Describe the religious exploitation as the central theme of Tree Without Roots

Syed Waliullash's " Tree Without Roots"

Novelist , freedom fighter and journalist Syed Waliullah's magnum opus Tree Without Roots is an embodiment of religious exploitation in rural Muslim society . In this novel,  Waliullah portrays a superstitious village called Mahabbatpur. The central character of the novel,  Majeed exploits the innocent people of the village in the name of religion .

Majeed comes to Mahabbatpur with an aim of religious exploitation.  He comes to know that the villagers have plenty of jute and tobacco and they are well-off. But they have lack of one thing that they are not very Good-fearing. Majeed wants to have this opportunity . He wants to make people frightened about God with his little knowledge of religion as a weapon of exploitation.

Waliullah's memorable observation, "There are more tupees than heads of cattle,  more tupees than sheaves of grass,"reminds us of an abiding collaboration between poverty and religion.  The Scene of Majeed's arrival at Mahabbatpur indicates his hypocrisy and deception. The villagers are poor and illiterate whereas Majeed is a hypocrisy . Majeed begins to exploit the villagers by taking advantage of their superstition and backwardness . His first aggressive speech towards the villagers of Mahabbatpur is,

"You are all blind .You are ignorant men, men without understanding. ...... How could you have left the mazar of Saint Shah Sadeque  unattended like this?"

In his game of religious exploitation,  Majeed transforms the hitherto neglected gave of an unknown person into a shrine and becomes its self-appointed caretaker.  He does not know the identity of the person whom he declares to be a saint . The grave covered in red cloth becomes the center of his religious exploitation .He easily deceives the simple,innocent villagers.  He imposes miraculous power both on the grave and on himself . His presence and interference in almost all the affairs seem to be inevitable.  By using his ready wit and eloquence , he exercises exploitation very tactfully .

He has no intention to do good to the villagers . Although he seems to be altruist in his speech, his main motive is to exercise dominance for the sake of his financial stability . He begins to exploit and deceive the rural people in order to strengthen his position in the society.  He plants fear into the hearts of the innocent peasants , makes them feel guilty for their neglect of patron saint. He becomes the ruler and seeks to transform the simple peasants into devout Muslims .He tries to drive out Songs and laughter from their lives. Within a few days,  he turns into a well-off person with his own houses and lands.  Hr , then, marries a young widow. He plays the role of a rural judge in almost all affairs of the villagers . He tactfully accuses the villagers  of their shortcomings and somehow punishes them. He takes, in his grip,  Khaleque , the landowner of the village . Thud he plays on the religious susceptibilities of the poor and gullible villagers to make a comfortable niche for himself.

When Majeed knows about the desire of Khaleque's wife to have some water blessed by the pir of Nawabpur, his revengefulness reaches the peak point . He becomes very angry and intends to punish Amena, Klaleque's first wife. He punishes Amena in the name of a test of circling around the mazar after fasting a whole day. This Majeed forces Khaleque to divorce his innocent wife.When Majeed interferes in the familial affairs of Tara mian ,the old man questions and challenge Majeed's authority . Beings very ruthless, Majeed forces the old Tara Mian to leave the house and embrace death.Mahabbatpur is an agricultural village . The lands are the hearts of the villagers. The crops are their happiness . They don't have keen observation on their lives, and for this reason Majeed manages to entrap them.

To sum up, We can rightly say that Syed Waliullah perfectly portrays the theme of religious exploitation in his Tree Without Roots.