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A Burning begins not only with a burning—a train car lit on fire in a terrorist attack that kills 100 patrons—but with a Facebook post. Jivan, a young Muslim woman living in the Kolabagan slum in Bangladesh, witnessed the terrorist attack and expresses her outrage on social media, posting “If the police watched them die, doesn’t that mean that the government is also a terrorist?” This simple comment lands her in police custody, where she is accused of aiding and abetting the attack herself. The police have very little evidence: Jivan had been chatting innocently with a boy online who turned out to be a terrorist group recruiter, and witnesses saw Jivan at the station carrying a package. It does not seem to matter, Jivan is put on trial in both a state courthouse and the court of public opinion, both of which end unfavorably for her.
Megha Majumdar’s debut novel weaves together Jivan’s tale and those of two other characters: Lovely, a local trans woman and aspiring actress whom Jivan was tutoring in English (the package in her arms at the train station was books for Lovely), and PT Sir, the physical education teacher at Jivan’s former school who becomes increasingly involved in the populist Jana Kalyan Party. Both will be called upon to testify to Jivan’s character, and both of whom experience a moral crisis but professional triumph as a result of their involvement in her case. The mishandling of Jivan’s case by the courts and the media outlines the injustice facing the impoverished Muslim minority community in Bangladesh, and the the systematic oppression that translates to bureaucratic failings of the court system. When Jivan begins meeting with a reporter, in an effort to get the truth out there, “Believe me when I say you must understand my childhood to know who I am, and why this is happening to me,” she says.
Lovely is a fellow outsider, as a hijra she lives with other trans and intersex people in a religious community that blesses newborns, marriages, and such. Like Jivan, Lovely is impoverished and faces a great deal of harassment and daily ridicule from her peers. Also like Jivan, Lovely is striving constantly to reach a goal, which for her is becoming a famous actress, and for Jivan is transcending her impoverished state and becoming a comfortable woman in the middle class. Lovely is perhaps the only character not in Jivan’s immediate family who shows her any compassion, and is easily the most charming figure in the novel. Her wit, self-possession, and commitment to her dream make her easy to root for, and I think readers will find themselves exceedingly drawn to her narrative.
On the other hand, PT Sir is a more morally dubious but equally complicated character. As Jivan’s teacher at an all girls school for the privileged, he takes a special notice of Jivan, whom other students single out as a scholarship student. He notices she is underfed, and often feeds her in his office, and thus he feels slighted when Jivan drops out after tenth grade and doesn’t give him any special notice. He is of course blind to the fact that Jivan has been forced to take a job and become the sole breadwinner in her family. He brings his grudge against her to the table in his new position as a megaphone for the JKP opposition party, speaking at rallies about education and spreading the party agenda. When he first stumbles upon a JKP rally, he realizes his involvement in their mission could be an avenue to accumulate influence and wealth, and becomes swept up in the prestige of his new position. At first, his main role is to testify as a witness for the prosecution at criminal trials, making false testimony against petty criminals—whom he is told are definitely guilty, they just don’t have enough evidence to prove it. It is clear that he has become a puppet for the party, although he is able to rationalize his position as his duty to his nation, and thus it is not surprising when he betrays Jivan in her trial.
A Burning is a fascinating study of moral relativity, featuring characters grappling with guilt, shame, and regret. It is a novel about the passive acceptance that allows a corrupt system to continue, the way that this unjust system is constantly strengthening itself and discouraging dissenters. Jivan’s story proves how the cycle of poverty perpetuates itself, and all of the obstacles in the way of uplift. Jivan’s story is a tale of a future denied, as she describes, “I could have been an ordinary person in the world. Ma, I could have gone to college, the city college where girls my age sit under trees, studying from their books, arguing, joking with boys.” Majumdar has penned a devastating but propulsive debut novel, an immensely promising herald of a new voice in literature.
Further Reading: This novel felt reminiscent of Tommy Orange’s There There and Jhump Lahiri’s classic, The Namesake. Both are worth a read if you enjoyed this novel.