Bohipir


Bohipir or Bahipir is a Bengali language social drama written by Bangladeshi litterateur Syed Waliullah. It was first published in 1960 from Dhaka, East Pakistan. Before being published, Bohipir was awarded at a 1955 international conference of PEN Club in Dhaka.

Characters

;Bohipir
;Tahera
;Hashem Ali
;Hatem Ali
;Khodeja Begum
;Hokikullah

Background

Bohipir takes place in late-19th or early-20th century British Bengal. Zamindar Hatem Ali struggles against the Revenue Sale Law, which was enacted in 1793, as zamindars began to lose control over their lands by that time. At the time, most of Bengal subscribed to pirism, narrow-mindedness and superstitions. Pirs were feared for their so-called spiritual power by even zamindars, and villagers in the Bengal region demonstrated poor judgement before Pirs. Their ignorance often led them to sacrifice their wealth and even their daughters for the service of Pirs.
The name Bohipir has a symbolic significance as pirism in the Bengali Muslim community originated from social prejudices and religious books. Mainly this Pirism was initiated through the Sufist philosophy of Islam. The name Bohipir describes the spread of pirism from the religious interpretations and masael to the common people.

Theme

Bohipir is a play that portrays the hypocrisy and emptiness of pirism in rural Bengal. Waliullah indicated the lifelessness of bookish religious beliefs and pirist superstitions through Bohipir's speech given in Sadhu bhasa. However, the drama finally hints at an upcoming change in the social prejudice through Tahera and Hashem as they raise their voice against the system and flee together. Tahera has been portrayed as a symbol of Bengali Muslim women empowerment in the early 20th century.

Reception

Syed Waliullah has been credited for discussing social stigma, inconsistency and socio-religious superstitions in literature such as Lalsalu and Bohipir. He was awarded the PEN Prize in 1955 for Bohipir. The play was included in the national curriculum of Bangladesh by the NCTB in 2013.