In the noise of 24-hour news, some stories are often reduced to simplistic dichotomies, with mainstream media reducing the people in the crosshairs of conflict and extremism to easily digestible tropes and portraying them in a reductive way that perpetuates stereotypes. The Society of Violent Men: Stories from the Bloody Fault Lines of the Subcontinent (Penguin Random House), investigative journalist Siddharthya Roy draws on his experiences as a reporter in conflict zones over the past decade and a half and on his notes that did not make it into the “final draft” of the articles he wrote between 2016 and 2023.
Through a series of vignettes and personal reflections on events in India, Bangladesh and Germany, Roy introduces readers to a diverse cast of characters: militants, refugees, secret agents and ordinary people in the clutches of extraordinary circumstances. By delving into their stories, he aims to demonstrate the common humanity that underlies even the most extreme behaviors. Roy does not excuse their actions, but seeks to complicate our understanding of their motivations and the conditions that shaped them.
“What news consumers consume are headlines and short clips. The daily news no longer serves. It is all just a never-ending series of big headlines about new wars, bombs and acts of political violence. And even then, the stories are spun along predetermined party lines to suit the ever-shortening attention span,” he writes at the beginning of the book, adding that people associated with violent, newsworthy events of the recent past have been portrayed as either victims or perpetrators. “But most are people between these extremes. And their stories had no place in the reports I wrote. Hence this book,” he adds.
On the trail of blood in Bangladesh
Roy gives us a little insight into local politics in Bangladesh. While investigating the Holey Artisan Bakery attack that killed over 20 people in 2016, he ends up in a remote location in Dhaka trying to gain access to an unfinished mosque, as he was able to trace several inflammatory social media posts to the location.
His investigation leads him to a few men who support the Islamist faction and believe that the Awami League is biased against the minorities, which is eerily similar to what we hear in India from the extreme majority right. Later, on his journey to Bagmara, where his friend Sharmee Hossain, a trained linguist, is trying to set up a proper cricket league to wean the younger generation away from religious fundamentalism. This is how we meet another violent man, Jamat-ul Mujahideen’s Siddique-ul Islam, or Bangla Bhai (Bengal’s big brother), as he likes to call himself. Although The author’s visit took place nine years after his death and he was still witnessing the chaos he left behind.
Information is fuel for a journalist, whoever has it is considered valuable, but there are people out there who like to pretend they know something exclusive and then it is The journalist’s job is to find out what exactly the truth might be. Roy’s meeting with the all-knowing Zakir Kibira in Bangladesh is a prime example of this. He claimed to be someone well-connected across the country, but when asked about the details of the Holey attack, his grand claims unraveled right before the writer’s eyes.
Another similar source that considered a “seasoned” reporter, turned out to be a failure as his reputation in the intelligence community preceded him. In one such incident, when he was asked by Roy to substantiate his claim that an exclusive story about the arrest of a sleeper cell by Indian intelligence made him so angry that he even even went so far as to threaten him with dire consequences; apparently nothing happened.
The truth Myanmar’s Rohingya
Things are not always what they seem, and the job of a journalist is to separate fact from popular fiction. Roy, who travelled across the subcontinent and wrote about various Conflicts, shows us the life of a journalist away from the air-conditioned studios of Noida. His fascinating discussion with a senior Rohingya leader in his hotel room in Cox’s Bazar shows us the skills a journalist needs to extract information while making the interviewee feel comfortable.
As the discussion continued on what is happening to the Rohingya in Myanmar, Roy tried to delve deeper into the allegations that the Rohingya are violent, separatist and a terrorist group, to which the person responded in silence, but as the noose tightened, his demeanor seemed to change a little. The final blow came when the author made a connection between the handloom business in Bangladesh and money laundering from the West which is then used to support the resistance forces.
Roy’s experience as a journalist helps him see beyond the flimsy narratives about terrorism and counterterrorism and see what it really is: a lucrative business that helps the military-industrial complex thrive while the people of these areas continue to suffer from a lack of resources and stability. He also brings up an important point about how these insurgent and counterinsurgent groups become a safe haven for all sorts of louts who are protected in the name of ideology and fabricated morality.
Hunt for Maoists in Chhattisgarh
On the ground, journalists can also come across another kind of source who is experienced in disappointing them at the right moment. Kamal Shukla, a Hindi journalist from Chhattisgarh, was that source for our author. Previously, he was under the impression that Kamal was one such person who knew the Maoist rebels in his state well.
well and was able to arrange a meeting, but on a trip to Maoist-controlled areas from Chhattisgarh to Abujamarh everything became a little clearer. When the author reached the agreed place, he found that no preparations had been made and the Maoist leaders had not even been contacted. But this is not an isolated case. In 2023, our author again planned to investigate the infamous drone bombing When he received messages from Bastar, a similar fate befell him: Kamal disappeared without a trace, only to reply drunkenly a week later and explain that he could not help him.
In the life of a serious journalist, it is normal to encounter violent men and this book underlines this. However, violence can take many forms and not just be physical. The author peppers the book with wit and humor. His statement that “alcohol is the next best thing to a revolution” oddly reminded me of the famous writer Asghar Wajahat who once said that a city becomes more civilized when there are shops selling alcohol. The author’s varied life experiences give news consumers some perspective on what actually happens behind the scenes and how unglamorous it all can be. It is not all James Bond-esque as we would like to imagine but is full of unreliable fixers, exaggerating sources and of course, violent men.
