Chapter V
AFFIRMATION THROUGH SACRIFICE
The history of India's freedom struggle is replete with
incidents of voluntary self sacrifices by great patriots, who felt heroic
death preferable to submission to the domination of an unjust and
alien power. It is doubtful whether historians have done full justice to'
the part played by these selfless pursuers of freedom who deemed
everything, including their own lives subordinate to their ultimate
goal. They were real 'karmayogis', one and all, who could scale
supreme heights of human endurance. Chaman Nahal, in the Gandhi
Quartet Successfully unravels this parallel strand in the fabric of the
freedom struggle, relegated to the background by most writers of
Indian - English fiction. Nahal's researches into the little known facts
about these brave fighters and the impetus their endeavours gave to
the overall freedom struggle convinced him of the necesdity to bring
their contributions to the limelight by fictionalising their lives. He
recalls:
Surprisingly, I found other non - Gandhian movements
which contributed to the overall Freedom Movement, like
the violent revolutions. Gandhi talked about non violence.
Rash Bihari, Bhagat Singh, Subhas Chandra Bose were
people who believed the British could be driven out
through organised physical force. I'am fascinated by that
too'
Historians generally trace the origin of mass rebellions
against the British rule in India to the 1857 uprising of the Indian
soldiers in the British Army. There had been sporadic outbursts of
violence against the government from time to time, but these mostly
stemmed from lccal issues or as part of communal clashes which the
British rule could suppress with an iron hand. Even the factors that
culminated in the 1857 uprising, it may be seen, were purely religious
in nature and the mutineers had hardly any nationalistic feelings or
political objective to motivate them. It is only very late in the history of
the freedom struggle that we see organised revolutionary groups
achieving any signficant victory. The British India of the time was a
much divided terrain, with hundred - odd. princely states, each a t
loggerheads with the other, and owing allegiance to the British crown
in varying degrees. The first ever sprouting of nationalistic feelings on
a massive scale may be traced back to the agitations that rocked the
whole of Bengal, consequent on the partition of the province in 1905.
Bengalis, irrespective of religious or class distinctions had vehemently
opposed the proposal for a division of their homeland, but the
government proceeded with the plan, unmindful of the public outcry
against it. This authoritarian attitude of the ruling British gave rise to
unprecedented mass movements led by the best brains of the time like
Lala Lajpat Rai and Balgangadhara Tilak. The Swadeshi movement,
started with the boycott of foreign goods, soon became a national
movement. Leaders like B.G. Tilak and Aurobindo Ghosh were
impatient with the moderate attitude adopted by the Congress and its
leaders. Very soon this dissatisfaction culminated in the formation of a'
new party known as the Extremist party of Bengal that had on its
agenda the liberation of the whole of India. The real genesis of the
militant nationalism that came to exist side by side with the
mainstream national movement may be seen as an off-shoot of this
new awakening created by the Extremist Party.
The Extremists drew their inspiration mainly from the
speeches and writings of Swami Vivekananda and from the Bhagavat
Gita. Vivekananda, at that time was making history by exhorting the
people to accept the Vedas and the Upanishads as the spring and
sustenance of Hindu religion and culture. The Upanishads, he
maintained, "restore coafidence in man, they ask him to shed all
weakness, pessimism towards life and face the world with strength2.
He also extolled the virtues of suffering for the sake of others by
quoting the example of Lord Buddha, The Buddha, he pointed out, was
a perfect agnostic, and yet was ready to lay down his life for any one
and worked all his life for the good of all3. This philosophy of suffering
undertaken for the good of the larger humanity had a direct appeal to
the conscience of the revolutionaries who were much concerned about
the plight of the down - trodden, suffering millions of India. The
message of the Bhagavat Gita, the age old text that expounded the
philosophy of work without desire of reward, further refurbished their
faith in undergoing suffering for the redemption of their fellow
countrymen. The Gita proclaims in no uncertain terms that the life of
a self - indulgent person who fails to fuW his obligations in this cycle
of mutual inter - dependence and service, is a vain and sinful life. It
also sp2aks about Yajna as a mode of self sacrifice - the offering of
what one considers precious for the service of God and one's own fellow
beings" It is this creed of self sacrifice and willing abjuration of
personal comfort that prompted many a youth to undertake hazardous
mis~ions to subvert the British rule, which they considered a blot upon
the dlgnity of every self respecting Indian. It is proved by official
records that the Gita and the works of Vivekananda served as a Magna
Carta for the terrorists and many copies of them were seized by the
police in the course of their search5.
The Indian National Congress, hitherto content with
petitioning the government for the redressal of grievances, mean while
got galvanised by the presence of Gandhi a t the helm of affairs. The
non - violent method of resistance he preached and practised was
gaining widespread acclaim and acceptability and people from all
walks of life, leaving their home and hearth were coming forward to
join the band of non - violent sathyagrahis. In a way this newly created
national consciousness also became a fertile ground for the
revolutionaries to propagate their philosophy of a violent revolution a s
the only tool to overthrow the British rule. The ends have already been
outlined by Gandhi in unequivocal terms. The revolutionaries differed
from the Indian National Congress only in the ways adopted by them.
Most of the revolutionaries, as shown by Nahal in his
Gandhi Quar te t were initiated into the freedom struggle through the
Swadeshi Movement. Later they began to feel that the moderates with
their non violent method were "not taking the people forward" (The
crown-63) and broke away from the main stream of the movement to
form independent units. Nahal thus graphically describes the
philosophy of life cherished by a number of such revolutionaries in the
persons of Rakesh, Joseph Daniel, Bhagat Singh, Charulatha, Sen and
Subhas Chandra Bose. The activities in which these extremists were
involved were neither isolated reactions against any specific measure
of the government, nor designed simply as a remedy against any
particular grievance. "Save in methods of operation" observe noted
historian R.C. Majumdar "It is hard to distinguish the terrorists from
the nationalists". Using the term militant nationalism" to these
movements, he further observes:
The essential and fundamental ideas were the same in
the two cases, but while the nationalist relied mainly on
passive resistance or other forms of self assertion on an
organised basis, the extreme leR school had no faith in
these methods and activities and regarded armed
resistance as the only feasible way of destroying British
powers.
Rakesh, presented in the Gandhi Quartet a s a foil to the
Gandhian Sunil is one such revolutionary. He is the head of a
revolutionary organisation called The Himmat the Urdu word meaning
'valour'. True to his faith, he is presented as the v e q epitome of
courage, taking great risks in planning and executing sabotage against
the British. "I am an Indian nationalist", he tells the American lady
Celia Ashby, "and I won't rest until the last of the British are driven
out of India". (The crown - 223) He is personally involved in the
attempted assassination of the Prince of Wales during his visit to
India. Unfortunately his brother - in law Sunil, while trying to save
the Prince, becomes the target of his revolver. Later on he
impersonates Subhas Bose to divert the attention of the police, thereby
aiding the latter's escape to Afghanistan. The high risks he takes to
steal himself into the Alipore Central Jail, where Bhagat Singh is
waiting execution are quite thrilling.
Darbara Singh and Pitamber Singh, likewise are two
veteran revolutionaries who had spent the best part of their lives in.
the dreaded cellular jails on the Andamans. They had "nothing but
revolution in their blood" (The Salt. 394) and even the long and lonely
spells in the worst of the cells failed to deter them from pursuing their
long cherished goal, once the Japanese set them free. They are seen
attending the historic meeting of the Congress, summoned to pass the
Quite India resolution.
Darbara poses some unpleasant questions to Gandhi
regarding the role of the revolutionaries in such a movement:
Would you today, Mahatmaji, a t this juncture in our
freedom movement, hold the great Shivaji in any lesser
esteem merely because he fought violently? Would you
hold Rana Pratap in any lesser esteem? ..... what exactly is
the difference between subversion and non- co operation,
or between sabotage and non - cooperation? (The
Triumph. 23,24)
Darbara Singh's arguments set Gandhi thinking whether
it is possible to draw a line of demarcation between violence and non -
violence at such a critical juncture in the struggle. Gandhi a t last gives
a reply, somewhat sanctioning violence, but only when one reaches,
what he terms as the "terminal point of non - violence". (The Salt .21)
Bipin Chandra, while tracing the course of the Quit Indian Movement
observes that, there were occasions when even Gandhi refused to
condemn the violence on the part of the people, a s he "saw it as a
reaction to the much bigger violence of the state7". This point of
convergence of the violent and the non - violent streams of resistance
had evolved as a historical necessity in the finale of a long - drawn
struggle with occasional bloody interludes.
Nahal introduces Subhas Cnahdra Bose in person only
towards the close of The Tr iumph of t h e Tricolour. The second
world war has all but ended and the Japanese army is making a
hurried retreat from Malaya. Subhas, who had all along stood and
fought with them throughout the war is a desperate man now. Still he
does not entertain any idea of surrendering to the British army. He is
bitter towards the Japanese too, for their betrayal and humiliation of
his army. Subhas feels cornered and a t the end of his political and
military tether. Like all true self - respecting revolutionaries he would
prefer death to humiliation a t the hands of his adversary. Nahal thus
throws some light on his mental make up:
He would surrender to them (The British) today if they
were to behead him and display his head on a pile from
the Red Fort ... He preferred death to a life of humiliation.
(The Triumph-298)
Subhas Bose's indomitable will and optimism give him
strength to undertake the hazardous journey by plane to Tokyo. He
still nurses the hope of refurbishing his battered army, to start a fresh
assault some day. He is only sad a t the lack of courage and fighting
spirit the Indians at large betray a t this hour of crisis. At one time
Bose's army consisted of two full divisions of about thirty thousand
men. Now the number is drastically reduced. Many are dead. Many
had deserted him in defeat. His parting words to Naval, his trusted
lieutenant is prophetic enough. "We have to learn to be a brave race"
he tells Naval, "We have to learn to fight and we have to learn to die".
(The Triumph - 312) Nahal presents this great stalwart of the freedom
struggle as a perennial source of unrelenting will power, energy and
optimism. Ever since his resignation from the presidentship of the
Indian National Congress in 1939 to form the 'Forward Block' with a
view to rallying the entire left wing under one banner, Subhas had led
a life of great suffering and turmoil. He got brickbats in plenty from
his former collegues while the government was all set to crush him.
His stead fastness and perseverance had won him the devotion of
thousands of Indians, who leaving behind the comforts of a settled life,
marched to join the INA.
This sort of single minded devotion to the work a t hand
and firmness of purpose are characteristic of all the revolutionaries
Nahal depicts in the Gandhi Quartet. The well planned attack on the
Prince of wales far excels similar exploits by modern militant
organisations. Charulatha and Sen, the two fiery revolutionaries from
Bengal have to prove their mettle before the senior leaders to let them
ride the tongas that would ultimately crash on the dais on which the
Prince of Wales sits. They expect nothing short of death, irrespective of
whether the mission fails or succeeds. Their firm conviction that the
time is ripe for the supreme sacrifice has totally erased all fear of
death from their minds. They remind us of the 'Chaver pada' or suicide
squads of Valluvakonathiri referred to in Kerala history, and sung
about in innumerable ballads who, though reduced in number, fought
an unrelenting war against the Zamorin's huge armed force. William
Logan, praising the selfless devotion of these soldiers, surmises that
they were real "heroes who fell in performance of solemn vows to fight
till deaths". Joseph Daniel the dreaded revolutionary and his consort
Dulari like wise court heroic deaths after successfully blocking the
Kohima pass with their comrades for over two weeks. They go all the
way to the Burmese border to join the Indian National Army.
These revolutionaries pictured in the Gandhi Quartet
all share some common ideals with the non - violent Sathyagrahis. All
of them are fired by the same urge to break the shackles of humiliation
that bound their mother country. Their sense of human dignity and
self respect does not allow them to rest in peace while theirs and their
fellowmen's birthrights get trampled under the feet of an alien power.
Their philosophy of life is better summed up in the words of Rakesh
when he says "better to be dead than to be alive as a captive". (The
Salt-56) The revolutionary finds death preferable to a life of
humiliation and servitude. Gandhi too had expressed his preference of
an honourable death over humiliation by the adversary:
A votary of Ahimsa would, on bent knees implore his
enemy to put him to death rather than humiliate him or
make him do things unbecoming to the dignity of a
human beingg.
There are striking similarities in the call of action given
by the revolutionaries and that of Gandhi. The revolutionaries make it
very clear that they want only persons of real valour who will not
easily succumb to pain and suffering and who will get nothing but
death as remuneration for their work. Nahal quotes an advertisement
that appeared in the Ghadar, the official journal of the Ghadar party:
Wanted
Heroes to organise revolt
Remuneration : Death
Reward : Martyrdom
Pension : Freedom
Place of work : Hindustan (The crown - 393)
Many a patriot had joined the part in response to this call
and reached the Indian shore aboard the ship Kamagata Maru, but
were fired at by the British police a t the mouth of the Hoogly. Many
were killed, while most got arrested and deported from India. Yet,
some including Darbara Singh managed to escape and built
revolutionary strongholds.
Gandhi also had foreseen the innumerable sufferings the
Sathyagrahis were likely to experience in the course of the non violent
resistance. He had even warned them of the possibility of courting
martyrdom during the struggle:
I may have to see not three, but hundred and thousands
being done to death during the campaign I am about to
launch. I want you all to treasure death and suffering
more than life, and to appreciate their cleansing and
purifying characterlo".
Perhaps this dichotomy of Gandhian precepts and
revolutionary ideals merging a t some point is better explained by
Hochimin, the undisputed revolutionary leader of Vietnam when he
visited India in 1958. When asked to compare his role in Vietl.am with
that of Gandhi in India, he said, "I myself and others may be
revolutionaries, but we all have been disciples of Gandhill". It is the
faith in the end result of their endeavour that sustains and inspires
the revolutionaries to transcend innumerable setbacks. Fbr them, the
end justifies the means. Gandhi too held a similar faith in the ultimate
success of his course of action, but he was quite selective in the means
that led to the final victory. He maintained that the result is destined
to carry the marks of the means by which it is gained:
The means may be likened to a seed, the end to a tree and
there is the same inviolable connection between the
means and the end as there is between the seed and the
treeI2.
Gandhi further maintained that there is a law of nature
that a thing can be retained only by the same means by which it has
been acquired. A thing acquired by violence can be retained by violence
alone. Gandhi had imparted a wider perspective to the word 'Freedom'.
For him, freedom meant an atmosphere conducive to the full
blossoming of an individual's capabilities. Rakesh, after having led a
number of violent encounters with the authorities, is seen entertaining
doubt as to whether the political freedom for which they are fighting is
just "an illusion". He feels that "even when the British are gone, the
common man wdl still be a t the mercy of a governing system". (The
salt-56) Nahal traces this dilution of the volatile spirit of the
revolutionaries by presenting the "dreaded revolutionary, Bhagat
Singh: Pandit Nehru pays a visit to the Alipore central jail where
Bhagat Singh is incarcerated. He tells Nehru that he does not want to
escape from the prison, as in the past. Even the bomb he had thrown
a t the assembly hall was quite harmless. He only wanted his cause to
gain wider public attention. He even tells Nehru that revolutionaries
like him hold Gandhi in the utmost regard (The Salt.82).
While this mellowing up of the revolutionaries is taking
place on one side, we see as a parallel, some of the staunch supporters
of non-violence secretly aiding the revolutionaries in their subversive
activities. Vikram, brought up by Gandhi himself a t the Asram under
strict surveillance gets himself associated with Joseph Daniel, the
doyen of revolutionaries. It is Vikram who suggests the plan to hijack
the sialkot Jammu train carrying the Italian prisoners of war. When
rounded up, Vikram denies every charge made against him. That
Vikram, a true disciple of Gandhi could resort to such an action only
shows the freedom fighters' mutual respect and fellow feeling
regardless of whatever convictions they hold or whatever organisations
they belong to Vikram even offers to accompany Joseph to Imphal
where Subhas 1s expected to come with his troops. He has only one
condition to lay be i~ re the revolution aries - that he "will not, shall not,
cannot willingly, knowingly, take another man's life". (The Triumph -
139), It is ev~dent that Vikram finds it too difficult to cross the
Gandhian boundaries, even after mingling with the revolutionaries
and abettlng violence.
Vikram's mother Kusum also undergoes this sort of
transformation and she is seen blessing the revolutionary youths
heading towards the Burmese border for a final encounter with the
British Raj:
She put a long vermilion mark on the forehead of the
youths who came to her and she said to them, may victory
be yours. She never saw them again and she was not sure
to what extent, how far, her blessings carried them. Yet
she had truly taken on the role of shakthi, she had
become the mother of them all. (The Salt 189).
It may seem paradoxical that Kusum, rendered a widow
a t the hands of a revolutionary, harbours no ill will towards the
militants. Moreover she is too willing to bless them in their endeavour
to court martyrdom for the liberation of their homeland. Kusum who
had the singular opportunity to be with Gandhi, unlike many of the
awowed Gandhians, could well discern that Gandhi too would have
done the same thing under the circumstances. Gandhi had once openly
declared his contacts with the revolutionaries who had great faith in
his trust worthiness. He maintained that he would forfeit their
confidence if he disclosed their names. Herbert Fischer narrates an
incident in which Gandhi desperately tried to save the lives of the
revolutionaries condemned to lead a miserable life in the notorious
prison in the Andamans:
Telegrams from and to the viceroy went back and forth,
and that for the sake of terrorists with whom he (Gandhi)
did not politically agree a t all, but he respected their
patriotism and their readiness for sacrifice's.
The revolutionaries presented in the Gandhi Quartet are,
like Gandhi, totally disinterested in fame or fortune. In fact most of
them had come from affluent families which still held the British Raj
in high esteem. Rakesh's father, Rai Bahdur Hemant Kumar is one of
the leading advocates of Amritsar. He is immensely rich and Rakesh,
being his only son, could have opted for a life of luxury and ease.
Instead, on reaching maturity, he deliberately chose a life full of peril
and discomfort, but no never regretes his choice. Every time he
manages to elude the authorities, he is for planning and executing a
more hazardous plot. The occasional setbacks of the revolutionary
groups never dishearten him. Joseph Daniel, a founder member of the
'Himmat'. likewise was the only son of a wealthy father who owned
apple orchards in Kulu. He had dashed headlong into militant
activities, inspired by the words of Tilak and Aurobindo Ghosh. He had
little respect for non-violence.
Nahal, through deft touches, sketches the picture of this
hardened revolutionary.
Joseph Daniel, disowning the comforts of a warm home
and rich parents, disowning the orchards whose
undisputed master he would have been, betraying friends,
family and teachers had gone in for the shaky realm of
revolt, of inquilab, a realm where bloomed apples redder
and sweeter than any his father grew. (The Triumph -
131)
This formidable and fierce revolutionary, the mention of
whose very name created a cold chill in the minds of the authorities,
regarded his little physical wants as only a burden that stood between
himself and his avowed goal. He carried twenty thousand rupees on his
head, dead or alive. Dulari, his consort, both in his private and public
life sustained him and energised him. This bond of selfless love finds
spiritual affirmation in the violent death they court a t the hands of the
British police.
The revolutionaries' inability to lead a normal family life
is quite obvious. These men, who have willingly accepted a life of
hardships and privations, who had consecrated their lives to the
service of their brethren, could not entertain even the illusion of a
settled family life. As Rakesh puts it, the revolutionarie "carried their
coffin on their head", (The Triumph 398). Deserted by friends and
relatives, ignored by the majority of their countrymen and deprived of
the means to keep their body and soul together, hunted by police and
spies alike, theirs was a very precarious existence. Rakesh passes
through a very short stint of marital bliss with shyama, only to regret
it later. When the call of the hour comes, he has no moral
compunctions in leaving behind his wife and their only child and
dashing headlong into a perilous, perhaps suicidal course of action.
The revolutionaries, though not subscribing to the moral
codes of the society a t large, maintain a strict code of conduct
regarding their womenfolk. A woman who works in the organisation
enjoys full freedom to live with the man of her choice or to remain
single. Their position in the set up is never of a subordinate nature and
gender difference has hardly anything to do with the planning and
execution of risky ventures. The association between Darbara Singh
and Salma, Joseph Daniel and Dulari, Hoshiar Singh and Rosie are all
based on this mutual understanding and faith. It is a n unwritten law
among the revolutionaries, not to snatch each other's girls. These
women, who had deserted their family and friends out of'some sort of
discontentment in their living conditions, are thrilled by the freedom
and recognition they get in the organisation. Thus Rosie, Hoshiar
Singh's beloved, formerly the wife of a railway engine driver becomes
an expert in the derailing of trains. Zahir's Sultana, a final year
student at the Lahore Medical College takes care of the casualties of
the sabotage activities. Dulari, Joseph Daniel's girl had worked inthe
telegraph department and could decode or send Morse messages
whenever required. Darbara sing's mistress Salma was formerly a
prostitute of Hiramandi and she had wide contacts with the
underworld which liberally helped the revolutionaries. Nahal thus
comments on these loyalties that cut across ethnic barriers'.
If the Indian National Congress cut across ethnic
barriers, so did the revolutionary group, and with great
rigour. Whatever their religion, whatever their profession,
having joined a group, the individual was, as it ware,
reborn. And though many conjugal relationships of this
type collapsed, many more continued for years on and on
strict mutual loyalty. (The Triumph - 391).
There is no gender difference in a revolutionary group and
the menfolk fully acknowledge the individuality and personal dignity
of their female counterparts, with the result that these, women are
never victims of what the feminists have come to identlfy as 'male
chauvinism'. It is practical wisdom and not emotional factors that bind
and sustain their relationships. When Joseph Daniel feels that he is
waning away in health, he asks Dulari to take a new lover. Salma
likewise does not suffer from any emotional stress when she opts to
live with another man during Darbar's imprisonment. A revolutionary
is fully conscious of the precarious nature of every assignment he
undertakes. It is assumed that in case of his death in harness, his
woman may take up with some other revolutionary. The general
atmosphere of insecurity and danger prevalent in the movement
prevent these women from unnecessarily brooding over personal
losses. Nahal has defined feminism as "a mode of existence in which
the woman is free of the dependence syndrome'4. All the women
revolutionaries he depicts in the Gandhi Quartet are completely free'
of this dependence syndrome, thereby epitomising the novelist's
concept of the new woman.
The revolutionaries had full faith in the continuity of life
znil the longevity of the cause for which they stood, in spite of the
brevity of their own lives. "No one", says Charulatha, "is indispensable
in the scheme of things". She further asserts her faith in the
imperishable nature of their ideology and the movement it represents:
Whoever has succeeded in wiping out a movement that
put service before self? Were the early Christians wiped
out by the Jews? Was the faith of the Sikh Gurus wiped
out by the Moghul emperors? Heroism is like a crop: the
more you feed it, the more it grows. (The Crown - 395,
396)
It is this code of high heroism added to selfless devotion to
the work a t hand that enabled these patriots to court martyrdom,
which they believed, only strengthened their movement and made
plausible its objectives. The martyrdom of Rakesh, Joseph Daniel,
Darbara Singh, Salma and Dulari has to be viewed in this light. Abha,
Rakesh's only daughter, disowned by him in her infancy, feels that her
father has courted martyrdom for a right cause and so is a true hero.
Dhanvanti, Rakesh's mother feels that her son's execution "bordered
on the lofty and the tragic". (The Salt, 451).
The martyrdom of Darbara Singh comes, not out of a
negation of life but in full affirmation of it. He had spent the best part
of his life for the realization of a lofty ideal and he had put all his
might in his role as a revolutionary. The Japanese army is making a
speedy retreat from the occupied territory and even Subhash is
compelled to leave his followers at the mercy of the advancing British
troops. Darbara knows for certain that once he falls into the hands of
the British, he will be subjected to humiliation and torture. Moreover,
he wants to register his protest against the policy of Subhas who is
leaving behind his trusted volunteers.
His death reminds one, of those medieval Japanese war
heroes who resorted to 'Hara - Kiri' to "escape the humiliation of
falling into an enemy's hand'@"' Such acts of voluntary self destruction
prompted either by the urge to bring into focus the wrongs suffered by
a community or the nation at large or as an extreme measure to set
things right, are to be viewed as totally different &om the act of suicide
committed by depressive maniacs. The tendency to commit suicide
often stems from failures and set backs of life a t an intensely personal
level. The victims of suicide mania come to shut their minds to the
outside world and becomes totally self - centred. Such a rejection of life
has been viewed with disfavour by all the major religions of the world.
But it is curious to note that very often religious sanction and even
encouragement had played a decisive role in the courting of heroic
death. The series of military expeditions made by the Christians of
western Europe during the tenth century to recover the holy land of
Jerusalem from the Muslims, had the sanction and the blessings of the
Popes. It is recorded that the first crusade was inaugurated by Pope.
Urban I1 at the council of Clermont in 190516. The great Indian epics,
the Mallabharata and the Ramayana too extol the martyrdom courted
for a right cause or in the observance of one's own 'dharma'. The
Indian concept of martyrdom has been shaped in accordance with the
Bhavagat Gita, which glorifies death while in the performance of one's
duty.
And do they duty, even if it be humble, rather than
another's even if it be great. To die in one's duty is life:
To live in another's is deathl7.
Salma is shown as courting martyrdom in her heroic
efforts to protect the human rights of the miserable factory workers of
Bombay. Gyan is gunned down in the course of the naval mutiny and
Sen gets k a e d in the attempted assassination of the Prince of Wales.
All these selfless lovers of humanity have willingly courted death in
the hope that others may get a better deal in their lives. George
woodcock, while &scussing the Gandhian concept of heroic death,
observes that death is never sweet, "not even if it is suffered for the
highest ideal. It remains unspeakably bitter, and still it can be the
utmost assertion of our individualityla.
Nahal, like Gandhi, does not subscribe to the logic of
violence, even when it is applied for the realization of a noble cause.
But all the same he wants to pay tribute to the contributions made by
these militants in bringing about the final victory in the long drawn
struggle for independence. In their courage, dedication and willingness
to undergo unremitting suffering, the revolutionaries command our
awe and reverence. The novelist also wants to assert that the
Gandhian way is the only way that can produce results of an enduring
nature. This is demonstrated by Kusum and Vikram, who even after
their short stint in the company of the revolutionaries, return to affirm
the validity of the Gandhian path. "Bapu's way is the only way,"
Kusum declares:
Otherwise the vultures will eat us all ..... The birds of
prey would continue to gather and bury their beaks in
you. They would continue to swoop down and destroy. But
through selfless love they could be beaten out of the sky
.... Go out and touch all in the generosity of your heart, in
pity, in compassion. They might or might not listen. Yet
that is the only way. (The Triumph - 477)
This assertion of the value of non - violence as the only
possible way out to fight back the injustices inflicted by the 'birds of
prey' acquires wider connotation for a novelist who beljeves in the
"affirmation of life in spite of all odds and setbacksWlg.
Notes
Sudhakar Ratnakar Jamkhandi, "Interview with Chaman Nahal" Commonwealth Novel i n English Vol.4,No.l.Spring,
1991.42
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