A Burning

The attention Jivan’s case receives in the news motivates people to ask more about life in the prison Jivan is held. The inmates are forced to clean and beautify the prison so that a film crew can document their lives. Later, Jivan tells Purnendu about leaving school after grade 10. She told her mother that she wanted to get a job to help the family, but her mother was devastated that her daughter would not pursue the opportunities of school to the very end. Jivan studied hard for her class 10 exams, and her family threw her a little celebration as though she was graduating. She immediately got a job selling jeans and picked up smoking cigarettes, feeling very grown-up that she could afford her own bad habit. On the night of the train attack, she had snuck out near the station to smoke, a spot she knew her mother wouldn’t see. She witnessed the train burning, but when she saw a man locked in the fire trying to get his daughter out, Jivan ran away. Jivan tells Purnendu that the only thing she is guilty of is cowardice.

During an assembly at school, the microphone stops working. PT Sir would usually volunteer to fix it, but this time he stands to the side and sips tea with the other faculty members. The principal calls upon an assistant to help instead of asking PT Sir.

Jivan’s meetings with Purnendu end, and he says he will work on the story with his editor. When the article comes out, it takes Jivan’s story as evidence of her anger toward the government. The headline calls her a terrorist while the article twists Jivan’s story into evidence for her terrorist activities. Shocked and ashamed, Jivan cannot process the betrayal. But when her mother visits her, she shows Jivan another newspaper article written by someone who defends Jivan, pointing out that there is only circumstantial evidence against her and that her situation stems from Islamophobia. Still shaken, Jivan is surprised to discover that her mother’s positivity helps her avoid a complete breakdown.

Jivan’s mother and father sit to a meager meal together. Jivan’s mother admits that it took everything she had to smile for Jivan. Jivan’s father pats her reassuringly.

The day of Jivan’s trial arrives. She wears a sari she once bought for her mother, which is a small comfort as she moves through the press on her way to the courthouse. The prosecution begins, bringing in over 40 people who testify against Jivan. The witnesses are hidden by a white curtain in case seeing Jivan affects the witnesses’ testimonies. When Jivan hears PT Sir’s voice, she feels a flutter of hope. She remembers his kindness and is sure he will speak to her star athleticism and work ethic. Instead, PT Sir testifies that she left without so much as a thank you, and that it often happens that dropouts fall into criminality after leaving school.

A small victory occurs when the judge throws out Jivan’s signed confession as evidence, but Purnendu’s article serves almost the same purpose. Gobind advises Jivan against taking the stand and tries to poke holes in the prosecution’s evidence. Gobind calls Lovely to bear witness; Lovely testifies to Jivan’s kindness and accuses the court and public of unfairly judging a young girl. Though the court laughs at Lovely, she does not falter in her defense of Jivan. Ultimately, the judge finds Jivan guilty and sentences her to death. Jivan hears a scream behind her and watches with faltering comprehension as a stretcher is brought in for her mother, who has fainted.

Lovely is devastated about Jivan’s sentencing. She hears conversations about the trial around her, realizing that it is the public and the media that have essentially killed Jivan. Filled with sadness and guilt, Lovely walks to Jivan’s parents’ home to visit but finds them swarmed by the media. Jivan’s father is outside, demonstrating his crippled body to demonstrate the family’s dire situation. When the journalists leave, they make a mess of the street. Lovely cleans up their cigarette butts.

Bimala Pal’s assistant reflects on the Indian economy and his need to provide a good life for his family. He thinks about ensuring his family has everything they want, not just what they need, which requires side hustles. He uses the sad story of a Muslim family as an example of the insecure economy and infrastructure, since Muslims are consistently abused and displaced with nowhere to go. He calls India a “riot economy” and relates the harsh realities of making money with a straightforward, unironic tone.