AZADI BY CHAMAN NAHAL
Azadi is a novel written by the Indian writer Chaman Nahal who was born before partition in Sialkot, Pakistan, on 2 August 1927. The story is a journey of multiple characters, who all have to leave their home in Sialkot after Partition and move to the new free India during the ongoing riots between Hindus and Muslims. The main protagonist is the grain merchant Lala Kanshi Ram who lives on rent in a shared house with his wife and a college going son along with seven other families. Critics appreciate Nahal for writing a blunt and vividly detailed account of the Partition days. As the title suggests the story is about azadi or freedom. More specifically it is about the strife-torn times in the history of the Indian sub-continent when Partition happened, and the Indian sub-continent was divided into two separate countries on religious lines with just one announcement on the radio. Tracing the lives of a few characters, the novel takes us through the build up to the Partition, the unprecedented violence and horrors that it unleashed upon innocent people and also its aftermath – the dislocation and the exile that millions of them had to face. The novel is also about the inability of the people to accept the Partition, to actually go through it and finally reach India, where they will now have to start a new life. It is about the loss and quest for their identity and home in a strange land. Divided into three parts the novel takes us through the historical, political circumstances that led up to the division of the two countries, the resultant riots and the aftermath marked by Mahatma Gandhi's death. Bharatender Sheoran writes in “Tyranny of Partition: A Retrospective Analysis of Chaman Nahala’s Azadi” that Azadi has none of the sensationalism of other novels about 2. INTRODUCTION 1. LEARNING OBJECTIVES 29 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning, School of Open Learning, University of Delhi Reading Indian Fiction in English India’s partition, such as Khushwant Singh's Train to Pakistan or Manohar Malgonkar's A Bend in the Ganges. Nahal shows the cruelty as well as the humanity of both sides. The novel also consists of autobiographical elements as the writer himself had lived through the partition and was a victim as well as a survivor. Azadi is focused on physical trauma and violence associated with one of the most brutal historical and political events in Indian history. 2.1 A Brief Note on Indian Fiction in English Having lived under British rule for over two hundred years Indians had been exposed to the English language for a long time before Macaulay’s Minute made it the language of instruction in 1835. Consequently, English became an official language known and read in every part of the country. Many educated Indians had begun writing in English and their writings variously came to be known as Indo-Anglian Literature or Indian English Literature or as it finally emerged – Indian Writing in English. As the name suggests, Indian Writing in English, includes the writings of Indian writers who write in English, such as Rabindranath Tagore, Sri Aurobindo, R. K. Narayan, and Raja Rao from the pre-independence era. Today the list of famous writers under this category has extended to include many more names. Notable amongst these are R. K. Narayan, Mulk Raj Anand, Salman Rushdie, Amitav Ghosh, Arundhati Roy, Meena Alexander, Anita Nair, Jhumpa Lahiri and Vikram Seth and many more. The main themes are Indian culture, social values and tradition and Indian history through the portrayal of life in India and Indians living elsewhere. However, recent Indian English fiction is more about the post-modern, neo-colonial experiences of Indians. The earlier works have the dominant themes of nationalism, freedom struggle, social realism and individual consciousness. Chaman Nahal’s novel Azadi also shares similar themes. PostIndependence writers focused on the themes like East-West conflict, multiculturalism, social realism, gender issues, existentialism, spiritual humanism, ecological problems, magic realism, and the Indian diaspora. What is distinct about this writing is that it focuses on the Indianness of an experience and conveys it through Indian characters mostly in an Indian landscape. Nowadays, writers focus on the decolonization of the English language in Indian Writing in English. Not only have the themes become universal, but the experience of decolonizing English and using it as another Indian Language is similar to the experience of other post-colonial nations like Africa and Australia. Interestingly, Chaman Nahal’s work is already appreciated by critics for being different from the stereotypical portrayal of English by the West. A straightforward example is his choice to write about realistic middle-class 30 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning, School of Open Learning, University of Delhi All UG Courses Indian characters and not to translate some words into English. For this reason, one finds a generous sprinkling of Hindi and Urdu words in his novel. 2.2 About the Writer Chaman Nahal, famously known as Chaman Nahal Azadi, was born in Sialkot, Punjab, Pakistan. He migrated to India after Independence with his family. He received his university education from the University of Delhi with M.A. in English in 1948. Later, he studied at the University of Nottingham as a British Council scholar from 1959 - 61 and did his PhD in English in 1961. He married Sudarshna Rani and has two daughters. He received the prestigious Sahitya Akademi award in 1977 and the Federation of Indian Publishers award in 1977 and 1979. Besides writing novels, short stories, and critical essays, he also taught as visiting lecturer at several universities in India, the U.S.A., Malaysia, Japan, Singapore, Canada, and North Korea. His other famous novels are My True Faces (1973), The English Queens (1979), The Crown and the Loincloth (1981), The Salt of Life (1990), and The Triumph of the Tricolour (1993). He has also written short stories, and one of his well-known collections is The Weird Dance and Other Stories (1965). He has also published various essays as a critic. In 1991, in one of his interviews, he said, "I have largely concerned myself with two themes in my novels: the individual vs the joint family system in India, and my historical identity as an individual, as an Indian. For the latter theme, I have drawn extensively on history, especially our freedom movement, 1915-47. Azadi, The Crown and the Loincloth, and The Salt of Life are part of a quartet on that theme. I'm working on the fourth volume of the quartet now. I use Gandhi as the ultimate symbol of that identity.” Besides the theme of freedom, he has also touched upon the issues like caste, sexuality and gender. Most of his characters share their internal thoughts with readers, and Nahal has been bluntly honest in the portrayal of internal monologues of his characters. This kind of honesty adds a realistic element that is common in his writing. Nahal had himself faced the cruelty of the partition and migration. The murder of Madhu, Lala Kanshi Ram's daughter, and her husband, has a direct bearing on Nahal’s life as he too lost his sister in a similar manner. K. Nageswara Rao writes about the autobiographical elements that “Azadi is a masterpiece of Nahal’s creative genius. Nahal being a native of Sialkot had himself witnessed the horrors and holocaust created by communal frenzy.” (56) He also notes that Nahal has written both about the pleasure and pain of the partition. People rejoiced at the thought of being free from British rule but their joy soon turned into pain when they realized that this freedom has come at a terrible cost – a division that plunged their 31 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning, School of Open Learning, University of Delhi Reading Indian Fiction in English country into times of unprecedented horror, pain and trauma. Nahal relived that trauma when he wrote about it in his novel on that theme. The story is about the migration of Hindu families during the partition of India and Pakistan. The plot begins on the 3rd of June 1947 with the announcement of the Viceroy who declares the partition in the evening. Before the partition, by and large, the Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs lived together in harmony and peace. Lala Kanshi Ram is one of the oldest tenants of Bibi Amar Vati and the main protagonist of the novel. He lives in a three-room set with his wife Prabha Devi and twenty-year-old college-going son, Arun. Lala Kanshi Ram is a grain merchant, a follower of the Arya Samaj but he is also fascinated with the British Raj. Just opposite their house lives a Sikh family which includes the pregnant Isher Kaur, her father, grandfather and husband. The landlady Amar Vati lives with her husband, an adopted son, a beautiful Kashmiri daughter-in-law Sunanda and two grandkids. On the ground floor lives the charwoman Padmini and her daughter Chandani. The building also houses Mukanda’s mother, whose son is in jail. The lives of these characters are ripped apart the day the Partition is announced. Through their experiences, we as readers, relive the horror and the pain of the partition. 3.1 The Lull A sense of foreboding hangs in the air as Part I - ‘the Lull’- begins. Life however is still going on as usual for the inhabitants of Sialkot. The omniscient narrator takes us into the life of Lala Kanshi Ram who reads his morning newspaper and educates his wife about the atomic bombs, World War, and Gandhi’s fast unto death. He loves his mother tongue but still mentions Hindi as his official language in the census. We get a peep into Lala’s hard-earned Check Your Progress • Which historical event does Nahal discuss in his novel Azadi? • Who are the main characters of the story? • What is Indian Writing in English? Give examples. • What are the common themes of Indian Writing in English? • What do you expect to read in the novel Azadi? • Why is the theme of Partition so close to the author’s heart? 3. AZADI – DETAILED SUMMARY 32 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning, School of Open Learning, University of Delhi All UG Courses comfortable life which he is afraid to lose. The narrator describes his nationalistic spirit and dilemma as he adores national heroes like Gandhi, Nehru, and Bhagat Singh but is also impressed with the discipline of the British officers. On one hand, he calls the British ‘Kuttai angrez’ and compares himself with national heroes when he spends a night in prison for a strike. On the other hand, he is fascinated by the grandeur and facade of the British parades, uniforms, and authority. He recalls taking his son to the Hurrah parade where the writer describes the authority and cruelty of the British when they make a spectacle of killing stray dogs with bullets. He worries about the political turmoil but Prabha consoles him and sends him to work. In Prabha Devi and Isher Kaur’s friendly chat, the narrator describes the harmonious environment between the Sikh and Hindu communities and the rising tension with Muslims. They talk about cooking, family love, share jokes, and of course discuss the impending possibility of the division until Arun returns from tennis practice with news that they (political leaders) are going to divide the country. The news generates an urgency and fear in everybody’s mind. However, in the market, Lala Kanshi Ram and other Hindus discuss how Mahatma Gandhi will not accept the division. They show their faith in Gandhi as for them, he is not only a politician but a saint. The narrator weaves in the story of Abdul Ghani, a hookah maker, in a flashback. In the past he had been on amicable terms with the Lala, indulging Arun from time to time and coming to Lala for small loans which he always repaid. Once the partition is announced he becomes a perfect example of how political leaders exploit the masses for playing their own divisive politics. It takes him no time to turn from friend to foe under the influence of Muslim leaders whose only aim is to spread hatred between the two communities. The narrator recounts how Abdul Ghani, though a paltry hookah maker was treated as an equal by his neighbouring Hindu businessmen in the bazar and he had lived in peace with them. “But the Muslim League had slowly made him aware of the threat to him in a free Hindu India. It was not a question of his personal views: the League or Jinnah Sahib knew better. They said, view your Hindu neighbour with suspicion, and he did that. They said there should be Pakistan, and he shouted for Pakistan” (P 56). Lala Kanshi Ram returns home and prays to Lord Krishna before the radio announcement. A vague sense of doom spreads in the room as everyone waits for the news with bated breath. Before the announcement, the narrator talks about Nehru as a political leader who has important work to do and discipline to follow instead of helping the poor. Finally, the Viceroy and Pandit Nehru announce the partition of India and Pakistan. The first reaction is disbelief! How could their leaders betray them in this callous manner? Total 33 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning, School of Open Learning, University of Delhi Reading Indian Fiction in English confusion and fear soon follow. What will happen now is the question on everybody’s mind. It is impossible to understand how with just one announcement can a country be divided and its people’s lives severed. As Lala Kanshi Ram and his neighbours have dinner in fear, the Muslims celebrate the victory of Pakistan with firecrackers and drums. On the same night, the Muslims in the area take out a procession and demand to take it from Fort Street. Under the hysteric crowd’s slogans and drums, Lala Kanshi Ram and other tenants wait for the police in dread. However, to their disappointment, the Muslim inspector sides with the other Muslims. Fortunately, the Deputy Commissioner of police, a Hindu, arrives to ensure their safety as the procession passes through their street. In the next few days, the tension rises not only in Sialkot but all over India and Pakistan. Arun gets a chance to meet his girlfriend Nur but they end up having an argument about their future in the current political and religious unrest. In a flashback, to the past, the narrator gives us the story of Chaudhari Barkat Ali and Lala Kanshi Ram’s friendship and also the beginning of Arun and Nur’s love story. We are told that Barkat Ali and Lala both attended Gandhi’s rally in Ramtalai once. For Barkat Ali, Gandhi’s status is beyond any religion. He is a true follower of Gandhi and believes in non-violence, Hindu-Muslim brotherhood, Swadeshi, and also thinks that Purna-Swaraj is possible. Lala on the other hand believes that Gandhi is only a saint but the British are the true rulers. Disappointed after an argument with Nur, Arun and Munir visit Sergeant Bill Davidson. The narrator describes the background of their friendship. Bill condemns the partition and calls it a stupid decision. However, he suddenly calls Gandhi ‘Bloody Gandhi’, at which both Munir and Arun feel offended. They confront him but he replies that he has no intention to insult Gandhi. With disappointment and tension, Arun and Munir return home. On June 24, the first riot happens in Sialkot after the Legislative Assembly of Punjab accepts the partition. Thereafter begins a daily ritual of murders, rapes, loot and fires. Mohalla Dharowal is looted and burned when a train arrives from Amritsar carrying the mutilated bodies of massacred Muslims and some survivors who look dazed and in shock bewailing the loss of their loved ones and of the only homeland they had known. The train from Amritsar becomes the metaphor for spreading violence. It is like the train has brought disaster to the city. Similarly, the newspapers become a source of spreading trauma and violence. The murder of the Deputy Commissioner is like the final declaration of communal violence. Kanshi Ram’s inability to accept the partition is symbolic of any other Indian’s dilemma to accept such an arrangement. Like any other ordinary person, he blames the government, the British and the political leaders for causing this failure. His simple desire to live and die peacefully in Sialkot with a name, is a desire shared by many others, but cannot 34 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning, School of Open Learning, University of Delhi All UG Courses be fulfilled. Also, the flashback of Suraj’s marriage with Sunanda keeps the balance between the mood of the text. The writer makes sure that it does not become overwhelming to the extent that readers become incapable of understanding the bigger picture of the progression of themes in the novel. The hysterical laugh of Mukanda’s mother at the end shows the spreading hysteria and trauma. She is laughing at those who are leaving in the hope that they will return one day and also at those who will come to burn and loot the houses they call a part of their own country. Lala’s shop is also looted. The afraid and weak Lala tells Prabha Devi that he is not ready to leave and start afresh. Meanwhile, Barkat Ali arrives and informs them that they need to leave as the rioters have planned an attack on their street that night. Bill Davidson comes to escort them to the refugee camp. He faces the heartbroken Lala Kanshi Ram who blames the British for not saving them from the disaster. The story starts with Lala Kanshi Ram’s morning and ends in the first part with the evening dusk and a hysterical laugh. The laugh also indicates the upcoming storm, which is the title of the next part. After the lull, a temporary interval of quiet comes a dark storm, literally and metaphorically. The literal storm is the violence that would be unleashed on innocent people, and the metaphorical storm is the upcoming challenges both nations will face at the social, political and economic levels. Check Your Progress • When does the story begin? Why is the date important? • What important announcement is made on the radio? • How do people react to the announcement? • Who is Barkat Ali and what role does he play in the first part? • How does partition affect the love between Arun and Nur? • What makes the Lala decide to leave his homeland? • In the eyes of the common people who is responsible for the division of the two countries? 35 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning, School of Open Learning, University of Delhi Reading Indian Fiction in English 3.2 The Storm For the next three months, Hindus of Sialkot live in inhumane conditions of the refugee camps during the rainy season, totally unaware of Delhi’s freedom celebrations. Lala Kanshi Ram receives the sad and shocking news of the murder of his daughter Madhu and her husband while the two were on their way to Sialkot. A devastated Lala sends Arun and Suraj to seek help from Barkat Ali to recover Madhu’s remains. As the two make their way back to Sialkot, the narrator paints a dreadful picture of the destruction and vandalization of the Hindu homes. At Barkat Ali’s place, he, and his family console Arun. Nur is also shocked and sad about Arun’s situation. Barkat Ali and Munir go with Arun and Suraj to inquire about the dead bodies. However, they meet Abdul Ghani as a khaksar volunteer who claims that he has burned Madhu’s body with his own hands. Unable to bear Ghani’s beastly and inhuman act, Barkat Ali beats him. A grief-stricken Arun recalls his childhood days with Madhu, her marriage and her struggles to become a mother. He replaces his grief with his attraction for Chandni. Meanwhile, Lala Kanshi Ram, once again, faces heartbreak when General Rees, the Commander-in-chief of the Punjab Boundary Force, betrays him like other leaders. The narrator gives an account of the unfair distribution of land, army and resources by the committee and how it further escalates the violence. Arun meets his class fellow, Rahmat-Ullah, who is now in the Pakistan army. He recalls the Rahmat-Ullah from his college days who had been a romantic poet. In the current scenario, however, he is no friend to Munir but rather wants to exploit him in the most corrupt and shameful manner by offering him a deal for escorting him and his family to safety in return for seducing Sunanda. He continuously visits the camp to look for an opportunity to meet Sunanda. One day, Sunanda warns Arun that if his friend ever dares to touch her, she will kill him. Ignoring Sunanda’s issue, Arun focuses on his relationship with Chandani. Meanwhile, Isher Kaur’s husband, Niranjan Singh, takes an extreme step to commit suicide with fire. He chooses death over cutting his sacred hair to ensure the safety of his family. People call him a saint who dies for his religion. After months of struggle and fear, every Hindu feels a sense of relief when the Indian army under Major Rana Jang Bahadur Singh arrives at the camp. They initiate a plan to securely bring refugees in a foot convoy to India via the Dera Baba Nanak border. The convoy of hundreds of families stops at Gunna Kalan, six miles out of Sialkot. Barkat Ali, Munir and a few other Muslims visit their friends and say goodbyes at Gunna Kalan. 36 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning, School of Open Learning, University of Delhi All UG Courses They next stop at Pasrur tehsil where Lala feels nostalgic looking at the Punjabi surroundings. However, Major Jang Bhadur worries about the intentional delay caused by Pakistani officers. His doubts prove right when the convoy faces an ambush at Qila Sobha Singh, seven miles from Pasrur. When the mayhem gets over, the narrator describes the mutilated bodies and destruction all around as physical evidence of the attack. On the ninth day of the journey, by the time they reach Narowal which is thirty-six miles from Sialkot, 1500 people have already lost their lives. The convoy stops just eight miles away from the border. Arun still fantasizes about Chandni. Suraj brings shocking and shameful news of Muslims parading naked Hindu women. The narrator gives a dark, disturbing and detailed account of the disfigured and beaten bodies of naked and shaved Hindu women. On one hand, Suraj enjoys the show and laughs at the plight of women. On the other hand, a shocked Arun looks at the crying Hakim who prays for forgiveness for the sins of Muslims. The narrator here tries to point at a faint glimmer of hope when he pits the bestiality of the mob against the heartfelt compassion of the Hakim. After returning to the camp, Arun promises to marry Chandni when they reach India. However, the following night, the convoy faces a surprise attack. Arun runs away in the fields away from his family. There he witnesses Rahmat-Ullah raping Sunanda. In a fit of anger, he kills him. He and Sunanda take his revolver and decide to search for their family in the camp. Arun receives the news that Suraj Parkash is dead and Chandni is missing. Devastated Arun tries to search for her but remains unsuccessful. He blames himself and everyone around him for not protecting her. The wounded and lost convoy, where everyone has lost someone, reaches the last village Jassar. The elderly people of the village cry looking at the devastation, some people offer water and some say goodbyes. Everyone rushes to cross the river Ravi like they are rushing for their deliverance. Lala Kanshi Ram shouts ‘Vande Mataram’ and salutes his new motherland. Arun, as opposed to his father’s joy, is upset over his loss of Nur and Chandni. Partition has snatched his love from him twice. In new India, they arrive at Amristar but their quest does not end there. They face rejection from all their relatives and decide to move to Delhi. Lala hopes that he will live peacefully where leaders like Gandhi and Nehru live. The train journey is full of delays, and they witness the Muslims leaving India in similar fear and difficulties. Their train stops at Ambala for more than twelve hours as Hindus derail a train going to Pakistan. En route, Kanshi Ram offers words of wisdom to Prabha Devi about the land of Kurukshetra. He hopes that he will start a new life in Delhi with his wife and son. Meanwhile, Isher Kaur gives birth to a baby girl on the train with everyone’s help. The narrator creates a contrast between life 37 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning, School of Open Learning, University of Delhi Reading Indian Fiction in English and death as on one side a new baby is born in free India and on another side, on the track lie the mutilated dead bodies of hundreds of Muslims. In Delhi, they face trouble and corruption in getting assistance from the government authorities. The reality once again hits Lala Kanshi Ram when officers ask him to pay thousand rupees to get a house and another thousand for a shop. He struggles for days going from one office to another, even visiting Nehru’s house where he faces betrayal once again. After days of struggle, Isher Kaur and her father decide to go and live with a relative in Shahdara. Lastly, Kanshi Ram and others settle in the Kingsway camp on Alipur road in two rooms. 3.3 The Aftermath In the last part, the Aftermath, Lala Kanshi Ram struggles at the Rehabilitation Centre, and Arun gets admission to Delhi University. Sunanda begins to earn a living by stitching clothes. Lala Kanshi Ram travels by bus in Delhi and reminisces on the tiring government system of getting a house. He enjoys the hustle-bustle of Delhi and reaches camp at 7 in the evening. They have just begun to achieve a semblance of normalcy in their life news of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination is received. The radio announcement is just like the announcement about the partition but Lala Kanshi Ram is only focused on Gandhi’s death and ignores the insignificant words. Bibi Amar Vati blames Gandhi for the partition but Arun defends him that Nehru and other political leaders are responsible for it. They speculate that the shooter must be a Punjabi. The narrator gives a glimpse of how they earn their livelihood through a small stall of groceries in Check Your Progress • Describe the life in the refugee camp. • What disturbing news does Lala receive? • Who is Chandni? • What happens to Niranjan and why? • How do we know that the Pakistani authorities are hand in glove with the rioters? • How are the people in the refugee camp finally taken to India? • What difficulties do they face on arriving in India? 38 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning, School of Open Learning, University of Delhi All UG Courses the camp and face tough competition. Lala has stopped wearing a turban which was a sign of dignity. Now he is focused on earning a livelihood only. Along with Arun, he goes to Bazar to listen to the news of Gandhi’s death which is like a personal loss for him and others. Gandhi’s death is shown as the Nation’s loss. At night, Lala feels scared and thinks about his loss to gain this freedom. They all remain awake at night, fearing another riot or betrayal from their own people—the fear of an announcement that can change their lives forever. The story ends with the noise of Sunanda’s sewing machine which reminds them of their unending struggles and loss. 4.1 Violence and Trauma In 1947, India achieved its freedom though at a terrible cost of being divided into two. The Muslim-dominated northern part becomes Pakistan and the rest the Republic of India. The hasty decision was responsible for the migration of lakhs, the deaths of thousands, rapes, displacement, and riots affecting more than 15 million people. This horrific event gave birth to a new type of Literature in which writers explored the trauma and violence at different levels like physical, sexual, and psychological. K. Nageswara Rao talks about this phenomenon as he says that “The blood-curdling colossal event stirred the minds of the Indian writers and as a result of it, a number of novels were written…. The tragedy of partition which resulted in complete chaos and destruction provided the writers with a rich source of treasure for their pen” (55). Check Your Progress • What are the difficulties faced by Lala Kanshi Ram on arriving in India? • Where do they finally find shelter? • What do they do to earn a living? • Does the Lala still feel betrayed by his leaders? Why? • What important announcement is made in this part of the novel? 4. THEMES AND ANALYSIS 39 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning, School of Open Learning, University of Delhi Reading Indian Fiction in English Many writers and critics like Chaman Nahal, looked at it as an act of selfishness by political leaders, religious gurus, and the British Government. Bharatender Sheoran in his essay “Tyranny of Partition: A Retrospective Analysis of Chaman Nahal’s Azadi” writes that “The two countries commenced their independence with bust economies and lands without an entrenched, competent system of government” and continues to say that the novel portrays a “realistic historical documentation of the atrocious confrontations caused by the partition through a literary perspective” (173). Nahal writes a very physical or graphic account of the chaos and destruction that resulted in an aftermath of the Partition. He gives disturbing visual details while describing, the slaughter of men, women and children, the mutilated bodies, vandalized properties and other hateful acts. The frenzy and hysteria of the mobs is captured well by the writer. For example, the narrator describes a stabbing in graphic detail- “the intestines of the man would have spilled from the body and would be lying next to him in a pool of his blood” (126). Another example of this physical portrayal of violence is the description of the burning bodies. Nahal writes about the smell, sound, and colour of the scene. Readers can actually visualize the horror with words like “the unbearable stench”, “heaps of bodies”, and “fires were roaring and hissing” (183). He further writes: “they saw there was only dismembered limbs, dozens of them - legs, and arms, and hands, and thighs, and feet… parts which had not fully burned stood out. And there were the skulls. Again, dozens of them. Many lay face-down, the others faced the sky, or looked sideways. Bare jaws, scooped out eye-sockets, gnashing teeth. Very often a skull cracked open with a popping noise, its bones disintegrating into the heap around. (184) The novel is full of similar horrible visual accounts of the painful events. Chaman Nahal is not the first writer to write about Indian history and partition. Salman Rushdie in Midnight's Children (1981) and Khushwant Singh in Train to Pakistan (1955) also use the chronicles of the history of India to create fictional tales. Rushdie’s novels are allegorical and examine historical and philosophical issues. His characters are surreal with a brooding sense of humour. He is known for his controversial religious portrayals. Saadat Hasan Manto is another writer who has written extensively about the partition. However, in his works such as the short story “Toba Tek Singh”, Manto focuses more on the psychological aspects of the violence and trauma on the mental asylum inmates. Dr Mohan Radhakrishnan’s Manto’s Legendary Contribution to Partition literature of India, argues that his works have been more controversial for his explicit portrayals of violence including rape, murder, abduction of women, violation of holy places, loss of life, kidnapping and the 40 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning, School of Open Learning, University of Delhi All UG Courses distorted identity of a generation (34). In his works, Manto explores what this trauma did to the psyche of individuals. Like Chaman Nahal’s Azadi, Khushwant Singh in Train to Pakistan (1955) also tells the story of migration after the announcement of the partition. However, Nahal’s graphic narratives of physical violence and destruction are different from Khushwant Singh’s portrayal of the nation’s situation of physical torture and psychological outburst. Bilquees Dar in “The theme of Partition in Khushwant Singh’s novel The Train to Pakistan “Singh weaves a narrative around life in this village, making the village a microcosm representing a larger world” (22). In Azadi, there is ample depiction of the violence that engulfed the entire nation after its division on religious lines. The trauma that results from the horrifying scenes all around is also evident in the sounds of wailing that rend the skies. There is however another kind of trauma that the characters experience. This is the trauma of being dislodged from their roots overnight. It is the trauma of losing one’s home, one’s homeland, one’s livelihood and all that one had loved and treasured. Partition thus not just resulted in physical violence and trauma but mental as well for it irreparably affected the psyche of all those who lived through it and would affect all who relive it in times to come through narratives like these. 4.2 Autobiographical Elements Like Kushwant Singh, Chaman Nahal is also a partition survivor. He was just nineteen years old in 1947 and like Arun, he had to face the death of his sister Kartar Devi. The death of Madhu is also symbolic of the death of multiple other sisters lost or killed in riots. The chronicle of the horrific political and historical event is personal for him as he had to go through similar dilemmas which Lala Kanshi Ram and Arun have faced. Nahal’s famous quote is that “the study of history is a study of the alternative choices open to a people at a particular time”. Further in his autobiography, Silent Life: Memoirs of a Writer, he accepts that he has put a strong sense of place in Azadi. The novel is a quest for Lala Kanshi Ram and Arun to lose and find their new identity and home, similarly, Nahal too had to forge a new identity in the wake of dislocation and exile from his place of birth. In “Autobiographical Elements in Chaman Nahal’s Azadi”, H. Asharafunisha and Dr A. Glory explore how “the private experience of Nahal are elevated very skillfully to public consciousness” (6354). Nahal not only recreates past trauma but also relives it through his characters. He shares his confusion as a young boy who wanted to contribute to the bigger picture of the nation’s freedom like Lala Kanshi Ram. He raises his voice to criticize all political leaders and Gandhi, irrespective of his respect and belief in 41 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning, School of Open Learning, University of Delhi Reading Indian Fiction in English Gandhi’s ideology. In his interview with B.S. Goyal, he says that “I think that historically, politically, ethically, and morally, partition was wrong. I believed and still believe that we are one nation, one culture.” Unlike Salman Rushdie, Nahal does not side with any religion. He uses Kanshi Ram’s voice to explain that both Hindus and Muslims have faced the consequences of the selfish and foolish decisions of political and religious leaders. Kanshi Ram’s statement that “I have ceased to hate. … Yes I can’t hate Muslims anymore. … Hating won’t bring anything back” is more like Nahal’s own statement to forget his hatred (388). Nahal’s love for his birthplace Sialkot is evident when he chooses to establish his character in Sialkot. Like Arun and Lala Kanshi Ram, he dreams of living in Sialkot forever. In his essay “Writing a Historical Novel”, he says: One of the themes that I came to be occupied with after the Partition of India was that of forced exile. I was born in Sialkot and after 1947 we were driven away to India………. I have always rejected the two-nation theory; the creation of Pakistan in no way solved the problem of minorities. And till this day, I pine for the city in which I was born and raised. I see this as a typical yearning of all voluntary exiles. Hence, I wrote Azadi as a hymn to one’s land of birth, rather than a realistic novel of partition. (6355) Praising the writing style of Nahal, Bharatendra Seoran explains that he has objectified his personal experience of trauma and violence. Also, he has not spoiled the historical chronicle with situational discursive elements (181). Yet the autobiographical element of the novel brings us even closer to the horror that is being described because all the time we are aware that the same is being written by someone who lived through it himself. Fiction thus comes very close to reality. 4.3 The Historical and Political Element Nahal skillfully weaves into the narrative the history that led up to the partition, the politics that engineered it and the human tragedy that resulted from it. References to historical personages and events are interspersed in the narrative. Gandhi, Nehru, Jinnah, Wavell, Mountbatten, General Rees and many others appear in the tale though not personally but through a recounting of some event involving them or a reaction of people towards their stance. From Gandhi’s call for ‘purna swaraj,’ and a united India, we journey through the demand from Muslim League for a separate Muslim State, the failure of the Cabinet Mission and finally the Viceroy’s announcement declaring the Partition. Through a fictional representation of history, the novel includes a reference to all the main events that brought 42 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning, School of Open Learning, University of Delhi All UG Courses about the calamitous change in the history of the two nations. At the same time, it gives us a perspective on how the common man feels betrayed by his leaders as clearly, they go forward with the division in haste and without any preparation. Lala Kanshi Ram is representative of the common man’s thoughts on the issue when he observes: “What the leaders of India were offering the people of Punjab was an enormous bluff, he felt. They had neither the power nor the intention of maintaining the minorities in their own homes; they had not the power of saving their lives. They should have devised means of mass migration to begin with, before rushing to partition. Now they should at least keep their mouths shut and not mislead the credulous people. Jinnah and Nehru were villains enough …. Kriplani was the worst offender. More than the others it was he who was so loud about minorities staying where they were” (211). Nahal is known to have believed that history is all about alternative choices and Bill Davidson underlines one alternative clearly in his discussion with Arun and Munir. He firmly believes that The Cabinet Mission plan would have been the best plan for the future of India. But the Indian leaders threw it away foolishly. Quite indignantly he tells them both: “You may sing songs in honour of Mountbatten…. but he has duped you into a division of the country. Even Gandhi and Nehru failed to hold their balance before him – Jinnah I never counted for much. They have all fallen for a handy prize not realizing the misery it will heap on the masses” (123). The politicians and the religious leaders play their disruptive politics with not a single thought for the millions who would be affected by their decisions. 4.4 The Quest for Identity The novel begins on 3rd June 1947 and ends with the assassination of Gandhi on 30th January 1948 thus taking us through eight months of a traumatic journey that ends with a redefinition of the identity of the millions who crossed both sides of the border. For some like Gangu Mal survival matters more than identity. Opportunism dictates his actions. He converts to Islam and stays behind in Sialkot. As against that, we have Niranjan who refuses to compromise, is not willing to sacrifice his identity and immolates himself rather than cut his hair and shave his beard to survive. Born a Sikh he chooses to die a Sikh. For Lala Kanshi Ram and his family and millions like them, their identity is lost when they become refugees in what had been their homeland till then. The only identity they still have is that of being Hindus. Uprooted and exiled from their place of birth they try to find a foothold in a strange land which they will now have to call home. 43 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning, School of Open Learning, University of Delhi Reading Indian Fiction in English Their hope of finding a new identity helps them survive the months of violence and trauma. However, Nahal shows how challenging it is to do so in real life. In Amritsar, they face rejection from all relatives because of their lost identity, no one is obliged to help them. They are only refugees who have suffered, nothing more. Lala Kanshi Ram stops wearing a turban on his head, he understands that he is no longer the grain merchant Lala from Sialkot, just a refugee like many others where “each was a curiosity to the other, but no one had any identity” (350). He struggles to find a place to live and survive in this new land where the easiest way is to gain the sympathy of officials to get some assistance. All that this one-time well-to-do businessman from Sialkot now desires is to “have a name for himself once again -- - not fame, just a name” (350). 4.5 The Gandhi Quartet Chaman Nahal has dedicated almost twenty-five years of his career to this project. He has delivered four novels – Azadi (1975), The Crown and the Loin Cloth (1981), The Salt of Life (1990), and The Triumph of the Tricolour (1992). Azadi is the fourth and last novel of the Gandhi Quartet even though it was the first to be written. All four novels deal with Gandhi’s personality, his philosophy, his fight for freedom, his insistence on non-violence, his sway over the Indian people and traces the various historical and political events connected with him. To devote four novels to Gandhi is itself evidence of his influence on Nahal. He met Gandhi once at Birla House in 1947, after the partition. Gandhi’s words “the ability of a person to face any threat to his integrity through an inner strength”, become a mantra for Nahal to overcome his loss and grief. The influence of Gandhi’s ideologies is a common theme in Indian English Writings. The principles of non-violence, Hindu-Muslim brotherhood, Satyagrah, Purna-Swaraj, and Swadeshi, all have been easily visible in pre-Independence and Post-independence India. However, not everyone looks at him in a positive light but Nahal, sure, has respected and supported Gandhi. In the story itself, from his meeting in Ramtalai to the news of his death, Gandhi’s presence and influence on all characters is visible. The ardent follower of Gandhi, Barkat Ali, becomes an example of an ideal friend, father, and nationalist. In Barkat Ali’s case, Gandhi’s ideologies protect him from the religious frenzy and political mass hysteria. Gandhi is more than a politician; he is a saint for both Nahal and Kanshi Ram. He is an inspiration for youth like Arun and Munir and he is an enemy of the British. Although not every writer portrays Gandhi as a hero, he definitely is one in this story. Nahal writes about why women waited for hours for Gandhi’s arrival but they all leave when he arrives - “They 44 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning, School of Open Learning, University of Delhi All UG Courses were not interested in politics, nor Gandhi’s speech. For them Gandhi was a Mahatma, a religious figure, and they had come to pay homage only to the saint” (104). His death is called “a personal loss” for everyone. In the beginning, Lala Kanshi Ram is sure that Gandhi will never accept the partition and slaughter. He says that “The Congress had a promise to keep with the people. For the last thirty years, since that wizard Gandhi came on the scene, it has taken a stand that India was a single nation, not two” (48). For him, Gandhi is “shrewd” and “a mahatma”, he has no selfish interest so he can never betray them. Bill Davidson's remark “That bloody Gandhi wants us to quit at once”, is like water on a hot pan. Arun and Munir forget their worries and confront him for referring to Gandhi Ji as ‘bloody’. There is also an urgency in Bill’s remark which shows the powerful influence of Gandhi on the British also. In the end, Bibi Amar Vati blames Gandhi for everything but Arun immediately protects him saying that it is not his fault but Nehru's and other leaders’ selfishness. Gandhi’s death is like the final blow to Lala Kanshi Ram and others. Once again, with the announcement of his death, they fear another betrayal especially now that their saint is dead. Lala Kanshi Ram: The main protagonist and a grain merchant in West Pakistan’s city of Sialkot. He is the oldest and chief tenant of Bibi Amar Vati. He is not well-read but shares the common middle-class mindset to elevate the status of his family with education and follows a Check Your Progress 1. Write about at least two different writers who have worked on the theme of partition. 2. How are the violence and trauma shown in Nahal’s work different from Salman Rushdie and Khushwant Singh? 3. What are the autobiographical elements of the novel? Give textual examples. 4. How many novels are there in the Gandhi Quartet? 5. How is Gandhi portrayed in Azadi? 6. What are the fears that resurface with Gandhi’s assassination? 5. IMPORTANT CHARACTERS 45 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning, School of Open Learning, University of Delhi Reading Indian Fiction in English trendy nationalist spirit. The story is about his loss of identity, home, and family members and a quest to find them again in new India. He firmly believes in Gandhi and cries after his death but he also admires the British government. He feels happy about Germany’s loss and thinks of the British as the ultimate rulers. His fears and dilemma are shared by Nahal himself as a riot survivor. Nahal has boldly portrayed his kindness, confusion, duality, hypocrisies, fear, and courage. He loves his language Urdu and his motherland Sialkot. However, he easily calls India his motherland, after crossing the Ravi. His duality and confusion make him realistic and interesting. Bharatender Sheoran talks about his binary ideology, he writes: Lala Kanshi Ram has dual feelings towards the British. He admires them for their qualities but criticizes them for their faults. He says: "They are a nation which cannot be easily beaten, he thought. A handful of them have kept us under their feet for over two hundred years and now that Hitler too has met the same fate at their hands." … he had great faith in General Ress … blames the British for not protecting the refugees. … If the British were going to lose India, it was not because of Gandhi or the awakening amongst the masses, it was because of the tactical error they made in sending out an ugly Viceroy in the crucial days of their Raj (175). Prabha Rani: She is Kanshi Ram’s wife and an ideal example of a good Indian woman. As a forty-year-old woman, she is mature and clever enough to manage her home well. She also has her own superstitious beliefs, and a collection of perfumes, sarees and jewelry. As a dutiful wife she worries about the health of her husband and feels proud that he is so wellversed in current affairs. Like an ideal wife from any classical text, she complains to others about how difficult it is to make her husband happy. She fakes ignorance when Lala tries to impart worldly knowledge to this peasant woman. She is the ideal wife who knows how to be docile and when to be brave and take care of the situation. Lala Kanshi Ram looks around his house and feels how much hard work she has put in to make this place home. The narrator uses Kanshi Ram’s perspective to describe the well-maintained house with washed clothes, clean ironed covers and well-arranged possessions. Kanshi Ram calls her a “strong woman” (35). She maintains good communication with Lala until they have to leave their home and live as refugees. Kanshi Ram feels upset, at the end of the story, because he can no longer communicate with her. She wisely neither agrees nor disagrees with Arun’s request when he introduces Chandni as his lover. Overall, she is an ideal middle-class wife with a open mindset and traditional values. 46 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning, School of Open Learning, University of Delhi All UG Courses Arun Kumar: Kanshi Lal and Prabha Rani’s twenty years old son. He studies at Murray College, Sialkot. At the age of twenty, he studies English Literature and plays tennis. His character is partially inspired by Nahal’s life. He also shares the role of the narrator with Lala Kanshi Ram. Like any other young boy, he has a fair share of romantic relations and sexual desires. He does not like Gandhi but gets offended when someone else insults him. Like Nahal, he matures immediately to protect his family during the riots. Chandni: Young girl of eighteen years old. Padmini’s daughter and Arun’s second girlfriend. She dreams of marrying Arun and living a peaceful life. Her end remains unclear and she is symbolic of all women lost during the riots. Her fate is not shared but it is clear that she will not have a good life. First, she serves as a distraction for Arun to not think about Nur and Madhu. Nahal writes “Chandni had seeped so deeply into his consciousness. Nur now seemed only a milestone – a milestone which he remembered but had left far back on his path” (267). When Arun tries to find her frantically it shows his love and responsibility towards her. Her love which is born in a war-torn place cannot be fulfilled. Unlike Nur, she has not even been given a chance to say goodbyes. K. Nageswara Rao writes that “Both women, Nur and Chandni, create a void in Arun’s life, a life of unfulfilled love, a life filled with gloom. Arun remains a disappointed lover till the end of the novel. He wants to remain alive only to keep in memory Chandni. Arun, though frustrated is still trying to survive the crisis by clinging to the hope that one day or the other his Chandni would return to him” (59). Chaudhri Barkat Ali: He is a Muslim friend of Lala Kanshi Ram. His son Munir is best friends with Arun, and his daughter Nur is Arun’s first girlfriend. He is the perfect example of an ideal Gandhi follower. Unlike other Muslims whose fanaticism leads them to hatred, hysteria and frenzy, he keeps his friendship and brotherhood till the end. He is a good father, who believes in his daughter and son’s education. He does not stop Nur from singing, because she likes it. Without caring about others’ opinions, he follows his heart and tries to give his best in everything. He is finally unable to stop himself from beating Abdul Ghani when he sees the burning heaps of human bodies both alive or dead. He firmly believes in Gandhi’s words that “A Muslim in India was more an Indian than anything else” (106). Sergeant Bill Davidson: He is a British soldier who lives in the cantonment area and is friends with Arun and Munir. He thinks of India as a place of exotic experience but still helps Arun a few times. He became friends with Arun and Munir, only because he wanted to have such an experience. He is astute enough to realize that the division of the country has been a 47 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning, School of Open Learning, University of Delhi Reading Indian Fiction in English hasty step. As he tells Arun and Munir “I think this is the most stupid, most damaging, most negative development in the history of the freedom struggle.” (122) Holding the British equally responsible he says that they should have stood their ground even if the Indian leaders had rejected the Cabinet Mission. That was the best plan and needed probably just six more months of negotiations. He is sensitive to the pain of the common man and is ready to help whenever he can and finally escorts Lalaji’s family to the safety of the refugee camp. The novel shows the horrors of violence, the plight of refugees, the frenzy caused by religious and political aspirations, and both the bestial and humanitarian side of mankind. Nahal does not blame any religion for the chaos but he completely agrees that the partition was a wrong and hasty decision and holds the politicians and religious leaders responsible for the mayhem that followed in the wake of the division of the country. He carefully portrays how people have thought of Gandhi as a saint who can fight against the British and at the same time shows up the other political leaders as confused, helpless or selfish and inhumane. The graphic portrayal of the pain, the chronicles of history, the political opinions, and the religious frenzy, make the novel one of the best additions to Partition Literature in India. Nahal’s fictionalization of history gives a face to the innumerable statistics one reads about in connection with the colossal event. It forces one to introspect and lest one loses hope in the essential goodness of man Nahal includes people like Barkat Ali or the Hakim of Narowal who prays for protection of the Hindu women and for forgiveness for the brutality of the mob. Seeing the atrocities that have been committed on both sides, Lala Kanshi Ram’s admits to his wife: “I can’t hate the Muslims anymore…What I mean is, whatever they did to us in Pakistan, we’re doing it to them here” (338). The writer seems to suggest that this attitude and realization is probably the only way forward because the azadi or freedom that has been thrust on people has ended up creating only divisions among
