LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 23:9 September 2023
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

Celebrate India!
Unity in Diversity!!

HOME PAGE

Click Here for Back Issues of Language in India - From 2001

Poetic Encounter
Available in https://www.amazon.in/dp/B09TT86S4T

Poems
Naked: the honest browsings of two brown women
Available in https://www.amazon.in

Decrees
Available in https://www.amazon.com

BOOKS FOR YOU TO READ AND DOWNLOAD FREE!

REFERENCE MATERIALS

BACK ISSUES

  • E-mail your articles and book-length reports in Microsoft Word to languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.

  • PLEASE READ THE GUIDELINES GIVEN IN HOME PAGE IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE LIST OF CONTENTS.

  • Your articles and book-length reports should be written following the APA, MLA, LSA, or IJDL Stylesheet.

  • The Editorial Board has the right to accept, reject, or suggest modifications to the articles submitted for publication, and to make suitable stylistic adjustments. High quality, academic integrity, ethics and morals are expected from the authors and discussants.

Copyright © 2023
M. S. Thirumalai

Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
11249 Oregon Circle
Bloomington, MN 55438
USA
Custom Search

Riots, Refugees and Communal Madness: A Comparative Study of
Saadat Hasan Manto’s Select Partition Stories and
Khushwant Singh’s Train to Pakistan

Mahmud Al Hasan, M.A.


Courtesy: www.amazon.com

Abstract

The article attempts a comparative study of Khushwant Singh's Train to Pakistan and the select stories of Saadat Hasan Manto, written against the backdrop of the India-Pakistan partition of 1947 which traumatized and affected millions of people. The study looks into the fictitious nature of the brand-new identity taken up by people and the manner in which they acted under the influence of radical nationalism and extremism. It unravels the consequences of partition madness upon women and children as they became the easiest targets of the fanatics. It intends to identify the similarities and dissimilarities between both writers in respect of their portrayal of the refugee crisis, partition riots, communal madness as reflected in their works, and their reactions towards the religious division of India. The adopted method of this study is a comparative study in which textual analysis involving close reading of the select texts is utilized, taking postcolonialism and feminism into account. The analysis is further substantiated with the data taken from secondary sources.

Keywords: Khushwant Singh, Saadat Hasan Manto, Partition of Indian subcontinent, Riots, Refugees, Communal madness, Comparative Study.

1. Introduction

Partition of the Indian subcontinent is an important subject matter for many postcolonial writers who depict partition violence in their works. Manto is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest Urdu short story writers. He provides a realistic version of the complexities of human psychology, partition violence, trauma, madness, colonial legacies, and displacement in his works as he was not only an eyewitness of the horridness of partition but also a victim of it. He exposes the evils of contemporary society through his short stories from a neutral standpoint. His stories reveal how the victims turn into perpetrators of violence. They are a gruesome reminder of the horrors of partition violence that took place against innocent women and serve as a lens through which the tragedy of partition is brought sharply into focus by capturing the dimension of sectarian violence on the eve of India's independence from the British in 1947 and the immediate aftermath of partition.

Fakrul Alam notes that “The Partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947 led to the exodus of millions of Hindus and Muslims across it” (12). Manto dreams of a better future for the subcontinent on the basis of religious tolerance, decent political affairs, secularism, and cultural diversity irrespective of color, caste division, or communal identity where there should be no hypocrisy, double standards, and hatred among the people of different communities. His idiosyncratic stories go beyond the limitations of national borders, religion, and ages.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Mahmud Al Hasan, M.A.
Lecturer in English
Ishakha International University, Bangladesh
Address: 198/A, RK Mission Road, Mymensingh—2200, Bangladesh
rakibmhasan94@gmail
Mobile Number: +8801946879327
Custom Search
  • Click Here to Go to Creative Writing Section

  • Send your articles
    as an attachment
    to your e-mail to
    languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.
  • Please ensure that your name, academic degrees, institutional affiliation and institutional address, and your e-mail address are all given in the first page of your article. Also include a declaration that your article or work submitted for publication in LANGUAGE IN INDIA is an original work by you and that you have duly acknowledged the work or works of others you used in writing your articles, etc. Remember that by maintaining academic integrity we not only do the right thing but also help the growth, development and recognition of Indian/South Asian scholarship.