.
0:24:05 > 0:24:09- Look at the smile. - Oh, no. I wish I didn't.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11What was I thinking?
0:24:11 > 0:24:15Look at you, with your glasses. I remember those really big glasses.
0:24:15 > 0:24:21That was probably the last time I went to Santiniketan. I was 15.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23Someone's coming along.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26I want to see him make it. Will you make one for me?
0:24:26 > 0:24:29It smells divine.
0:24:29 > 0:24:31This is the house.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33Yes!
0:24:33 > 0:24:37My mother left the house in 2008.
0:24:37 > 0:24:43- Mm-hm.- And she's got a lot of old stuff from the family.
0:24:47 > 0:24:49Ten rupees. Look at that.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53So, tomorrow morning, can we go there and have a little look?
0:24:53 > 0:24:56- We'll go there.- Fantastic.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02So, do you recognise any of this?
0:25:02 > 0:25:03- This is it.- Yeah.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07- We're straight there. Oh! - This is it.
0:25:07 > 0:25:09- Yeah, it has built up a lot more. - Yeah.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16No-one has lived in the house since Sirkanya's mother passed away,
0:25:16 > 0:25:19leaving her family archives stored here.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21When you're older.
0:25:21 > 0:25:26- That's right.- I thought, when I was little, this was huge.
0:25:26 > 0:25:30- OK, do you remember this room? - I think I do, slightly.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32Part of me wants to say, "Yes, I do."
0:25:32 > 0:25:35But I don't, not 100%.
0:25:35 > 0:25:36OK.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40Wow, look at these books.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44I mean, it's like we've walked into a museum. I mean, look at that.
0:25:44 > 0:25:46Eight years it's been empty.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49We come, off and on.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53- That's Nares again.- Nares again.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55So, where is this box of goodies?
0:25:55 > 0:25:58OK, all right, let's see.
0:25:58 > 0:26:00I know she's very organised.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04I was expecting a cupboard of saris and jewellery,
0:26:04 > 0:26:07maybe a few books and stuff,
0:26:07 > 0:26:11but this is the most organised admin library ever.
0:26:11 > 0:26:16I know! Here are the ones that say Baba Ma.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20OK. Oh, wow.
0:26:20 > 0:26:22So, look at this.
0:26:22 > 0:26:26So, this is a duplicate copy of the passport.
0:26:26 > 0:26:28Maybe have a little look at what it says.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31It says, "Mr Nares Chandra Sen-Gupta.
0:26:31 > 0:26:36"Accompanied by his wife, Mrs Labanya Prabha Sen-Gupta.
0:26:36 > 0:26:38"Maiden name, Baskshi."
0:26:41 > 0:26:43Oh, my God.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46I've never seen a picture of him this young,
0:26:46 > 0:26:49and I've never seen a picture of her.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53It's funny, because I didn't have any idea what she might look like.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56So, hang on, let me see this. Place and date of birth, Kanthalia?
0:26:56 > 0:26:58Kanthalia.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01So, she came from Kanthalia.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05- And he was from Bansi.- Bansi. Right, but look at this,
0:27:05 > 0:27:08- visible distinguishing marks... - What's the visible distinguishing?
0:27:08 > 0:27:10So, his visible distinguishing marks.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13- Read it out to me.- "Black spot on left side of forehead."
0:27:13 > 0:27:17- OK.- And her distinguishing visible marks was,
0:27:17 > 0:27:19"Mole, left forearm."
0:27:19 > 0:27:24- OK.- And he was five foot ten, and she was four foot nine.
0:27:24 > 0:27:26I think I've heard this from my mother,
0:27:26 > 0:27:31she used to sit on the chair and her legs wouldn't reach the ground.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34- And that photograph's incredible. - That's amazing.
0:27:34 > 0:27:35Incredible.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39- I like that. OK, let's keep going. What else is there?- That's amazing.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41Let's see. So, this is all falling apart,
0:27:41 > 0:27:43so we have to be very careful.
0:27:43 > 0:27:48- What's that, letters, 30 letters?- This is very sweet...
0:27:48 > 0:27:53- Special.- ..because she's written, "My dear Babu,
0:27:53 > 0:27:55"So, I cannot tell you
0:27:55 > 0:27:59"how much I miss you, even being away from you,
0:27:59 > 0:28:02"like, these few days."
0:28:02 > 0:28:04That might be early on in their relationship.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07No, I think this is not that early on,
0:28:07 > 0:28:10because they were like that all through, apparently.
0:28:10 > 0:28:16Really? You just don't think of your great-grandparents being so romantic
0:28:16 > 0:28:18- and loving and... - They were very loving.
0:28:18 > 0:28:23Maybe she was the impetus for him to understand how women
0:28:23 > 0:28:28- should be treated, and the force behind him.- It's possible.
0:28:28 > 0:28:30Yes.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32Take a look at this.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35"Lower primary scholarship pass certificate."
0:28:35 > 0:28:37This is a school certificate.
0:28:37 > 0:28:41- 1895.- 1895.
0:28:41 > 0:28:43- Does that says, "son of"? - "Daughter of."
0:28:43 > 0:28:47So, they've crossed that out, and put, "daughter of."
0:28:47 > 0:28:49- Of?- "Bipin Bihari Bakshi."
0:28:49 > 0:28:51Bipin Bihari Bakshi.
0:28:51 > 0:28:55So, that's the name of my great-great grandfather?
0:28:55 > 0:29:01- Yes.- And pupil of Kanthalia Primary School.
0:29:01 > 0:29:05I noticed that on the passport as well it said,
0:29:05 > 0:29:08"Birthplace, Kanthalia."
0:29:08 > 0:29:10Where is that?
0:29:10 > 0:29:13This is in, now, Bangladesh.
0:29:13 > 0:29:15That is in Bangladesh?
0:29:15 > 0:29:18So, she was from, what is now Bangladesh,
0:29:18 > 0:29:23- but was then part of India. - That was all Bengal.
0:29:23 > 0:29:24Were they both from Bangladesh?
0:29:24 > 0:29:27They are both from Bangladesh, because even here,
0:29:27 > 0:29:29it says, "Bansi."
0:29:29 > 0:29:33And that's also in Bangladesh.
0:29:33 > 0:29:38So, the whole family, really, came from that side of India at the time.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42- Right.- So, if we wanted to find out who she was as a youngster,
0:29:42 > 0:29:47or who Bipin Bihari was, we'd have to go to Kanthalia.
0:29:47 > 0:29:51- Kanthalia. Yes.- Kanthalia.
0:29:51 > 0:29:55Sunetra has discovered that her great-grandmother, Nares' wife,
0:29:55 > 0:29:59was called Labanya, and her great-great grandfather
0:29:59 > 0:30:01was Bipin Bihari Bakshi.
0:30:05 > 0:30:07My mind is whirling.
0:30:07 > 0:30:09I came thinking I was going to be discussing
0:30:09 > 0:30:13maybe one member of my family, finding out a bit more about it,
0:30:13 > 0:30:16but now I've got a face, of a great-grandmother
0:30:16 > 0:30:19that I didn't even, I didn't even think about.
0:30:21 > 0:30:24It would be nice to find out more, to see how much further we can go.
0:30:24 > 0:30:29Maybe we can trace Bipin, my great-great grandfather.
0:30:36 > 0:30:39Kanthalia, where Sunetra's great-grandmother was born
0:30:39 > 0:30:42and went to school, is a village in Bangladesh.
0:30:42 > 0:30:44A couple of hours drive from the capital, Dhaka.
0:30:53 > 0:30:56HORNS BLARE
0:30:56 > 0:30:58Oh, my God!
0:31:03 > 0:31:06Nerves of steel to drive around here.
0:31:06 > 0:31:09We are actually getting hit by cycles.
0:31:09 > 0:31:16What's really striking me is just the stark difference
0:31:16 > 0:31:17between where I was born,
0:31:17 > 0:31:20and where my great grandparents were born.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23It's just like we're planets away.
0:31:30 > 0:31:35Kanthalia is home to around 600 Bangladeshi families.
0:31:35 > 0:31:37But when Sunetra's great-grandmother was at school here,
0:31:37 > 0:31:42Bangladesh was known as East Bengal, and was part of British India.
0:31:45 > 0:31:50It's so, sort of, simple, and very basic.
0:31:50 > 0:31:54Sunetra has arranged to meet historian Doctor Asher Islam,
0:31:54 > 0:31:56to see if she can find out anything more
0:31:56 > 0:31:58about her great-grandmother, Labanya.
0:31:58 > 0:32:00- Hello.- Hello.- You must be Asher.
0:32:00 > 0:32:02Yes, I am. And you must be Sunetra.
0:32:02 > 0:32:05- Yes.- It's so nice to meet you.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08So nice to meet you. I can't tell you what this feels like.
0:32:08 > 0:32:12It is a bit of a dream, a dreamlike scenario for me,
0:32:12 > 0:32:16to be standing where, I think, my great-grandmother was brought up.
0:32:16 > 0:32:19So, I've got something I want to show you.
0:32:19 > 0:32:21I never thought I'd be holding,
0:32:21 > 0:32:25but it's my great-grandmother's school certificate.
0:32:25 > 0:32:26Oh, my goodness.
0:32:26 > 0:32:28- This is so wonderful.- I know.
0:32:28 > 0:32:32And it says on here, you know, it's crossed out, "son of,"
0:32:32 > 0:32:34- and it's made, "daughter of." - "Daughter of," yes.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37Yes, because in the second half of the 19th century,
0:32:37 > 0:32:40it was not normal for daughters to go to school.
0:32:40 > 0:32:44I can tell from the certificate that she came from a very liberal family,
0:32:44 > 0:32:46a very enlightened family.
0:32:46 > 0:32:48How would you know that?
0:32:48 > 0:32:52Because this is proof that her father
0:32:52 > 0:32:55felt that girls should have an education.
0:32:55 > 0:32:57Wow. That's been a theme, you know.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00That's been such a theme in my journey and discovery.
0:33:00 > 0:33:05From the very name, Bipin Behari Gupta Bakshi,
0:33:05 > 0:33:10the very title says that, you came from an aristocratic family.
0:33:10 > 0:33:12This Gupta Baskshi title is aristocratic title.
0:33:12 > 0:33:16- No!- It's the title of the landowners.
0:33:16 > 0:33:18This land document,
0:33:18 > 0:33:23it shows the area of the homestead of the Bakshi family.
0:33:23 > 0:33:27So, there are one, two, three, four houses,
0:33:27 > 0:33:31which comes to the total area of six acres,
0:33:31 > 0:33:35and a family which lived in a homestead of six acres
0:33:35 > 0:33:38would have hundreds of acres of cultivated land.
0:33:38 > 0:33:41So, what you are saying is, if you have six acres of homeland,
0:33:41 > 0:33:44you'd have far more around you.
0:33:44 > 0:33:48Hundreds and hundreds of acres of farming surrounding that house.
0:33:48 > 0:33:49Like farming? I see.
0:33:49 > 0:33:54- Wow!- It shows that they were in a big landed family.
0:33:54 > 0:33:56They were a big-landed aristocracy.
0:33:56 > 0:33:58That's something I didn't know, for sure.
0:33:58 > 0:34:01They were, we call it, "zaminder."
0:34:01 > 0:34:03The landlords of the homestead.
0:34:03 > 0:34:07This is the name, Bipin Bihari Gupta Bakshi.
0:34:07 > 0:34:12This is your great-great grandfather and there are five names here,
0:34:12 > 0:34:16who are the sons of Bipin Bihari Gupta Bakshi.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19The first son is Jagadish Chandra Gupta Bakshi.
0:34:19 > 0:34:22So, these are Labanya's brothers?
0:34:22 > 0:34:24Her brothers.
0:34:24 > 0:34:27Sunetra has discovered that her great-great grandfather,
0:34:27 > 0:34:31Bipin Bihari Bakshi was the landlord of Kanthalia Village.
0:34:31 > 0:34:35And his eldest son, Labanya's brother, was Jagadish -
0:34:35 > 0:34:38Sunetra's great-great uncle.
0:34:38 > 0:34:42The house would be the best house in the village,
0:34:42 > 0:34:44the best house in the surrounding villages.
0:34:44 > 0:34:48They would have had clean drinking water.
0:34:48 > 0:34:50I get the picture.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53They were treated very well.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56They were the kings of the area.
0:34:56 > 0:35:01You know, a zaminder is actually the king of this little area.
0:35:01 > 0:35:02- No.- Yes.
0:35:02 > 0:35:07And you can get a glimpse of how good a lifestyle they had,
0:35:07 > 0:35:12this is an article about your great-grandmother, Labanya,
0:35:12 > 0:35:15wrote in around 1920.
0:35:15 > 0:35:19This is her memories of her childhood.
0:35:19 > 0:35:22- No way.- Yes.- The one thing I'd really like to know...
0:35:22 > 0:35:24Gosh, it's making me quite emotional.
0:35:24 > 0:35:26..is that I'd like to have known what she was like.
0:35:26 > 0:35:30Because I'm all about emotions, and I deal with emotions as an actor.
0:35:30 > 0:35:33- These are her very words.- I was hoping I'd find something
0:35:33 > 0:35:37that would, at least, give me an idea of what she was like.
0:35:37 > 0:35:39This is gold dust to me.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42- It is.- And to my mum and to so many other people, I can't tell you.
0:35:44 > 0:35:46- I'll save that, thank you. - You're welcome.
0:35:57 > 0:36:01"Our house is next to the river, there's a place for guests to stay.
0:36:01 > 0:36:04"That's why all travellers go via our river.
0:36:07 > 0:36:11"The boats on the river looked like reflections of the sky on the water.
0:36:11 > 0:36:16"The boats are packed with people, families, men, women and children.
0:36:16 > 0:36:20"One can hear them singing, playing instruments and chanting hymns.
0:36:20 > 0:36:23"It is a pleasure to watch them have fun.
0:36:26 > 0:36:30"Young boys and girls get wet in the rain and sing monsoon songs.
0:36:30 > 0:36:33"Girls steer some of the boats themselves.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36"I've seen them rowing the boats with oars.
0:36:36 > 0:36:38"In the entire year,
0:36:38 > 0:36:42"we used to look forward to this happy time of the year.
0:36:42 > 0:36:48"Now, so many days pass by. Where does one find joy of that kind?"
0:36:59 > 0:37:01Sunetra has come to meet Narayan,
0:37:01 > 0:37:04one of the oldest people in Kanthalia,
0:37:04 > 0:37:07to see if he remembers anything about her family.
0:37:07 > 0:37:10- Nomoshkar.- Nomoshkar. - Nomoshkar, nomoshkar.
0:37:10 > 0:37:12- Hello.- Apni kemon achhen?
0:37:12 > 0:37:17- I'm very well.- How are you? - Fine, fine.
0:37:17 > 0:37:21My mother's grandmother was Labanya Prabha.
0:37:21 > 0:37:25And Labanya's father was Bipin Bihari Bakshi.
0:37:25 > 0:37:28Did you ever know them at all?
0:37:32 > 0:37:34That's my great-great-grandfather's name.
0:37:34 > 0:37:36You don't look old enough to be able to remember him.
0:37:36 > 0:37:39How old are you?
0:37:39 > 0:37:42- 92.- Wow!
0:37:49 > 0:37:53Do you think you ever met Labanya?
0:38:05 > 0:38:08It's amazing that I've found somebody...
0:38:08 > 0:38:11You feel like you know me.
0:38:27 > 0:38:29- I understand, yes.- You understand?
0:38:29 > 0:38:31I am understanding.
0:38:35 > 0:38:38So, they did treat you well?
0:38:42 > 0:38:45Uh-huh.
0:38:45 > 0:38:48Sunetra has discovered that when her great-great-grandfather
0:38:48 > 0:38:51Bipin Bihari died, after Labanya had moved to Kolkata,
0:38:51 > 0:38:54Jagadish became the landlord of Kanthalia.
0:38:54 > 0:38:57So, where exactly did they live around here?
0:38:57 > 0:38:59Do you know?
0:39:03 > 0:39:05It's still here now?
0:39:08 > 0:39:10Yes. Will you take me?
0:39:10 > 0:39:12That would be so nice, thank you.
0:39:12 > 0:39:14You lead the way.
0:39:14 > 0:39:16This is great.
0:39:34 > 0:39:36He's bringing a stick. OK.
0:39:37 > 0:39:39That's reassuring.
0:39:49 > 0:39:52OK. I'm coming. I'm right behind you.
0:40:01 > 0:40:03Oh, wow.
0:40:09 > 0:40:11It must have been so beautiful.
0:40:11 > 0:40:13I can see a tiny bit of cornicing,
0:40:13 > 0:40:19which suggests there was some incredible carving on the ceiling.
0:40:41 > 0:40:45It sounds like this was a really, opulent, grand, special,
0:40:45 > 0:40:48big home where everybody came.
0:40:48 > 0:40:51And a temple, like this, to be built.
0:41:05 > 0:41:09That was the entrance? That was how you got in?
0:41:11 > 0:41:13A huge room there.
0:41:24 > 0:41:28It makes me feel like I must be walking in the space that
0:41:28 > 0:41:32Bipin and Labanya and her brothers and sisters all walked in,
0:41:32 > 0:41:35and maybe even my grandmother may have visited here with them
0:41:35 > 0:41:37and been in this house.
0:41:37 > 0:41:39Ah?
0:41:41 > 0:41:43Let's see.
0:41:43 > 0:41:47I've never been a brave explorer.
0:41:47 > 0:41:50But this, I want to walk up the stairs.
0:41:50 > 0:41:52I might be the last member of the family
0:41:52 > 0:41:55that gets to walk up these stairs.
0:42:01 > 0:42:06How amazing, for me to be able to get up here and, you know,
0:42:06 > 0:42:08see where they used to live. It's huge.
0:42:08 > 0:42:12It's absolutely huge. And this is just the bit that I can see.
0:42:19 > 0:42:20Oh, wow.
0:42:30 > 0:42:32Just by the river.
0:42:36 > 0:42:41I don't even know what I've just walked through, I feel such...
0:42:41 > 0:42:46such a rush of history and walking back in time, almost,
0:42:46 > 0:42:49going through the house that is obviously decrepit, and so walls,
0:42:49 > 0:42:51but used to be palatial.
0:42:51 > 0:42:55And a house which entertained everyone in this area.
0:42:55 > 0:42:58I'm getting the feeling that, you know,
0:42:58 > 0:43:01my family was in some ways so revered, so kind,
0:43:01 > 0:43:04and they helped each other. It just made me,
0:43:04 > 0:43:06I had a bit of a revelation of my own,
0:43:06 > 0:43:09which is that I didn't really like talking about the fact
0:43:09 > 0:43:12that my grandmother died in a really horrific way.
0:43:12 > 0:43:17She was cooking, and her sari caught fire, and she died.
0:43:17 > 0:43:19And the whole family, nobody really talks about that,
0:43:19 > 0:43:21but she was really special to a lot of people.
0:43:21 > 0:43:25That was just my grandmother. So, I never looked beyond her.
0:43:25 > 0:43:29And I think, if she knew that I was walking
0:43:29 > 0:43:34through her grandfather's house, she would just be...
0:43:34 > 0:43:37I think that would just make her so happy, and my mum.
0:44:01 > 0:44:03So, why is it like this now?
0:44:17 > 0:44:20The seat of Bangladesh's independence was sown
0:44:20 > 0:44:23when India became independent in 1947,
0:44:23 > 0:44:29as two separate countries - India and Pakistan.
0:44:29 > 0:44:34But Pakistan itself was split into two provinces, 1,000 miles apart.
0:44:34 > 0:44:38And today's Bangladesh was known as East Pakistan.
0:44:38 > 0:44:42By 1971, when Sunetra's great-great uncle Jagadish
0:44:42 > 0:44:44was master of the family house,
0:44:44 > 0:44:48politicians in East Pakistan were calling for independence.
0:44:48 > 0:44:50THEY CHANT IN OWN LANGUAGE
0:44:50 > 0:44:54In response, West Pakistan launched a brutal war.
0:45:01 > 0:45:05Sunetra has come to Bangladesh's National Martyrs Memorial
0:45:05 > 0:45:07to find out about the war.
0:45:07 > 0:45:10Let's sit down, and I'll show you some documentary evidence
0:45:10 > 0:45:13- of what actually happened. - OK, yeah.
0:45:13 > 0:45:15She's meeting Aly Zarker,
0:45:15 > 0:45:19who helped to set up Bangladesh's Liberation War Museum.
0:45:19 > 0:45:24And this is a huge article that appeared in the Sunday Times,
0:45:24 > 0:45:27- June 20th 1971.- OK.
0:45:27 > 0:45:32And you will get a brief idea about what it was like when we were being
0:45:32 > 0:45:35pursued by the Pakistani soldiers.
0:45:35 > 0:45:39"I witnessed, at close quarters, the extent of the killing.
0:45:39 > 0:45:42"I heard the screams of men, bludgeoned to death.
0:45:42 > 0:45:46"I have witnessed the brutality of kill and burn missions.
0:45:46 > 0:45:50"I was repeatedly told by senior military and civil officers
0:45:50 > 0:45:53in Dakar, 'We are determined to cleanse East Pakistan
0:45:53 > 0:45:57" 'once and for all of the threat of secession,
0:45:57 > 0:46:00" 'even if it means killing off two million people.'
0:46:00 > 0:46:05"The West Pakistan army in East Bengal is doing exactly that,
0:46:05 > 0:46:08"with a terrifying thoroughness."
0:46:08 > 0:46:10Where were you living when this was going on?
0:46:10 > 0:46:12Dakar. I left my home.
0:46:12 > 0:46:15I was part of the freedom fighters.
0:46:15 > 0:46:19- But you chose to fight for the right reasons?- I chose to fight,
0:46:19 > 0:46:23because I feel like I didn't want to live like this, subjugated.
0:46:23 > 0:46:26Do you know what astonishes me, is that we're talking about 1971.
0:46:26 > 0:46:28That's, just like, that was only, like, back then.
0:46:28 > 0:46:31It was just before I was born.
0:46:31 > 0:46:35It just feels too recent to hear about something as gruesome
0:46:35 > 0:46:37and harrowing as that.
0:46:37 > 0:46:40Most of the ordinary soldiers were not enlightened or educated.
0:46:40 > 0:46:43I was witness to at least one interrogation
0:46:43 > 0:46:45of one Pakistani soldier,
0:46:45 > 0:46:50and this guy said that they were instructed by their officers
0:46:50 > 0:46:52to go ahead and kill all Bengalis.
0:46:52 > 0:46:55- Muslims and Hindus? - Muslims and Hindus.
0:46:55 > 0:46:57And rape the women,
0:46:57 > 0:47:03through whom they'd be able to raise a new generation of children,
0:47:03 > 0:47:06who would be true Pakistanis.
0:47:07 > 0:47:10They were asked to father children.
0:47:10 > 0:47:15- They were told to come over and...? - Actually rape.
0:47:15 > 0:47:18Actually rape the women, and then keep the women,
0:47:18 > 0:47:22- in the hope that they were pregnant? - In custody, yes.
0:47:22 > 0:47:24They said that these will be true Pakistanis.
0:47:24 > 0:47:27Let me show you another little document.
0:47:27 > 0:47:30- This gets worse. - This is by Doctor Nilima Ibrahim.
0:47:30 > 0:47:35She had written a book called The War Heroine Speaks.
0:47:35 > 0:47:39In which you will find testimony of the war heroines
0:47:39 > 0:47:42who had survived this onslaught.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45"One day, in the late afternoon, there was a scream.
0:47:45 > 0:47:48"The military had arrived in our village.
0:47:48 > 0:47:50"We were pulled out from the bedroom,
0:47:50 > 0:47:53"I've resisted their pulling as much as I could,
0:47:53 > 0:47:56"with whatever little strength I had in my small body.
0:48:00 > 0:48:04"I changed places and captors many times since that afternoon.
0:48:04 > 0:48:06"Sometimes I was alone.
0:48:06 > 0:48:08"Sometimes with other girls.
0:48:08 > 0:48:13"Every two months, they would allow us to shower for their own needs.
0:48:13 > 0:48:15"We were not allowed to wear saris.
0:48:15 > 0:48:17"It is not because they hate saris,
0:48:17 > 0:48:22but that some girls used saris to commit suicide."
0:48:22 > 0:48:25- Absolutely.- "I used to think, whichever way it goes,
0:48:25 > 0:48:30"the war needed to come to an end, either I would be alive or dead.
0:48:30 > 0:48:33"But I needed to be released from this state of living death."
0:48:40 > 0:48:43It is still contested whether the extensive use of rape
0:48:43 > 0:48:47was actively encouraged by some military leaders,
0:48:47 > 0:48:51or was an unplanned horror during a brutal war.
0:48:51 > 0:48:55One which also saw Bangladeshi fighters commit atrocities.
0:48:56 > 0:48:58But after nine months of fighting,
0:48:58 > 0:49:01tens of thousands of women had been violated,
0:49:01 > 0:49:04and hundreds of thousands of people, killed.
0:49:10 > 0:49:11I feel quite gobsmacked, at how
0:49:11 > 0:49:14I've never known about this war.
0:49:14 > 0:49:16It seems to be something so significant,
0:49:16 > 0:49:20and yet I haven't barely even thought
0:49:20 > 0:49:23about Bangladesh as independent, or how it came about.
0:49:23 > 0:49:26I think I'm a bit nervous to find out about,
0:49:26 > 0:49:29at the same time, is what the relation,
0:49:29 > 0:49:34or the effect of that was on the family
0:49:34 > 0:49:38that I belong to in Kanthalia.
0:49:38 > 0:49:42Sunetra has returned to Kanthalia to try to find out what happened
0:49:42 > 0:49:44to her great-great uncle Jagadish,
0:49:44 > 0:49:48and his family when the Pakistani army reached the village.
0:49:49 > 0:49:51She's managed to track down Sushil,
0:49:51 > 0:49:55the son of the local Hindu priest during the war.
0:49:55 > 0:49:58So, what happened in 1971, to this village?
0:50:03 > 0:50:05Eight-years-old?
0:50:42 > 0:50:45So, do you know what happened to Jagadish?
0:50:45 > 0:50:47When your dad returned, did he have any news about what might have
0:50:47 > 0:50:49happened to them?
0:51:21 > 0:51:23That's not what I wanted to hear.
0:51:27 > 0:51:29So...
0:51:29 > 0:51:32given that we know that Jagadish died,
0:51:32 > 0:51:36what happened to the rest of the family that were living here?
0:51:46 > 0:51:48I understand.
0:51:48 > 0:51:51Sunetra has discovered that in May 1971,
0:51:51 > 0:51:55two months into Bangladesh's war of Independence,
0:51:55 > 0:51:59Jagadish, her great-great uncle, was murdered.
0:52:01 > 0:52:05I've, sort of, submerged myself into this family,
0:52:05 > 0:52:08this distant part of the family that I never knew of,
0:52:08 > 0:52:10I've sort of grown quite close to them,
0:52:10 > 0:52:12and wanted to know little bits, here, there and everywhere,
0:52:12 > 0:52:17and now I know how horrifically, sadly, wrongly
0:52:17 > 0:52:21somebody died in our family, that...
0:52:21 > 0:52:23it's a bit of a blow.
0:52:32 > 0:52:35But Sunetra doesn't yet know what happened to Jagadish's wife,
0:52:35 > 0:52:38who was also living in the family house.
0:52:40 > 0:52:42She's come to meet Vashanti,
0:52:42 > 0:52:46who was a maid for the women of the house in 1971.
0:52:46 > 0:52:50Hello. I'm Sunetra.
0:52:50 > 0:52:55I've come to sit with you, and ask you some questions.
0:52:55 > 0:53:00On that night, when you heard the news that Jagadish had gone,
0:53:00 > 0:53:04what was it like here for the family? How did you all react?
0:53:26 > 0:53:28So, did they stay here during the fighting?
0:53:31 > 0:53:35OK. So, they did escape?
0:53:43 > 0:53:45What did this letter say?
0:53:59 > 0:54:02So, has there been anybody from that side of the family that's ever
0:54:02 > 0:54:03returned to the village?
0:54:06 > 0:54:08Keu? Nobody?
0:54:11 > 0:54:13Aw!
0:54:13 > 0:54:16I'm so proud to be that person, to come and say hello,
0:54:16 > 0:54:21and to thank you for everything that you've done for my family,
0:54:21 > 0:54:23years, and years, and years ago.
0:54:24 > 0:54:26Thank you.
0:54:50 > 0:54:57Do you know, you can just feel something really serene in here.
0:54:57 > 0:54:59I'm going to offer some flowers,
0:54:59 > 0:55:03because I know that my mum would be very proud of me if I did that.
0:55:35 > 0:55:39Today, I will feed you all, like my ancestors fed your families.
0:55:42 > 0:55:44And I will also be very happy.
0:55:44 > 0:55:48We'll all be happy together.
0:55:49 > 0:55:50Thank you.
0:55:50 > 0:55:52You are very welcome.
0:55:56 > 0:55:58- Next, next.- Thank you.
0:55:58 > 0:56:00You're welcome.
0:56:00 > 0:56:02Thank you, very, very thank you.
0:56:02 > 0:56:05Very, very thank you back.
0:56:09 > 0:56:12This whole journey has been full of surprises,
0:56:12 > 0:56:16I think I came blind, but curious.
0:56:16 > 0:56:19Blind in a way that, I suppose, I'm quite ashamed to say,
0:56:19 > 0:56:22because I was in complete denial
0:56:22 > 0:56:25of my Bengali roots.
0:56:25 > 0:56:31I think I was so keen to be a British girl, from Liverpool.
0:56:31 > 0:56:34And I still am so proud of that,
0:56:34 > 0:56:38but that was really what my identity began and ended with from me.
0:56:38 > 0:56:41And now...
0:56:41 > 0:56:44I couldn't be more Bengali.
0:56:44 > 0:56:47I'm wearing Bengali clothes, I'm eating Bengali food.
0:56:47 > 0:56:49I'm mixing with Bengali locals.
0:56:54 > 0:56:56And I'm so very grateful.
0:56:56 > 0:57:01I'm grateful to call myself Bengali, so I think...
0:57:01 > 0:57:04I've got a new part to my identity -
0:57:04 > 0:57:07thanks to everything I've learned.