Fakir Lalon Shah – Voice of the Poor
Lalon was born a Hindu and was married off at an early age. During his pilgrimage to the temple of Jagannath, he caught smallpox. His companions left him in that state, to be discovered in a semi-conscious state later by a Muslim woman Fakirani Motijaan Maa near the river Kaliganga in Kushtia. She belonged to a Muslim community in the village chheunriya. After recovering from the disease, Lalon headed back to his place, only to find that his family disowned him for taking help from a Muslim family. Lalon intentionally never revealed the details of his real family or anything that would have led anyone to his parents.
