Partitions: A Novel (2011)

Paritions tells a tale of Hindu, Sikh and Muslim protagonists, namely Shankar & Keshav, Simran and Ibrahim Masud, that attempt to migrate across the newly-created border between India and Pakistan. Ibrahim Masud, is a socially recluse medical doctor, Simran is a teenage Sikh village girl and Shankar and Keshav are twin Hindu boys. 

Partitions by Amit Majmudar was published in 2011 by Metropolitan Books and I selected it for my self-study reading list on Indian Partition literature. The novel comprises of six chapters plus a prologue and an epilogue. I read a digital edition on my iPad that alters the page count according to my text size; I read it with 158 pages then 139 pages. Majmudar wrote this novel after reading and researching into the period, as opposed to personal experience like the authors Bapsi Sidhwa and Ashok Malhotra. I'll discuss the  representation of Muslim and Hindu characters, narrative elements as well as the notions of villainy and heroism.

The novel takes on a fantastical nature as the narrator is a ghost, the dead father of the two Hindu twins. In his unearthly form he focalises into the Hindu, Sikh and Muslim worlds and by way of the protagonists. He also gives insights into his life before his death, which reveals his Brahmin origins and the role his high caste played in his life and in his community. This raises issues of the purity and sanctity of his caste and the discrimination towards lower classes. The novel is mainly chronological, though it includes some flashbacks relating to the narrator. 

While Majmudar attempts to tell a tale that represents the suffering of all peoples in the conflict, I noted the characterisation of Ibrahim Masud made him harder to identify with than other characters. Also the villains we follow the longest in the story are Muslim villains, which suggests a disproportionate focus on their abuse, especially towards women and children. No doubt Majmudar implies the crimes of Hindus and Sikhs by mentioning the wounds of Muslim women to Pakistan and the looting and burning of buildings by Hindus, but he only shows the violence towards people via Muslims.  

The story of Ibrahim and Simran is based on the story of Buta Singh and a Muslim girl.  It is an interesting move by Majmudar to reverse the religions of the original protagonists. While Masud's name change may have been simply to refer to the origin of the character, it also illustrates how being considered Muslim is controversial. It also "robs" Ibrahim of his faith. Nevertheless, Ibrahim becomes, in many ways, the hero of the novel. I wonder if he had to be separated from his religious identity in order to become a "complete" hero but he definitely understood that care towards others is not restricted to co-religionists. 

In conclusion, the novel successfully incites suspense and concern and is well-narrated. It recognises the pain and suffering of peoples of both sides of the border and I rate it higher in its "authenticity" because it does not consistently translate all Hindi/ Urdu terms, which can sometimes feel like it's overly speaking to a Westerner than its own people. It exposes the abuse towards women and its organised nature, revealing a culture of trafficking.