NATION, NATIONALISM and the PARTITION of INDIA: PARTITION the NATION, and NATIONALISM , De Manzoor Ehtesham

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Bargad Sookha y Reza Masoom Rahi de Gaon, Adha hindi, en novelas dos según Independencia, ala siguientes décadas cuatro las en India en Islam del presencia la estudia artículo Este Resumen Keywords nation. Indian a secular of construction to the critical also but was for Muslims, homeland the as of Pakistan idea the not rejected only that acommunity 1980s“otherizes” the from onwards particularly discourse communal Hindu how aresurgent and nation, Indian to the commitment their Ehtesham’s Reza’s Adha Masoom Gaon Rahi novels, Hindi of two astudy through ence Independ after decades four over roughly India in of Muslims trajectory the traces paper This Abstract Palabras clave India. en estado del religiosa neutralidad la mantener para fundamental que sino fue musulmanes, los de patria como Paquistán de idea la que no solo rechazó comunidad, a esta 1980 de ido alienando ha década la desde hindú fundamentalismo del discurso el embargo, Sin india. nación la a fidelidad su mantiene que caso todo en sulmana, NATION, NATIONALISM AND THE PARTITION OF INDIA: PARTITION THE NATION, AND NATIONALISM , de Manzoor Ehtesham. En ambas la Partición es el eje central de la identidad mu identidad la de eje el central es Partición la ambas En Ehtesham. Manzoor , de Revista Canaria de Estudios Ingleses Estudios de Canaria Revista : Manzoor Ehtesham, Partition in Hindi literature, Rahi Masoom. Rahi literature, Hindi in Partition Ehtesham, : Manzoor Sookha Bargad TWO MOMENTS FROM FICTION* MOMENTS HINDI TWO :

Manzoor Ehtesham, Partición en literatura hindi, Rahi Masoom. Rahi hindi, literatura en Partición Ehtesham, Manzoor DOI: https://doi.org/10.25145/j.recaesin.2018.76.06 DOI: . It explores the centrality of Partition to issues of Muslim identity, of Muslim to issues of Partition centrality the . It explores Ambedkar University, Delhi Ambedkar Bodh Prakash , 76; April 2018, e-2530-8335 pp. ISSN: 77-89; , 76; April and Manzoor Manzoor and

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REVISTA CANARIA DE ESTUDIOS INGLESES, 76; 2018, PP. 77-89 77 REVISTA CANARIA DE ESTUDIOS INGLESES, 76; 2018, PP. 77-89 78 when many refused to be swayed by divisive politics and asserted their right to be right their asserted and politics by divisive to swayed be refused when many 1947 If experience. amixed amoment been was has of reckoning to shake, began faith of foundations when that the nation nineteen-eighties, to the asecular in faith (Pearson, 2009). (Pearson, Literature Urdu and Hindi in Ideology ing assumption being that while Hindus are axiomatically Indian and nationalist, Muslims are not. are Muslims nationalist, and Indian axiomatically are Hindus while that being assumption ing underly the Hindus, or Nationalist Hindus Indian terms, corresponding the across comes One rarely from 1947 onwards. nationalism on Indian discourse Hindu communal the of in Partition primacy the of aHindu rashtra achievement to of goal the obstacle the enemy principal the out and singled as are Muslims formations, Hindu communal of regressive target the are women gays and Dalits, Christians, norities, including mi all While project times. post-colonial in of secular the or failure of success the measure provide perception, afair self can their perceived and are how they India, progressive Indians. and liberal by secular, preserved to sought be and fathers founding by the espoused India vision ofthe asecular to contrast sharp in is This loyalties. extra-territorial allegedly on of their account hounded constantly and citizens full not as are accepted Muslims, the particularly minorities, all which nation, in vision Indian Hinduised the is ofa its affiliates and Sangh Swayamsevak (BJP), Party Rashtriya the Janata Bharatiya by the espoused politics of Hindu communal heart the At decades. three last the in consolidation and arevival witnessed have continued and to they persist forces, blow to communal amajor was by Hindu communalists Gandhi of Mahatma assassination the While for a Hindu rashtra argued they League, Muslim the in counterparts their Like Hindu Mahasabha. the like parties who belonged to those Hindu communal but also not Leaguers just the whose proponents theory were two-nation to the challenge strongest the nation was andIndian democratic secular in a faith Their India. in behind stayed and argument nation, a Muslim who not were there did perceived innumerable as buy Muslims the involuntary, and but latter. borders voluntary the created both mostly of newly people It the migration across led to amassive majority areas. Muslim ous other contigu and Bengal Punjab and by dividing out Pakistan decided to carve government British the and violence, issue forced the communal escalating rapidly including factors, butseveral disagreed, Congress The India. Hindu —majority undivided an in (or interests nation)Muslim not Muslim the could safeguarded be that argued League Muslim the and Jinnah Ali Muhammad nations. constituted communities religious theory, on that idea two-nation premised the the was Partition forrationale The 1947 independent Pakistan. August two and in nations —India 1 * India in For Muslims or group, position in other community the any of Muslims More than it what creating in fought forsucceeded had and League Muslim the While of notthe in onebirth but culminated struggle anti-colonial Indian The

The more commonly used terms, Indian Muslims or Nationalist Muslims, are problematic. are problematic. Muslims, or Nationalist Muslims Indian terms, used commonly more The Some parts of this essay are based upon my earlier work, Writing work, Partition: my Aesthetics earlier upon and based are essay of this parts Some , in which the interests of Hindu interests majority the would the supreme. be which , in 1 the journey from 1947 journey the their acknowledged when they . This is mainly due to mainly is . This - - - Page numbers follow quoted passages in the text. the in passages quoted follow numbers Page version. translated the from Families of are 1994 Village [1966]). Gangauli (Penguin, references All impacted by the Partition and its construction in the post-colonial period. post-colonial the in its construction and Partition by the impacted some continues toin minorities be, ways, the nation and of Indian the trajectory the how novels together, two understand the one By can studying nationalism. secular Indian of andlimits the scope role defining in of Muslims seminal the ments narrate nation. Two same mo the in two Muslims these novels in located Hindi secular of belief the challenged forces a second moment of communal when aresurgence were project, nineteen-eighties nation-building the the in partners equal counted as the second half of the nineteenth century. nineteenth of the half second the about from people minded work of communal the clearly was Hindus hence and script Devnagri the with of Hindi association the as well as Muslims hence and script Perso-Arabic the Urdu with whose expression of pain or whose expression of pain whose compete for honor the one the of whose tazias being to year the sides throughout prepare Patti. Both Dakkin and Patti Uttar locations, opposed geographically who two reside in of Muslims Shia groups or families two splitbetween actually is Gangauli village The belongs. family his to which Patti— author, to refers title the the in Dakkhin —the Reza’s village half half the that states translator’s Wright the of In ways. introduction, Gillian avariety idea in plays on this nation. of Indian the space larger the within to attempts define itself into minority how insight Muslim the an us provide novels can together two the Hence studying divides. national and ideological across divided getting families in resulting to Pakistan migrated numerous Muslims the exclusive property of Hindus. exclusive property the as by Hindu communalists claimed been has that alanguage Hindi, in write both and backgrounds come from progressive both Muslim literature; Hindi in tradition of progressive realist the apart authors are Both other levels. at many traced be can that continuity a thereis nevertheless classes, novels belongsocial totwo different the in characters Muslim While traction. gains propaganda communal as minded andnarrow- (the generation independent first of insular India) becomes to that one family Muslim liberal progressive and educated, of an transition the narrates and of first the backdrop the with 1965 Pradesh),Pakistan, ofwar state Madhya against Ahtesham’s SookhaManzoor Bargad of United the (now Provinces Pradesh). heart the in Uttar located Gangauli, village, tition of 1947 of residents Shia-dominated the of aMuslim perspective from the mad at the Battle of Karbala. Spread over ten days during which Shias remain in in remain Shias which Spread over during ten days of Karbala. Battle at the mad of Prophet grandson the Moham Husayn, of Imam martyrdom the commemorates Muharram by Muslims, Shia observed ritual annual An of Muharram. occasion the marsias Rahi Masoom Raza’s Adha Masoom Gaon Rahi literally means half a village or a divided village and the novel the and village or adivided avillage half means literally Gaon Adha 3 2

Rahi Masoom Reza, Adha Gaon Reza, Masoom Rahi Languages too have religious identities, according to communalists. The association of association The communalists. to according identities, religious have too Languages and nohas and are more soulful and more evocatively rendered and the one rendered the more and and evocatively more are soulful karb is more dramatic and cathartic than the others, on others, the than cathartic and more is dramatic 3 Both of them also belong to from regions where of also them Both The Feuding Feuding The Wright as byGillian English into , translated , written in 1986, in , written (a Bhopal in set in is city 2 , written in the 1960s, the in Par , written explores the are bigger and more and bigger ornate, are - - -

REVISTA CANARIA DE ESTUDIOS INGLESES, 76; 2018, PP. 77-89 79 REVISTA CANARIA DE ESTUDIOS INGLESES, 76; 2018, PP. 77-89 80 significant counter to the communal divide that engulfs the world outside Gangauli the world outsideGangauli that engulfs divide counterthecommunal to significant a is caste of class/ lines along fractured are tives) communities to both one which in othernarra Partition many in as post-Partition and hostility camaraderie Partition into (238). untouchable one, turned an be sahib?” anyone who’s how can And we are? do not you think or Chamars ofsort Bhangis untouchables. the What are people don’t Chamars and Bhangis that know even you If else? it’s it if you. bhai, to me What looks as educating of time a waste been not 1987: (cfr. created was become “untouchables” Hasan Pakistan if 123-126). “Eh would Muslims that League, for Muslim the canvassing who are students, Aligarh of the suggestion at the stunned is he called, is as or Kammo Kamaluddin, to class. fromidentities religious of conflict the terrain the shifts Reza zamindars), dominant the are Saiyids Rajputsand and Muslim Hindu Thakurs (both class and caste ing Further, by conflat Muslims. and Hindus between divide communal overarching exploitation of the basis andin Adha Gaon regressive definitely is caste While Sayyids. the among descent of family that as well as purity of ritual the evident traders). (Sunni notionsin is Raqis weavers and This “lower” caste the then and Mughals and Pathans followed by of Sheikhs, Muslims, communities the four in highest the are Brahmins) (like TheSaiyids of Gangauli. Muslims to the extend Hindu community the evident in are that hierarchies caste that is (5).” growing been has Hindus and Sunnis of Shias, percentage the numbers and in dwindling have been when “the present residents with times of Gangauli this (5). contrasts not did or Reza become Nurpur Nuruddinagar” over it, “Gangauli its hold established Nuruddin’s But a Hindu family after raja even Gang. Saiyid after (4). named (or was Ghazipuri” Similarly conversely) themselves Gangauli have called should Pathans and Sheikhs Saiyids, victorious the and Gadipuris, themselves called should have andChamars Bhars Ahirs, Kayasths, Brahmins, Thakurs, defeated the Ghazipur, or when it at least became too should have changed were Gadipuri then andthere identity,if names because bond between unbreakable is narrator. no “There author/ to the according Tughlaq. Bin little, mean Mohammad But ruler names the of achieftain over Ghazi, by to Ghazipur, Syed taken when it Masood was changed was which Gadipuri, was name belief, its original to local According relationships. inter-community the have not changed generals or their princes by Muslim quests Con village. their with primarily together, identifying living and classes and castes graves. and land to abandon their refuse and reluctant are others while Pakistan in some life lure towhich of people the abetter succumb environment an in creates of ideology,way on basis the communalism but because divided notin a simple gets village homeland. The to the committed remains which other half the leaving for leaves Pakistan, village the Half Partition. the emerge after that divisions to when the compared for inhabitants the meaningful culturally and innocent is pre-Partition in times Gangauli ruler. But divides split the that tyrannical of forces by Yazid, the the were killed children his and Husayn when Imam battle Ashura tenth day, the ofa state mourning, called The repositioning of the relationship between Hindus and Muslims (pre-and Hindus Muslims Thethe between repositioning relationship of of Gangauli organization about social the interesting particularly is What atemplate as for different nation, the with function Gangauli and Ghazipur , witnesses a re-enactment of the are-enactment , witnesses , it subverts the , it the subverts - - - over and above the religious identities in this case too. case identities this over in religious above the and equations of Mumtaz.”(166). class and martyrdom the caste the emphasizes Reza and is forhe him arrested “consequently against testifies falsely Miyan, Phunnan against of one-hundred-and-eleven grudge men”, apersonal who has Hammad, responsible been had for recruitment the Sahib “Hakim and loyalists counted as are they as aftermath the able in to are protect themselves Shias Even the though classes. and castes The oppositionpeople fromdifferent together the police brings to burntanddeath. to tree tied toa are his constables all and Thanedar Thestation. police the crowd the overruns which after killed, are Singh Harpal and Gobardhan Mumtaz, firing, the Mian’sIn old Phunnan son and fifteen-year Singh Mumtaz. Prithvipal of Thakur grandson the Singh Harpal as well as Gobardhan and Chamar tions”(164). community, Baburam Thecrowd includesthefromChamar members for bribes genera extracting been had from whom of police and Qasimabad the war, the in or were about to killed be killed been whose brothersnephews had and fund, contribute forced been to whohad thewar seized, to been had grain the fields from whose revenue taken, from of whom amount been land had one-and-a-half thepeople were These meant. freedom what people whoeven knew them among ‘Quit slogan, crowd India’. the people were there few whothis knew There weren’t oppressor. an as “In see whom they aman against itsentment directed is local, is a re Their lesson. Thanedar intention the the station, police with the of teaching surround landlord, of Muslim Salimpur, another Khan of Ashrafullah those and theHindu landlord Barikhpur of Singh, Prithvipal of Thakur other retainers and Bhars oppression The the with officials. of police the incensed are villagers the and men young volunteered whoMany had for War the or have died come maimed back implicatedsome them. of andfalsely bribes taken affairs, internal their in meddled contributions forcibly for War from them the who has extracted Fund, Prasad, Harnarayan Thakur station Qasimabad, at police the of local Thanedar corrupt the fedare up with villagers context. The but different asomewhat in Gangauli in echo its finds also attacked, being stations government police and with properties (149). carried” bier the was that hell such raise come didn’t and Caliphs, our Parusaram-va curse Shias the procession because in doing started town the in Sunnis the aHindu... aHindu? When isn’twas and Parusaram-va that Kunwarpal Thakur Arre, us. to slaughter were Hindus murderers the waiting all “you’re if he retorts, as left, British the after them would talking rule Hindus that (149). by Pakistan!’” live your ‘Long in idiot to taken be an To Farooq’s warning andare here,here.homes I’m fields our are platforms here, tazia not our are graves forefathers’ our “Eh bhai, to him. irrelevant is issue the of Pakistan, to a part be not is going Gangauli if that he says Firstly realities. local to their him by referring counters him Miyan Phunnan of Hindu rule, threat the and creation of Pakistan for trader’s the Sunni the son Farooq, argues Hasan, Anwarul When existence. their of specificities local by the countered villagers by the are students Aligarh the and theHindufakir both of appeals communal The it to overrun also. threatens and The Quit India movementIndia TheQuit violent by marked of was protests, that 1942 haramzadgi, haramzadgi, saying that we won’t that saying carried be Ali bier let the of Hazrat - -

REVISTA CANARIA DE ESTUDIOS INGLESES, 76; 2018, PP. 77-89 81 REVISTA CANARIA DE ESTUDIOS INGLESES, 76; 2018, PP. 77-89 82 abuses and curses is a distinct marker of their identity. of their marker adistinct is curses and abuses with routinely peppered language, unpolished Their Gangauli. in villagers of the language the with common in little has Delhi and Aligarh Lucknow, from speakers educated and urban to belongs that Gangauli would change and the Saiyids would lose their hold on the “lower” castes hold would lose their on “lower” castes the Saiyids the and would change Gangauli thepower equations that of meant This to abolished. be had zamindari that clear was Congress the all After remains. zamindari question more of the ished, difficult of Mecca or Karbala, I remembered Gangauli’” (249). Iremembered Gangauli’” or Karbala, of Mecca butinstead Allah, remembered certainly near, I very came when death battlefield, On the village... this am Imyself because But village Ilove aMuslim. “’I am this Tannutwo. the of conflation the questions Pakistan, and of Islam tor cause to the atrai of being accused its residents. and When identity to of the mental Gangauli written, draws the ire of ire Urdu today. the even draws written, purists Urdu: chaste in students the to explains rest, the Tannu War the more fought in is than and educated who has why then don’t Miyan, p. 248), Mian?” neither weand Allah vote does for Allah doesn’t Sahib Jinnah ajoke anyone meet (“When as dismisses Sahib Hakim which some about quibbling Jinnah’s inaccessibility After Patti. of Uttar Sahib Hakim and Gangauli) Urdu polished and rustic in dress formal out their of with place appear and who League come votes to for Muslim seek the from Aligarh students (an euphemism for the shervanis” “black Patti, the Tannubetween of Dakkhin debate of the on whom issue evident in is the to vote of elections 1946, for the in This on other, toon Gangauli. and the one the attachment emotional hand, their of abolition the of zamindari threat the and interests class position suited their that a loyalist between caught are world. to their TheSaiyids threat real the constitutes that it not but is Partition fact, abolition the In the of zamindari Saiyids. to the sense proponents little makes League of Hindu domination Muslim by the threat ideology. alleged to communal obstacle The an as stands constantly Shias by the But while the argument against voting for Pakistan can be easily demol easily be can for voting Pakistan against argument the But while 4 originally novelBhojpuri the was which in or Bhojpuri Urdu, language the mother. (248) to his message sent that Mumtaz one which in the is My tongue not now mother is my tongue. mother speaking Iam language the that to God But Iswear Urdu Muslim. the tongue made have you gentlemen because language his not understood have life.” Perhaps you will dard behenchod my I’m mother This tell dead. to Gangauli go you if “Eh,bhaiya, said, and away running of aman hold shirt hem of of the the bravely...caught he very that hesay died They that but heard I have time at that not here Iwas station. police “Muntaz”. Qasimabad atthe ... shot dead He was vote for her She will Kulsum. vote of the Musammat not able to be take you will But can’t League. anyone votethefor government but Muslims of loyal Patti This arepatronized who and Bhars Ahirs “lower”thecaste Hindu of The loyalty

According to some the term “Bhojpuri Urdu” itself is an anomaly. The sophisticated Urdu sophisticated The anomaly. an is Urdu” “Bhojpuri itself term the some to According 4 But its local specificity is funda is specificity But its local is going to take my to take going is - - - remain pure. Saiyid girls are married off to non-Saiyid and even illegitimate boys. boys. illegitimate evenand off to non-Saiyid married are girls pure. Saiyid remain no longer can Blood lines into comes subverted have been existence. Shias the among hierarchies of barber’s the caste (287). order the daughter” which in social Anew bier the gentlemen out set cemetery, Saiyid carrying the and family away from the distance short a dug came...gravewas A The barbers turned. tradition zamindari wheel of “The worked be jointly again. can land the that so him reconcile with to wants Hammad father But his a barber’s when she dies, daughter, Saifunya. for marrying Saiyids the and family own by his ostracized was Mighdad families. non-Saiyid with marriages through alliances build to gradually begin Saiyids the zamindaris, of loss their impending With the dissolution the ofand zamindari. of families separation the —both pain own of their asymbol becomes Muharram For them, zamindari. abolishes that of Congress the impulse socialist democratic, the other victimized groups. for of amelioration than rather interests personal their power to enhance political their workers use Congress shows how local corrupt the Reza killed. him he gets by Mian, Phunnun andwhen challenged families the Shia of conflicts internal the embroiled ingets He theMians. before andpower wealth his flaunts and corrupt exceedingly becomes Parusaram income elected, too” (269). getting after fact In and had increased status his andhim, which due to fear to begun had officials cap, due government to which Gandhi he the needed Perhaps Gandhiji more than leader... his didn’t as Gandhiji really why accepted know he had “He [Parusaram] “lower” castes. the among imply consciousness agreater order not did necessarily political and social the in of change pace the that toperceptive enough recognize is Reza Congress. the joining after powerful who suddenly becomes Parusaram he not may though approve even empowering for subalterns the of opportunist the extent to an and inevitable is change the that older order recognizes but he also theabout The feel nostalgic author/ does narrator children. and members, wives, older behind family leaving opportunities of better search in to Pakistan migrate men young their lose power prestige, and families (268). landowning Shia the As plough you to zamindars” the the have broken with your hands your connections putting “by him, tells Parusaram As atiller. as claim his it, ploughs staking and simply goes Mighdad illegally, a piece of to land grab of try them several When I’m and ‘He’s of mine,’ father any Mighdad. acultivator” (268). said azamindar father. “ his own with relationship his redefining even to Mighdad leads families within Alienation acontested issue. over becomes land won’t cruelty force and work!”(265).zamindars’ hold the Saiyids the Even between now the have changed, times that everywhere speeches making and cap a Gandhi moment leader the a political he’s stepped out He’s of wearing jail. around roaming become has “Sukhram-va’s son Parusaram-va out angrily: bursts Miyan Ali Husain As party. Congress by the patronized are power when they political acquire denly sud son Parusaram his and of Saiyids the retainer a“lower” Hindu caste Sukhram, of Independence. coming the with collapses economic and structure older social an that is Gangauli of tragedy the to abandon one’sanalysis, home. final the In exploited had whom reason they for enough be a long Yet loss cannot time. this even Given the class interests of the Shia landlords, they are not sympathetic to not are sympathetic they landlords, of Shia the interests Given class the ‘I don’t being about know his -

REVISTA CANARIA DE ESTUDIOS INGLESES, 76; 2018, PP. 77-89 83 REVISTA CANARIA DE ESTUDIOS INGLESES, 76; 2018, PP. 77-89 84 as a positive aspect of their self perception. This is something that is reiterated that something is perception. This self of their apositive aspect as read be opposition can forces and to communal village commitment to their their nation, independent of an Indian citizens equal as consciously not themselves see do they While creation of the Pakistan. in invested or emotionally ideologically is Butthemselves. not characters one the of principal to sustain the means find to struggle and “lower” castes, the compromises with humiliating to them seem what make They homes village. to abandon their and unwilling circumstances, theirstraitened to themselves to reconcile try They for Pakistan. argument the way out by accepting easy the do not them, they take havemay pauperized theSaiyids of thecircumstances While off. backing notdoes show Muslims the over” to (300).go hell...zamindari’s you’ve now Miyans, right, said, made your Pakistan, Gandhiya “All finished. been wouldn’t hadn’t have zamindari made, been Pakistan wretched “‘If that plight. impoverished for their out at Pakistan lashes ladies, one of Saiyid the Sakina, cal, illogi somewhat seems power.argument the and Though privileges rightful of their robs them that something hence as seen and abolition to the of zamindaris linked is Pakistan little. nation too means Indian the idea, a ridiculous is Pakistan while Hence inexplicable. identity is identity, local ofidea their anational supersedes that the even shows how for villagers, the Raza fact In all. is to them, Gangauli nothing anyone’s” than held to higher look was crowd. head at (268). the turned His Miyan say, had what to he finished Having Phunnan Muntaz!’ was name His name. his here too. no one It like killed told looks Ason you was of mine “‘Eh, sahib! him. interrupts the Mian to Motherland”, “sacrifice their and Phunnan Gobardhan, and leader, role the Varma, of on aCongress Haripal keeps praising Balmukund and 1942 the in to station honor police movement, killed those at Qasimabad unveiled is memorial amartyrs’ When despair. them not does make Muslims, against dice ideology. of communal pressure Even to the preju blatant to succumb the refuse other Muslims and but Saiyids the coming keeps of Muslims terrible massacres of the News Bihar. and Lahore Noakhali, Calcutta, like out places in breaks that Bahadurganj. and Mubarakpur like majority areas for Muslim to leave permission Barikhpur his ask when they Muslims own up his away, them He not to beat threatened. only chases but are threatens even Muslims “own” when his them against turns Singh when Prithvipal shocked are But they (274). were nearby” of Barikhpur those away and were far rather Muslims Salimpur the that was andBarikhpur Salimpur of the Muslims between only difference the and “It Muslims Muslims. are [the the Muslims crowd] that thought crowd against the incites fakir Hindu the and Prithvipal’s retainers Thakur of theranks infiltrate They advantage. take to up,elements some try flares outsidecommunal Salimpur of Sahib Khan the and Barikhpur of Singh Prithvipal Thakur between enmity altered. irreversibly is Gangauli And life. of abetter search in to Pakistan men young migrate many And While the novel does highlight the Hindu communal threat in 1947, in threat Hindu communal the novel the highlight does itWhile means Pakistan villagers, rejected by is the propaganda League Muslim violence of communal the midst the in oasis an as Gangauli constructs Reza old the When root Gangauli. in to take fails canker Yet communal the - - of his family. An educated and liberal-minded lawyer, Wahid Khan has invested in in invested has lawyer, Wahid liberal-minded Khan and educated family. An of his Gaon author narrator/ father, the of their like ent Wahid context. form and Khan, 1947, Sookha in Bargad around Hindutheir andneighbors Gangauli with identification to their recourse forces. 1980s,the sentiment dented severely anti-Muslim secular when had the the Bargad 1992. Masjid of Babri in the destruction Sookha the in culminated that hoomi issue Janmb Ram the and case Bano the Shah Khalistan, forthe demand in reflected were consequences the and forces of 1980s communal early led to astrengthening enemy. the with 1970s the sympathies Identity during politics the and alleged their for were of 1965 demonized India the time in the around Muslims which during war followed particularly forces, by a slow was politics of re-emergence Hindu communal andby a spirited secular robust marked was that era The Nehruvian communalism. of re-emergence to Hindu the regard with years two these between alink to trace It possible of 1965 is the backdrop the 1986, Pakistan. with it against war set is Bargad implicit is Reza’s in that critique. nationalism of idea the asecular elides Homi Bhabha, like others by and Pandey ideology astatist as of nationalism Thecritique suggests. Pandey itself, as not nation and nationalism with religion links aposition that India, in aliens are position Muslims that Hindu communal the is outsiders” are (290). Muslims that questioning is says Hence Reza Sangh what Jan “The viz.: about assumption Muslims, context of the a Hindu in communal made is Secondly,in. seeped Reza’sGangauli statement with bonds about his central finally happened has of has what reality the and issue, post-Partition it period, asettled is the in everyone, troubling is former the Partition/abolition in of zamindari While it. after prior period comes one the the to and that Partition introduction between introduction?” (290). an demand theis split age by new neatly narrative The every doesn’t And begins. come another where to a place and one ends has age story our that now is fact “The of text: the middle for introduction the the in explanation an provides Firstly, himself of text. the Reza reading not a careful borne out through fact in is (200). challenged thought” being is Pandey’s nationalism that assumption of novels, of nationalist and of writing the ittoriography” “subverts rules the because his nationalist and of nationalism claims to the a“challenge introduction as of this 1999). (cfr. idea very Ansari complete his aversion to reveals the that to say “Pakistan”, a minor detail himself not go.”(290-291)will bring most Even moment, impassioned cannot his in Reza out get go, so say, and and I Bareli.’ should Igo, sahib? Why toto Rae Gangauli, it’s my home... You no Igive one to say to right And me, ‘Rahi! the don’t belong It’s unbreakable. are to not another. my just “My village, Gangauli bonds with from one end the transition of novel age the the towards to mark he inserts that introduction unusual the in himself, narrator/author,by Reza the Masoom Rahi , had refused to leave his home in Bhopal to migrate to Pakistan, with the rest rest the with to home to Pakistan, leave to his Bhopal migrate in refused , had is set in the aftermath of 1965 the aftermath the in set war, is of but some it in anarrative ways is , takes up the story several years later. Though the later. in published novel was Though years several story up the , takes While Reza’s Saiyids may have countered the communal challenge by challenge have may communal countered Reza’s the Saiyids While If book Remembering his In Partition Adha Gaon locates Muslims within the “moment” the within Muslims of locates Partition, Rashida and Sohail have to enemy contest the adiffer in Sohail and Rashida , Gyanendra Pandey has cited the insertion cited insertion the Pandey has , Gyanendra Sookha Adha Adha - - -

REVISTA CANARIA DE ESTUDIOS INGLESES, 76; 2018, PP. 77-89 85 REVISTA CANARIA DE ESTUDIOS INGLESES, 76; 2018, PP. 77-89 86 communal beliefs within their extended family and the Muslim community. Muslim the and family extended their within beliefs communal the against argue strongly and values liberal have imbibed his Sohail and Rashida children elders. His family his it against going meant though even right, morally forwas fight what and law “secular” he to chose practice values, mutilate human and (cfr. distort 1999).to used Naim with howwas religion disgusted Thoroughly anyway “religious”in his him identity to to define allow he refuses consistently ist, athe an core to and the nationalist A secular a modern children. education for his tions about their disloyalty see Salman Khurshid 2014. Khurshid Salman see disloyalty their about tions Accessed 15 Dood-i Chiragh-i Mehfil dil Naala-i gul Boo-i Kashmiri, Shorish nor used.” saved be neither could they of amosque pillars crumbling the Like meaning. lost lives their star; disintegrating a like shattered was morale Their derided. were loyalty and integrity personal Their ashes. to reduced were sacrifices Their versa. vice and Muslims, were of Hindus, eyes the in who, Muslims Nationalist sincere honest, Urdu the ‘were writer, extended family and the Muslim community at large. community Muslim the and family extended his of ire both the approach, draws rational of his because rituals Islamic the in Muslim. Hindu and both forces, communal of countering possibility the in faith erosion the is of However novel their the of what Muslims. narrates ghetto-isation responsible and is for that fear the it majority community Vijay the is that accepts humanity, and who put of above Muslims religion country critical is Sohail When communities. own their with lies fault the that recognize Both views. his shares from Vijay who strength derives Sohail of to victimization. play upon feelings try elements who communal of Muslim pressure to the to succumb refuse Rashida and Sohail stereotyping. Vijay opposed communal Muslims, to any strongly is against grudge any from harboring far and riots, Partition the during friends Muslim were parents saved by Interestingly, refugee his cause. secular to the committed Hindu boy, the is friend closest equally is and Vijay, beliefs their shares who also misinterpreted as sympathy for the enemy. Their listening to Radio Pakistan for for enemy. the Radio sympathy Pakistan as to misinterpreted listening Their theborder is deliberately across theirthefate relatives interestof in natural The ists. by Hindu communal conveniently are targeted India in Muslims countries two the between hostility and of war times in connections, up to the keep try families While families. divided of tragedy the is today till continues to resonance find One of that Partition of consequences the Pakistan. with war the during pressure sensitively. novelthe conflicts represents their sides of and both ideas to communal exposed are they adults young As sectarian. and members narrow whose vision is family of those bankruptcy ethical and moral about them the to convince tries constantly but alienation, Wahid their with Khan uncomfortable feel Sohail and Rashida school years, going their In children. for his it to not cost, is pay the easy he willing is while and socially him ostracize community Wahid Khan’s commitment to secular practice and his refusal to participate to participate refusal his and practice Wahid Khan’s commitment to secular Their faith in Wahid Khan’s secular values, however,values, Khan’sundercomesin severe faith secular Their Wahid 6 5

“Those who got the worse of it, both in India and Pakistan’, commented a well-known well-known a commented and Pakistan’, India in both of it, theworse got who “Those allega despite country their as India accept of how Muslims account person For afirst

December 2017. , cited in Hasan 1993: 2/145. . jan.ucc.nau.edu/sj6/hasanprologueintro.pdf. 1993: 2/145. Hasan in , cited .jan.ucc.nau.edu/sj6/hasanprologueintro.pdf. 6 The extended family and theand family extended The 5 Their Their - - - as treacherous aliens who properly aliens belong treacherous other to side the as of border, the Muslim the on from 1947 of carry demonization forces Muslims their in Hindu communal the While years. several its longHowever after shadow even continues Partition to cast thinking. narrow and for its insularity community own his he ridicules humanist, of 1942. arational As honored be Hindu son martyrs the Mumtaz his with along that who demands Mian by Phunnan put forward argument the he extends sense one In fellow countrymen. his all with he shares that he believes that space the Home entire nation, the is India. for him secular in citizen equal to an be himself who considers Muslim liberal rational, educated, an is Wahid Khan Abdul Gangauli, aworld Reza’s in outside imagine novel Saiyids cannot the homes.to While their rights on their insist emphatically and Pakistan and Muslims equates that discourse novels both oppose in communal the Characters creation of the Pakistan. after India by turns. into of astate relapsing drunkenness to and become apious Muslim —trying to reconcile to opposing pulls inability his down.The with novel ends he breaks Geeta, with breakup the after disillusioned completely and agency, greater of but absence alivelihood, the has in Sohail a man As despite forces, efforts. her best communal and hold from the self of patriarchal her to unable completely is awoman, as distance by her. but also Rashida, fanatics joy, great with greeted aHindu it girl, not was married by just the converted and cousin, adistant how her In private when Salim, moments also. she recalls Rashida liberal the educated, in be found can approach this of some that traces significant (or (or opposite the Muslims in way. and Hinduism case) Hindus) aperverse in It is (or aHindu girl of Islam versa) considered is avictory vice marrying and converting ideology, boy of communal aMuslim part integral an also is patriarchy Given that communalists. and Hindu both Muslim by perpetuated is a myth stocks different comefrom that races two are and Hindus Muslims that identities. The idea insular to create upon build these communalists ideologies and patriarchal and racist in in Pakistan. settled whois Hamid well-off educated, to the married to get she refuses though of her with father. death the offVijay, She forced to is break after ofsure her family to Vijay, committed though boy. impossibletheit finds pres Rashida, to resist And end to to aHindu comes apremature when her forcegirl her parents married to get aHindu Sharma, Geeta with relationship Sohail’s pressure. of social face the in fail relationships personal their own sentiments, counter communal to asignificant be would relationships such that believe Vijay both Sohail and While divide. Muslim sympathies. of extra-territorial suspected being outlook when one constantly is asecular of retaining challenges the and identity is complexhowIndian enemyto reveals the Muslim nation. Rashida’s conflict inner troubled of by people why wellbeing she who the should belong interestedin be But never met them. she also she is has though worried even safety, about their naturally is Lahore, in relatives maternal close and Karachi in aunt lives paternal whose proof Rashida, subversive of irrefutable projected their is activities. as news The two novels problematize the issue of a national identity for Muslims in foridentity thetwo issue national of a novelsMuslims Theproblematize opposition (and rooted communal) is to relationship aHindu-Muslim Social Hindu- the across novel the marriage in is raised issue A second important - -

REVISTA CANARIA DE ESTUDIOS INGLESES, 76; 2018, PP. 77-89 87 REVISTA CANARIA DE ESTUDIOS INGLESES, 76; 2018, PP. 77-89 88 to derail it even many years after Partition. after years it many even to derail threaten that challenges the nation and Indian conception to the ofIndia a secular in of Muslims On abroader centrality the level, novels the Ehtesham. inscribe zoor andMan Reza Masoom Rahi by aresome theraised of These questions minorities? the against discriminating blatantly mayhem and spreading are forces communal when Hindu recent times in aMuslim and to secular be it does what mean and not for of did Pakistan them demand support many the though even co-religionists of their of brunt actions the the continue why to do bear Muslims fallout, term its long been has what India, in for meant Partition Muslims has of What Partition. identities nation formation, shadow of and the national in trajectory the trace can despitetheir losses. Gangauli in off better seem theSaiyids Even battle. be a to losing seems what hues, of fighting both ists of astate siege,cornered by in communal exist children his and Wahid Khan like Muslims Secular-minded to nurtured. be needs identity that Islamic conservative to anarrow, propagate of community the on insecurity build the communalists By putting together two moments from the recent history of Muslims, one of moments Muslims, recent two history from the together By putting Revised paper accepted for publication: 25 January 2018 25 January publication: for accepted paper Revised Reviews sent to author: 10 October 2017 10 author: October to sent Reviews - - Hasan Ehtesham Ansari (ed.) India Partitioned —— (ed.) Reza Prakash Pandey Naim Khurshid Hyder , Rahi Masoom. Masoom. , Rahi Ambiguities of Heritage: Fictions and Polemics and Fictions Heritage: of Ambiguities , C.M. , Mushirul. ‘Nationalist and Separatist Trends in Aligarh’, 1915-1947, Trends Aligarh’, in Separatist ed., and Gupta A.K. in ‘Nationalist , Mushirul. Kali for Women, for 1998. Kali Dariya. ka Aag , Qurrutulain. Translated by Ralph Russell. City City Russell. byRalph Translated Muslim Indian an of Memoirs Stay: to Choosing , Nasim. Remembering Partition: Remembering Violence, Nationalism Gyanendra. , and History in India Writing Partition: Aesthetics and Ideology in Hindi and Urdu Literature Urdu and Hindi in Ideology and Aesthetics Partition: Writing , Bodh. Families of Village Gangauli Press, 1999. pp. 123-126. pp. 1987, Publishers, Manohar 1945-47. in India, Freedom for Struggle The Reality: and Myth University Press, 2001. Press, University At Home in India: The Muslim Saga Muslim The India: in Home At , Salman. Rajkamal, 2003 (1986). 2003 Sookha Bargad., Manzoor. Rajkamal, Adha Gaon . Oxford University Press, 1993. Press, 2vols. University . Oxford (1966). Translated into English by Gillian Wright as Wright as by Gillian (1966). English into Translated . Penguin, 1994. . Penguin, REFERENCES . Hay House India 2014. India House . Hay . City Press, 1999. Press, . City . Pearson, 2009. . Pearson, . Cambridge . Cambridge The Feuding Feuding The

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