Dr. Krishna Kant Singh
Professor of English
P. G. Dept. of English
Veer Kunwar Singh University, Ara
Githa Hariharan’s novel Fugitive Histories deals with an often discussed and oft – quoted problem or we can call it disaster – the communal riots between Hindu and Muslims and its repercussions in comprehensive manner with full microscopic view of presentation. This novel of Githa Hariharan touches the heart of the literary world for many reasons altogether, especially for unfolding the bitter truth of inhumanity which comes out during the communal riots in the shape of unwanted bloodshed and violence in which not the rich and the poor but the poor humanity dies all the time. Unlike her other books like – The Art of Dying, The Ghosts of Vasu Master, When Dreams Travel, In Times of Siege or her first novel. The Thousand Faces of Night, Fugitive Histories, is an account of dying humanity in the modern era because of false conceptions of Hindu Muslim myth. A reviewer rightly remarks in Tehelka in these worlds about the novel Fugitive Histories:
To Githa Hariharan’s great credit, she looks unflinchingly into the ugliness of sectarian destructiveness and strife with an almost photographically realistic lens, but always remains within earshot of her protagonists ‘small, personal voices … As subtly constructed as Chinese box, concealing narratives within narratives and yet remaining blindly clear in all its exposition of public and private realities, complex though it is, Fugitive Histories is Hariharan’s most compelling simple book.
The novel has three parts: – Missing Person, Crossing Borders and Funeral Rites. Three different cities – Delhi, Bombay and Ahmadabad have discovered in the journey of memories. Almost all the characters of the novel – Bala, the grandmother of Mala, Mala, Asad, Samar, Sara, Yasmin, Rajat, Nima and many more – are not the victims of time and space, rather they have victimized time. The basic question the novel arises in the context of communal riots – whether human beings victimize time for their own personal purposes. The novel is based on the reflections of the memories of the characters in the journey of the time. The novel opens with the memory of Mala, the central protagonist of the novel. Mala’s husband Asad is now no more because of his demise. Mala lives in this world with Asad’s memories, especially with his paintings which seem to be the real source of inspiration for Mala.
The novel opens when Mala was diving deep into memories of Asad, her husband, a muslim fellow who is now no more, but his memories of Asad. The novelist writes in these words:
Asad’s diaries, his notes to himself, include stray words, a few captions an occasional paragraph in that space – devouring handwriting. But most of it is image – notes. There are meticulously detailed drawings, as whole and complete as poems, an occasional rough drafts, pencil, pen, charcoal or watercolour giving up midway before it has completed its sentences; several doodles, many of them far from funny. Most of the images are portraits of people. In some of them, people who didn’t know each other or live in the same place or even in the same time inhabit the same sheet of paper.
Mala is spending her life without Asad who is now no more. But his paintings are enough to inspire Mala to live life with full of memories. Mala and Asad had two children – one son and one daughter. Now both of them have become young and spending happy life in Bombay. Sara joined an NGO office and works for the documentary film along with Nina and others. Samar, too, works in Bombay but in different companies. On the other hand, Mala has to spend her life only with the memories of Asad, her husband. Sara is very crazy in her life. Her life becomes too much obsessive with her desire to work for NGO and discover something new in her life, especially do something to highlight life of the riot victims of Gujarat. She tries to discover something new in the lives of those victims who are still suffering a lot for different reasons altogether. She gathers many documents related to 2002 communal riots occurred in Gujarat after Godhara train incident in which many Hindus were burnt. The document reads:
On 27 February 2002 the Sabarmati Express was attacked in Godhra station in Gujarat and two of its carriages set on fire. The train was carrying ‘Hindu activists’ on their way back from Ayodhya. Godhara is a muslim locality. In the days and weeks that followed, the muslims of Gujarat became the target of brutal violence. The statements of survivours, eyewitnesses and relief workers suggested that state officials and the police connived with the attackers.
After Godhara incidents, a large number of innocent people lost their lives in the bloodshed and violence. More than one thousand people from both sides lost their life in the communal violence and bloodshed. A large number of mothers became childless, children became orphans, women became widows, sisters become brotherless and brother became sisterless. A large number of girls and women had been raped and molested. Sara would like to discover the world of the victims who had lost everything. They had become refugees in their own country. Their own country had become a different land for them. The novelist writes at this juncture:
To this day the dispossessed of Gujarat live in ‘safe areas’ – muslim ghettoes – without civic amenities. In Ahmadabad, for instance, people who used to be part of the city’s life – bakers, on to drivers, shopkeepers, engineers, school – teachers – are now refugees in their own city.
In the eyes of the critics and readers, the attitude and arguments of Asad may be called progressive in nature but in the eyes of the respective communities, they are the culprits for their crime, they have to face the consequences through whole of their lives in this world. In India or also in the countries of the Muslim communities, it is quite difficult to break the stigma and cross the border line easily. Still Hindu and Muslim are two extreme poles as North and South and when the question of community comes, even the so – called intellectuals and progressives belonging to communities lose control and utter a lot over such trivial issues. But Githa Hariharan has presented Asad as a real progressive in his attitude. It perhaps happen because of his inclination towards art or the sacrifice of Mala in his eyes is too great that he never wants to think of the questions of borderline. Asad asserts his opinion:
A women marrying into the community is one more womb colonized. That is how both sides see it. It would have been a better test of the lady and co. If Nasreen wanted to marry a Hindu; he sounds sorry he cannot turn female to make his point. Then he cheers up, ‘Anyway we have nothing to do with either lot. It is not as if we think of ourselves as Hindu or Muslim.
In the portrayal of the characters of Mala and Asad, Githa Hariharan retains her acute sense of realism all the time. In the traditional set of Indian society, love marriage is still the matter of beyond imagination and such things are not seen with respectable way. The society in which the individuals live does not allow them to do such things for unknown reasons. If anyone would like to be famous in India, he or she must have to elope and cross the borderline by marrying a boy or girl belonging to the opposite community. Githa Hariharan is aware of this fact and she reveals in the novel in these words without any hesitation:
Mala has become almost famous at least in the neighbourhood in Madras where her parents live, and among her extended family scattered across three continents – for having eloped with a Muslim.
Still in the conservative Hindu community, Muslims are considers the untouchables and they are not allowed to participate in the functions or visit the temples or even not allow to eat in the same plates or drink water in the same glass. Githa Hariharan is quite aware of this quality of the Indian society and narrates the events in which Asad is not allowed to eat in the same plate or not invited in the family function. The novelist writes about all these things to highlight the problem.
Surprisingly, the uncle is quite courteous to Asad the barbarian, especially when courtesy does not include eating with him. In any caste, he has made sure there will be no polluting accidents. The cook has been instructed to serve Asad’s food on a white plate, not the usual stainless steel ones. Mala recognises this plate instantly. It is an old friend – or enemy; it is the plate reserved for any woman in the household who has to eat alone because she has her periods. The plate is almost basin – shaped; it has always reminded Mala of the kind of plate people used to feed their pet dogs.
Anyhow, Sara is able to meet Yasmin, a muslim girl whose brother Akbar is still missing. Sara is able to find the new house of Yasmin in the refugee’s camp. But Sara has to cross the borderline and crossing this borderline is not easy at all. An unwanted borderline has been created in the city and across the borderline the Muslim community lives with pain and pathetic lot in their hearts and mind. The novelist narrates the compassionate state of the newly established territory. She writes about this mini Pakistan as the people of the city always remark:
‘They call this a border… and some call this area mini Pakistan… the auto crosses the border, enters the safe for muslims zone, goes deep into its bowels, just in case. It makes a sharp turn into a winding road. Swerring and jolting and barking to avoid people, pothels, animals, hawkers, loiterers. Despite people, the open shops, the stalls, the noise, all the breathing, throbbing signs of life, the road is somehow cheerless, as if it has assessed the whole business of living and knows it’s pointless. The auto too gives up, it stutters to a halt at the mouth of a lane twisting away from the road. The lane itself leads to a clutch of unhappy buildings.
Yasmin would like to do something in her life for her aging parents. She has many things to do in her life. She has different notions in his life. She has different ambitions and aspirations in her life because of different reasons altogether. She has to fulfil the dreams of not only hers but at the same time of many people. Yasmin’s character symbolizes a unique as well as inevitable struggle in the vast domain of emotions and feelings. In this world, she has to fulfil the ambitions of many people. She is the dream of her Abba and Ammi. She has to realize this and the beauty of her character is that she often realises of her character is that she often realises this fact.
Sara meets with a large number of people in Ahmadabad and herself visualises the bitter experiences of the people living in that area. There is a long list of especially women engaged in different types of work. Some of them consider themselves lucky and some of them consider themselves unlucky as well. Here, Sara meets with Sultana also who is also the victim of that communal riot. The thoughts of Yasmin always dive deep into human emotions and passions. There is an essence of struggle in the character of Yasmin. The novelist beautifully narrates the feelings and thoughts of Yasmin in these words:
Sara would like to meet the Ammi of Yasmin to know about the horror and terror of those communal riots. Yasmin gives details of her entire family in unique way. Yasmin’s Ammi and Abba were still hopeful about the return of his son Akbar. Every morning, they went to the police station to make enquiry about their lost son Akbar who was missing since the communal violence. But the police did not give any proper and suitable reply. All the time, the police gave false reply to Yasmin’s parents but they developed the habit of hearing all these things patiently and silently:
Every morning they set out for the police station, their faces swollen with anxiety and hope. Making that report tricked them, it gave them hope. They wanted to believe that saying what had happened, making a report, filling it in the thana, would mean Akbar would come back unharmed or at least come back.
Githa Hariharan does not leave an opportunity to present the devastating effect of the communal violence. How people became mad and attacked each – other without any emotions and feelings. The father of Yasmin visited many places in order to make an enquiry about his missing son who had not returned after that communal violence. He went here and there in search of the dead body of his son and that is quite pathetic for him. Githa Hariharan has narrated the entire episode with open eyes in order to show the mental disturbance of such people who are not only helpless but hopeless also. She narrates the stories of the people searching the dead bodies of their relatives in these words:
Abba spent all his time visiting the places where the corps were piling up. He had never seen anything like it before, the parade of body after body that bore so little resemblance to a real body. To a human being, even a dead one … it meant missing a body part – an arm, a leg, even ahead… there was one body with its belly torn open… another body was just burnt coal…
In India, it has been seen that problem is not being tackled like the problem. Indian politicians have made the problems worst; in spite of solving the problems, they are more interested to multiply the problems. And that happens every time when such unfortunate incidents take place. Sara once upon a time or even today in her life face the same problem in her life. Both Sara and Yasmin were in search of safe place and their search is continuous. Yasmin refers a place “in between” place as the safe for living. Sara also finds herself in the same place. Githa Hariharan writes about this ‘in – between’ as referred by both Yasmin and Sara in these words:
In – between whenever Yasmin refers to the safe area in which she lives now, that is the phrase that comes to Sara’s mind. In – between in transit, on the way to somewhere else, there is a silver of hope in the coupled words that says this place is only in between, there is something else coming after. But there is also the uncertainty of it, the waiting involved without knowing for what. What comes after may be better, but it may also be worse. Sara too is in between. She’s seeing and hearing almost as well as Asad would have liked her to, but she cannot talk about it yet, leave alone begin writing a script.
The communal violence in India occurs frequently and people of the both communities have become quite crazy about such trivial things. They do consider it as something inevitable and the continuous process of the making of the society in general. How they dare and their hands do not stop at the time of killing of the fellows living in the same area for many generations is certainly the matter of surprise and wonder. How they burnt the houses and livelihood of each – other is also the matter of surprise and wonder for each other. But they do it and do it and after doing that they call themselves religious or devotees of God. It is shame on their part. They molest little girls and rape the minor one without any hesitation. During communal violence in 2002 in Gujarat, a large number of little girls were molested and minor girls were raped by the people involved in the communal violence. They did it for the sake of religion. Certainly it was shameful action. Do religious allow or force them to do such things? Certainly not, they are the real threats to humanity and supposed to be the puppets playing in hands of the politicians.
During the communal violence of 2002 in Gujarat, the house and shop of Yasmin were burnt and nothing was left safe in the house and shops both. Not only house and shop was set to fire, but at the same time their emotions and feelings were set to fire, they remained hopeless and helpless too. Such is the condition of Yasmin, her parents and many more who are the victims fo such communal violence. People became too hostile to each other that they are bound to kill each – other without any thinking. They would like to spread the message of terror and horror everywhere.
Fugitive Histories is certainly a novel of frightening memories which have been shared by the community in state of fear and darkness for generations. The horror and terror of those days and right were not easy to be washed out from the mere water.
Githa Hariharan beautifully presented the horror and terror exists in the mind of the people. in the novel, Reshma, Zainab Bano, Najma, Razia, Nusreen, Zahida Khala, Zakia, Zulckha and many more are still living in the state of discomfort and this discomfort is not only physical but emotional and mental. Certainly, the experience of these women is a blot to the so – called advanced world which acknowledges it as more human than anything else. The cruelty and brutality the people show during such occurrences is the symbol of loss of faith in human values. Here it will be appropriate to quote the experiences of these women to show how humanity and morality die during communal violence within stroke. For instance, Salma say:
First they asked for jewellery, money. Then they started cutting so people could not run away. I saw a woman’s foot being cut … she fell. She was raped, she was cut some more. Then she was burnt.
Farida has also the same experience. She tells pathetically about that nightmare which was the reality:
We do not know the names of the others or where they came from, but they had trishuls with them. They wore saffron cloth round their heads. There is no mystery about who they were.
Even Zakia, a pregnant girl has the same experience of those horrible and terrible nights. She unfold her own heart to Sara in these words:
I saw it with my own eyes. The little boy next door, they poured petrol in his mouth. They put a lit matchstick into his mouth as if it was a lollipop. He just burst.
Among all those girls or women who are eager to share their experiences of horror and terror, the experience of Zulekha is more compassionate and full of pathetic lot. She has a sense of anger in her heart and states her arguments before Sara and Nima in the same mood:
So you want to hear what really happened? You would not be able to bear it. Once you have heard it, it’ll never let you forget. Those girls were screaming, they were begging us to remove the stumps of wood that had been pushed into them. Each one was crying, “me first, remove mine first,” I will never forget their screams. Even now, when I tell you this, my blood boils.
The experience of Sufia Bano is no less horrible. She unfolds her own heart in these pathetic words to Sara and Nina about her sleeping in the graveyard for many days:
We spent weeks sleeping in a graveyard. The relief camp we sent to was in a graveyard. We were still living but we had to sleep where the dead sleep. We had to sleep between the graves.
The experience of Sufia is so pathetic and full of compassion that there is no word for it. The horror and terror in the mind of these women which one can notice is certainly asking many questions at the time. Her washing of many dead bodies before putting them into the graveyard is full of emotional touch and at the same time it fulfils every human heart full of anger. Abeda tells Nima and Sara once again:
I washed so many bodies before they buried them. One day I washed fifteen of them and only one was in one piece. The others were split down the middle or they did not have hands or fact or a head. All of them were burnt. The next day I just could not do it. I throw water over them and left them. I could not do anything more.
Noorjehan also has the same kind experience like other women of the community. All of them have their own experiences of suffering and exploitations. Noorjehan’s words are certainly alarming but full of pathos and it may fulfil every heart with hate and outrage. She tells Sara in these words:
My name is Noorjehan. They burnt my husband, they burnt my father, they burnt my son. His name was Safique, he was just fifteen years old. If only I could have buried them properly, with some dignity … if only I could have given them the respect everyone should have in death.
Many activities acknowledge administration and the police. But one thing that is taken into account that if human beings are such and behave like this, what can the administration and the police do. The role of the police or the administration is to establish the rule of law and order. But when the moral and cultural fabric of the nation or the society is bleak, what can other things do something to save – that is the big question. Communal violence, bloodshed, riots cannot be stopped at all unless and until there is a sense of morality, love and respect for each – other.
But the role of the police and administration is quite devastating and alarming the communal violence during 2002 in Gujarat, the land of Mahatma Gandhi, the worshipper of truth and non – violence forever. The blame of the people was quite right because several communions have been constituted to recognise the responsibility of the police and administration during those riots. But the common opinion of the people was the same for many reasons altogether. The public blame the police in these words without any hesitation.
The police was with them. When we ran, the police began firing.
We had nothing but stones to pelt them with,
We could do nothing but hide.
We hid in the toilets.
We hid on the roof.
We hid in our neighbour’s house.
We hid in the fields.
We hid in the well.
We hid underground, in the water tank.
When they found us we were already grieving for each – other, we knew we were lost.
Certainly, the role of the police and the administration was not enough at all. They must have been protective. I still remember the words of Late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who was highly critical of those communal riots bloodshed and violence. He told the then chief minister of Gujarat that the government, civil administration and the police must have followed the rule of “Raj dharma”. If the kings failed to protect the people of their realm, who might happened to humanity, it can be noticed in such communal riots and violence. There was a common outrage in the minds of the people:
Government? What government says every Hindu will vote for them because they got rid of muslims?
The novelist also acknowledges the fact that the minority still lives in the state fear and panic, especially in the time of the festivals. Muslims are always in the state of fear that anything can happen during festival and we have seen the same fact that so many communal violence took place during the festivals. But each and every citizen of the Hindu community is not bad as it is commonly believed the muslims. It has been observed that a large number of people helped the injured and such needy persons at the time of violence and bloodshed.
In India, people are more concerned and conscious about these types of feelings. We can observe the mentality of the people especially about those children like Sara and Samar who belong to both Hindu and Muslim communities or belong to nowhere. For Asad, the question of his cremation or burial is not important because he is now no more here to listen or seen such tupes of moments. But what will happen to Sara and Samar. The entire people present at the time of the death of Asad were busy in discussing the question whether Asad’s body would be buried or cremated. But they are not aware of the fact that real graveyard in such condition lies in the open air as the novelist writes about:
The real graveyard is an open, sunny place.
Githa Hariharan is quite critical about communal violence or bloodshed or riots. People always exploit such moments especially spread during communal violence. The novelist is aware with the sheer mentality of the people involved in communal violence and she writes about Aslam’s feelings:
Words of feelings do not rape and kill and burn, people do. It was only a question of time. We have been idiots, we got too comfortable thinking it would not happen again.
The novel puts many questions before the readers which are still answered because of the dilemma and attitude of the society in which we are living does not allow us to think in that direction. Asad’s own life was the symbol of internal pain and suffering. Mala, too, is the victim of time and space. Asad’s danger is not external but internal and always feels the same in closed walls of his room. Although he was an artist of great rank his imagination always goes beyond but he cannot stop the advances of the society in the form of the critical remarks or such rubbish things which cannot be easily avoided. The novelist writes about the mental state of Asad in these questioning words:
The real Asad looked for safety in a room without a view, not on the street or on the sidewalk.
In the society in which there is more care about traditional or religious imposition, the emotion and feeling of the people have less significance. The society divided into such caste as well as religious politics, does nothing to create a healthy atmosphere for living. Sara, who discovered the life of Yasmin, failed to do the same for her because of the many reasons. She provided an identity to Yasmin but the same she could not do for her.
Thus, Githa Hariharan’s Fugitive Histories is certainly a classic in terms of unfolding the crisis in the form of communal violence, bloodshed and riots on the one hand, and the question of identity especially of those like Mala, Asad, Sara and Samar, and many more like them on the other hand. Really, the book seems to discover a new world in which all these people along with Yasmin and others may live with ease and comfort in the midst of real humanity or in the religion of humanity which is certainly above everything.
Works Cited: –
- Githa Hariharan , “Missing Persons”, Fugitive Histories, Penguin Books, 2009
- Githa Hariharan, “Crossing Borders”, Fugitive Histories
- Githa Hariharan, “Funerral Rites”, Fugitive Histories
- K. R. S. Iyengar, Indian Writing in English, Sterling Publishing Pvt. Ltd., 2013
- M. K. Naik, History of Indian English Literature, Sahitya Academy, 2011
- Tehelka – quoted in the novel Fugitive Histories by Githa Hariharan.
- Verve – quoted in the novel.
International Journal of Research (IJR) 