Sainbari massacre documentary to highlight perils of political

A documentary on the massacre at Sainbari in Purba Bardhaman district, where several members of a family were killed for alleged links with a political party, is being made on the 50th year of the incident to "make people understand what political rivalry can lead to". Director Sanghamitra Choudhury, who has made a number of feature films and is presently a BJP Mohila Morcha leader, told PTI that 'Sainbari Hatyakando' aims to bring alive memories of the chilling incident at the Sain household on March 17, 1970.

Two brothers, Pranab Sain and Moloy Sain, had been murdered by their political adversaries on that day and their mother Mriganayani Sain was forced to eat rice stained with her sons' blood. Jiten Ray, the tutor of the Sain siblings, was also killed while Nabakumar Sain, the eldest son of the family, had his eyes gouged out and acid poured on them. He was beheaded a year later.

Asked why she decided to make the film, Choudhury said, "people should understand what political rivalry can lead to and how justice flies with time and power.. leaving the bereaved to mourn alone." She said the crew had visited Bardhaman and spoken to Prabal Roy, Jiten Roy's nephew. "We all know how Jiten Roy was lynched along with Malay Sain and Pranab Sain. The Sain matriarch was forced to eat blood-stained rice. There is need to bring this dark phase of Bengal to the notice of the present generation," she said.

Recalling the time when she went to the area for researching on the subject, the director said, "our local help Prabalda arranged a meeting with a survivor of the family, Bijoy Sain, who now lives close to 'Sainbari'. Bijoy Sain who is in his late sixties...walked down the memory lane." The house is now in ruins. "We could just stand among the weeds and tall grass that surrounds the house.. ignoring crickets, mosquitoes and rodents who have a free run in the ruins of Sainbari these days," the director said.

The film on Sainbari will be the first in the series- 'Sainbari to Sandeshkhali' to unravel "the dark, blood-stained political history of Bengal," she said..

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