( 117th birthday tribute to my eternal love of life, Osamu Dazai)

No soul sits nearer, yet none looms so

far away, than you, my love,

Nestled like a pearl in the oyster's shell.

How far is the distance ?

As far as my detached connection to the crowd ?

Many eyes mimicked your light

They were nothing but myths

bringing false wine to my thirst

Dead cells of sweetness revive

The ants of memory keep me awake

I am a heroine of a sleepless tale

The earth is a smoky shadow of yours

Fainting night performs a electric dance.

I am a heroine of a sleepless tale

You may choose to forget

I never will,amid your stormy chaos

I claim you as my ultimate victory.

Mumtahina Jahan

19.06.2026

( O bulbul, do not sway the flowers today)

Most of us now recognize that this song is a tribute to memory of Kazi Nazrul Islam's ( The National poet of Bangladesh and also known as the Rebel Poet) late child, Bulbul.

" Aj jotsna raatee shobai gechhe bonee

Boshonteri matal shomirone..."

( Tonight on this moonlit night everyone has gone to the forest, in the intoxicating spring breeze)

Many Rabindra-enthuasiasts and researchers believe that the poet composed this song in memory of his late son, Shamindranath Thakur.On November 23, 1907, Shamindranath Thakur died of cholera in Munger, passing away in his father's presence.Later, in a letter, the poet wrote : " The night after Shami's death, as I traveled by train, I saw the sky bathed in moonlight and there was no sign of anything less or anything missing.

Although, a significant number of people strictly oppose the idea of this song relating to Shamindranath's death.

​Rabindranath wrote this song on a moonlit night in Bolpur.Literary figure Charuchandra Bandyopadhyay shared this memory: " We were visiting Bolpur for an event, perhaps for the staging of ' Raja'( A play written by Rabindranath Thakur). It was a beautiful spring moonlit night. Everyone else went to the Paruldanga forest, but I stayed behind.In the midnight, I woke up to the sound of a sweet, soft voice drifting from the nearby field. I walked to the roof and saw the poet strolling through the moonlit field, humming the song 'Aj Jotsna Raate'....I quietly walked down barefoot to see him, but he didn’t notice me.He was completely lost in his own world..."

We do not know if the poet had anyone in mind when he sang the song.However, while singing or witnessing that moonlit night in Bolpur, he might have been reminded of his son, Shami. He could have recalled those words of his: "

The night after Shami's death, as I traveled by train, I saw the sky bathed in moonlight... "

In 1878, Fyodor Dostoevsky lost his three-year -old son, Alyosha.t same year, he was writing his novel The Brothers Karamazov.It is said that he crafted the character of Alyosha in the book to reflect the kind of person he had hoped his son would grow up to be.However, for the characterization of Alyosha, Dostoevsky also drew inspiration from Russian philosopher and poet Vladimir Solovyov. Solovyov was a symbol of kindness and sacrifice, and Dostoevsky tried to build the character of Alyosha with those same virtues.He likely intended to raise his own son to embody these very qualities, if his son had lived.

These are three unique stories of turning death and mourning into an artistic legacy, right ?

Mumtahina Jahan

18.06.2026

The question of child safety in religious institutions is extraordinarily sensitive and fraught with multi-dimensional socio-psychological tension.Deep public trust and the provision of free housing and education for poor children give religious institutions a powerful standing.Yet, behind this curtain of respectability, a disturbing truth emerges: some teachers abuse their authority, committing acts of sodomy ( please read it ' rape') and physical or mental abuse that highlight a total breakdown of institutional accountability. This research article takes a close, critical look at the extent of sexual abuse, psychological and structural gaps,legal loopholes, and the long road to justice

within these religious educational bodies.

Child sexual abuse and physical violence in Bangladesh's Qawmi madrasas have become a complex and long-term social crisis.Although seen as moral and spiritual guides by socie,their strict internal rules, autonomy, and lack of external monitoring expose students to invisible structural risks.

Human rights organizations like Law and Mediation Centre of Bangladesh, urge immediate attention to the socio-legal impacts of this unmonitored institutional framework. Analysis of data from these human rights organizations and police records reveals a staggering frequency of sexual abuse ( people call it sodomy but I call it rape) against underage male students in residential madrasas, alongside same kind of horrific behaviour by instructors against female students.

Documenting the toll of child sexual violence and fatalities in Bangladesh( 2024-2026):

Statistics from 2024 to 2026 uncover an alarming trend in child violence in Bangladesh. The Law and Mediation Centre of Bangladesh records 118 rapes and 19 related deaths from January to May 2026.Human Rights Support Society ( HRSS) reports 1,890 severe torture cases between Jan 2025 and April 2026, contributing to a total of 643 child deaths over 20 months.Significantly, over 66% of child murders and 59% of sexual violence incidents are committed by family members or acquaintances.

Beyond macro-level statistics, specific indicators from Qawmi madrasas reveal an acute crisis, with 25 child abuse cases publicized in late 2020 and 30 throughout 2021. In 2016 alone, a series of grim discoveries shocked local communities : a 12 year old boy in Brahmanbaria became the centre of a criminal lawsuit on January 23 after being violated by his teacher, Khalid Saifullah ; a 55 year old cleric, Qari Shamsul Haq, was dragged into the judicial system on March 31 for abusing a 9 year old in Chittagong ; and a young teacher in Keraniganj, was trapped by furious neighbours on April 23 after abusing a 9 year old boy under the guise of of an innocent haircut. The deep-seated rage of these communities often boiled over, as it did on August 28, 2016, Sirajdikhan, when a principal accused of raping multiple underage boys was beaten by a mob before local leaders attempted to hush up the scandal through village mediation. Years later, on August 4, 2021, the cycle continued with the arrest of a senior principal, Maulana Haji Nur Mohammad Azmi, in Kishorganj for assaulting a young student in his charge. By 2024, investigative reports showed that even young girls were increasingly exposed to these predators ; on April 18 ( 2022), a 12 year old girl exposed her teacher, Arif Billah, for assaulting her inside a Savar mosque. In 2026,a devastating report emerged from Netrokona, where elite forces arrested Aman Ullah Sagar after a 12 year old female student was found to be six months pregnant due to repeated rape.

The recent crisis in Rupgang, Narayanganj, demands an immediate re-evaluation of child protection protocols within regional madrasas.Reliable accounts state that an instructor, Md.Hossen, routinely violated at least three minor students in his bedroom over a span of two months.When the crimes were brought to light by a victim on June 2, 2026, an absolute absence of institutional grievance channels forced the community into reactive mob justice, leading to the suspect's physical assault and subsequent arrest. The abandonment of the institution by its superintendent, Saiful Islam Siraji, emphasizes the lack of administrative reliability. The deep public grief and demand justice manifested on June 3, 2026, when a combined force of students and citizens shut down the Dhaka-Sylhet highway for three hours, proving that local child abuse is a matter of profound public consequence.

The independent governance of Qawmi madrasas in Bangladesh is often cited as a cornerstone of their identity, yet it is this very independence of that frequently complicates child protection efforts. When an institution operates as a ' state within a state ', standard societal norms regarding accountability are often relegated to the background. In this vacuum, the vulnerability of students is magnified.The sociological implication is clear: when an institutional structure provides no path for external grievance, it implicitly endorses a culture where the powerful can exploit the weak, knowing that the institutional wall will act as their primary defense.

Qawmi madrasas' refusal to integrate with the state's education system is a strategic choice that prioritizes internal control over external safety standards.By choosing independence, they avoid the gaze of the Education Board and the mandate for regular inspection. This non- integration is a critical failure in the nation's effort to protect its youth. It essentially creates a category of schools where the law is suspended, enabling teachers to engage in criminal behavior while resting easy in the knowledge that the institutional structure will protect them from justice. In the residential Qawmi model, the instructor occupies a position of total control over the student's daily reality. This asymmetry is amplified by the physical confinement of the residential facility.Because students are geographically and socially detached from their homes, they lack the agency to report grievances to their parents. This institutional distance creates a protective shroud for the perpetrator ; the hierarchical relationship is so steep and the environment so hermetic that the teacher's authority is rarely challenged, rendering the child entirely vulnerable to the abuse of power.

Perpetrators within the Qawmi system often rely on the concept of spiritual absolute to secure silence.By framing their instructions as non-negotiable commands from divine representative, they condition children to fear that opposing their teacher is equivalent to opposing God.This sophisticated form of psychological grooming creates a barrier where the child's fear of sin outweighs their physical pain or confusion. The predator skillfully blends religious doctrine with predatory intent,ensuring that the victim internalizes the abuse as a duty rather than a violation.

It is both absurd and deeply infuriating that whenever these predators are caught, they almost always resort to blaming their actions on the devil's temptation. On the other hand, for improverished parents, the madrasa is a path to salvation. When abuse shatters this trust, they remain mute, trapped by the teacher's moral leverage and the devastating weight of social shame.

The absence of comprehensive, age appropriate, and gender-neutral anti-abuse

legislation leaves victims of institutional predation without sufficient legal recourse.

Under Section 375 of the Penal Code, the legal definition of rape is restricted to non-consensual penile-vaginal penetration of a female.Consequently, boys who are victims of sexual violence are categorically excluded from this definition. This means that offenders committing horrific acts against male children cannot be prosecuted for rape under Section 376, effectively denying these victims the legal recognition and justice afforded to female survivors. Cases of sexual violence against boys in Bangladesh are prosecuted under section 377 of the Penal Code( 1860), which classifies such acts as unnatural offences. It does not acknowledge the act as rape, victims are denied the legal status of " rape survivor" which limits access to specific victims support mechanisms and stringent sentencing guidelines.The Children Act 2013 criminalizes abuse by custodians ( Section 70).However, it remains ineffective due to jurisdictional gaps ; it often fails to punish abusers lacking official custodial status, such as senior students. Furthermore, a five-year implementation lag and the absence of nationwide, child-friendly courts severely obstruct justice, leaving institutional abuse largely unchecked by law.

Pakistan's Qawmi madrasas mirror Bangladesh’s crisis; an AP investigation found at least 359 abuse cases in a decade, representing only a fraction of reality. Families are coerced into settlements by powerful clerics to avoid social stigma. This evidence confirms the issue is a systemic, global failure of unaccountable residential systems, power, and spiritual authority.

Furthermore, this trend is rising in other religious institutions as well. In May 2026, a 71 year old Sri Lankan Buddhist monk was arrested for the sexual abuse of an 11 year old child.An independent 2022 inquiry exposed 390 child abuse convictions among Church of England officials from 1940 to 2018.Haredi Jewish communities, notably in Brooklyn, face a crisis of child abuse exacerbated by the " Mesirah" taboo, which bars reporting to secular authorities without rabbinical consent.This extreme isolation protects abusers and isolates victims. Documented cases involving Weinberg, Weberman, and Weingarten reveal a culture where religious authority is weoponized to shame survivors and enforce silence, effectively shielding predators from accountability while maintaining an insular social structure.

The 2018 POCSO life sentence against influential cult leader Asaram Bapu was officially upheld by the Rajasthan High Court in May 2026.Convicted of raping a teenage girl whose parents sought spiritual intervention, Asaram's camp waged a deadly campaign of intimidation, resulting in the death of witness Kripal Singh.

Though the horrors of the Epstein files confronted the world with a devastating predators.However, the culture of absolute truth, unmonitored religious or spiritual institutions / organisations still protect predators.However, the culture of absolute spiritual authority enforces strict victim silence.Breaking this systemic impunity demands aggressive state intervention and nationwide, child-friendly courts to handle these sensitive cases effectively.The international community must also enforce standardized safety compliance mandates to break this terrifying culture of silence.

Mumtahina Jahan

June 17, 2026

So hungry, so helpless

How sharp your edge is, June,

Yet a twin extinction is the cleaner prize.

Nymphs toss their garlands at a wink;

Cruel, cruel June—

The glad petals fall,

They fall, they die.

Yet hope remains like an unfinished hymn

Though this fate of longing is an absolute curse

I alone am stuck with it.

The one on the side of the river—

Call him, June thirteen

Please, call him...

Poem of 13 June

Mumtahina Jahan

13June, 2026.

Hello everyone ,I am Mumtahina, a Bangladeshi university student and author. For a while, I've been sharing bits of my writing on substack.However, today I will not be posting a story. I hope my words reach everyone on this platform, because the world needs to know about the decline of my unfortunate nation. We are at a point where only prayer and an international movement can save us.

The prevalence of gender-based violence and crimes Again children is experiencing an alarming upward trend domestically.While this phenomenon mirrors a global crisis—further complicated by the complicity of alleged global guardians in such atrocities —the domestic landscape reveals a multi-faceted crisis.Violence against women remains pervasive, yet violence against male victims is equally substantial.Media reports consistently document the sexual assault and subsequent homicide of male minors within religious educational institutions.

Using news reports from the last ten months as a foundation, I will explore the overall situation regarding all forms of violence against women and children in Bangladesh.

The social and institutional protection of women, children and marginalized groups in Bangladesh has critically deteriorated in the contemporary period. Rape statistics from the past ten months ( July 2025-April 2026) clearly show the gravity of the situation. The latest documentation by prominent rights groups, the Law and Mediation centre of Bangladesh and the Bangladesh Women's Council, tells a story of systemic neglect, where an unchallenged culture of impunity and fragile laws have let sexual violence spin out of control.

To accurately comprehend the statistics of the past ten months, it is important to evaluate the core data and litigation trends from the preceding year.The total volume of rape incidents in 2025 reached 786, reflecting a 52.3% year-on -year escalation from 2024.Official tracking by the Bangladesh Police Headquarters indicats 7,068 rape offenses were formally adjudicated or filed in 2025, contrasting with 5,570 in 2024( a 27% increase). Since 481 cases occurred in the first half of 2025 (January -June),the estimated aggregate for the first block of the past ten months ( July- December 2025) is calculated at 305 cases.

At the beginning of 2026, this upward trend accelerated further.Data from Law and Mediation Centre indicates that January 2026 alone saw 35 rape incidents, comprising 25 individual and 10 gang rapes.Concurrently, the Bangladesh Women's Council registered 31 rape cases in the same month. Partial data from January to May 20, 2026,shows that at least 118 children were raped.

Bangladesh Women's Council's monthly monitoring reports highlight that a severe breakdown in national law and order between January and April 2026 triggered a sharp increase in rape cases.

Analyzing the gender breakdown of sexual violence victims highlights women and girls as the principal targets.At the same time, it is vital to to note that young boys and diverse victims, such as homosexual or third-gender individuals, are also entirely unsafe from this pervasive crisis.

The complete data for 2025 presents an unconscionable statistic.543 out of 786 rape victims were girls under 18, translating to nearly 70% of the total demographic.If we analyze the age structures from Bangladesh Women's Council's earlier seven month reporting period ( January -July), it becomes evident that vulnerability spikes in early childhood. Out of 306 girls raped in that period, 49 were aged 0-6,94 were aged 7-12,and 103 were adolescents. The fact that an additional 129 girls faced attempted rape underscores the pervasive nature of this threat.

The phenomenon of sexual violence targeting male minors in Bangladesh is constrained by profound social sensitivity,resulting in underreporting driven by legal and societal friction. Data compiled by Bangladesh Women's Council indicates that at least 30 boy children fell victim to sexual assault in the first seven months of 2025 alone.An analysis of their age structure reveals that those aged 7 to 12 years are the primary victims of this violence (17 individuals). Additonally, 1 child was aged 0-6 years and another was aged 13-18.During this period, there were also documented attempts of sexual assault on 3 more boy children.

Also in mainstream schools, the moral degradation of teachers has become a terrifying reality. In just first seven months of 2025, at least 22 young girls faced sexual abuse by their teachers.The horror intensified in October 2025 when police hunted down and arrested 55 year old Md.Liyakat Ali Shekh in Amdabad,Khulna, for the brutal rape of a school girl.

The events of the first half of May 2026(May 10-24) present an alarming escalation of violence against women and children in Bangladesh. Information from human rights agencies shows that just within the second and third weeks of May, at least five children were murdered after facing rape and sexual abuse.

On May 19, 2026, an eight year old second- grade schoolgirl Ramisa Akter became the victim of a horrific crime in a multi-storied flat in Pallabi, Dhaka, where she was raped and brutally murdered by the rapist and his wife.Her body was then dismembered to destroy any evidence of this perverted act.By May 20,2026,the primary accused, Sohel Rana, confessed his crimes voluntarily in court.Right after this,on May 21,2026, another tragedy struck when a four year old child was raped in Bakolia,Chattogram.

The sexual exploitation of children in madrasas is rooted in the abuse of power.Perpetrators manipulate young kids and their parents through religious fear, false spiritual claims and threats of violence. The death of ten year old Abdullah in a residential madrasa of Dhaka serves as a grim indiciment of a system that fails to protect its students. Recovered by police on the night of May 19,the child's body was found in a bathroom with a towel tightened around his neck.This tragedy highlights the disturbing trend of covering up crimes, where the authorities often prioritize its image over an innocent child.

Marginalized Hijra and underprivileged communities in our country continue to suffer from heinous sexual exploitation and torture.Although the government has slightly increased allowances to protect their rights, incidents of physical and sexual violence against them remain neglected by legal aid and social attention.

The previous discussion highlights the real state of women and child security in our country. This section explores why this horrific situation persists.Based on my personal observations and a critical look at the shifting attitudes of ordinary citizens, I argue that the primary drivers of this crisis are rooted in some systemic failures:

1. Lack of sexual awareness,as sex education is treated as a taboo in Bangladesh.

2.A slow, unstable legal process where corruption and nepotism allow criminals to escape punishment.

3. However, the ultimate driving force behind this wave of violence is the sickening double standards of the majority in our society which has worsened with social media.People only focus on viral cases or those involving women to get views rather than showing real empathy.Religious and political biases make this hypocrisy even worse.This is why child abuse inside religious educational institutions like madrasas happens frequently without any public protest or institutional accountability.

The most absurd part of this reality is the contrast in how we react: on one hand,homosexuality is legally banned, and people suspected of it face mob violence, lifelong humiliation, or death.On the other hand, actual pedophilia against kids( most of them are boys) goes on constantly inside madrasas, yet very few people have the courage to speak up and fight against this twisted reality.

My objective is not to tarnish my country’s reputation in the international arena but rather to advocate for protection frameworks from an internal stakeholder.Recent protests and frequent government changes have increased anarchy, and we expect the new government to take strict preventive mesures.But active civic participation and international advocacy are crucial in this matter.Enhanced regulation of digital platforms is imperative to safeguard women and children, alongside comprehensive actions against early marriage, child exploitation propaganda, and online harrasment — objectives that are unrelizable absent transnational synergy.

​

Chanchal wiped his glasses with the right side of his shirt, Chanchal struggled with a reeling head. He was utterly baffled as to how he had ended up in this godforsaken, wild place in the dead of the night.

Chanchal tried to remember his loved ones. Did he actually have anyone in this world?Nah, nothing came to his mind. The darkness of the night was gradually fading into dawn. The lonely, sorrowful man lay down on the unknown dry leaves.

The drowsy dawn sky — it looked exactly like a pond with pure, rippling water.Chanchal noticed a flock of migratory noticed a flock of migratory birds flying away. The world is truly beautiful !

A peculiar gray beauty was manifested even by the dry leaves.And the new green leaves? Sublime, naturally. Watching them sway with the gentle breeze under the shimmering, pale golden light of the new sun in this unspoken territory, Chanchal felt a shift within.He was alone, yet completely far from unhappy. He could be the happiest person in the world, or quite possibly, this world wasn't the earth at all!

But does heaven happen to be so uninhabited ? Why on earth was he alone in a place this magnificently strange and beautiful ? " Is anyone there? Anyone nearby?" Chanchal's voice echoed into nothingness.No one answered. Just a big green toad hopped over the nice paved road. Chanchal started to feel anxious again. His stomach was making noises ; he felt hungry. But what could he possibly eat? He looked at the trees around him, trying to find some edible fruit.His stomach was making noises; he felt hungry.Looking for anything edible, he dragged himself further into the deep woods.The environment felt eerily repetitive ; every tree was a carbon copy of the last—slender, towering and crowned with giant leaves.Forget fruit, there wasn’t a trace of a flower. Then, a sudden, sharp movement caught his eye— one tree's leaves swayed erratically.Chanchal's heart raced as he realized someone was staring at him through the gap of two massive leaves.

" Who's there?Are you a person ?Speak to me!" He screamed until his throat burned, using every hand gesture he could think of to reach those human-like eyes.But the darkness was closing in again, making his limbs feel heavy and lifeless.All he could register was a hand making contact with his shoulder.And then, his mind went completely blank.

Chanchal woke to a sickening odor, the air so thick and suffocating he could barely breathe in the pitch black.The numbness was finally wearing off, but it only welcomed a horrific pain that began to rack every single nerve in his body. But...but the worst pain was in that specific place,his penis ; it felt as if someone was repeatedly pouring boiling lava over it.A distorted scream tore from his throat." God!, Why did you cast me out of heaven into this hell?" Through the darkness and the crack of the whip, a collective voice boomed: " Quiet, you sinful animal."Invisible monsters thrashed him with horrific, throned whips.They threw a substance like scalding urine at his face.For nearly a month, this unspeakable savagery went on.Then, the tormentors vanished.

Days blur into years.In that abyss, through all the torture, Chanchal survives. Or maybe he's already dead—consigned to an immortal hell.He desperately tries to think back to what sin he could have done to make God punish him like this.At this point, he doesn't even have the energy left to cry.His entire flesh has bloomed with a strange, nightmarish affliction that bleeds a noxious, weeping fluid.However due to the total absence of light in his surroundings, he cannot identify its nature.

A soft whisper of movement reached Chanchal, followed by a beam of light cutting through the fabric of the dark.He recognized the eyes —the same ones from his search in the woods.He groaned, suddenly realizing the foul smell had evaporated.Had someone actually come to rescue him ?

The darkness began to peel away,revealing a crowd of breathtakingly beautiful women.Their lips were a striking ripe- apple red.Tears broke from Chanchal's eyes after a long, dry eternity.But horror struck him as he looked at his own form: hundreds of penises had erupted all over his skin, discharging corrupted semen and leaving his body covered in raw sores.He groaned in deep agony, begging the celestial ladies for rescue.Instead, they lined up in two rows, making way for his sin: the shattered Mrs.Sabiha and her five year old daughtet, Himi.

The beautiful ladies laughed horribly—a sound Chanchal knew from his long torment in the dark.He remembered it all: how he raped, tortured, and murdered the mother and child.Compared to that grand sin, his years of torment felt entirely small.He began to flail his limbs in pure desperation.

It was twelve-fifteen...Hearing the scream, Chanchal's wife ran to her husband's side.His lifeless body was lying on the floor,

and there was a strange, terrrible smell in the whole room.

Mumtahina Jahan, May 21,2026.

Pristine Reverie

Mumtahina Jahan

Dream, I have seen many

Culprit's bones rip out from the eyes

I am a culprit who kills

And victimise herself

I can breed lilacs

Humans cannot escape from my hellish womb

With my heart wrenched blood

I've designed his image

He has already annexed me

No Danish interruption

It’s a pristine reverie for a duck

Human masks rule the world;

Some wither way peeling their own skin

A slow suicide to find the human within

Only to rot as a cold tangerine of hope

Beside the rattle of a dying breath.

Niviarsiaqs are pretty

Yet, it is not as pretty as my head

My lover knows the assignment

My blutrot lips filled with hunger

When I eat his sunsetting smile

I'm hungry, I'm malnourished

When I eat his smile

My soul feels like butter

My soul feels like death

Death brings aureate leaves

Death is blooming inside me

Mr Romantic author

I know you are breathing

I stand beyond their orbs

Mother, dying isn't an art

I rise with my extreme darkness

Red liquor dripping from my black hair

Yes, this is my art

Look at those dead bodies

They do not breathe

They never screamed: outstanding, outstanding!

Mumtahina Jahan

I saw his house, located a little way from the crematorium, with no other houses nearby. In front of it stood a towering Shimul tree. I was walking behind him, and although he hadn't said a word, he kept glancing back at me. His tousled hair, long coat-like clothes, and a flare in his right hand filled me with an undefined sense of fear.

Finally, I entered his room. There was nothing inside except a red cloth spread out on the mud floor. The man then opened his mouth, and his voice was sharper and darker than the flame of his flare. He told me to sit there. I asked, "On this cloth?" He nodded. I walked over and sat down on it. In one corner, I noticed a colourful earthen pitcher with a decorative design. He poured water from it and extinguished the flare’s fire. Soon, the room was plunged into darkness. Outside, a sliver of the moon had risen, casting minimal light.

Then I sat down again. I saw a brightly colored earthen pot with a pattern in the corner of the room. He poured water from it and put out the torch’s flame. Now, the whole space was dark. The moon’s faint glow outside made it seemingly impossible to see clearly. It felt as if others had come into the room—among them was a girl whose voice sounded eerily familiar. Suddenly, a flash of light flickered before my eyes. When I looked, I saw a girl sitting in front of me, dressed in a red saree. She seemed very familiar, but I couldn't quite place her.

I realised she was wearing the same red cloth I had been sitting on all along. But now, I wasn’t sitting on it anymore—I was on someone's lap! I felt very close to whoever was holding me, yet I couldn’t remember anything clearly. One moment, I was on her lap, and another, someone else was sitting across from me. The person who had brought me here was no longer in the room. Where had he gone?

After a while, I heard the man's voice again. He was singing a strange song, its tone resembling the howling of a fox mixed with an owl’s hoot in the dead of night. Suddenly, I felt a burning sensation all over my body. I was writhing but couldn't move much because my hands and feet were shackled. To my shock, the saree of the girl in front of me was slowly catching fire. Soon, her entire body might turn to ash, right before my eyes. Despite witnessing this, I was powerless to do anything. The last thing I remember is screaming at the top of my lungs, "Malati!"

Before my eyes, the girl was reduced to ashes. It dawned on me that it was my husband, Showroneel, sitting on his lap all this time. The man who had brought me here now stood quietly in front of me—he was our wedding priest. He said softly, "What’s your name, dear?" I managed to reply, "Megha." He then inquired if I knew someone named Malati. I broke down crying and screaming. Just two days before my wedding, Malati, my younger sister, had set herself on fire. She had committed suicide by using the saree that was brought for my wedding

Although early 20th century Japan & mid 20th century Bengal occupy  distinct historical and cultural terrains, yet in the literary realms of Ryunosuke Akutagawa  & Syed Waliullah , they converge through a shared fasicnation  with the darker abyss  of the human psyche .

Both writers stand as important literary figures who reconstruct the traditional storytelling  of their respective  cultures to embrace modernism existentialism  & a profound skepticism  toward absolute truth.

Akutagawa, regarded as the father of Japanese short stories, dismantled the certainty of history and folklore in Japan.

Akutagawa's Realitivism : In Rashomon & In a Grove ( two of his popular short stories) , Akutagawa employs an unreliable narrative style.

Rashomon:

The servant  : Akutagawa depicts a man who shifts from righteous horror at an old woman's scavenging to becoming a thief himself. His courage is ironically redefined.  It  is no longer the courage to be good, but the desperate  courage to survive by any  means. Akutagawa  suggests that morality is a luxury  that  vanishes in the face of starvation. 

In Rashomon , the setting isn't just a backdrop but it is an active participant in the  servant's moral decay. The transition  from  a servant of the law to  a predator is marked by several psychological shifts:

The physicality of Evil : Akutagawa uses the servant's  " pimple"  as a recurring motif. As he worries at the pimple, it signifies his internal agitation  &  the  irritation of his conscience.

Rationalization as a weapon:  The old woman provides the servant with a philosophical loophole . She argues that stealing  hair from a dead body  is okay   because the dead person  sold snake meat as fish.This  circular logic of sin allows the servant  to rob her with a clear conscience . Akutagawa  suggests that evil is contagious & it justifies itself  through the actions of others.

The Aesthetic  of horror : Akutagawa's prose is cosmopolitan.He mocks the readers potential pity.He demands that we  look at  the  grotesque pile of corpses without the comfort of traditional morality .

Anatomy of cynicism : ​ Akutagawa's works can be characterized  as surgical detachment. He tried to observe human depravity with a scientific view.

Waliullah revolutionized the Bengali story telling method  by introducing use of stream of consciousness angst into  a society  grappling with traditions & colonial hangovers.

The play " Tarangabhanga " : The story delves into the harrowing reality of extreme poverty  &  the desperation  of hunger The  plot centers on Amena ,a destitute woman who, driven by unbearable circumstances ,kills her husband & child  This act serves as a catalyst  for a profound  moral & psychological conflict within the presiding judge, challenging the conventional  notion of judgement , humanity , & the existential crisis of the marginalized.

The Exploitation in Kando Nodi Kando  ( novel) : Syed Waliullah touched the core essence of life. His characters often navigate a world of deception. In Kando Nodi Kando, Mustafa's struggle against    his father's corruption father’s &  the eventual  tragedy  of his life highligh the meaningless individual virtue in  decaying  social structure. Like  Akutagawa's servent , Syed Waliullah' characters are often marginalized   figures caught  between their  conscience & a chaotic, uncaring world . 

In the end ,Akutagawa & Waliullah arrive at   darker abyss  of the human condition. They demonstrate  that when   society cannot ensure basic need of survival, the gate of Rashomon or the so called Justice system  Bengal fail to provide the basic means of life. ​ Through Tarangabhanga & Rashomon, we see a shared philosophical conclusion : Morality  is  not  a fixed law, but a fragile agreement  that  collapses when survival is at stake. By reconstructing traditional  storytalling  to embrace existential  skepticism , both authors invite us to confront  the  uncomfortable reality that we  are all capable  of profound darkness when the waves of circumstances break against our existence.

Mumtahina Jahan, 12.01.2026

7:07 pm

The interpretation of poetry offers both a philosophical viewpoint and an understanding idea of art. Both Plato and Jung focused on the emotions that orbit around poetry.

Plato's critique of poetry is deeply rooted in his pursuit of truth and ideal state. He regarded poetry not merely as an art form, but as a potential threat to the intellectual and moral fibre of society.He argues that poetry doesn’t reflect reality directly. He considers poetry a copy of a copy, which distances it significantly from ultimate reality and rational understanding.

In Carl Jung's view, poetry is not a personal product of the author's biography, but a psychological activity that bridges the personal and the universal. According to him, creativity operates in two forms: One inward and intentional, the other outward and autonomous. In short, a poet can consciously direct the materials of his writings but sometimes the creative products unfold beyond deliberate control & suppress the author's own will.

Jung criticizes Freud's reductive way of treating art like a neurosis. In his opinion, science can analyze the method of creation but the essence of art is an aesthetic mystery. True poetry draws from the collective consciousness, utilizing archetypes & primordial images shared by all humanity. Poets are the social educators, by using timeless symbols about life, they compensate for the spiritual

inadequacies of their era.Ultimately, great poetry speaks with a thousand voices, transforming individual destiny into the destiny of mankind and restoring psychic balance to the age.And here, plato's philosophical vision finds a meaningful convergence with Jung's psychological insights.

Bibliography :

Republic, Plato

VOLUME 15: THE SPIRIT IN MAN, ART, AND LITERATURE Abstracts of the Collected Works of C. G. Jung Volume 15: The Spirit in Man, Art, and Literature

Man and his symbols, Carl Jung.

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