Unwritten Epic

The Unwritten Epic’ begins with a poetic and powerful account of a torch-lit procession of Jats, accompanied by the
sound of drumbeats and conch shells, as it descends upon the village of Qadirpur. The village is famous because of its
wrestler, Pichwa. He is a man of such renowned courage and strength that he is said to have battled against and
vanquished jinns. This timeless imagery gives way to a specific time frame: Partition. Pichwa cannot quite grasp the
implications of this reality. He cannot understand why, when he had supported the idea of Pakistan, the territory of
that newly independent country was far away and his home, Qadirpur, remained in India. Pichwa and his gang succeed
in defeating the Jats but not the forces of politics and history. At this point, Pichwa’s story becomes disjointed. His
migration to Pakistan where he is neither known nor feared, and his desperate, unsuccessful search for employment,
are recorded in the diary jottings of the narrator, a writer and a fellow migrant. He perceives Pichwa as a man of great
dignity, worthy of an epic, but the writer does not know what to write. He is caught up in a political conundrum,
trapped in writer’s block and unable to find a creative voice: while Qadirpur itself passes into fiction, as mere memory
— a place which has been renamed Jatunagar.

Husain’s stories invariably move from the specific to the universal. ‘The Unwritten Epic’ is a story about Partition and
also that of loss, difficulties and change, so intrinsic to the migrations which have forged our world.

Question 1: What were Mangu’s expectations at the enforcement of the new constitution?

Answer:

The New Constitution has been written about the India Act of 1935. It was the period when Indians were the slaves of
the British. It was expected that the Government of India under the Act of 1935 would liberate the Muslims and Hindus
of India.

The people were expecting a new era of justice, equality, and freedom. The people of the sub-continent hated the
British and wanted to live freely. The protagonist of the story was a humble tongawala. He lives in Lahore.

Ustad Mangu, a poor tongawala, was a completely illiterate person. He hated the British because of their cruel and
inhuman attitude toward the helpless people of the Sub-continent. One day he picked up two fares from the district
courts.

It is said that from 1 April, there’s going to be this new constitution. Do you think to change everything

He gathered from their conversation that there was going to be promulgated a new act of India from April ist 1935. He
reflected that the new act would liberate them from the yoke of slavery and subjugation of the English.

It would bring prosperity, justice, and equality to the people of India. Mangu became very happy and carried that good
news to the other tonga walas. He told Nathoo another tongawala.

I have great news for you. It’s so good that it might make your hair grow back

Soon he heard from lawyers and students talking about the new constitution. His faith in the new act became more and
more strong. He hoped that the rulers would be transferred to the natives of India and he would be free to settle his old
sores with the English.

I think things are going to open up with the new Act. Just imagine, we are going to have elected assemblies and if Mr…
gets elected, I’m bound to get a government job.

He wanted to see something colorful and dramatic. Mangu was totally convinced that the changes being brought on
the April Ist were the direct result of the influence of the Russian king.

He firmly believed that everything would change with the enforcement of the new act. But the British observed the new
constitution as Fool’s Day. Ustad Mangu has been portrayed as a representative of common Indians.

Question 2:

Why did Ustad Mangu hate the British?

Or

Why did Ustad Mangu call the English white mice?

Answer:
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The story, The New Constitution by Saadat Hasan Manto criticizes British imperialism and colonialism. The English
rulers of India were against the will of the natives. They treated the natives worse than animals.

Ustad Mangu the tongawala lived in Lahore. He was considered a wise man among his friends because of his
personality and common observation. He had his own opinion about everything and spoke on every topic freely.

He loved his country deeply and was grieved because of foreign rulers. He hated the white people and wished to get rid
of them as soon as possible. He hated the British who were ruling over India against the will of the native people.

Look at them, came to the house to fetch a candle and before you knew it, they had taken it over

They had been ruthless, cruel, and callous to them. The people could not rise in revolt against them but they had strong
feelings of hatred against the foreign rulers. Ustad Mangu developed this hatred because of the cruel and inhuman
behavior of Gora soldiers.

It was the Gora soldier of the cantonment, who was the reason for his great hatred and anger. He simply nauseated
when he came across a white and ruddy Gora soldier. He said: Their red faces remind me of decaying carcasses.

After a bitter and violent quarrel with a drunken Gora, he used to remain depressed and dejected for many days. He
returned to his adda and cursed them by saying human monkeys.

Mangu also hated the deceitful nature of the rulers who never wanted to give freedom to the people of India. They
might have made promises for better work in the favor of common people but they did not fulfill the promise. So
because of these reasons, Ustad Mangu hated the British.

As God is my witness, I’m sick of humoring these Lat sahibs. Every time I look at their blighted faces, my blood begins
to boil.

Question 3:

The New Constitution is the story of the injustice of colonial rulers in the sub-continent. Discuss

Answer:

The British ruled India for almost one hundred years against the will of the native people. Like all colonial powers, the
rule of the British in Subcontinent India was an ugly and undesirable specimen of injustice, cruelty, and tyranny.

People of Sub-Continent India wanted freedom and liberty from the clutches of the British. They did not like the chain
of slavery. They wanted to lead an honorable life in a free nation.

On the other hand, the British, for the completion of their own shaped agenda, wished to prolong their rule and
competition to rob the resources of the sub-continent under the guise of government.

The New Constitution is the story of lofty hopes and great expectations of the people of sub-continent India. Ustad
Mangu, the major character of the story, was the sole and comprehensive representation of the common people.

He was a sincere democrat and son of the land. His only desire was to see his motherland free. No doubt, he was a
layman with no authority or challenging powers, yet it was quite obvious that he not hated the foreign rulers but also
had a strong desire to live independently and liberally.

As liberty and freedom requires constant vigilance and alertness, the people of sub-continent India left no stone
unturned for freedom. During the struggle against usurps, they faced great hardship, trials, and tribulation.

Consequently, after facing all the problems, the efforts of native people bore fruit and they became independent. In
this way, they faced much cruelty and injustice, but they were able to get the fruit of independence.

Lajwanti

"Lajwanti" is about a once happily married couple. Then in the riots that resulted in the Partition of India (the effects
were at their very worse in the Punjab region where the story is set and where Bedi grew up) the wife Lajawanto was
kidnapped. It is also a story about human cruelty. Not just the cruelty of the abductors but of the husbands and
family of the abducted women.

As the story opens we see Lajawanti expects to be beaten. It is part of the marriage custom and it almost seems a wife
regards a husband who never beats her as "unmanly". Then she is abducted and taken over the border. Years go by
and her husband tries to get along with his life. In time Pakistan and India authorities begin to arrange for the
swapping of abducted women. A truck load of Hindu women would be exchanged for a truck load of Muslim women.
There were lots of problems and quarrels over this. Sometimes men on one side managing the exchange would
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complain that all they are getting back is "useless old and middle aged women". The real cruelty to the women in
many cases came when they returned.

Lajawanti's husband is at first overcome with joy when one day she was among the returned women. Lajawanti used
to routinely beat his wife for the smallest matters. He asked if the man she spent months with while abducted beat
her. She says no. Then the husband begins to wonder why she looks better and healthier than before she was
abducted. Maybe she was happier with the other man. He promises never to beat her again and he keeps his word.
He never criticizes her like he used to. They never fight over anything. At first she was very happy. Then she
realizes why this has happened.

Major Theme

“Lājwantī” by Rajinder Singh Bedi explores the plight of abducted women during the violence and upheaval of the
Subcontinent’s partition in 1947.

Sundarlal, an abusive husband whose own wife went missing during the conflict, actively campaigns for the
repatriation of abducted women but is taken aback by the unsettling emotional transformations that attend the
acceptance of his own wife back into his home. Bedi raises the problem of silence—the inability of survivors and
perpetrators of violence to talk about what happened—which is a common theme in partition literature. It is always
discussed the choice of character and background of the story to understand the main female character Lājwantī
herself. The effect of partition is no doubt brutal but the theme has been developed into various psychic issues. Trauma
of the protagonist is to be understood with close observation. Traumatic depression gives rise to several facets of
human agony.

Critical Analysis

Partition related short stories magnify the riots, arson, killing, looting abduction and rape during the Partition. These
stories reflect comprehensively in all its totality, reality, and variety of human suffering. As Alok Bhalla mentions
about the writers of Partition stories: "They (the partition stories) are rather, witnesses to a period in which we fell out
of a human world of languages, customs, rituals and prayers into a bestial world of hatred, rage, self-interest and
frenzy”. The writers of these stories frame the events in a variety of ways and read them according to their own sense
of the multi-religious and multicultural past of the Indian subcontinent.

Lajwanti'' depicts a world where women have totally internalized the idea that they are little more than property.
Imagine the horror of being abducted, taken to another country and being raped over and over for perhaps years. When
you at last return to your home country, you are toted that your failure to kill yourself has brought great shame on your
family and in many cases are driven from your old home.

Lajawanti's husband is at first overcome with joy when one day she was among the returned women. Sunderlal used to
routinely beat his wife for the smallest matters. He asked if the man she spent months with while abducted beat her.
She says no. Then the husband begins to wonder why she looks better and healthier than before she was abducted.
Maybe she was happier with the other man. He promises never to beat her again and he keeps his word. He never
criticizes her like he used to. They never fight over anything. At first she was very happy. Then she realizes why this
has happened.

Traumatic experience is understood as a fixed and timeless photographic negative symptom; it remains stored in an
unconscious part of the brain.

However, it maintains the ability to interrupt consciousness and maintains the ability to be transferred to
non-traumatized individuals and groups. Moreover, this concept of trauma perceives responses as fundamentally
pathologic and privileges the act of speaking or narration as the primary avenue to recovery. In other words,
presenting trauma as inherently pathologic perpetuates the notion that all responses to any kind of traumatic
experience produce a dissolute consciousness.

When Lajwanti goes missing during the conflict, her husband actively campaigns for the repatriation of abducted
women. But the return of his wife put him in a dilemma to express his emotional transformation. When Lajo returns
she is standing before Sunderlal and trembling with hope, despair and fear.

The author raises the problem of silence; the ordeal of abduction gets a high objectionable point of consideration.
“Lajwanti” is a narrative that focuses on the effects of trauma in the aftermath of Partition of the subcontinent into
India and Pakistan on the characters such as Lajo and Sunderlal. Both are victims of this epoch-making historical
event and of the violence and mayhem.

Lajwanti is shown to re-experience the traumatic event through the intrusive flashbacks, recurring dreams or later
situations that repeat or echo the original, persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with trauma and also an
exaggerated startle response. Her trauma is akin to the trauma of the nation. Although she is shown to have lived
through the traumatic experience, she does not know it accurately.

Above all this story presents a true picture of communal devastation during the period of partition. The characters are
well drawn and they represent a lively picture of the Indian population in undivided India with the cult of
Hindu-Muslim ethos. The religion is not brought to condemn the nation in this story but the social fabric with the
political upheaval is the culminating point in shaping this story.
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Complaint:

1…In stanza 1, the poet proclaims he will not hold back on his words in this complaint as it will be senseless to restrain
himself any longer…Sand/dust in my mouth is a Persian phrase to say 'may I be damned if I am being disrespectful. It's
used to express an apology for saying something ominous or profane. It's also used as a form of respect when talking
to elders or someone of higher status

2…In stanza 2, the poet, in humility, apologizes for what he is about to say for he is aware of the audacity of such a
complaint to the Almighty.

3…In stanza 3, the poet starts his complaint by arguing that had it not been for the Muslims, the message of Tawheed
(monotheism) would not have spread to the world. So the poet asks God to admit, in justice, from whom do all his
favors flow?

4…In this line the poet has ramped the level of his accusation, phrasing it aggressively with this rhetorical question of
whether God knew or not. There is also an underlying implication of God being unable to do his 'Kaam' (spreading his
name) without the help of Muslim strength

5…Saljuqs were a powerful Turkish dynasty, whose empire stretched from Iran to Anatolia during the heights of their
power…Sassani is the Urdu word for Zoroastrians, who used to rule Iran before the Islamic conquest of Iran.
Zoroastrianism is a Persian religion founded in the sixth century b.c. by the prophet Zoroaster. They regard fire as
something holy…The Saljuqs played an important role in Persian history. The term Turani can be used for various
Central Asian ethnic groups.``China'' in traditional Urdu texts usually refers to Central Asia.The Sasanians (226-651)
were the last Persian dynasty before the coming of Islam.

6…Allama Iqbal was keenly aware of the history of Islamic Rule in Andalusia…Here, it isn't clear which shade did the
Muslims recite the Kalima under. It can mean under the shade of Muslim swords, therefore making it a line about
conquering solely in the name of faith, while it can also mean under enemy swords, therefore making it a line about
how the Muslims refused to give up their faiths even under the threat of death…The poet affirms both the extent and
the intentions of the Muslim conquest

7…In stanza 7, the poet maintains the intent of these Muslims was righteous, and their expansion was not for worldly
wealth or power, but for a greater purpose

‫ ٭‬Critical Appreciation of Freedom’s Dawn

Faiz Ahmad Faiz was an influential, intellectual and revolutionary poet. Faiz’s poetry has a more nuanced relationship
with religion in general and with Islam in particular. He wrote to raise patriotic feelings in people of the country. Due
to this reason, he was sentenced by the government for a short period of time. His writing style was influenced by
Ghalib in diction and style. His language is simple with elite diction.

The Dawn of Freedom is a bitter lamentation of the false dawn of independence and the betrayal of the ideals of the
movement to gain freedom, dignity and economic justice. Faiz’s poem “Freedom’s Dawn", August 1947, captures the
desolation of independence and partition. It is a lyrical rendition that represents the aesthetic mood of an unrequited
love and shies away from the violence and dehumanization of partition. Crucially the journey to freedom remains
unfinished.

In the poem,there is a sense of tragedy. Faiz wrote this poem in August 1947 when Pakistan came into being. In the
poem, there is an expression of tragedy and possibility of ordinary people caught in the world wind of historical events
such as refugee crisis, communalism, rape and horror of partition. The poet says that although this is the same dawn,
we have been waiting for a long time. We expected this morning of freedom to be filled with brightness, sense of
security and victory but it is not so. The poet is hopeful of finding such a dawn:

He resembles the hope of finding a peaceful place to live with the hope of finding water in the desert or finding the last
group of stars before the rising sun. His claim of the sky as desert is dejecting which shows that he is worried about his
country’s miserable condition. He still has the hope of fearless and peaceful meaning without injuries or suffering. He
says continuous struggle can fulfill our dream of restful dawn, a dawn without worries, bloodshed and sorrows of
losing our dear ones in wars, bomb blasts or other accidents. He says that the time of pain is moving slowly but we
should be hopeful that the bad time will vanish soon. The hurdles which we are facing due to partition would be leapt
soon, our emotional anguish would find rest, is the hope of the poet.

He, in the second stanza, says that when youth sets out on mystic journeys to win the battle of their rights, there are
many people who attempt to stop them; their family, home, relations, comforts etc. But the charm of freedom has far
more attraction in it. They want to see the nation (muslims) free from the oppression of tyrant rulers, so that they can
live happily and with contment. The dream of a separate homeland is dearer to tiredness, sufferings and troubles.
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But when the battles of freedom come to an end, there is the waiting for the fruits of struggle. But at the moment, what
I observe is that success is a journey and not a destination. There is much to be done. Apart from other grief, there is
another problem which people are going to face. The grief is the corrupted behavior of leaders. He says that although
there should be the scenes of joy and celebration but there is something which is making the dawn sorrowful. Perhaps
he wants to say that tyranny of foreign people is sad but the disloyalty of their own people is heartbreaking. He asks
himself that if the war is over then why there is no feeling of security. The lights and brightness of freedom are still
dim. He advises his companions in the end, that war is not over yet. It is just the change of phase. Our enemy is
changed now. The enemy, now, is more strong and clever. We still need to work harder and harder to reach the
destination of what we dreamt for, a place to live according to the rules of Islam.

Symbolism in Faiz’s Poem ‘Dawn of Freedom’

First of all Dawn (from an Old English verb “to become day”) is the time that marks the beginning of the twilight
before sunrise. Dawn means the first appearance of daylight in the morning.As a symbol, the dawn can have most of
the meanings generally associated with light (e.g., enlightenment, vitality). More particularly, the dawn is the
emergence of a new stage of life, a new understanding, or a new start, and the emergence from darkness.He
symbolizes this independence as a “false dawn”. He does not consider this independence as a real independence and
he forces that this desire remains unfulfilled.

The whole poem can be summed up in one line where he asks “when did it come and where has it gone”. He is saying
that we have forgotten our real aim and adopted a false one. The real aim was establishment of a peaceful society in a
cordon with this aim where no anarchy flourishes but the outcome has been opposite to what it should have been. Last
four lines reflect Faiz’s in the union of humanity when he negates “the moment of our freedom”. He dictates us the
lesson of brotherhood and unity. He says that we can only reach our freedom and destination when we believe in peace.

Faiz Ahmed Faiz: A Revolutionary Poet

[quotations from other poems]

"Nisar Mein Teri Galiyon Kay '' is one that captures the real essence of Faiz's poetry in its entirety. The
poem has all the ingredients of Faiz the poet: raising his voice against the oppressors, treading
non-conformist paths, using classical diction and style, mixing romanticism with revolutionary zeal and
the hope of the eventual rise of the oppressed.

Faiz's stature in Urdu poetry is uncontested, and he has mixed realism into hitherto surrealistic Urdu
poetry. Noon Meem Rashid wrote in the foreword of Faiz’s first collection, Naqsh-i-Faryadi: “This is a
collection of ghazals and by a poet standing at the intersection of romance and realism”. In his famous
poem 'Mujh se Pehli se muhabbat meray Mehboob na mang' (my beloved, do not demand the love I
gave you once), Faiz says:

Aur bhi dukh hain zamanay ma muhabbat kay siwa

Rahatain aur bhi hain wasl ki Rahat kay siwa

"This world of ours bleeds

With more pains than just the pain of love;

And many more pleasures beckon us all the time

Than just the fleeting pleasures of a reunion with you"

Moeen Qazi eulogies Faiz's poetic prowess for seamlessly mingling the love of the beloved and the
societal oppressions, and penning both in the traditions and diction of classical ghazal and . Love and
revolution go side by side in Faiz's poetry, Qazi retorts: "At the hands of an artistic rebel like Faiz, even
surrealism became a weapon in the advance of the proletariat."

Faiz's poetry is a reflection of his times; it reverberates with themes like the issues of the working class,
injustice, exploitation of the workers, poverty, and the suffering of ordinary men and women. Yet he
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doesn't let his poetry become political rhetoric. He was a progressive and art for him served a purpose.
Poets and artists, like all human beings, reside in a social world, so they must be cognizant of the realities
of their era and their poetry should reflect it. He maintained that 'art for art's sake' is not as effective as
'art for the sake of life'. He was of the view that any art that doesn't inspire action from the onlookers is
simply not great as art. Content, not form, has primary importance in poetry.

Faiz was not only a man of words but also a man of actions. He did not shy away from challenges and
resisting oppression. He was one of the main suspects in the 1951 Rawalpindi Conspiracy case, was jailed
and tried for plotting to overthrow the democratically elected government of Liaqat Ali Khan. The plan
ostensibly was to oust the government backed by the Western bloc and replace it with a government
that was more independent. Gen Akbar Khan, who masterminded and led the conspiracy, blamed the
civilian government for the disastrous incursion in Kashmir and the lack of vision for Pakistan's future.
Many army officers and communist leaders joined him in the conspiracy, most notably Sajjad Zaheer,
Major General Nazir, Colonial Hasan Khan, Brigadier Latif and Faiz Ahmed Faiz.

Faiz's poetry is replete with religious symbolism, but his understanding of religion is inspired by Sufi
thought and not by obscurantist and dogmatic religious scholars. Faiz's resolve to fight religious
extremism and authoritarian rulers made this iconoclast an international name. Faiz in his famous ‘Ham
dekheñge’, which is replete with religious symbolism and has become an anthem of resistance both in
Pakistan and India’.Faiz spent many years in prison and many more in exile, in England and Lebanon. His
opposition to tyranny was not confined to geographical boundaries, as he supported the Vietnamese
cause and the Palestinian liberation movement. In fact, he was a close friend of Palestinian Liberation
Organization (PLO)'s leader Yasser Arafat in his quest for Palestine's liberation.

Faiz’s personal life was also a subject of great debate even in his life. Faiz was born in 1911 in Sialkot, but
his life revolved around fighting for the downtrodden section of society. Faiz, the winner of the Lenin
Peace Prize, remained a harsh critic of imperialism, the Army, and the establishment, but he fought for
the British Army in World War II. Ali Madeeh Hashmi, the author of Faiz’s authorized biography and the
poet’s grandson, argues that Faiz fought against Fascists in WWII, which is not a deviation from his
principles.Faiz had become a legend during his lifetime due to his revolutionary politics and poetry, his
commitment to Marxism, his humanist approach towards society, and above all, as a man who never
compromised his principles, even if the price was imprisonment and exile. Faiz's revolutionary poetry
and life inspired many in his lifetime and continues to do so, and hopefully, his message of humanism
and egalitarianism will inspire the coming generations as well.