Harmonious Living and the Communal Divide: Some Reflections
Nibir K. Ghosh
“I know nothing of this silence except that it lies outside
the reach of my intelligence, beyond words -- that is why this silence must
win, must inevitably defeat me, because it is not a presence at all.” ― The Shadow Lines
As an avid reader of Partition Narratives, I
have often wondered why homo sapiens have, despite unprecedented enlightenment
down the centuries, refused to yield to the voice of conscience and rationality
in times of crisis and calamity. Innumerable stories of Partition, that I have
been reading and re-reading for ages now, have always brought to the fore how
an individual heart and soul that craves naturally for harmony and peace within
and calm around falls an easy prey to the collective frenzy of violence,
brutality, bestiality and inhumanness stirred by communal, caste or religious
divide. Among the ravenous clouds of mass hysteria, hatred and violence as reflected
in the stories by Manto, Rajinder Singh Bedi, Khushwant Singh, Chaman Nahal,
Amitav Ghosh, Kamleshwar, Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, Kamladevi Chattopadhyay etc.
there do appear at times the silver lining of hope in universal brotherhood
that give indications of the prevalence of better sense where individual
relationships triumph over communal violence and hatred. However, such rare
islands of hope often tend to get submerged in the huge sea of despair
springing from fear, anxiety, disbelief and the like.
So, rather than discuss any of the available
partition narratives, I would rather share with friends my
own little experiences that sprang from my innate belief in the essential
goodness of individuals no matter how adverse the nature of calamity.
As I hear friends talking about their
creative/critical response to various narratives that tore asunder friends,
lovers and families and displaced millions from their respective beloved land
73 years ago, my mind travels down memory lane to the morning of December 6,
1992. I woke up early on the said date as my research scholar and friend Abdur
Rub Khaleel was arriving in Agra by A.P. Express. Abdur Khaleel, based in
Hyderabad, had become a close friend during my frequent visits to the American
Studies Research Centre, Hyderabad. When he expressed his desire to work for
his Ph.D. under my supervision at Agra College, I just couldn’t say “no’. He
was coming to Agra to complete his work and submit his thesis. I received him
at the Agra Cantt station and brought him to a hotel located very close to my
home where arrangements for his stay had been made. After having breakfast with
him, I left for my home telling him that I would be meeting him in the evening
to discuss his dissertation on W.H. Auden.
As I was returning from Sadar Bazar on that
fateful afternoon, I could sense the atmosphere around was quite tense like the
silence before a storm. I could see people talking anxiously in hushed tones in
groups while some shopkeepers were hurriedly pulling the shutters down. I
wondered what had happened. I stopped for a while and asked a few pedestrians
what was it all about. I was told that the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya had been
demolished. It took me a second to realise what all this could lead to. I quickly
reached the hotel where Khaleel was putting up. By then the news had spread
like wildfire. Khaleel seemed anxious and asked whether he should leave
immediately for Hyderabad. I told him not to worry at all. Agra was the city of
Sulahakul I reminded him.
For a few moments I did feel ill at ease
apprehending the uncertainty of the kind of backlash such incidents were likely
to provoke. My gut feeling told me that since Khaleel was here to meet me the
responsibility for his safety and wellbeing lay on my shoulders. Consequently,
unmindful of all the rumours around, we began talking about Auden. As a
precautionary measure curfew was clamped in many parts of the city. For the
next 10 days we remained together till his work was complete. On the eleventh
day he submitted his Ph.D. thesis and left for Hyderabad. While most of the
country was burning during those 10 days, we didn’t allow the animosity of
communal clashes come between us. In due course Khaleel received his Ph.D.
degree from Agra University that remains a testimony to the fact that the bonds
of friendship proved stronger than the frenzied enmity of adversaries.
I must share another experience related to what one may see
as a deep bond of Hindu-Muslim friendship that began simply with an email. During
2003-04 we (my wife Sunita and I) visited USA on the internationally
prestigious Senior Fulbright Fellowship to work at the University of
Washington, Seattle. Nearly two years after our return to India, I was
pleasantly surprised to receive an email dated 23rd September 2006, from
one Dr. Zeeshan-ul-hassan
Usmani (a Pakistani Computer Engineer and
Fulbright Scholar at Princeton) requesting me for an essay on my Fulbright
experience for a book that he wished to bring out on Fulbright scholars. I sent
him my essay “From the City of the Taj to Bill Gates Town.” In less than a
week’s time I received his response dated 26 October 2006 thus:
“Thank
you for your wonderful essay. Overall, I am impressed with your achievements and
writing style and would like to invite you as a co-editor for this book. We have
been searching for a co-editor for a while and it seems you will be the best
choice.
Let me know if you agree and have
time to work on this wonderful volume of Fulbright essays and I will walk you
through the details. I look forward to hearing back from you soon. Please also send
me your tel. no and best time to reach you.”
I wrote back saying
I was submerged with a lot of work and that it would not be possible for me to
accept his invitation for the editorial collaboration on the said project.
Lo and behold, the
very next morning I received a telephone call from Zeeshan reiterating his
request. I again expressed my inability. The next statement that he made
changed my resolve. He said, “I want to tell you that my mother hails from
Agra. Can’t we join our hands in friendship?” In view of his statement I
immediately agreed to accept the collaborative responsibility. The book titled Beyond
Boundaries: Reflections of Indian and U.S. Scholars jointly edited by
Zeeshan and me and published by iUniverse, New York was officially launched at
the U.S. Embassy, New Delhi in 2007. When I was asked to make a brief speech at
the august ceremony, I humbly said:
The editorial collaboration in this volume has its own
story to tell. It is providential that two Fulbrighters hailing from two
different nations that are at perpetual loggerhead with each other should work
in perfect harmony to bring together 60 other scholars to spread the message of
life and hope. I call it providential because the two of us have never met and our
acquaintance began with an email and our friendship grew with this project. If
understanding, affection and mutual admiration can unite two individuals from
India and Pakistan and make them oblivious of the cloud of suspicion that hangs
over the relationship of these two nations ever since the historic divide of
1947, there is plenty of room to hope that such small steps will create new
pathways for a beautiful world without boundaries.
Narratives like the above, that recount such
actual experiences of living in harmony, rarely find space in historical
accounts or government reports. They are often dismissed as idiosyncrasies of
individuals lacking the missionary zeal of true patriots and jihadis.
I have not shared these experiences here to
prove any point or set a precedent but simply to reassure myself that there is
always hope for a future filled with love and friendship no matter how
difficult the calling.
I dedicate these personal ruminations to the memory
of all those who recently lost their lives in Delhi in their bid to come to
terms with the gruesome reality of the communal divide. May their soul rest in
eternal peace in a realm that defies lines and boundaries.
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