Hujoor
Saidabadi [1] : Montorey shontaan proshob
[Part
–2]
By
Prabir Ghosh
Translation : Shabnam
Nadiya
Continuation from Part-1
:
Why an iron
ball bearing? As I stepped out to the veranda pondering this question, I saw the
wife from the last couple enter a room with two of the disciples.
I climbed down the stairs quickly. The
husband was waiting at the foot of the stairs.
I asked the man, I don’t see your wife.
She’s
learning all the rules, replied the naïve man.
Today it’s
even more crowded. But we got the
chance to go upstairs pretty quick. Our
first patient is Shyamoli Nath.
Address: 11/5, Jogipara Road, Kolkata 28.
She’s a Thalassemia patient. Hujoor
said, You’ve got tuberculosis, my child.
Seeing such a huge mistake in Hujoor’s diagnosis,
Shyamoli started arguing with him. I
managed to quiet her down. The
pieces of paper with the prayers printed on them in red and green ink were
stacked in two piles on either side of Hujoor.
He proffered the green paper and said, Soak this in water and drink the
water in the morning and the evening – twice a day for one month.
Soak the red paper in oil and massage the oil on your back and chest for
one month. Ten and a half year old Mitali
Mukherjee lives in 126A, Sukanto Shoronee, Kolkata 85.
Suffering from Nephritis. Informed
of her condition, Hujoor asked how old she was.
Hearing her age, he said that he didn’t pray for anyone under twelve.
Noni Bhoumik,
residing in 20/1 B J N Bannerjee Lane, Kolkata 36.
Suffering from asthma for 20 years.
He too was given the red and green pieces of paper.
He was told to soak one in water and to drink the water and to soak the
other in oil and rub on the oil. Timirboron
Ghoshdostidar and Joya Ghoshdostidar of Colet Barracks, Beleghata
arrived asking for a child. Hujoor
took the egg from Joya’s hand and after placing it in a steel bowl, poured
water into the bowl. After washing
the egg for a while, he dried it and putting it back in Joya’s hand, prayed
over it for a few seconds and struck the egg with a steel spoon.
As the eggshell cracked open we saw that the egg had become boiled.
Even more surprisingly, the mark we had made on
the raw eggshell with a dot pen was absent on the shell of the boiled egg.
Joya, Timir, Kumar and myself realized quite clearly while examining the
egg, that it had been replaced while being dried in the towel.
Hujoor was merely a high-class
magician.
He had really good fingers though.
Realizing that it would be foolhardy to challenge Hujoor in the presence
of his enormous band of hired guns, we were forced to stay silent.
Next entered a Hindi speaking couple.
Hujoor asked Kumar and myself to remain.
The woman brought out her egg. Seeing
the bluish hue of the egg, Hujoor said, This egg won’t do, you have to bring a
white egg. We
understood that Hujoor refrained from displaying his supernatural powers because
he did not have a bluish boiled egg.
Now he
took the iron ball from me and placed it on the paper with the prayer written in
red ink. He wrapped it around the
iron ball and stuffed it inside an amulet that had Urdu writing on it and
stopped up the amulet with wax. He
hung it around my neck with black string and said, It’s 10.25 now.
If you open the amulet just after 1.25 and see that the iron ball has
turned into gold, then return straightaway.
Don’t open it before three hours.
If you do, you won’t receive the mercy of Allah – the iron will
remain iron.
I found the
journalist from the Urdu magazine at the reception counter.
I handed him a letter in a sealed envelope and told him, I was supposed
to give this to Hujoor Sahib. I
won’t go upstairs again. Would
you please hand this over to Hujoor Sahib.
Don’t
worry. I’ll deliver it
immediately.
As soon as
we left the hotel, a number of the society members waiting in the queue dropped
out from the line unobtrusively. We
all entered a teashop. I
opened the amulet. Out came a gold
ball. Not three hours later but
just fifteen minutes later.
A
few of us had returned to my flat to discuss our next step, when I received a
phone call from Hujoor. In a soft
sweet voice he informed me that he had received my
letter with the challenge. But
what had I found when I had opened the amulet? Hadn’t the iron turned to gold?
If it had, why hadn’t I appeared in front of him yet?
I told him
that I had opened the amulet as soon as I had left the hotel. There was a gold
ball instead of the iron ball in the amulet even then.
If you’ve replaced the iron ball inside the amulet with a gold ball
by sleight of hand, then of course three hours and three minutes is all the
same.
Even
after hearing all this, in a voice as vast as the sky, Hujoor said – he wanted
my cooperation. If I was willing to
cooperate then I should meet him at Hotel Hira tomorrow morning.
If I didn’t approve of the meeting place then
I could meet him at the airport. He
even gave me the time of the flight. He
didn’t forget to let me know – if
I cooperated then the gold ball would turn into a big ball –
a one seer ball.
Hujoor laughed with an open voice.
No.
I didn’t meet him. Instead
I met with the Bangladeshi Deputy High Commissioner in Kolkata.
But that was on April 24. In
the meantime, an article of mine about Hujoor Saidabadi had been published.
I handed the Deputy high Commissioner with a letter written on the
letterhead of the Rationalist Association.
Attached to the letter was a copy of the article published in Ajkal
magazine, a copy of the advertisement published by Hujoor Saidabadi and a copy
of the letter handed to Hujoor Saidabadi on behalf of the Rationalist
Association.
Following
is the letter written to the Deputy High Commissioner –
The
Honourable Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh
9,
Circus Avenue
Kolkata
700 017
With
deep sorrow, concern and strong resentment, we have noticed that a citizen of
your country, an individual by the name of "Hujoor Dewan Mohammadur
Saidur Rahman Chishti Saidabadi" is coming to our country frequently and
is advertising in the newspapers and magazines of this country that he
will make childless women bear children, cure illnesses and solve a variety of
problems through his supernatural powers.
Hujoor
Saidabadi is swindling the helpless, unaware and blindly faithful people of
our country by alluring them through his deceitful advertisements.
Hujoor’s true attraction lies in his power to boil raw eggs by
praying over them.
Hujoor
was in Kolkata from February 14 to February 18.
I, the General Secretary of the Science and Rationalists Association of
India, met the Hujoor on February 16. At
the time Hujoor claimed that he was capable of curing any illness through his
supernatural powers and that simply through prayer he boiled eggs brought by
women wishing to be mothers.
On
February 17 we took three patients to Hujoor.
He gave the patients his prayers.
Nevertheless, the condition of the patients has not improved within the
past two months.
We
took a couple to him. The woman
had a raw egg with her. Instead
of boiling the egg through prayer, Hujoor replaced the raw egg with a
boiled egg. The reason we arrive
at such a conclusion is – the mark made by a dot-pen on the raw egg was not
present on the boiled egg.
Hujoor
was sent a letter on February 17 on behalf of our association.
The letter invited the Hujoor to demonstrate his supernatural powers in
public. If Hujoor, in keeping
with his claims, cannot cure the three patients provided by our association,
then we will conclude that his claims are all absolute falsehoods and he is
merely a swindler.
We
deeply hope and believe with certainty – that you will not actively abet a
swindler in continuing his deceitful activities in our country by providing
him with a passport.
We
are sending you a Xerox copy of an article published in the Ajkal magazine
dated April 7, 1991 to inform you of the three patients and the couple
provided by us and a Xerox copy of an advertisement published by Hujoor in
Bortoman magazine dated 18.04.1991.
We
have discovered from discussions held with Hujoor as well as from certain
articles published in Bangladeshi magazines that Hujoor will come to India
every two months to cheat the people in the name of helping them.
We
hope that your country will not allow an individual, who will continually
defraud our people by taking advantage of their faith and simplicity, to enter
our country.
In
the end, we again hope that comprehending the serious nature of the issue you
will kindly take all necessary steps.
With
best wishes and respect,
Probir
Ghosh
General
Secretary
Science
and Rationalists' Association of India
Copies of
this letter to:
1.
Home Secretary
Government of West Bengal
Kolkata
2.
Commissioner of Police
Lalbazar, Kolkata
The
letter sent to Hujoor Saidabadi on the association letterhead was:
To
Hujoor
Saidabadi
Hotel
Hira
Kolkata
In
the past you have come to Kolkata from Bangladesh and have made quite a stir.
We have read your advertisements and news about you in different
magazines. From reading these
magazines we have come to the conclusion that you bestow babies on childless
couples through some supernatural activities involving eggs and bananas, cure
other patients and solve different problems.
Our
association is highly interested in learning about supernatural powers.
When we hear of any supernatural happening or of any person with
supernatural powers, we investigate it to the utmost of our capacity.
We hope that like all honest people, you will welcome our attempts at
identifying the truth and that at the same time you will cooperate in our
investigation of your supernatural powers.
We
would like to bring before you five patients and two childless couples.
If you can cure the patients
within one year and can give the two couples children through your
supernatural powers, then we will acknowledge your supernatural powers,
present you with fifty thousand Indian rupees as an honorarium and dissolve
our association. If you do
not assist in our investigation, then we will of course conclude that you are
a swindler.
Regards,
Probir
Ghosh
General
Secretary
The
Scientific and XX Society of India
The
result of all these activities of ours was that the Officer
In-Charge of the Cheating and Fraud Section of the Criminal
Investigation Department informed me through a letter addressed to the General
Secretary of the Rationalists Society --
With regard to the complaints you have made against Hujoor Saidabadi to the
Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh, copying the letter to others, I have
been instructed by the higher authorities to conduct an investigation.
It is very important in the interests of this investigation to determine
your tests and opinions. You are
requested to meet the undersigned at 12 noon, 13.05.1991 at Bhabani Bhaban,
Kolkata 27.
A
few of us from the association went to see the Officer In-Charge.
We told him in detail what happened.
He told us to bring Shyamoli, Mitali, Noni, Timirboron and Joya to them.
We brought all the others except Shyamoli.
We requested him to go to Shyamoli’s address to carry out the necessary
investigations.
After
that we received no news from the police. But
Hujoor came again. He came after
advertising. But this time he came
a bit late. He lodged at the
same Hotel Hira. This time his
security system was even more powerful. In
spite of that, our boys plastered Hotel Hira and the adjacent area with posters.
The article published in Ajkal
was pasted on all the walls. The
posters called for the arrest of Hujoor. Seeing
our single-mindedness, Hujoor’s paid mercenaries backed off.
Hujoor’s business didn’t really take off that time.
Hujoor
came again. But this time after an
even lengthier period of absence.
He changed his location and this time went to the Hotel Hira
International in Park Circus. Our
boys didn’t leave his tail. A
female journalist of a renowned English daily came to see me after deciding to
go and meet Hujoor in his Park Circus lair, she took a number of rare
photographs from me to publish in her paper.
She told me, that she would copy them and return them.
Our boys had put up posters here as well.
The journalist went to Hotel Hira International.
Before she could interview the Hujoor she had to escape from being
interviewed by Hujoor’s numerous admirers. Returning
to the paper office she called me up to vent her spleen, for placing her in
terrible danger. As I had not
warned her properly about the true danger of the situation her life might have
been at risk. Hujoor’s men had
followed her car to the newspaper office. Now
she would have to go around with an escort for a few days.
And I was the cause of all this hassle.
Not only that woman, a colleague of hers, another journalist friend
complained over the phone that I had not informed his colleague of the dangerous
nature of Hujoor’s character. This
had been terribly wrong on my part. Result
– dropping the idea about writing about me in the paper and not returning any
of my photographs.
Anyway,
this is just a side story. The real
story is always much more interesting. We
went on doing our work. We
continually brought the whole incident to the notice of the police.
The scrutiny of the Kolkata police was on us anyway.
Because the news of our poster protests against Hujoor Saidabadi had been
published in the Ajkal magazine with photographs.
The police were not unaware of the possibility of something big happening
at any moment. The Commissioner of
Police had been changed, DCDD had been changed.
We hadn’t changed our stand. We
had made demands to everyone to arrest the swindler Hujoor Saidabadi for
violation of the Drug and Magic Remedies Act.
We had also informed everyone that we had investigated the truth of the
claims made of couples in Kolkata who had given birth to children as a result of
Hujoor’s prayers. We had found no
trace of the addresses of those couples.
On
February 21, 1997 we received the fruits of our continual labours.
On the historical February 21, the most influential spiritual religious
guru of Bangladesh was arrested for fraud, cheating and violation of the Drug
and Magic Remedies Act.
Before
he arrived this time as well, advertisements had been published in two Bangla
dailies of Kolkata describing the saga of two childless couples becoming with
child through Hujoor’s prayers. The
Kolkata address of one of the couples was also there.
The officers of the Criminal Investigations Department could uncover no
trace of the whereabouts of the couples mentioned in the advertisement.
Saturday,
February 22 was the day that Hujoor was brought before the Bankshal Court.
In the morning I spoke to Deputy Commissioner of the Investigations
Department of the Kolkata police. I
informed him – We too want to act as a party against Hujoor.
We had a lot of information that would help to convict him.
On
February 22, the judge ordered that he be retained in the police lockup until
February 28.
We
heard from our police sources that Kolkata police had already informed the
Bangladesh Mission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Home Department.
An IPS also told us, no matter what evidence we had against Saidabadi, he
would have to be released. The
Bangladeshi Heads of State would make telephone calls, our Heads of State would
let him go.
The
busy-trying-to-save-their-own-skins ruling class is not capable of punishing a
religious guru, a guru of the religious minorities, a foreign religious guru, a
religious guru who was close to foreign rulers.
Fifty years after liberation, the powerful still walk around with the
democracy of the country in their pockets.
So Hujoor will probably avoid punishment by being kicked out of this
country as a foreign persona non grata. Nevertheless,
swimming against the tide, what little has been accomplished, is not too bad.
At least, the seed of a great oak has been planted.
Like Serulo,
this big blow has shown the Hujoor that it wasn’t possible to continue
trickery in this country. At least
the possibility that he will think of setting foot in this country again in the
future has been avoided.
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