Peshawar Express by Krishan Chander - Research Paper Example

Peshawar Express by Krishan Chander Peshawar Express is a short story written by famous Urdu writer, Krishan Chander. The story is about the brutal mass killing that took place between Hindus and Muslims after the partition of British India into India and Pakistan. The separation took place on the basis of religion demographics. Conflict between these two religions has a complex history. Many believe that it began during 1990s, when the Indian Hindu nationalist movements represented the interests of Indian Muslims (Nosotro). However, after the partition of British India, there happened a very intense sectarian bloodshed. The Muslims of India established a nationalist movement because of various tensions occurred between Hindus and Muslim, including that of 1905-1911 in Bengal. Muslims feared that they would be ruled by the majority Hindus. Therefore, few Muslim delegates in the Indian National Congress left and formed The All India Muslim League in 1906 in Dhaka, claiming that the Hindu-majority Indian National Congress did not provide equal rights to the Muslims. There were two parties, the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League, working for the independence from 1906. Mohandas Gandhi, who was the member of the Indian National Congress, forced the British Parliament to pass the Government of India Act in 1935, which gave a legislative law-making body. It proved to unsatisfactory for both Hindus and Muslims because the British were still the de facto rulers of India. Also, the Muslims in the elected Indian legislature had very little representation as compared to Hindus. Muslims find no room during this period of the Indian National Congress’ rule. They were subjected to degradations which eventually proved to be the final break down between Hindus and Muslims, after which, the Muslim League only demanded for a separate nation, and nothing else (Nosotro). The Indian National Congress quitted power in 1939 when Victor Alexander John Hope, India’s English viceroy, declared India’s entrance on the side of the Allies without consulting the Indian or Muslim parties. They started forcing the British for an immediate independence, which was eventually provided by the British at the end of the war. Lord Mountbatten, the last British viceroy, negotiated a deal and formed the two countries in August 1947. The agreement was to divide the colonial India into Muslim majority (Pakistan) and the Hindu majority (India). Mountbatten announced the independence to both the nation with these words, "There can be no question of coercing any large areas in which one community has a majority to live against their will under a government in which another community has a majority. And the only alternative to coercion is partition." (Sixty bitter years after Partition). Mountbatten reached n Karachi on 14 August to celebrate the birth of Pakistan, a nation with an explicit Muslim identity. On the following day, he reached Delhi for India's independence ceremonies, a nation having three times more population than Pakistan, with a large Hindu majority. Cyril Radcliffe, who with little or no knowledge about the Indian conditions, hurriedly drawn up the border between the two states. He used out-of-date maps and census materials to decide about the border, which resulted in cutting the communities and families in two, that was followed by the mass migration of people between the two countries (Bates). In the partition process, the Bengal province of British India was divided into East Pakistan and West Bengal(India) where as the province of Punjab was divided into West Punjab and East Punjab. The princely states were given the choice whether to accede to Pakistan or India or to remain independent (Indian Independence Act 1947). The partition also included the division of state assets, British Indian Army, the Indian Civil Service and other things. His quick decision about partition of the provinces resulted in on the harshest tragedies of the 20th century. Millions of people found themselves on the wrong side of the boundary and one of the biggest migration process in the subcontinent occurred on both sides of the border, amid the communal clashes. According to an estimate, some 10 million people crossed borders for ensuring their safety and to reach their new homeland (Bates). It was the time that the British authority went out of the scene and the newly government of both the countries were faced with this migration situation. Both the countries were unequipped to deal with such a massive migration of people. Extreme violence occurred in both the sides of the borders, where Hindus and Muslims tried their best to kill each other in their respective areas. No one knows the exact number of killings that took place. However, according to some Historians, about half a million people were killed, tens of thousands of women were raped or abducted and more than 10 million people became refugees in a catastrophe (Sixty bitter years after Partition). Most killings were occurred in the western region of Punjab because it was cut in two by the borders (Bates). It is estimated that about 7,226,000 Muslims migrated to Pakistan while 7,249,000 Hindus and Sikhs moved to India from Pakistan. From 7,226,000 Muslim that migrated, around 5.5 million settled in Punjab and 1.5 million in Sindh. On the other side, Sikhs and Hindu Punjabis were settled in Indian Punjab and Delhi. The short story is very well written by Krishan, where a train, namely “Khyber Express” is expressing harsh human brutality that occurred after the independence of the two countries. It is telling the incidents that took place while it moves from Pakistan held Peshawar to Indian held Mumbai. As it moves from station to station toward its destination, it experiences the brutality of Hindus and Muslims toward each other. Within the Pakistan border, Muslim kills the Hindus and Sikhs that were being taken to their newly built country while the Muslims were killed on the Indian side. Women were raped in front of their fathers and husbands. Children were mercilessly killed. Hindus were trying hard to kill as many Muslim as they could while Muslims were trying to slaughter as much Hindus and Sikh as they could. The border between the countries became a river of blood. Bodies of the victims were laying like the garbage across thee street. People from both sides of the country left their homes, friends and belongings in a blink of an eye. Many people lost their relatives in these chaoses. There were atrocities taking place all the sides. There was scarcity of medium of transport. Therefore, the trains were extremely filled with human being, five to six times more than normal capacity. Besides using train for moving to the new homeland, about 10 million people travelled on foot, bullock and carts (In picture: India’s partition). After the partition, even the lunatics in the jails of both the countries were transferred. Hindus lunatics in Pakistani jails were transferred to India where as Muslim lunatics in the Indian jails were sent to Pakistan. The issue is very well covered in ‘Toba Tek Singh’, a short story written by Sa’adat Hassan Manto. The debate about whether the partition was right or wrong is never ending. However, many historians believes that if Britain had devised a less hasty and well prepared transfer of power, the partition process could have been much more better and much of bloodshed could have been avoided. Now that 63 years have been passed, there is still tension between the two countries, especially because of the unresolved Kashmir issue. So far, three wars between Pakistan and India have taken place where as communal unrest occurs from time to time in both the countries. References: BATES, Crispin. 2009. British History in-depth. [online]. [Accessed 15 April 2010]. Available from World Wide Web: < HYPERLINK "http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/partition1947_01.shtml" http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/partition1947_01.shtml > In pictures: India's partition. [online]. [Accessed 15 April 2010]. Available from World Wide Web: < HYPERLINK "http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/06/south_asia_india0s_partition/html/3.stm" http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/06/south_asia_india0s_partition/html/3.stm > Indian Independence Act 1947 (c.30). [online]. [Accessed 15 April 2010]. Available from World Wide Web: < HYPERLINK "http://www.opsi.gov.uk/RevisedStatutes/Acts/ukpga/1947/cukpga_19470030_en_1" http://www.opsi.gov.uk/RevisedStatutes/Acts/ukpga/1947/cukpga_19470030_en_1 > NOSOTRO, Rit. Hindu-Muslim Conflict and the Partition of India. [online]. [Accessed 15 April 2010]. Sixty bitter years after partition. [online]. [Accessed 14 April 2010]. Available from World Wide Web: < HYPERLINK " http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6926057.stm" http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6926057.stm> Read More