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Journal of Literature, Linguistics and Cultural Studies

Journal of Literature, Linguistics and Cultural Studies

RAINBOW Vol. 9 (2) 2020 Journal of Literature, Linguistics and Cultural Studies https://journal.unnes.ac.id/sju/index.php/rainbow

Pre- and the Rise of Indian in Amitav Ghosh’s : A Postcolonial Analysis

Sheikh Zobaer* 

* Lecturer, Department of English and Modern , North South University, , .

Article Info Abstract Article : The Shadow Lines is mostly celebrated for capturing the agony and trauma of the artificial Received segregation that divided the in 1947. However, the novel also 17 August 2020 provides a great insight into the undivided Indian subcontinent during the British colonial Approved period. Moreover, the novel aptly captures the rise of and the struggle 13 October 2020 against the British colonial rule through the revolutionary movements. Such image of pre- Published partition extremely important because the picture of an undivided India is what 30 October 2020 we need in order to compare the scenario of pre-partition India with that of a postcolonial India divided into two countries, and later into three with the of Keywords: Partition, Bangladesh in 1971. This paper explores how The Shadow Lines captures Nationalism, and the rise of Indian nationalism through the lens of postcolonialism.s. , Amitav Ghosh © 2020 Universitas Negeri Semarang

 Corresponding author: Bashundhara, Dhaka-1229, Bangladesh E-mail: [email protected]

but cannot separate the people who share the INTRODUCTION same history and legacy of sharing the same territory and living the same kind of life for The Shadow Lines is arguably the most centuries. There are so many factors that connect famous novel written by Bengali Indian author the people of a particular region together, and if Amitav Ghosh who is famous for his literary there are socio-cultural similarities among the works in English fiction. Published in 1988, the people living in that region, no artificial borders novel lucidly captures the futility of the partition and boundaries can separate them in true sense; of India, earning Amitav Ghosh the Sahitya rather, animosity is all that the imposed Akademi Award. The novel tells the story of a separation spawns. family victimized by the . But it Many historians and critics have is not just the story of some random family; this questioned the partition of India. Many believe fictional family tells the story of all the families that the partition is just an artificial segregation who were the victims of the tumultuous period of which should have been avoided, and many the great divide in 1947 that saw the Indian believe that India’s partition was a result of the subcontinent divided into two countries who British rulers’ policy. Famous have always been hostile to each other. Partition Indian politician and scholar Shashi Tharoor, in can only separate the land by man-made fences, his much-acclaimed 2017 book Inglorious Empire: p-ISSN: 2252-6323 e-ISSN: 2721-4540

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What the British Did to India, argues that the Years of the in India points out that partition of India was a result of the divide and “the tragedy of partition and its more than half rule policy adopted by the British who had a century legacy of hatred, fear, and continued “particular talent for creating and exaggerating conflict” could have been avoided, but for the particularist identities” (Tharoor, 2017, p.102). “arrogance and ignorance of a handful of British Bimal Prasad is also in dialogue with Tharoor as and Indian leaders” (Wolpert, 2006, p.4). Prasad argues that in order to create Hindu- This is exactly what The Shadow Lines Muslim tension, the British colonial rulers used explores: the tragedy of the partition by the divide and rule policy as a strategy so that portraying the trauma of , and the legacy they could “easily play one community against of fear and hatred by portraying - the other” (Prasad, 2001, p.257). Jawaharlal Muslim riots in Dhaka in 1964 – almost two Nehru, in his magnum opus The Discovery of India, decades after the independence of India and aptly argues that “any division of India on a . In order to explore the trauma of religious basis as between and Moslems” partition and its legacy of animosity, The Shadow is bound to fail because “they are spread out all Lines paints a pellucid picture of pre-partition over the country,” and “even if the areas in which India which stands in stark contrast with the each group is in a majority are separated, huge legacy of division and hatred that engulfed most minorities belonging to the other group remain in of the subcontinent after the partition. The novel each area. Thus instead of solving the minority also captures how communal harmony in pre- problem, we create several in place of one” partition India gave rise to the nationalist (Nehru, 1994, p.528). Renowned Oxford movement of India which eventually played a historian Yasmin Khan is also in dialogue with significant part in drawing an end to the Nehru as she, in her book The Great Divide: The oppressive British colonial rule in the Making of India and Pakistan, points out that Cyril subcontinent. Radcliffe “hurriedly marked on maps using censuses of ‘minority’ and ‘majority’ METHODS populations” to divide india on religious ground ignoring the devastating consequences such Amitav Ghosh’s novel The Shadow Lines is division might ensue (Khan, 2017, p.3). the subject of study. This study examines the The partition, indeed, came into effect with novel through the lens of history in order to devastating consequences. Tharoor (2017) claims evaluate how the Indian subcontinent prior to its that “over a million people died” in communal partition in 1947 has been captured, and how the riots and about seventeen million people were rise of Indian nationalism during the twilight of displaced (p.144), whereas Daiya (2008) believes British colonial rule has been portrayed in this that “at least sixteen million people” were forced novel. Descriptive qualitative method of textual to migrate and “at least two million were killed in analysis has been applied in this research. One of ethnic violence” (p.6). According to Jeff Hay’s the key aspects of this study is the use and estimate, around ten million people were forced analysis of historical information as secondary to migrate from only (Hay, 2006, p.84). sources, and in order to ensure an objective and The unprecedented communal violence caused unbiased analysis of the secondary sources, by the partition forced the renowned Muslim information has been obtained from the most leader of the Congress to authentic and reliable sources which include compare the provinces of West and encyclopedia, newspaper articles, journal articles, Pubjab with “graveyard of destruction and death” and books authored by some of the most in his autobiographical book India Wins Freedom acclaimed scholars, politicians, historians, and (Azad, 1988, p.228). Famed Indologist Stanley cultural critics. Such variety of sources also Wolpert, in his book Shameful Flight: The Last ensures the necessary diversity a study like this

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157 requires in order to ensure the inclusion of a wide of restriction at all. This borderless Indian range of perspectives while examining a subcontinent was very much different from what phenomenon, which in turn contributes to the it is now. People used to travel across the objectivity of the study. This study has been subcontinent in search of better life, job divided into two parts. Through the lens of opportunities, education, and so on eventually postcolonialism, the first part explores the extent resulting into an incredible cultural to which the portrayal of the pre-partition Indian amalgamation of many different ethnic groups subcontinent is authentic. The second part that lived in the Indian subcontinent with their focuses on the textual exploration of The Shadow unique and culture which also created Lines in order to evaluate how the rise of Indian an environment that allowed their coexistence. nationalism has been captured in this novel. India became a melting pot of different cultures Works of some of the most prominent and a nurturing ground for ethnic diversity. This postcolonial critics and historians including incredible phenomenon set the Indian Frantz Fanon, Shashi Tharoor, and Stanley subcontinent apart from the rest of the world. Wolpert have been used to lay the theoretical The borderless India is portrayed in The foundation of the study. Shadow Lines quite distinctively. We see that Tha'mma and her sister Mayadebi live in Dhaka RESULTS AND DISCUSSION in their early life. They grow up in their Dhaka home, and through Tha'mma’s reminiscence of India before Partition her early life in Dhaka, we come to know how Even though providing a comprehensive much she is actually attached to Dhaka despite insight into the socio-political scenario of India in living in Calcutta for the rest of her life. Tha'mma colonial period is too colossal a task for any receives her early education in Dhaka, and novel, The Shadow Lines, nonetheless, achieves graduates from Dhaka University. But ironically quite a remarkable feat in portraying how the enough, despite being born in Dhaka, living there Indian subcontinent was before the great divide for a long time, and receiving education in Dhaka in 1947. The absence of borders was one of the University, Tha'mma eventually moves to India major aspects of the undivided Indian with her family during 1947 when she could have subcontinent under the British colonial rule. West easily been the citizen of and Bengal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and – eventually of Bangladesh had she not left Dhaka all were in the same map unrestricted by borders during the partition. Since Burma (now during the British colonial rule. There were eight Myanmar) was also a part of the , it administrative divisions in British India including was quite common for people from different Burma, Bengal, Madras, Bombay, United regions of India to go to Burma for education, Provinces, Central Provinces, Punjab, and job, and other purposes. This novel also captures (Meyer, 1931). The entire territory of Bangladesh India’s connection with Burma as the narrator was under the province of Bengal, and Pakistan tells that Tha'mma’s husband (the narrator’s was under the province of Punjab in British India. grandfather) used to work in Burma as an Myanmar was known as Burma, which was also “engineer with the railways” and that Tha'mma one of the eight administrative provinces of lived the “first twelve years of her married life in British India. That means present-day India, a succession of railway colonies in towns with Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar – all were fairy-tale names like Moulmein and Mandalay” inseparable parts of the same territory governed (Ghosh, 1995, p.124). Even the narrator’s father by the same monarch. Therefore, there were no was born in Mandalay in 1925 which is now one borders between the cities like , Calcutta, of the most prominent cities in Myanmar. The Dhaka, , and Yangon; and people could narrator also reveals that Mayadebi went to live move from one place to another without any kind in Calcutta after she got married to Shaheb. So

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158 here, even through the story of one single family, period. Their family dispute can also be we get the flavor of how it was like to live in the considered as a symbolic representation of the undivided Indian subcontinent as Thamma and Hindu-Muslim tension in the subcontinent that Mayadebi – the two sisters – despite being born in lasted for years and still continues to grow. Dhaka, eventually go on to live in Burma and Despite their animosity, Hindus and of Calcutta respectively for years after their India coexisted for centuries; and just like marriage before they finally settle in India after Tha'mma’s aunt plays the role of a matchmaker the partition in 1947 and live there for the rest of in Mayadebi’s marriage with Shaheb putting their lives. aside all the family squabbles, the Hindus and the The novel also sheds light on the socio- Muslims of the Indian subcontinent came to each cultural and political scenario of India during the other’s assistance on many occasions leaving British colonial rule in the twentieth century. We behind their religious differences. They accepted see the family structure of the typical middle-class each other’s differences and learned to live at that time and the influence of British together as a part of the same community sharing customs among them, part of which is the result the same language, culture, and social values. of the colonized men’s psychological subjugation This was perhaps the most important aspect of to the ruling colonial power. We see the colonial the Hindu-Muslim mutual coexistence in dominance of the British rulers and the rise of undivided India before the partition in 1947. The revolutionary nationalist movement. The novel novel, however, does not explicitly focus on the also shows us Hindu-Muslim coexistence in India stability and the harmony of Hindu-Muslim during that period which was peaceful in most relationship in pre-partition India, and by doing part. In fact, Hindu-Muslim peaceful coexistence so, the novel successfully highlights on the fact in the Indian subcontinent is an established fact. that the Hindu-Muslim relationship, in spite of all Shashi Tharoor claims that the Hindus and the the religious tension, had a sustainable stability Muslims in the subcontinent “had long lived because of the century-long tradition of Hindus intertwined lives,” and such communal harmony and Muslims living together side by side. was one of the essential aspects of the Indian Therefore, the coexistence of Hindus and subcontinent prior to its partition (Tharoor, 2017, Muslims was not quite an unexpected p.113). Jaswant Singh, in his book Jinnah: India – phenomenon in the Indian subcontinent to be Partition – Independence, interrogates the two- worthy of a special mention. theory, which was the very basis of the The psychological subjugation of the partition. Singh claims that the coexistence of educated middle-class mimic-men is an and in India was possible extremely important aspect of colonization in because both religions evolved by influencing pre-partition India that is portrayed in this novel each other, and eventually transformed with ingenuous subtlety. For example, the themselves over the course of “almost a narrator tells us that the reason why his millennium and a half” (Singh, 2009, p.4). The grandmother always calls her sister’s husband Shadow Lines paints a powerful picture of religious ‘Shaheb’ is because she once heard Shaheb’s harmony in pre-partition India, and by doing so, mother proudly saying that her son was “so the novel questions the justification of the Europeanized that his hat wouldn’t come off his partition that caused sufferings of millions of head” (Ghosh, 1995, p.34). The narrator also people, and gave rise to a long-lasting religious learns from his grandmother that Shaheb’s and political animosity among the people of India wardrobe was divided into sets of hangers which and Pakistan. had labels like “Calcutta zamindar, Indian The joint family where Tha'mma and her diplomat, English gentleman, would-be Nehru, sister live with their uncle’s family is typical of South Club tennis player, Non-Aligned middle class Bengali Hindu families during that Statesman, and so on” (Ghosh, 1995, p.34). This

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159 shows that Shaheb desperately wants to Shaheb, we find their psychological subjugation Europeanize himself in terms of his getup and to be quite similar to that of Black men living in a behavior. But it is not only the Shaheb who is French colony discussed by Fanon. Amitav psychologically subjugated to the British colonial Ghosh’s effort, in this case, is definitely force and becomes a mimic-man. Jethamoshai is commendable by the way he subtly and also another striking example of how the life-long realistically portrays the psyche of characters like psychological domination can root deep into an Jethamoshai and Shaheb who represent the group individual’s psyche. When Tha'mma along with of the educated, rising middle class Indian mimic- others goes to Dhaka to bring Jethamoshai with men in pre-partition era. her, he does not recognize her, but almost Another very interesting social instantly identifies May as a foreigner through her phenomenon in British India which is worthy of appearance. Then he points at the king’s picture note, and which is also one of the most thought- and says “our King-Emperor. God save our provoking aspects of this novel, is the friendship gracious king” (Ghosh, 1995, p.213). Not only among the Indians and the British. In British that, Jethamoshai even goes as far as to make an India, friendship between the Indians and the attempt to sing the British anthem “God save our British was not quite uncommon, and such cross- gracious Queen…” but forgets the tune and cultural connection, by its very nature, embodies manages “somehow to convert the words into a the power of human beings to overcome the cheerful hum” (Ghosh, 1995, p.213). It is really threshold of individual differences and connect incredible that an old man of his age, who cannot with one another. The Datta Chaudhuri – even faintly recall his family relationships, still Tresawsen friendship portrayed in this novel vaguely remembers the British colonial legacy shows very clearly how the absence of border can long after the colonial rulers have left. Both bring people from two different continents of the Shaheb and Jethamoshai are representatives of world together and tie them in a bond of warm the class of educated middle class Indian men friendship that can even be carried through who are psychologically dominated by the ideas as Lionel Tresawsen’s daughter Mrs. and the lifestyle of the colonial masters and try to Price becomes friend of Tridib’s father, and mimic them. This, they think, would elevate their Tridib becomes friend of May Price – the social status. Quite interestingly, famous daughter of Mrs. Price and the granddaughter of Martinique-born Afro-Caribbean postcolonial Lionel Tresawsen. In the case of Tridib and May, theoretician Frantz Fanon discusses a similar their relationship goes beyond friendship as the phenomenon in his renowned book Black Skin, two become lovers later on. This -long White Masks where he attempts to analyze the relationship between these two Indian and British psychological subjugation of Black people. families serves a great purpose in this novel apart According to Fanon (2008), a black man, from from showing a cross-border cross-cultural his childhood, learns to view the White colonial relationship. The Shadow Lines questions the idea rulers as superiors, and therefore “subjectively of nationalism and nation states by showing how adopts a white man’s attitude” in an attempt to they became agents of division among people conform to the code of conduct set by the colonial who share linguistic, cultural, and ethnic rulers and to live up to their expectations with a similarity. As an antithesis to such deliberately view to making himself more acceptable to the created division, Ghosh presents this Tresawsen- White colonial rulers (p.114). Fanon (2008) Datta-Chaudhury relationship which overcomes believes that this attempt to adopt an European linguistic, cultural, ethnic, and geographical way of life eventually leads to the “formation and differences eventually upholding the power of crystallization of an attitude and a way of human companionship, compassion, and unity thinking and seeing that are essentially white” over all the differences. (p.114). When it comes to Jethamoshai and the

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significant incident. People all over India resisted the colonial rulers for centuries and there were The Rise of Indian Nationalism some notable anti-colonial movements including The rise of Indian nationalism is the Vellore Sepoy in 1806 and the Indian undoubtedly one of the most significant events rebellion of 1857, but none was as effective as to during the British colonial rule in India that drive the colonial rulers out of India. After paved the way for freedom for the millions of century-long anti-colonial struggle, India people in the subcontinent who had been living eventually became united under the charismatic their lives in perpetual misery for centuries under leadership of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, colonial rule. The anti-colonial sentiment and finally the nationwide anti-colonial resulting from the century-long subjugation and movement became an implacable force suffering eventually fueled the anti-colonial overpowering the colonial resistance. Mahatma movements in India which finally saw the end of Gandhi and his followers took the path of the British rule in the Indian subcontinent; and nonviolent noncooperation movement – a form after centuries of untold suffering, the long- of peaceful civil resistance famously known as subjugated people of the Indian subcontinent – while some others opted for violent finally got the chance to know how it feels like to revolution believing that exerting force was the break free from the shackle of colonization. It is most effective way to shake the British colonial because of the outburst of the long-suppressed enterprise off its ground. Even though Satyagraha anti-colonial sentiment, which culminated into a gained worldwide acclamation, the revolutionary mass-awareness among the people of India movements also played a vital role in accelerating urging them to unite together against the British the Indian independence movement towards its colonial rule, that Indian nationalism, with all its ultimate success. There were many such secret uniqueness and unforeseen consequences, revolutionary groups active all over India during eventually developed into an indomitable anti- the first half of the twentieth century, and Bengal colonial force surging through all the obstacles, played an exceptional role as a breeding-ground and reignited the passion of freedom among the of revolutionaries. In this novel, two such secret Indian populace which helped them achieve their revolutionary groups who were at the forefront of glorious independence overcoming the all the revolutionary groups in Bengal – the overwhelming resistance of the mighty British Party and the – are colonial power (Nehru, 1994, pp. 327-330). This mentioned. The narrator learns from Tridib that was perhaps for the first time in history that the “terrorist societies like Anushilan and Jugantar entire Indian subcontinent, the whole of India, and all their offshoots, their clandestine came together under one umbrella with the networks” attempted to “assassinate British unified goal of achieving freedom, manifesting officials and policemen” forcing the British to the surging rise of Indian nationalism in the most react with “arrests, deportations and executions” emphatic way. Hence, the discussion on pre- (Ghosh, 1995, p.37). partition India would not be complete without The novel gives us authentic information shedding light on the rise of Indian nationalism, about the activities of the secret revolutionary and also on the resulting anti-colonial movements groups in Bengal during the colonial period. that eventually propelled the Indian Historical record confirms that Secret independence movement towards its ultimate revolutionary groups like Jugantar Party and success by drawing an end to the British colonial Anushilan Samiti were active in Bengal and had rule in India for good. profound impact on the independence movement However, the path towards freedom was of India by destabilizing the British colonial never easy, and the rise of Indian nationalism did stronghold in Bengal with their clandestine not occur overnight or over just one particular attacks. According to Banglapedia (n.d.),

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“Anushilan Samiti was one of the secret institutions, there used to be regular police raids revolutionary organizations operating in Bengal in suspected educational institutions, as in the first quarter of the ” which was Tha'mma mentions, “there were raids all the time “bent on overthrowing the British colonial rule” in the colleges and the university. We’d grown up in India. action was one of the most with it” (Ghosh, 1995, p.37). Tha'mma’s account notable revolutionary clandestine operations by of how “a party of policemen led by an English this group which is famous for the sacrifice officer” suddenly enter into the classroom in the and who gained middle of a lecture to arrest her friend, brings the stature of national heroes. One of the most back the memories of those turbulent days in heroic clandestine operations by the Dhaka vivid details leaving the readers amazed at the Anushilan Samiti was the armory wonderful reflection of historical awareness in raid on April 18, 1930 led by Masterda , fiction. Through Tha'mma’s account, the for which he was tried and hanged to death on 12 activities of her revolutionary friend are also January 1934. Jugantar party, another “leading revealed. The narrator learns from Tha'mma that revolutionary terrorist group in colonial Bengal,” her revolutionary friend was “learning to use was named after the revolutionary newspaper pistols and make bombs, smuggling messages and Weekly Jugantar which was started by “an inner running errands” and before he had been circle within the Calcutta Anushilan “deported to the infamous Cellular Gaol in the Samiti under Barindrakumar Ghosh and ,” he was on a mission to ” and was the “mouthpiece “assassinate an English magistrate in of the advocates of militant nationalism” district” (Ghosh, 1995, p.38). The portrayal of his (Banglapedia, n.d). In 1930, the leaders of revolutionary character is so close to reality as to Calcutta Jugantar Party launched an extensive make him a mirror image of the revolutionaries program of terrorism and focused on in Bengal who, at that time, were the flag-bearers manufacturing explosives. Jugantar Party bravely of Indian nationalism as a violent response to contributed in the Chittagong Armory Raid in colonization in contrast with the peaceful 1930 which caused massive government backlash noncooperation movement opted by MK Gandhi against the revolutionaries all over Bengal and his followers. (Bangladedia, n.d). It is through Tha'mma’s memory of the These two were at the forefront of the revolutionary movement and her attitude secret revolutionary groups in Bengal, and towards it that the rise of Indian nationalism as through the reminiscence of Thamma, we get a an anti-colonial reaction is best revealed. It is vivid glimpse of the revolutionary activities of quite evident that Tha'mma’s idea of nationalism these secret groups. The author shows an as an anti-colonial struggle is very much similar extraordinary awareness of history which is to that of the revolutionaries. Just like the expressed through Thamma, Tridib, the narrator, revolutionary freedom fighters who opted for and their remembrance of past. From Tridib, the violence as a way of drawing an end to the British narrator learns about the “terrorist movement colonial rule, Tha'mma, too, seems to hold the among the nationalists in Bengal in the first few same belief. The narrator reveals that Tha'mma decades” of the twentieth century, about the was fascinated “by the stories she had heard “clandestine networks” of Anushilan Samiti and about the terrorists: about the heroism of Jugantar Party, about the “home-made bombs Khudiram Bose and the sad death of Bagha with which they tried to assassinate British Jatin” (Ghosh, 1995, p.38). History informs that officials and policemen” and about the both Khudiram Bose and Bagha Jatin took part government repercussions that followed (Ghosh, in armed insurrection against the British colonial 1995, p.37). Since the revolutionary groups used force and eventually sacrificed their lives. to recruit their members mostly from educational Khudiram Bose, who was “better known as the

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162 youngest freedom fighter, was hanged on August have driven her towards the path of violence as 11, 1908” under the accusation of “bombing the the narrator reveals that Tha'mma would have carriage of Kingsford” when he was “only 18 gone to Khulna with her rebel friend and “stood years old” (“Remembering Khudiram,” 2016). at his side, with a pistol in her hands, waiting for Khudiram, along with Prafulla Chaki, planned to the English magistrate …” (Ghosh, 1995, p.39). assassinate Mr. Kingsford, then district judge of When the flabbergasted narrator asks Tha'mma if Muzaffarpur and Chief Presidency Magistrate of she really would have killed the magistrate, Calcutta, because he passed “heavy sentences on Tha'mma replays calmly, “yes, I would have young Bengalee [Bengali] political workers” and killed him. It was for our freedom: I would have inflicted brutal punishment on such politically done anything to be free” (Ghosh, 1995, p.39). At active workers (Bakshi & Ritu, 2007, p.339). this point, any careful reader can easily notice Bagha Jatin, whose real name is Jatindranath that Tha'mma’s calm but resolute utterances Mukherjee, is another revolutionary freedom bespeak her undying passion for freedom and the fighter whose heroic death, according to the indomitable spirit to achieve it even in the face of narrator, moved Tha'mma throughout her youth. the greatest danger, much like her revolutionary “Jatindranath Mukherjee was one of the most friend who, when faced with the English officer, valiant revolutionary philosophers and freedom “seemed absolutely unmoved” with his “face fighters against the British rule in India” who was impassive, his back erect his gazed fixed on the nicknamed as “Bagha Jatin (Tiger Jatin)” policeman, clear, direct and challenging” because of his “heroic struggle against the (Ghosh, 1995, p.38). colonial rulers” (Chandan, n.d.). British officer In this novel, Tha'mma’s unnamed rebel Sir once said, “If Jatin were an friend personifies the real-life revolutionary Englishman, the English people would have built freedom fighters like Masterda Surya Sen, Bagha his statue next to Nelson’s at Trafalgar Sqaure” Jatin and so on; and Tha'mma, on the other hand, (qtd. in Chandan). “Jatin was made the embodies the group of Indian youth of that time Commander-in-Chief of the entire revolutionary whose idea of Indian nationalism as a reaction forces,” and when one of his compatriots “went against colonial rule was inspired by such to Batavia to negotiate a deal with German revolutionaries: by their philosophies, activities, authorities there for the shipment of arms and and sacrifice. In fact, it was not just these Indian financial help” leaving him “in hiding in revolutionary freedom fighters who responded Baleswar (Orissa),” police eventually found out with violence to overthrow colonial rulers. If we his hideout in a paddy field, and “On 9 September look at history, many across the globe 1915, after heavy exchange of fire,” Jatin was fiercely resisted the colonial rulers and had no found dead (“Banglapedia, n.d.). other option but to opt for violence in order to It appears that Tha'mma was fascinated decolonize themselves. Because of the fact that by the revolutionary freedom fighters, and it is colonialism itself was one of the most violent from them and their revolutionary philosophies forms of oppressions humanity has ever known, and activities that Tha'mma develops her idea of the reactions against the colonial enterprises – nationalism as an anti-colonial response. We either to resist the colonial settlers or to overthrow learn from the narrator that, for Tha'mma, them – had to be violent more often than not. working for the revolutionary fighters would have According to Fanon, since colonization itself was been like stealing “a little bit of their glory for an extremely violent process and the colonizers herself” (Ghosh, 1995, p.39). As a result, it is not themselves used force to begin with, in order for surprising that instead of prioritizing Gandhian to be successful enough to way of noncooperation and nonviolence, overthrow the colonizers, it too, has to be violent. Tha'mma, in her youth, had inclination towards In his famous book The Wretched of the Earth, revolutionary ideas which, if necessary, could Fanon (1963) argues that colonization and

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163 decolonization are essentially two different forces permanent rift among millions of people, and which are “opposed to each other by their very questions the achievement of the partition. nature,” and whose “first encounter was marked by violence” (p.36). Fanon also brings up the CONCLUSION point that “the exploitation of the native by the settler” was a violent process which was “carried The portrayal of pre-partition India in The on by dint of a great array of bayonets and Shadow Lines enables the readers to explore how cannons” (p.36). As a result, a colonized person the partition changed the socio-political is forced to live in a “narrow world, strewn with atmosphere in the India subcontinent. The novel prohibitions,” and such state “can only be called reveals that the experience of partition was in question by absolute violence” (Fanon, 1963, traumatic beyond measure. The novel also makes p.37). According to Fanon (1963), the battle it abundantly clear that the partition could not between colonization and decolonization is like a actually separate the people who share the same “murderous and decisive struggle between the cultural and historical background; rather, such two protagonists” where decolonization can only an artificial segregation worked as a catalyst for be triumphant if the natives are prepared to “use provoking cross-border unrest among the people all means to turn the scale, including, of course, of India and Pakistan because of their misguided that of violence” (p.37). It is quite clear that the religious zeal. A postcolonial analysis of The Bengali revolutionary freedom fighters like Shadow Lines reveals that even though the Khudiram, Bagha Jatin, Suryasen and all other partition was based on the religious differences revolutionary activists were on the same side as among the people in India, the separation could Fanon’s regarding their common philosophy of not ensure long-lasting peace as it was the very considering violence as the strongest means of religious sentiment that turned out the be the achieving freedom. In The Shadow Lines, cause of such a long-lasting feud between India Tha'mma and her anonymous rebel friend and Pakistan, and also among the Hindus and perfectly represent the group of young generation Muslims of both countries. Postcolonial critics Indians of the first quarter of the twentieth and historians like Shashi Tharoor and Jaswant century, who, inspired by the revolutionary spirit Singh have also drawn their conclusions along of the rise of Indian nationalism, reacted violently the same line, and as a work of fiction, The against the British colonial rule either by Shadow Lines is authentic in how it captures the physically carrying out armed insurrections, or by history of trauma and division as a result of the morally supporting such use of force. partition. Ironically, Tha'mma becomes a different This is exactly the reason why the person later on in this novel following the death discussion of the partition of India is never of Tridib in Dhaka in a Hindu-Muslim riot. In her complete without the discussion of how India youth, Tha'mma, like many other young Indians was before the partition. In this regard, Amitav at that time, is full of youthful spirit bent on Ghosh’s effort to portray different aspects of India resisting the oppressive colonial rulers at all cost. before the partition of 1947 in his novel The That was the time when the people of the entire Shadow Lines is undoubtedly commendable. The subcontinent were united in their collective effort experience of living in a borderless India, the to achieve freedom. But the partition of 1947 experience of living under the colonial changed it all, and after the traumatic experience oppression, the psychological subjugation of the of the riots in 1964, Tha'mma advocates waging mimic-men, Hindu-Muslim peaceful coexistence, war against Pakistan considering Pakistan as an the rise of Indian nationalism, and the enemy to her nation. This is how by portraying revolutionary movements against the British how Tha'mma’s view of nationalism changes, colonial rulers – all are portrayed realistically in Ghosh shows how the partition of India created a The Shadow Lines. Such authentic portrayal of the

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164 most significant aspects of pre-partition India also Nehru, J. (1994). The Discovery of India. Oxford sets a strong platform for an honest literary University Press. exploration of post-partition India, making the Prasad, B. (2001). Pathway to India's Freedom: A Nation discussion of the partition in this novel more within a Nation 1877-1937. The University Press Limited. comprehensive and effective. Singh, J. (2009). Jinnah: India – Partition – Independence. Rupa & Co. REFERENCES Tharoor, S. (2017). Inglorious empire: What the British did to India. C. Hurst. Azad, A. K. (1988). India Wins Freedom. Orient Wolpert, S. (2006). Shameful Flight: The Last Years of the Longman Limited. British Empire in India. . Bakshi, S. R., & Ritu C. Eds. (2007). Through the Ages. Sarup & Sons. Banglapedia. (n.d.). Anushilan Samiti. In Banglapedia.org. Retrieved August 10, 2020, from http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?titl e=Anushilan_Samiti Banglapedia. (n.d.). Bagha Jatin. In Banglapedia.org. Retrieved August 10, 2020, from http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?titl e=Bagha_Jatin Banglapedia. (n.d.). Jugantar Party. In Banglapedia.org. Retrieved August 10, 2020, from http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?titl e=Jugantar_Party Chandan, Shahnawaz Khan. “The Man behind the Myth.” The Daily Star, 7 Mar. 2015, www.thedailystar.net/the-man-behind-the- myth-41075. Accessed 10 August 2020 Daiya, K. (2008). Violent Belongings: Partition, Gender, and National Culture in Postcolonial India. Temple University Press. Fanon, F. (1963). The Wretched of the Earth. (C. Farrington, Trans.). Grove. Fanon, F. (2008). Black Skin, White Masks. (C. L. Markmann, Trans.). Pluto. Ghosh, A. (1995). The Shadow Lines. Oxford UP. Hay, J. (2006). The Partition of British India. Chelsea House Publishers. Khan, Y. (2017). The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan. Yale University Press. “Remembering Khudiram Boses, the Youngest Revolutionary Who Was Hanged at the Age of 18.” (2016, December 3). India Today. https://www.indiatoday.in/education- today/gk-current-affairs/story/khudiram- bose-355435-2016-12-03 Meyer, W. S. (1931). The Imperial Gazetteer of India. Oxford University Press.

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