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169
Chapter 4
Influence of Historical Movements in the Fiction of Bharati
Mukherjee
Literary work is product of place, time and historical condition of the
society. Writer always explicitly or implicitly refers the political and
historical condition of the society in the work. Each strata of the society is
influenced by the historical and political movements of the country. Bharati
Mukherjee‟s works chiefly reflects condition of immigrant in America and
Canada. She writes about psychological, physical, and financial problems of
immigrants in host land. Her writings become more Americanized after her
moves to America. She discards traditional life of Old World and embraces
free lifestyle of New World where everyone can succeed. She identifies
herself as American and rejects hyphenated identity. She completely
integrates into the mainstream American Culture. She believes she has left
India before many years and now India is completely changed so she cannot
write about India. She writes in her article On Being Deliberately Misread:
I am now an American. I am not an exile, not an expatriate, not
a political or economic refugee. I am an immigrant. I have
voluntarily settled in the U.S. with my husband and sons…
Most importantly I have made emotional, social and political
commitments to the country I have adopted. What can be more
reasonable or more natural than… to write as an American on
American and immigrants themes. (Mukherjee, “On Being”15).
Bharati Mukherjee defends herself as mainstream American writer.
Even many times she does not give any answer of the questions regarding her
Indianness. Even she does not imitate writing style of Indian writers. In an
interview with Alison B. Carb, Bharati Mukherjee differentiates between her
writing and the writings of Indian writers:
There is a large difference between myself and these authors.
Unlike writers such as Anita Desai and R.K. Narayan, I do not
write in Indian English about Indians living in India. My role
models, view of the world, and experiences are unlike theirs.
These writers live in a world in which there are still certainties
170
and rules. They are part of their society‟s mainstream.
Wonderful writers as they are, I am unable to identify with them
because they describe characters who fit into their community
in different ways that my naturalized Americans fit into
communities in Queen or Atlanta. (Carb 27)
Bharati Mukerjee declares many times that she does not deal with
Indian themes in her writings but in reality one can feel touch of Indianness in
her writings. She cannot remain detach with political condition of her
motherland and she writes about revolutionary movements of India in her
fictional and non-fictional works. She has admitted presence of history in her
works. In an interview with Runar Vignisson she said, “Writers like me,
because of where we have come from, can‟t help but have, as novelists and
fiction writers, the social political vision-that fiction is not divorced from
social, political considerations.”
Although Bharati Mukherjee is exponent and depository of immigrant
writing, one can feel the presence of history in her writings. She wrote about
two crucial historical movements in The Tiger’s Daughter and Jasmine. She
wrote about Naxalite movement of West Bengal in The Tiger’s Daughter and
Khalistan movement of Punjab in Jasmine. The protagonists‟ of these novels
lives are affected by revolutionary movements. After the partition of India,
Naxalite movement spread across the boundaries of many states. Bharati
Mukherjee lived in Calcutta for almost two decades so she had seen the
beginning of Naxalite movement in West Bengal. She lived in luxurious
mansion in the compound of pharmaceutical factory which her father had set
up in outskirts of Calcutta. She was sheltered by her parents. At the time of
labour unrest or violence she was chauffeured to the school in a car
accompany with bodyguards and an escort vehicle in front of it to protect her
from unseen dangers. Her life was also affected by Naxalite movement so she
wrote about effects of Naxalite movement on upper middle class. She did not
objectively analyze Naxalite movement so she only wrote about threatened
class of revolution and not about ideology of the participant of the movement.
Tara Cartwright Banerjee, the protagonist of The Tiger’s Daughter,
returns to India after spending seven years in New York in order to find her
place in the family and society. Tara Banerjee is an upper middle class
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Bengali Brahmin. She is the only daughter of the Bengal Tiger, an owner of
Banerjee & Thomas (Tobacco) Co. Ltd., and she lives in luxurious mansion in
Calcutta. She is sheltered by her parents so she hasn‟t seen real Calcu tta and
beginning of class conflicts in West Bengal. The Bengal Tiger takes tough
decision to send Tara at Vassar for higher study in order to save her from
class conflicts. Tara impulsively decides to marry David Cartwright, an
American author without thinking about its consequences. Her marriage with
foreigner and her seven years long stay in America changes her perceptions
towards things. When Tara comes back from New York, she looks at Calcutta
through the eyes of David. She observes life of her friends and relatives as an
outsider on visit. She comes back at a time when Naxalite movement is
plaguing West Bengal.
One has to know about ideology of Naxalite movement in order to
objectively analyze the role of participant and threatened class in the
movement. The Naxalite movement was originated in a small village of West
Bengal named Naxalbari. The Naxalite movement was known by the name of
origin of its place. Naxalites were radical communists and they believed in
Mao Zedong political theory. Originally the name of the party was
Communist Party of India (Marxist) but some leaders of the party were not
satisfied with the functioning of the party so they left the party and formed
separate party as Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist). Charu
Mazumdar, Kanu Sanyal and Jangal Santhal were main leaders of the new
party.
The Communist Party of India‟s (Marxist) members who were known
as rightist favored an alliance with the Congress while the party‟s some
members who were known as leftists were anti-congress. The leftists believed
that the government‟s economic measures of establishing industries only
served landlords and businessman. The rightists believed that this economic
measure accelerated the growth of West Bengal. Charu Mazumdar, the leftist,
wrote eight articles between 1965 to 1967 in which he made clear the need of
armed revolution against the landlord and rich. He was in favor of building a
secret revolutionary party which would lead the class struggle. He created the
small groups of peasants and share croppers in every village and assigned
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them the task of formation of arms squads and collections of ammunition.
Gradually in every villages arms squad was created to fight against landlords.
In 1967, non-Congress United Front Government won the election.
Peasants had to depend on the welfare of the landlords and they were
exploited by landlords. Land reform and food situation affected the lives of
poor and landless peasants. Hare Krishna Konar CPI (Marxist) was appointed
as the land revenue minister of West Bengal. He initiated the policy of quick
distribution of land to the landless. The government introduced the new food
policy and announced a higher purchase rate of rice. The process of land
transfer to the landless peasants was difficult task.
Charu Mazumdar criticized the government on the issue of land
transfer. In Darjeeling he established his party‟s headquarters. The party‟s
supporters were mobilizing the landless peasants and poor. He organized
conference of peasant under the guidance of the Siliguri Subdivision of the
CPI (Marxist). Kanu Sanyal and Jangal Santhal were the prominent members
of the Darjeeling district‟s headquarter of the party. In the conference leaders
were favored redistribution of land through Peasant‟s Committee. Charu
Mazumdar was in favor of arming the peasants for class struggle. After the
week of the Peasant Conference, landlords‟ men attacked on sharecropper.
When the police team had come to arrest the peasant leader, the group of
peasants killed a police inspector. Peasants and share croppers were
stimulated by the event and many other peasants and tribals joined the
movement. The centre and state government ignored the incident and
considered it as administrative matter. Naxalites attacked frequently on the
landlords. The State minister visited the Naxalbari area and appealed the
peasants to avoid misguided act. Peasants founded Krishak Samiti in every
village.
The government of West Bengal launched a new policy on 12th
July
1967 under which the state police arrested Jangal Santhal and other peasant
leaders. After a year Kanu Sanyal was also arrested by the police. In 1969
West Bengal government released all prominent leaders including Kanu
Sanyal and Jangal Santhal. The government thought that the Naxalites leaders
were incapable of re-starting the revolutionary movement. The State
government never imagined that the Naxalite leaders would officially
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establish a new party. Kanu Sanyal declared the formation of CPI (Marxist-
Leninist) party in Calcutta on 1969. Charu Mazumdar proposed a theory of
class annihilation. He declared the revolutionary should annihilate landlords
and rich so the government and landlords could not take revenge. The party
increased their activity from 1967 to 1972 in West Bengal. The government
launched a joint operation of the army and the police in West Bengal, Orissa,
and Bihar. The operation was started from 1 July 1971 to 15 August 1971 and
the code name of the operation was Operation Steeplechase. The army sealed
entry and exit routes of the bordering areas of West Bengal. The police force
arrested Naxalites and confiscated explosive and weapons. The party activists
went on other places from their hideouts for safety. The police arrested Charu
Mazumdar on 16th
July 1972. He died after few days of his arrest. During the
President‟s rule Congress leader Siddhartha Shankar Ray became the special
advisor of the State. Siddhartha Shankar Ray successfully suppressed the
Naxalites.
Although the government has taken countermeasures to suppress the
Naxalites but the government cannot completely suppress the movement.
Poverty, lack of facility, and shortage of food have been main reasons behind
Naxalite movement so Naxalites are active till today at the place where
people suffer from poverty and shortage of food. Till today Naxalites are
active in West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Chattisgarh. The
government has put into effect the Integrated Action Plan in 2010-2011
budgets for Naxalite affected areas. The government gave a special grant for
development of tribal and rural areas of sixty districts. After the
implementation of Integrated Action plan, influence of Naxalites is reduced in
these areas.
In the opening of the novel Bharati Mukherjee wrote about the Catelli -
Continental hotel which symbolizes the last remnant of the British Raj in
Calcutta. The upper middle class often visit the Catelli -Continental hotel and
they watch riots and rallies from the porch of the hotel. Naxalites are
opposing the Capitalist, landlords, and aristocrats outside the hotel. “While
small riots break out in the city, while buses and workers surround the
warehouses, these few come to the Catelli for their dai ly ritual of espresso or
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tea” (Mukherjee, Tiger’s 4). The Catelli-Continental “is the navel of the
universe” for upper class after independence of India (Mukherjee, Tiger’s 3).
Tara‟s great grandfather Hari Lal Banerjee is the Zamindar of village
Pachapara. Hari Lal Banerjee has a premonition of violence on the night of
her daughter‟s wedding. He foresees his own death in the village. His Friends
enjoy their status and luxurious life without noting change in the society.
“The Shadows of suicide or exile, of Bengali soil sectioned and ceded, of
workers rising against their bosses could not have been divined by even a
wise man in those days” (Mukherjee, Tiger’s 8). After the marriage of Hari
Lal Banerjee‟s daughter, someone kills him with knife while he is medicating
a feud. With the death of Hari Lal all the reputation of the Banerjee family
died. Jute Mill Roy Chowdhury buys all the property of the Banerjees. Roy
Chowdhury is conscious about class struggle and his safety.
Outside their compound, sometimes on the bathing steps of
rivers, or in red diet alleys the led to the market place, they saw
angry, fanatical faces. There were more unreasonable murdess,
suspicious drawings, bloody and mutilated bodies discovered in
paddy fields. There were also more communal riots. Eventually
Panchapara was apportioned on the map as foreign sail…But
then it was too late for the villagers to remark on the anatomy
of change. (Mukherjee, Tiger’s 10)
Eventually the lives of the Bengali Zamindars have been changed with
the time but they cannot imagine that the change might be fatal. Santana, Hari
Lal‟s eldest daughter leaves Pachapara with her barrister husband long before
the Naxalite movement begins. Naxalite movement begins in the villages first.
Peasants and share croppers start to attack on Zamindars under the guidance
of the Naxalite leaders. If Santana and his husband remain in the village, they
might become the victim of the revolutionary movement. Santana‟s husband
buys a lumberyard in Assam and a tobacco factory in Calcutta.
Tara‟s father the Bengal Tiger remains Powerful, just and fearless
during the time of disorder in Calcutta. Laborers are rising against the owners
of the company. “Calcutta was losing its memories in a bonfire of effigies,
buses and trams” (Mukherjee, Tiger’s 12). The Bengal Tiger remains busy in
expanding the tobacco firm. He foresees the tough time for future generations
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so he takes decision to send Tara at Vassar for further study at the age of
fifteen. Tara‟s life is indirectly affected by Naxalite movement.
Tara marries with David, an American author, without informing her
parents. When Tara cannot find her place in American Society, she decides to
come back to India in search of her inherited identity. She returns back to
India after seven years without her husband. She comes back to Calcutta at a
time when the Naxalite movement is tormenting the people. She first gets the
hint of the movement after her arrival in Calcutta. She sees riots and relies
from the porch of the Catelli-Continental hotel. Joyonto Roy Chowdhury
plays an important role in the novel. He plays an important role in the novel.
He represents the falling bourgeois class of Calcutta who are losing their
power and strength on the city. He compares past and present of the city and
he feels sorry for present aristocratic class.
Joyonto Roy Chowdhury is an owner of tea estate in Assam. He
everyday comes to the Catelli-Continental hotel for the coffee and he watches
the disorder of Calcutta from the porch of the hotel. “In time the sidewalks
beneath Joyonto grow restless with refugees from East Bengal and Tibet.
Rioters become insolent. Powerful landowners were at first tormented later
beheaded. Businessman padlocked their factories and smock off like ghost to
richer provinces” (Mukherjee, Tiger’s 49). Unjust distributions of land,
shortage of food and law wages of labour are the main reasons of Naxilite
movement. Bangladesh‟s refuges illegally cross the border and take refuge in
unprotected places of Calcutta which increased the disorder in Calcutta.
Pronob, Sanjay, The Bangal Tiger and Joyonto Roy represent aristocratic
class who becomes the victim of Naxalite movement.
Tara comes to the Catelli-Continental to meet her friends. Joyonto Roy
listens Tara friends‟ views about violence in Calcutta. They mainly speak in
English and occasionally they use Bengali words. They discuss about the
movies they have seen or party they have attended. They reverently talk about
imported gadgets, transistors, blenders, and percolators to show their
familiarity with foreign country‟s lifestyle. Joyonto Roy thinks they are like
him when he was in his twenties and their superficial attitudes frightened him.
Even they talk about current events to show off their familiarity with Time
Magazine or Reader‟s Digest. “The real Calcutta, the thick laughter of bru tal
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men, open dustbins, worm and dark where carcasses were sometimes
discarded, did not exist. He knew Calcutta would not be as kind to them as it
had been to him” (Mukherjee, Tiger’s 52).
Pronob is an owner of the factory so his life is also affected by
Naxalite movement. He is disgusted by workers‟ strike for higher wages. He
complains that the owners of the companies pay medical insurance for
workers, pension plans, education taxes for their kids and in return they
gherao company‟s owners. If workers‟ gherao the aristocratic class often, they
would have to move Bombay side.
Pronob becomes victim of Naxalite movement. Workers surround him
and his family for eighteen hours. There is no water and food available for
them. When they ask for water, the workers send coke bottles filled with
urine. When Tara hears the incidents of gherao at Pronab‟s house, she thinks
about the future of the upper class Bengalis. She thinks only Marwaris can
stand up against the communist. The Marwaris are insensitive and less
vulnerable while the Bengalis are sensitive and easily threatened by
Naxalites. Tara thinks about the condition of the Bengalis in future. “The
poor Bengalis, the descendants of Hari Lal Banerjee who had inherited not
earned, their wealth, their frailties, their conscience? Bombay, she knew was
no answer. It was like Chekhov, she felt, yearning for Moscow but staying”
(Mukherjee, Tiger’s 57).
Tara and her friends regularly meet at the Catelli-Continental even
when the riots break out in Calcutta. They indifferently listen the English
news. Tara listens the news of minor fights between the police and
demonstrators on Rashbehari Avenue on radio. She is scared by the news of
violence but Reena consoles her and says it‟s normal in Calcutta and it used
to be worse before. Pronob takes it as political stunt and not as revolutionary
movement. He says, “farms are being looted, landlords are being clubbed to
death. This is reform.?”( Mukherjee, Tiger’s 72) The aristocratic class never
tries to find out the reasons behind the revolutionary movement and they
blame political leaders, workers, peasants, and sharecroppers.
The procession is on its way to the Catelli -Continental hotel. Tara and
her friends view the procession from the hotel‟s perch. Some marchers walk
into the stores to loot it. They overturn car parks at the sidewalk. Reena views
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this procession as movie show and even she tells Tara to enjoy it like movie.
Reena‟s reaction shows that upper middle class are not serious about the class
war. Tara objectively views the procession from the safe distance.
From Tara‟s perch (she had climbed on a chair for a better
view), at first the procession looked like a giant caterpillar,
sluggish and quiet harmless, on the busy road. Then she was
able to make out banners, picket signs, bricks, soda bottles,
bamboo poles. The leaders run back and forth, coaxing people
to shout louder and to get in the way of the traffic. From the
roof of the Catelli, Tara saw Calcutta, squeezed horribly
together, men, women, infants, some scratching their crotches,
others laughing like tourists in an unfamiliar section of town.
And always the heartbeat of the slogans. “Blood bath! Blood
bath! Blood bath! Blood bath! (Mukherjee, Tiger’s 75)
Tara is scared by the view of the procession. She thinks how she can
go to home but Reena says there is no need to worry. This kind of
demonstration is routine for Calcutta‟s people. The aristocratic class always
complains about labour problems in factories and tea gardens. Even the
Bengal Tiger advises Tara‟s friends to apply for immigration to Canada or
America because he thinks future of Calcutta is very bleak. Tragedy is
common in Calcutta. “The newspapers were full of epidemics, collision, fatal
quarrels, and starvation. Even murders, beheadings of landlords in front of
their families” (Mukherjee, Tiger’s 119). Bharati Mukherjee depicts the lives
of poor and beggars in Calcutta. Even the poor are easily misguided by
Naxalite leaders and they become scapegoat in the hands of Naxalites, and
political leaders. Tara has never seen real Calcutta. She is sheltered by her
parents so she hasn‟t seen poverty, bustee, and beggars. Reena accuses Tara
for being too self-centered and European. Tara hates Calcutta because it has
given her kids eat yoghurt off dirty sidewalk. She is bothered by the child
beggar and she thinks it is her responsibility to do something for the child
beggar. Reena bluntly replies that it is not her responsibility to do something
and the child beggar is not her responsibility. She says the child beggar is
paid professional of the Marwari. Tara becomes upset after watching the child
beggar.
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Tara had been outraged by Calcutta, that there were too many
people sprawled in alleys and storefronts and staircase. She
longed for the Bengal of Satyajit Ray, children running through
cool green spaces, aristocrats despairing in music rooms of
empty palaces. She hated Calcutta because it had given her kids
eating yoghurt off dirty sidewalks. (Mukherjee, Tiger’s 128)
Tara‟s perceptions of looking at things are changed during her stays in
New York which creates confusion in her life. Bharati Mukherjee writes about
lives of bustee dwellers and their hatred for aristocratic Class. Joyonto Roy
invites Tara and Reena to visit the bustee. Tara, Reena, and Joyonto Roy go to
Tollygaunge. The road to Tollygaunge is circuitous, kutcha and full of cracks
and bumps. Tara is bewildered by the first view of the squatters. “All she
show was the obvious. Goats and cows grazing in the dust, dogs chasing the
friskier children, men sleeping on string beds under a banyan tree. Children
playing with mud beside a cracked tube well. Rows of hovels and huts”
(Mukherjee, Tiger’s 139). Tara sees naked children playing near the tube
well. She thinks these children would be perfect for adoption ads in western
periodicals. She wants to adopt all the children. Reena‟s reaction is different
towards the squatters and naked children. According to Reena this is criminal
and how can they illegally seize Joyonto Roy‟s private property. Joyonto Roy
is prodigal and danger to aristocratic class according to Reena. She thinks if
aristocrat class gives their private property to poor people, in future there is
no way to stop them by seizing private property. Here Reena represents
thought and action of aristocratic class. Her reaction towards poverty and
poor is very superficial. She notes down the details of squatters and she gives
it to Joyonto Roy to serve bustee dwellers new eviction notices. Tara and
Reena follow the old man Joyonto Roy. Tara sees anger and hatred for them
on the faces of bustee dwellers. “Tara thought they had sly eyes and
imprudent ears. She thought she saw abrasive distrust on their faces- anger
against people who were obviously not squatters” (Mukherjee, Tiger’s 141).
The little girl stops their way. The girl is suffering from leprosy. Suddenly the
little girl screams and throws herself on Tara. Tara loses her mind and starts
screaming, “Don‟t touch me, Don‟t touch me” (Mukherjee, Tiger’s 145). Tara
is sheltered by her parents and she has never tried to see real Calcutta when
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she was in Calcutta. During her stay in hostel when dormitory girls asked her
about poverty, bustee dwellers, beggars and riots, she could not say anything
to them. From her life in hostel she came to know about the condition of
Calcutta through her friends questions. She cannot describe her experiences at
bustee in a letter to David. She looks at the bustee like watching a movie. She
is disgusted with bustee dweller and poverty. She writes in a letter
Absolutely incredible, David. I mean you can‟t imagine how
terrible it was. Like seeing it at the movies or something,
certainly not like the beggars everywhere on the streets.
Anyway I don‟t think I want to talk about it. Enough to say that
poverty is an art your people will never master” (Mukherjee,
Tiger’s 155).
David thinks the customs which Tara has praised merely humiliate the
poor. He wants Tara should take a stand against poverty, hunger, injustice and
unemployment. He analogizes between Calcutta and Czarist Russia on the eve
of revolution. He thinks bloody struggle between two classes are inevitable.
Tara cannot tell David that, “the misery of her city too immense and blurred
to be listed and assailed one by one. That it was fatal to fight for justice; that
it was better to remain passive and absorb all shocks as they came”
(Mukherjee, Tiger’s 157). Bharati Mukherjee also depicts how foreigner looks
at the class struggle and poverty through the character of David, McDowell,
and Antonia Whitehead. The upper class never looks at the revolution and
class struggle objectively. For them it is not their responsibility to do
something for the society. Their attitude towards revolution is very
superficial.
The political leader P.K. Tuntunwala is the strongest conservative
candidate. The aristocratic class and landowners support P.K.Tuntunwala.
Tara knows he is very dangerous man and he can create whatever situation he
needs for winning the election. He is very different from Pronob and the
Bengal Tiger. He is very energetic, ferocious, and aggressive so Pronob seems
flabby in comparison with him. Tara thinks what will happen to her father and
businessman like Pronob in future. Deepak Ghose is the leader of the poor
and peasants. The price of rice has risen up suddenly so the informal general
strike is declared. The followers of Deepak Ghose loot grocery store and
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overturns cars. Tara and her friends go to Nayapur for picnic. At the guest
house, she meets P. K. Tuntunwala. He invites her to show industrial progress
of Nayapur. Tara goes with him but when she returns back at the guest house,
she finds her friends go to watch movie without informing her. Tara suffer s
from headache so P.K. Tuntunwala invites her in his suite to p ick up
medicine. He takes advantage of her condition and rapes her. Tara cannot say
anything about the incident to her friends and leaves for Calcutta alone by
train. She decides to go back to New York so she books a flight ticket to New
York. She goes to the Catelli-Continental to inform her friends about her
departure. When she reaches the Catelli-Continental, the demonstration is on
the way to the hotel. At the traffic lights and intersections the rioters overturn
the car and burn it. The young men in the crowd have bamboo poles and axes.
The policemen soon arrive on the place to stop the procession. A group of
young marchers comes out of the procession and hits two policemen and then
they again vanish in the procession.
Reena is overwhelmed by the sight of the procession. She stands by the
parapet and shouts at the mob. At first Tara‟s friends frighten by the sight of
rioters but after seeing the recognize faces of the police men they feel relieve.
The men and children loot the shops and then they burn the shops. Suddenly
the police men stop the cars and order passengers to run to safe place. People
abandon their cars in the middle of the street. The waiter requests the patrons
of the hotel to go home before the rioters sack the hotel. When Tara‟s group
tries to go out of the hotel, a splinter mob force them back into the entrance
hall of the hotel. Some marchers smash glass panel of the hotel entrance with
bricks. Somehow Tara‟s group manages to run to the fiat.
The mob pressed against the sides of the car, pointed to soda
bottles, and bamboo sticks, and shook tiny fists at the four
people inside. Then a bomb exploded somewhere… Looters
carried off sheets and towels. Sullen policemen arrived
swinging lathi. Marchers kicked Sanjay‟s fiat as they ran
towards the steps of the hotel. There was no way Sanjay could
back his car out into the street. The friends crouched in the little
car with doors locked and windows rolled tight. Now and then a
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stone or broken bottle hurled against a door… On the other side
of the street a bus was burning slowly. (Mukherjee, Tiger’s 244)
Rows of constable are lined up near the doorway of the hotel. They
stop marchers and one police officer shouts in a megaphone to fall back from
the private property of Mr Tuntunwala. Joyonto Roy in his attempts to go
outside is caught by the marchers. The marchers kick him and toss him from
line to line. Pronob comes out of the car to save Joyonto Roy but before he
saves Joyonto Roy the mob seize him.
A soda bottle burst against Pronob head. He had no time to
scream. Tara had not seen so much blood on a friend before; a
fat man bleeds profusely. They punched him while he was still
bleeding. Pronob fell against the side of the taxi and they kept
punching. He would never know that his gesture had been
useless. (Mukherjee, Tiger’s 247)
Pronob in his efforts to save Joyonto Roy is killed by the mob. The
novel ends in media res. “Tara, still locked in a car across the street from the
Catelli-Continental, wondered whether she would ever get out of Calcutta,
and if she did not, whether David would ever know that she loved him
fiercely”( Mukherjee, Tiger’s 247- 248).
In the novel Bharati Mukherjee writes how the life of upper middle
class is affected by Naxalite movement. In the novel she portrays the Naxalite
movement as more destructive than revolutionary. She does not try to analyze
ideology of Naxalite movement and she only presents the loss and destruction
in the society. She only writes about the aristocratic class of Calcutta and
does not give voice to the subaltern classes.
Bharati Mukherjee wrote about Khalistan movement in Jasmine. After
partition of India, the Khalsa Sikhs believed that their Sikh identity was under
threat so they demanded a separate Sikhs state. First one has to understand
ideologies of Khalistan movement in order to analyze the influence of
Khalistan movement in the novel.
According to census of Punjab in 1981, Sikhs constituted 60.7percent,
Hindu 36.93percent; the rest one percent were the Christians and some
Muslims. Punjabi and Hindi were the official languages of Punjab. Most
people were Punjabi speaking, but in the urban centers many people speak
182
Hindi. Punjab is one of the smallest states in the Indian union, in term of
population and of size. In 1986 Punjab, after Goa and the Capital territory of
Delhi, had the highest per capita income of Rupees 4519. Its success in
improved agricultural production through employment of modern technology
was considered phenomenal.
Sikhism was founded in Punjab in the late 15th
century by Kharti
Nanak Chand. Sikhism was influenced by the Bhakti, the northern India‟s
Sant tradition, and Islam, particularly its Sufi tradition. Guru Nanak rejected
the cast system and stressed the worship of one God. He upbraided the
contemporary Muslims as well as Hindu religions and political establishment
for their corrupt ways and urged true worship of the timeless God. He advised
his disciples to participate actively in societal affairs with a view to achieve
solution through hard work and piety rather than by hermetic withdrawal and
solitary meditation. Sikhism remained a peaceful sect during the time of the
first four Gurus.
As the time passes Sikhism became more orthodox and rigid religion.
The tenth and last guru of orthodox Sikhs, Gobind Rai (1666-1708),
abandoned the conciliatory policy which had characterized the attitude of his
predecessors. He maintained a regular army of well trained disciples. Most of
his soldiers came from the poorer section of the peasantry and artisan caste.
The Sikhs began to collect revenue and other taxes from area under their
control, and the Sikh power became a dominant force in the politics of
northern India.
In 1966, Guru Gobind Rai summoned his followers to gather at
Anandpur in northern Punjab. At this gathering he instituted the system of
baptism. In this gathering five men, a Brahmin, a Kshatriya, and three men
from the Sudra caste were chosen to drink out of one bowl to signify their
initiation into the fraternity of the Khalsa (literally, the Pure). Gobind Rai
gave them one family name; Singh, which means lion. The baptism meant that
they had given up their previous profession and became soldier of the Khalsa
and also they had given up rites and rituals not sanctioned by the Sikhs faith.
Further five emblems were introduced: hair and beard must keep unshorn
(Kes); a small comb must be carried (Kangha); a knee length pair of breeches
must be worn (Kach); steel or iron bracelet must be worn (Kara); and a small
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dagger must be carried (Kirpan). Gobind Rai declared further that there was
no guru after him. The Sikh holy book „the Granth Sahib‟ would be the ever
present guru from which the Sikhs seek guidance. In 1799 the Sikhs came on
the power under Ranjit Singh in Punjab. The Sikhs ruled over Punjab for
eighty two years.
In the early twentieth century conflicts arose among Hindu and Sikhs
about status of Sikhism. Some Hindu and the Sikhs leaders believed that the
Sikhs were a part Hinduism while extremist Khalsa Lions declared that
Sikhism was different religion. The Sikhs established the Akali Dal in 1920 to
promote Sikh community and cultural identity. The Akali Dal started non
violent movement to take possession of Sikh temples from the British
government. They opposed continuously for five years against the British
appointed priests. The British government gave possession of Sikh temples to
elected Sikh body Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC). The
Akali Dal gradually took interest in politics. When Muslims demanded a
separate Muslim country before independence, the Sikhs also demanded
separate Sikh state in India. The Sikhs were thinly spread in Punjab state so
they could not pressure government for separate state. The Muslim League
and Congress party both tried to take the Sikhs on their side and the Sikhs
decided to become a part of secular India. Jawaharlal Nehru made promise to
the Sikhs leaders that Sikhism was considered as separate religion and the
Sikhs separate identity would be preserved. The Sikhs leaders opposed the
government‟s decision to give entire Punjab province to Pakistan. They
demanded the Muslim majority areas of Punjab should be given to Pakistan
and the Sikhs majority areas should be remained in India. The Sikhs leaders
started riots in Punjab and forced Muslims to flee West Punjab which was
going to Pakistan. The Sikhs shifted to East Punjab from West Punjab. The
riots broke out after partition. After partition the Sikhs of West Punjab took
refuge in East Punjab and there the government allotted them land. The
Punjab government declared Punjabi and Hindi languages as regional
languages of Punjab. The Akali Dal demanded redrawing of state borders on
linguistic basis. They wanted Punjabi as the sole regional language of the
state. The government did not accept the Sikhs demand to redrawing state
boundaries on the linguistic basis. The Sikhs leader Tara Singh started
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movement for Punjabi state on communal terms. Tara Singh led the Sikhs in
1955 for a separate Punjabi suba. During the war between India and Pakistan
in 1965which was fought on Punjab borders, the Akali Dal and the Sikhs
opposed Pakistan. In 1962 Fateh Singh, a new leader of the Akali Dal,
demanded a separate Punjabi suba purely on linguistic base. Mrs Indira
Gandhi, Prime Minister of India, accepted the Sikhs demand of Punjabi suba
on Linguistic base in 1966. Hindi speaking districts separated from Punjab
and it became part of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. Indira Gandhi
interfered greatly in Punjab state administration and ran administrat ion on
highly personalized manner. The Akali Dal demanded various economic,
religious, and political benefits from the government in 1973. Indira Gandhi
did not accept the Akali Dal‟s demands so she was defeated in the general
election of 1977.
Indira Gandhi wanted to come back in Punjab politics so she chose
Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a religious preacher, as a leader against the
Akali Dal. Bhindranwale became popular among the lower class Sikhs and in
Punjab administration. He urged the Sikhs to stop living immoral life and
maintained the Sikhs identity. He advised the Sikhs to live a pure life of a
strict Khalsa. Many unemployed educated and non-agricultural caste Jats
attracted towards him.
When Indira Gandhi came on power in 1980, she began to dislike
Bhindranwale‟s extremist attitude which ignited conflicts between
Bhindranwale and Congress Party. Bhindranwale arrested that time but the
Akali Dal pressured government for his release. Bhindranwale joined hands
with the Akali Dal. He maintained his personal army of well trained Sikhs
soldiers. Gradually many Sikhs attracted towards his ideologies of the Khalsa
Lions. He preached the Sikhs to live pure life and the Sikhs must avoid
smoking, and drinking. Thousands of the Sikhs from the villages of Punjab
became his followers. His followers spread violence in Punjab and they
attacked on Hindu and other Sikhs whom they believed impious Sikhs. The
government started to take actions against the follower of Bhindranwale for
spreading violence.
Bhindranwale with his several armed followers entered the Golden
Temple on 12th
June 1982 in search of protection from the government action.
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He started campaign against the government and he demanded an independent
Sikh state Khalistan. In Punjab video- cassette tapes of his speeches were
available. He often mentioned about the details of mistreatment against the
Sikhs by the police and Hindus. He urged the Sikhs to act violently against
Hindu and the police. He favored return of pure Khalsa Lions. He ran his own
government. In many foreign countries the Sikhs organizations favored the
demand of separate Khalistan state. For two years the State and Centre
government did not take any decisive steps against Bhindranwale and his
followers. The Sikhs leaders in U.K., Canada, and North America supported
the demand of independent Sikh state Khalistan. Bhindranwale‟s followers
stored ammunitions in the temple in 1984.
Indira Gandhi ordered Indian army to enter into the Golden Temple
after failure of negotiation between the center government and Bhindranwale
on 3 June 1984. The army surrounded the Golden Temple under the command
of Major General Kuldip Singh. The army ordered Bhindranwale and his
militants to surrender but they were not ready to surrender themselves. Even
the army requested the militants to send pilgrims safely out of the Golden
Temple but the militants used the pilgrims to stop the army‟s actions. The
militants had stored machine gun and firepower in the temple so they fought
with the army. After twenty four hours fight, the army entered into the
temple. In this crossfire many innocent pilgrims were killed. Bhindranwale,
Shahbeg Singh and his followers were slain in the holy temple. The army took
control of the Golden Temple in the morning of 7th
June. In this battle the
holy takht, the Sikhs‟ sacred relics and documents were damaged. Hundreds
of people were killed in this crossfire. Many political parties and the Sikhs all
over the world criticized Indira Gandhi for this operation. Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her two Sikhs security guards on 31
October 1984. After assassination of Indira Gandhi, the riots were broke out
against the Sikhs across the North India. The riots and violence were broken
out everywhere between the Sikhs and Hindus in Punjab region for decade.
The Sikhs militants killed the police officer and their family members. Even
extremist Sikh assassinated the Chief Minister Beant Singh on 31 August
1995.
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After the Operation Blue Star, the Sikh Diaspora started to take interest
in Punjab politics. For the Sikh Diaspora, the Operation Blue Star was an
attack on the entire Sikh community. The Sikh Diaspora financially supported
Khalistan movement. The Khalistan Council and Babar Khalsa were started to
spread ideologies of Khalistan movement in the U.K., Canada, and U.S.A.
After the Operation Blue a conference was held under the leadership of Major
General Jaswant Singh and Didar Singh Bains. They declared that the Sikh
identity and faith would be safe only in the Sikh separate state- Khalistan. Dr.
Jagjit Singh Chauhan, a former finance minister of Punjab, migrated to the
U.K. in 1971. He became leader of British Khalistan council. Jagjit Chauhan
and other groups believed to get help from Pakistan for Khalistan movement.
Many Sikhs immigrated to Canada after partition. The members of the
Babar Khalsa emigrated to Canada and there they spread ideology of separate
Sikh state. After the Operation Blue Star, one of the members of the Babar
Khalsa group bombed Air India Flight 182 on 23 June 1985. The route of the
flight was Montreal, Canada- London, U.K.- Delhi, India. The flight crashed
into the Atlantic Ocean. All passengers and crew members were killed into
this bombing. In order to take revenge for launching the Operat ion Blue Star
in the Golden Temple, the Sikhs militant bombed Air India Flight in which
329 innocent people were killed.
After 1990 the violence in Punjab increased. The State and Center
government could not reduce the activity of the Sikhs militants. Thousands of
people killed in this violence. Gun fire, bomb blasting, killing of politician,
and kidnapping became common during this period. The Center government
declared an election on 19th
February 1992 in Punjab in which Sardar Beant
Singh became the minister. The new government remained successful in
bringing peace in Punjab at some level. During 1993 the Sikhs militant ‟s
violence decreased and Beant Singh‟s government remained successful in
establishing peace.
The roots of the Khalistan movement laid in the partition of India.
During the partition thousands of Sikhs were killed in the riots. Thousands of
the Sikhs from East Punjab which became part of Pakistan took refuge in
Punjab and Delhi. The Sikhs began to think that in Hindu majori ty state, they
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could not sustain their separate identity and religion so their demand for
Khalistan increased with the time which had terrifying consequences.
Bharati Mukherjee in her third novel Jasmine presents immigrant‟s
journey from India to America as a process of unhousement and rehousement.
There is paradigm Shift in her writing from expatriate to immigrant
sensibility. Jasmine, the protagonist of the novel, transforms herself severally
to assimilate in alien land. Bharati Mukherjee personifies her Americanness
through the character of Jasmine. Her writing becomes more Americanized
with each passing year. The new changing America is the theme of her
stories. Bharati Mukherjee declares herself as American writer after her
assimilation in American mainstream culture. She rejects hyphenation. She
discards her old identity and as the time passes her notion of identity is
changed. She says, “I see my „immegrant‟ story replicated in a dozen
American cities, and instead of seeing my Indianness as fragile identity to be
presented against (or worse, a „visible‟ disfigurement to be hidden), I see now
as a set of fluid identities to be celebrated” (Kerns 665). Jasmine changes her
name severally which indicates her gradual progress towards
Americanization. Bharati Mukherjee writes about how third world immigrants
transform themselves in order to reroot themselves in America and in the
process of their transformation, they also transform Americans, so it is two
way process. Jasmine transforms herself Six times from Jyoti of Hasnapur to
Jane of Iowa.
Jyoti is born in Hasnapur, a feudal village of Punjab. She is the fifth
daughter of her parents. Jyoti is born in gender biased society in which
daughter is undesirable and curse. Daughter is punishment from the God for
sins committed in other incarnations by the woman. Jyoti is rebellious,
survivor and adopter from the beginning of her life. In the opening of the
novel the astrologer foretells her widowhood and exile. Jyoti opposes the
astrologer‟s prophecy about her widowhood and exile. After her court
marriage with Prakash, She moves to Jullundhar with Prakash. Jullundhar is a
center of Khalistan movement. Prakash gives her new name Jasmine to
celebrate her new independent and modern life in the city. Prakash secures an
admission in Florida Technological institute. On the eve of his departure,
Prakash is killed in the bombings by the Khalistan Loins. Jasmine‟s life is
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affected by the Khalistan movement from the beginning. Jasmine illegally
goes to Florida to burn herself a “Sati” on the campus of Technological
Institute where Prakash got admission. During her odyssey in America,
Jasmine has undergone through many transformations- Jasmine, Jazzy, Jase
and Jane. In America her life is also affected by the Khalistan movement
which shows the ideologies of the Khalistan movement spread among the
Sikhs extremists of other countries.
Jyoti is born in feudal village of Punjab but her family was settled in
Lahore before the partition of India. The Seed of many historical movements
of India laid in the partition of India. After World War II Muhammed Ali
Jinnah, The Muslim League leader demanded a separate Muslim State, while
Jawaharlal Nehru was not in a favor of partition of India. As the day passes
the war between Hindus and Muslims broke down in the county. The Muslims
League declared the “Direct Action Day‟ on 16 August 1946 on which 4000
Hindus and the Sikhs killed in Calcutta. Gandhiji requested Hindus and
Muslims to unite against the British government. Lord Mountbatten granted
the independence in February 1947 but after the decision of partition of India,
he extended the independence date up to 15 August 1947.
When the British government was deciding the fixing of a border
between two states, the division of Punjab region was very difficult because
of uneven mixture of Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims. Punjab region was divided
from the middle of the province and Lahore became part of Pakistan and
Amritsar remained in India. Thousands of people migrated from their homes
after partition. The Sikhs and Hindus migrate from East Punjab which became
part of Pakistan. Thousands of Muslims, Hindus and the Sikhs were killed in
massacre. Thousands people left their home and property and crossed the
border depending upon their faith.
Jasmine‟s family uprooted from Lahore after partition of India
because Lahore became part of Pakistan after partition. In Lahore her family
lived a luxurious life but they had to move from Lahore to Punjab. After
Partition Indian government provided land to refugees in Punjab but it could
not improve the condition of refugees. For her family members partition was
cruel and they always remained nostalgic about their life in Lahore.
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God is cruel to partition the county, she said, to uproot our
family from a city like Lahore where we had lived for centuries,
and fling us to a village of flaky mud huts. In Lahore my
presents had lived in a big stucco house with porticoes and
gardens. They had owned farmlands, shops. An alley had been
named after a great uncle. In our family lore Lahore was magic
and Lahore was chaos. (Mukherjee, Jasmine 41)
None can forget about the partition riots and loss always remains in the
memories of the victims of riots. Thousands of people were killed at the time
of the crossing borders without any reason. Jasmine‟s parents never forget
about the partition riots.
Mataji, my mother couldn‟t forget the partition Riots. Muslims
sacked our house, Neighbor‟s servants tugged off earrings and
bangles, defiled grottoes, sobered my grandfather‟s horse. Life
shouldn‟t have turned cut that way! I‟ve never been to Lahore,
but the loss survives in the instant replay of family stay: forever
Lahore smokes, forever my parents flee. (Mukherjee, Jasmine
41)
Jasmine‟s parents cannot adapt themselves in Punjab. Bharati
Mukherjee writes about the effect of partition of India in The Tiger’s
Daughter and Jasmine. She explicitly mentions about the effect of partition of
India in Jasmine through the life of Pitaji, Mataji and Dida. In the partition of
India the West Bengal region divided on the base of Hindus and Muslims
community. Hindu majority region of the West Bengal became province of
India and Muslim majority region of the East Bengal became part of Pakistan.
Thousands of Hindus migrated to India after the partition of India. From East
Bengal majority people took refuge in Calcutta which ignited Naxalite
movements.
In the novel Jasmine school teacher became victim of the Khalsa
Lions, the Sikhs extremist. Masterji was a pious Sikh. He kept his hair and
beard and on special occasion he carried Kirpan. In Hasnapur all the Sikhs
men kept beards and hair but a few men kept ceremonial dagger with them.
The five emblems are turban, Kangha, Kara (Steel or Iron bracelet), Kirpan
and Kacchera. As the time passes many Sikhs stop keeping one or other
emblems according to their convenience. The Khalsa Lions, a new Sikh boy‟s
190
gang, gave more important to five emblems of Sikh identity. Sant
Bhindranwale, a leader of Khalsa Lions, prepared the gang of Khalsa Lions
who believed in the purity. “There was a new Sikh boys‟ gang, the Khalsa
Lions, who liked actions. Khalsa means pure. As Lions of Purity, the gang
dressed in white shirts and pajamas and indigo turbans, and all of them toted
heavy Kirpans on bandoliers” (Mukherjee, Jasmine 49). The gang of the
Khalsa Lions considered themselves pure and they physically torture other
Sikhs whom they thought as impious Sikh. Masterji was honest, pious Sikh
but, he was very non communal. The Khalsa Lions distributed pamphlets
accusing him as a bad Sikh in the classroom and they hurled stones and fruits
from their scooters on him. Jasmine‟s father called the gang, “Hoolligans!
Now they‟re throwing sticks and stones: next month they‟ll throw bombs”
(Jasmine 49). Masterji had different opinion for the Khalsa Lions. He said,
“Where there is arising there is also a falling. Holligans who soar must also
come down” (Mukherjee, Jasmine 50). The ordinary people of the village
were very pessimist for the insurgence of the Sikh militants. People were very
anxious about their future life amidst the Khalistan movement. The men
usually talked about violence of the Khalsa Lions.
Their talk was always about vengeful, catastrophic politics.
Sikh nationalist had gotten out of Hand…The Khalsa Lions
were making bombs…Kalashnikov-and Uzi-armed terrorists on
moped were picking off the moderates, the police, innocent
Hindus…Vancouver Singh‟s farm was a safe house for drug
pushers and gunmen…Punjab would explode in months, maybe
even days…Hindus would be smart to get out while they
could…the whole country was a bloody mess… (Mukherjee,
Jasmine 64)
The Khalsa Lions made bombs at their home to kill Hindus and the
Sikhs. The Khalsa boys gang hijacked a bus which was on its way to a shrine
of Lord Ganpati. They shot all Hindus male passenger of the bus. One day
Jasmine‟s brothes friend named Sukhwinder, a baptized Sikh came to her
home. Sukhwinder was follower of Sant Bhindranwale and he had visited him
in the Golden Temple. The hot discussion was started between Sukhwinder
and Jasmine‟s two brothers Hari-prar and Arvind-prar about future of Punjab
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and political condition of Punjab. Sukhwinder believed, “The Khalsa, the
Pure-Bodied and the Pure-Hearted, must have their Sovereign State.
Khalistan, the land of the Pure. The impure must be eliminated” (Mukherjee,
Jasmine 65). Sukhwinder was orthodox Sikh and he was ready to kill innocent
people on the name of the religion. Even he did not hesitate to kill his friends
and brothers of his own village. He believed that a true Sikh had to maintain
the Sikh identity and follow the path shown by Sant Bhindranwale. Sant
Bhindranwale was leader of all the fanatics. He demanded a separate Sikh‟s
state Khalistan. He misguided the poor and peasant Sikhs by giving details of
incidents about conflicts between the Sikhs and Hindus. He mentioned how
Hindus killed the Sikhs during the partition of India. Sukhwinder became
blind follower of Sant Bhindranwale. He suggested, “Renounce all filth and
idolatry. Do not eat meat, smoke, tobacco or drink alcohol or cut your hair.
Wear a Turban” (Mukherjee, Jasmine 65). He was against Hindus. He
believed all Hindus women were whores. He believed the Sikhs women must
not wear sari because it was the sign of the prostitute. He was on the side of
Pakistan and Muslims. The Sikhs community divided in two groups: One
group of the Sikhs was liberal and pious Sikhs who were not against Hindus,
the other group of the Sikhs was extremist and orthodox Sikhs who were
against Hindu and India. Hari-prar, Arvind-prar and Prakash represented
liberal and pious Sikhs group while Sukhwinder represented the group of
extremist Khlasa Lion. Prakash believed that there was no Hindu State or
Sikh State in India. India was of everyone. Even in the partition of India
Muslims killed the Sikhs. Sukhwinder wan not agreed with Prakash‟s thought.
Sukhwinder believed:
True Pakistanis are Punjabis, like us. If they were cruel to
Sikhs, it‟s because of Hindu‟s influence on them. Many of them
had Hindu Mothers and Hindu concubines who taught then to
kill Sikhs. Pakistanis were Hindus who saw the light if the true
God and converted. So were Sikhs only bloodsucker banyas and
untouchable monkeys were remained Hindu. (Mukherjee,
Jasmine 60)
Khalistan movement started with the demand of a separate Sikh state
but gradually it became anti-Hindu movement. Violent incidents broke out in
192
Punjab for the demand of Khalistan State. Sant Bhindranwale ran his own
government in Punjab. Even his followers were against liberal Sikhs. The
Khalsa Lions made bomb at their home and they exploded it in public places.
Even they hijacked public vehicle and shot dead innocent people without any
hesitation. The police could not control and stopped them completely from
spreading violence. The Khalsa Lions interfered in Masterji‟s class by making
noise very close to his desk, so he tried to stop them but they caught him. The
Khalsa Lions called him insulting names. Masterji started to cry in front of
the students. He said, “I am a good Sikh, a pious Sikh,…why are you doing
this? We are peaceful people” (Mukherjee, Jasmine 85-86). The Khalsa Lions
group humiliates the Masterji in front of his students. First they physically
humiliate him and then they shot dead him.
In front of students they first knocked his turban off. They
called him insulting names…They pulled out the ceremonial
comb, and his life-long hair fell over his shoulders, down his
back…While one boy barbered the teacher, chopping at the hair
in great chumps, another held a machine gun over the children.
After they freed his rolled up beard and chopped it off, they
spun him around until he staggered and fell. Then they shot,
emptying over thirty bullets in him. (Mukherjee, Jasmine 85-86)
They shot dead Masterji in front of the school children. This was
beginning of many terrible act committed by this group. Jasmine also became
victim of this group. Jasmine married with Prakash, a liberal Hindu in the
civil court. After marriage she moved with her husband to Jullundhar. For the
Khalsa Lions, Hindu woman was prostitute so in the eyes of them she was no
more than a prostitute. Jasmine was enjoying her marital life in the company
of her husband Prakash. The Khalsa Lions tried to kill Jasmine by detonating
a transistor bomb when she was shopping in the Sari Shop with her husband
Prakash. Jasmine saw two Khalsa Lions in the shop. One of them put a music
box in lounged in the doorway. Jasmine recognized one man‟s face, he was
Sukhwinder. He hadn‟t worn turban and he had a short hair. Jasmine told
Prakash about the music box which was left by the Lions in the Shop. Within
a few seconds the music box exploded and Prakash and Jasmine stumbled
together. Sukhwinder shouted on Jasmine, “Prostitutes! Whores!”
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(Mukherjee, Jasmine 93). Prakash‟s body cushion her. Jasmine realized , “the
bomb was meant for me, prostitute, Whore! (Mukherjee, Jasmine 93). She
became widow and came back to Hasnapur. Although she was alive but her
life was completely changed after the incident.
The Khalsa Lions exploded bombs in public places. They killed
innocent Hindus without any reason even they did not wear turban and beard
so no one knew their real identity as Khalsa Lions. “Cars blew upon the
street, the scared swapped tips: the Lions don‟t always wear beards and
turbans just the steel bracelet. They can look like you and me. We started
looking first at Wrist, before getting closer” (Mukherjee, Jasmine 89-90).
Bharati Mukherjee presented Khalistan Movement as mere destructive
force which created havoc in the life of the common people. She did not try to
understand ideologies of Khalistan Movement and Naxalite Movement. She
superficially presented both historical movements form the point of view of
its affected people. She did not try to analyze the mentality of its perpetrators.
Many critics criticized her for mere trivialization of two important historical
movements after independence of India. Uma Parameswaram criticized Bharti
Mukahrjee for portrayal of historical movements:
The novel is particularly shallow and ill researched. Her
trivialization of the Khalistan issue, her haphazard injection of
Stereotypical characters and symbols ( trying to make
Jyoti/Jasmine into Durga incarnate by having her slice her
tongue before killing her rapist), her general carelessness
regarding historical facts, and peasant and urban realities of
Punjab, her flippant disregard of the strength of familial
relationships…and weak characterization…all reveal a rather
contemptuous attitude towards the intelligence of the reader.
If Bharati Mukherjee extensively studied ideologies behind historical
movement, she could objectively portray revolutionary movement in her
novels. In The Tiger Daughter, She only portrayed effects of Naxalite
movements on upper middle class while in Jasmine she portrayed effects of
Khalistan movement on common people.
194
Works Cited
Carb, Alison B. “An Interview with Bharati Mukherjee.” Conversations With Bharati
Mukherjee. Ed. A. C. Bradley. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2009.
25-31. Print.
Kerns, Roshni Rustomji. “Expatriates Immigrants and Literature: Three South Asian
Women Writers.” The Massachusetts Review Winter 1989: 665. Print.
Mukherjee, Bharati. “Interview with Runar Vignisson.” SPAN 20 Nov. 2004.
http://wwwtds.murdoch.edu.au./cntinuum/litserv/SPAN/34/Vignisson.html
---. Jasmine. New York: Grove Press, 1989. Print.
---.“On Being Deliberately Misread.” The Statesman Festival (1993): 14-17. Print.
---. The Tiger’s Daughter. Fawcett: New York, 1992.Print.
Parameswaran, Uma. SACLIT: An Introduction to South Asian: Canadian Literature.
Madras: East West Books, 1996. n.p. Print.