The historical accounts of partition could not adequately address the identity crisis or pain of separation among the families. History included statistics, facts and figures but, literature tended to express the emotional intensity, trauma and agony of the affected people. Literature depicted the problems, afflictions and distress confronted by the innocent masses during tragic event of partition. The Muslims of India migrated to Pakistan and the Hindus of Pakistan moved to India abandoning their familial homes, culture and tradition to become fugitives in an alien land just in the name of zealotry. Sectarianism poured out its toxin particularly on women of other religion who were beaten up, violated and tormented. India was absorbed in religious prejudice and people were ready to kill their fellow beings brutally in the name of religion. The humankind was broken into pieces by its own blood-thirsty progeny. Multitudinous literary works had been penned down on the trauma and agony of the suffering people by various famous writers of India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The catastrophe of partition begot a new genre of literature called as the Partition Literature, which was produced in almost all languages of Indian subcontinent, especially in English, Hindi, Bengali, Panjabi, Urdu, Telugu and many other native languages spoken in the country. The partition literature deals with trauma, pathos, violence, communal conflicts, pyromania, abuse, rape, slaughtering etc. The authors provided an unbiased account of the disastrous event of partition which was a blend of fantasies, human emotions, and tale of suffering in the harsh political circumstances. In English, Khushwant Singh‘s “Train to Pakistan”, Bapsi Sidhwa‘s “Ice Candy Man”, Mumtaz Mufti’s “Alakh nagari”, Chaman Nahal’s “Azadi”and in Urdu Saadat Hasan Manto‘s short-stories like “Toba Tek Singh”, “Khol Do”, etc. and other works by various writers in varied languages depicted the vision of austerity encountered in this cataclysmic war of power and politics.

Khushwant Singh’s novel “Train to Pakistan”, published in 1956, narrated the traumatic event of partition which was full of brutal fratricide and violence. He depicted the occurrences during the partition realistically. Khuswant Singh narrated a state of insanity in the common masses when they went blind with communalism and hatred towards the other religions. In the novel the story centered on Mano Majra, a village located nears the banks of river Sutlej adjacent to Indo-Pak border. Communal harmony and peace existed for centuries among Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. The livelihood of the village people depended on trains. There was a hurry-scurry of trains all day long. The sudden arrival of a train from Pakistan loaded with dead bodies of Hindus ruined the peaceful and happy life of the villagers. At that time Jugga, a local thug was imprisoned, and was in deeply in love with Nooran. The couple had a baby and Nooran was reluctant to go to refugee camp in Pakistan since she knew that her son would not be well received there due to his Sikh lineage. The village people were leading a peaceful life until one day a few people assembled in the Gurdwara and gave a burning speech about taking the revenge of assault, murder and violation of Hindus by the Pakistani Muslims. The plan created a chaotic circumstance in the village and the commoners made a plan to spread out a rope over the bridge to halt the train fully loaded Muslim refugees. The villagers planned to kill Muslim passengers and set the train on fire. Jugga was discharged from prison by Hukum Singh. Jugga’s girlfriend Nooran was inside the train therefore he cut the string and rescued her. Khushwant Singh retained the eternal love between man and woman burning bright in the partition narrative in spite of all the catastrophic circumstances and made love triumphant in the long run. Bapsi Sidhwa‘s“Ice Candy Man”(1988), is another tale of partition which pertains to an eight year old polio-stricken Parsee girl, Lenny, whowas an eye witness to the savagery and ferocity of partition. Shanta the maid looked after Lenny with love and affection and she was courted by various admirers. Dilnawaz (Ice Candy Man) and Masseur were rivals for winning her love. The inhabitants of Lahore were living peacefully and harmoniously until the news of partition was announced. One day all of a sudden a train came from India loaded with dead bodies and sacks filled with female breasts. This brutal act infuriated all the Muslims and they wanted to avenge for their dead relatives. Dilnawaz lost his sister in the brutal incident and became thirsty for Hindu blood. He engaged himself in violent slaughtering of people of the other religion. He brutally killed the Masseur and kidnapped Shanta (whom he once loved) and enforced prostitution on her just because she was a Hindu woman. He married her afterwards but she was rescued and sent to Amritsar refugee camps by Lenny‘s relatives. The most lamentable and chaotic aspect of partition is that it ruined the harmonious and peaceful life of different communities and turned them against each other. Abduction and molestation of women who belonged to the other community and stripping odd the trousers of men tocheck his religion were very common but dishonorable practices prevalent during that time. Eight year old young girl Lenny was an innocent eye-witness of the unpleasant acts like abduction and violation and she tore her doll to understand what partition was. Lenny was also aware of violence happening around. Lenny sorrowfully uttered in “Ice Candy Man”: “The whole world is burning. The air on my face is so hot. I think my flesh and clothes will catch fire. I start screaming: hysterically sobbing -- how long does Lahore burn? Weeks? Months?” The fire image clearly portrayed the pyromania and insane behavior of the masses. The people were slaughtering each other in the name of religion, sectarianism reigned supreme. The city of Lahore was burning with fire of zealotry and violence. Women endured all sorts of abuse, ill-treatment and savagism. They were seized, assaulted violated and murdered, disfigured female bodies (chests) loaded in sacks arrived in trains. Women could not return to their ancestral homes due to their loss of purity. In “Alakh Nagri “ (1993) Mumtaz Mufti depicted destructiveincidents during partition and thecreation of Pakistan. He considered the creation of Pakistan as a blessing for the Muslims, despite the loss of innocent blood it caused. The Muslims who immigrated to Pakistan from India from Shimla, Gordaspur and Amritsar were very badly hurt. The trains which carried immigrants to Pakistan were almost full of stinking dead bodies and the protagonist Mufti was unable to endure the odor. Dead bodies were disfigured, chopped into pieces and scattered in different parts of the trains. The trains carried dead bodies of children, violated young girls and old women as females were an easy prey of the men of the other religion. Millions of immigrants were killed during the train journey from India to Pakistan and the Muslims were infuriated and they vowed revenge on all Hindus living in Pakistan. They used to kill Hindus with sharp knives and they robbed and looted Hindu households. Some of the Muslims showed mercy to the Hindus and helped them to reach India safely but most of the time the immigrants suffered the most due to communal disharmony. Chaman Nahal’s partition holocaust novel “Azadi” (1975), won the Sahitya Akademi award in 1977. The narrative began with the announcement of partition on 15^th August 1947. The protagonist Lala Kanshi Ram, was a wise man who was leading a quiet and peaceful life with his wifePrabha Rani and his son, Arun. The declaration of partition increased communal madness, the Muslims tried to banish the Hindus and Sikhs from their ancestral land and property. Lala Kanshi Ram figured out the circumstances and realized that the British rulers tried to break the unity of Indian subcontinent. Initially the Hindu leaders convinced the masses that Muslim rulers were responsible for the decay of ancient Indian culture. Arya Samaj was promoting an orthodox attitude towards Hindu religion in the name of Revival in Hinduism and took the initiatives like cow protection unrest, campaign for Hindi language and the construction of society plagued by castes. Arya Samaj‘s campaign for Hindi created a divide between the Muslims and the Hindus of Punjab. Lala Kanshi Ram discerned that the language of Vedas, Sanskrit was the true language of India. The novel’s plot was well structured and uniform. There are three parts entitled “The Lull”, “The Storm” and “The Aftermath” — all alluding to three well-defined stages in the work of fiction. “The Lull” narrated the peaceful and harmonious life of the inhabitants of Sialkot before the news of partition came out. “The storm” was about the incidents which took place after the declaration of partition by Lord Mountbatten. In communal madness, the Muslims tried to banish the Hindus and Sikhs from their ancestral land and property. In “The Aftermath” the novelist tried to address the issue of the refugees who were neglected by the Government. India was a free country but people had no freedom and no identity in their own homeland. Lala Kanshi Ram had to pay bribe for living in his own house. Nahal‘s“Azadi” tried to show all kinds of evil practices which were prevalent during the partition. Nahal explored the inner psychology of each of his characters and their quest for peace and freedom. The Muslims commemorated the establishment of Pakistan by beating drums. Muslims plundered shops and ignited solitary Hindu 'mohalla' each night. In the meantime, a train arrived from Amritsar fully loaded with dead and injured Muslims. The calamity enraged the Muslims who slaughtered and injured the Hindus of Trunk Bazaar. The adverse situation caused Hindus to leave for the Refugee Camp. In the novel the family of Bibi Amar Vati and other thousands of guiltless families left for the Refugee Camp. Fifteen million immigrants were forced to come to an alien land just in the name of zealotry abandoning their familial homes, culture and tradition. The partition ignited communal disharmony among Hindus Muslims and Sikhs. The novelist Chaman Nahal played an unbiased role while sketching the ordeal of partition, he neither sympathized with the Muslims nor the Hindus. He tried to delineate the actual reality of partition which was full of despondency, skepticism, cynicism, dejection, and supreme betrayal.

The Ghost Trains

In the“Ice- Candy Man”, “Train to Pakistan”,” Alakh Nagri”, and “Azadi”the ruthlessness is radically turned on by the “ghost” trains which arrived at the station fully loaded withthedead bodies ofimmigrants. In” Ice-Candy Man” Sidhwadelineatedthat the train came to Pakistanfrom Indiabrimful of mutilated Muslimsand Mumtaz Mufti in “Alakh Nagri” also depicted the same kind of catastrophiceventfrom the Muslim point of view, althoughKhuswant Singh in his novel“ Train to Pakistan”narrated from a Sikh perspectivethat the train came from Pakistan fully loaded with the disfiguredbodies of Hindus and Sikhs. Nahal‘s“Azadi” tried todepict the atrocities of partition throughthe which train arrived from Amritsar fully loaded with dead and injured Muslims. The above mentioned four novels delineated the demolition from both India and Pakistan which was caused by the catastrophic partition, whereas partition could be dealt peacefully with the co-operation of both the communities. The ghost trains carrying disfigured dead bodies of the refugees caused communal frenzyand the countries became slaughterhouses.

Short Stories about Partition

Apart from the partition novels there were a huge number of short-stories depicting the hardship of innocent masses who were victimized throughout the tumult and atrocities of partition. These stories were filled with moaning and explored the poignancy of the existing circumstances. The short stories portrayed the despair of partition which displaced the common human beings from their ancestral lands and they did not have anywhere to go. Saadat Hasan Manto‘s short-story “Toba Tek Singh”, sketched his own human psyche during the time when he left Bombay for Lahore which he regretted all his life. The protagonist Bishen Singh was a psychopath who was in the mental asylum for 15 years and he only spoke “mysterious Gibberish”. He refused to cross the border to India and he remained rooted in no-man’s land and died. He did not wanted to be either in India or in Pakistan but in the own ancestral village called Toba Tek Singh. Manto tried to show the suffering and sorrows of thousands of individuals were pushed to emigrate from their ancestral lands. In the story, “A Tale of 1947”, two friends Juggal and Mumtaz were discussing about the adverse situation of communal frenzy during partition, which loosened the humanitarian bonds among people of different religions. Mumtaz in the story was sailing from Bombay for Karachi (Pakistan), an unknown and alien country where he would be regarded as a stranger. Manto wanted to portray his own sense of pain of being wiped out from his own homeland through the character of Mumtaz. The most heart-rending and excruciating story about women’s suffering was” The Return” or “Open It”, by Manto. The story was about the return of the daughter to her father. Sakina was lost when the train going from Lahore to Amritsar was attacked by the rebels. She was abducted by a group of people and gang-raped several times. She was rescued and taken to the hospital. The doctor pointed to the window and asked her father to “open it” but the girl thought that she had been asked to untie the knots of her trousers and she did that in her subconscious state. The father noticed her gesture and cried out ?”She is alive. My daughter is alive.”The pathetic scene clearly portrayed the traumatized state of the girl’s brain which had normalized rape and judged every man as a potential rapist. Kartar Singh Duggal‘s story “ Kulsum”, was about a victimizedMuslim girl who was violated by an old Sikhdue to her failure to satisfy his young visitor sexually. The girl was also raped by the young visitor school master. The poor girl Kulsum frequently requested the school master, to marry her but in vain. “?Marry me, Marry me first. I beg of you. I shall repay you for your kindness”. Her recurrent requests added more poignancy to the narrative.

and Bapsi Sidhwa had neatly delineated holocaust horrors of partition and its reverberation. Such massacre could be circumvented if the issue was dealt with sagacity at the administrative and the common masses levels. It is companionship and affinity that differentiates humans from wild beasts. The partition was not only an irrefutable historical event but also a chronicle of unuttered plight of common people which when scribbled invoked a loathsome attitude for the political leaders and administrators who wanted to fulfill some political agenda and used the common people as a sacrificial animal. Khushwant Singh tried to explain the sectarianism during the partition days via a fictional village called Mano Majra. The novel “Train to Pakistan” also presented the perpetual theme of everlasting love between man and woman which exceeded all frontiers of cast religion and creed. Love and inner goodness reigned supreme even in the time of utter catastrophe. Bapsi Sidhwa in her novel “Ice Candy Man” depicted the dreadful reality of partition through the perspective of an eight year old young girl Lenny. Lenny was an innocent eye-witness of the unpleasant acts like abduction and violation and she tore her doll to understand what partition was. Lenny was also aware of violence happening around. Ice Candy Man became a beast due to zealotry and kidnapped the Ayah whom he loved and forced her to prostitution. The city of Lahore was burning with fire of zealotry and violence. Abduction and molestation of women who belonged to the other community was a very common inhuman practice during partition. The ghost trains carrying disfigured dead bodies of the refugees caused communal frenzy the multitude of people in the history of humankind manifested themselves to be a serious blotch in the name of humanity as they reached to the lowest ebb by slaughtering his own brethren. The partition adversity proved that humans took up zealotry without thinking about the humanitarian principles. People of different religions resemble different coloured flowers which make the bouquet of life beautiful and vivid. The qualities like brotherhood and compassion separates human beings from the beasts but if man turn against his fellow beings and slaughter them ruthlessly then they become nothing better than the beasts. Humans should have faith in love and mercifulness to make the world an abode of peace and harmony. And the countries became slaughterhouses.

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