Khushwant Singh’s Train to Pakistan is a horrific read. Though the characters and the village of Mano Majra are both fictitious, the reality of the 1947 Partition is not. Approximately one million men, women and children died as a result of communal violence during that time. The cynical part of me says that religious feuds and riots have always been a reality of South Asia – even before the medieval times, so this should not be shocking. But then the rational part of me questions why there are millions of Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and other religious communities living in peace today. If there really was a blood lust which we inherited from our ancestors, we would have all been dead a long time ago.
Mano Majra cherishes friendship, family and
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Behavioural learning theorists characterize the human mind as a “black box”. It is their belief that external factors go inside the box and our observable responses come out. Logically, this theory is often criticized because it does not take into account the internal thought process already going on inside the human mind so our reactions to those external stimuli are not a direct response of it. Our mind may be a box, but it is not an empty one. Therefore, if that is the case, does that mean that the village acting violently was not only the result of the ghost train or the horrific stories shared by the refugees? There had to be internal thoughts, prejudices and preconceived notions that would have fueled the violence. And if that was true, this meant that Jinnah and the Muslim League were in the right to demand a separate nation for the Muslim majority as this supported their “Two Nation Theory”; that Hindus and Muslims have always been two separate identities. What does the class think about this? Were Hindus, Muslims and other religious communities always separate …show more content…
This show was about the disruption which the partition caused in the lives of two Muslim households. It follows a family which is pro-Pakistan, and the other which has always been a supporter of Congress. They would later find that regardless of their political beliefs, moving to Pakistan is inevitable. I will never be able to forget the beautiful love story, nor the gruesome violence this show captured. In one terrifying part of the show, a train of Muslim refugees is attacked by a Sikh mob as they are heading off to Lahore. For the longest time, I expected Train to Pakistan to show the same fate of Muslim refugees. But it was inspiring to read about Jugga, the local “badmash” with a big heart, who sacrificed himself to save the lives of Muslim refugees. This was when I realized what subtle propaganda was capable of. I’ve grown up hearing horrific stories of 1947 from my grandparents and when shows like Dastaan make it seem like that the partition was always the only option, it seems unfair. Yes, I think beyond a certain point in time, asking for Pakistan was the right decision to make politically because the Congress was not representing minorities like it should have. But that doesn’t mean that the Muslim refugees were the only people who suffered like most Pakistani’s are taught to belief. I feel obligated to point out that if someone is contemplating watching
Major newspapers around the world wrote about Masih’s story, even though it was often demoted towards the end of the newspaper. It was not long before both the media and the public disregarded it. A little less than seven thousand miles away from Pakistan, however, another 12-year-old boy in Thornhill, Canada devoted Masih’s story to memory, an undertaking that signified the beginning ...
Blood feuding and dushmani has only developed in the past few decades in Thull. It is stated that this has occurred because of economic change and political modernization, which both have been previously stated. As an American citizen I find it very difficult to understanding how such a society can actually work. This book is informative of a society and culture that most Americans probably have never heard of. I cannot even begin to imagine living in such a place. Worrying about your life everyday would have to be very frustrating especially not even knowing who your enemies are. I can understand why everybody carries a firearm because if you don’t your life is put at a much higher risk. Overall, this book gives great insight into another culture, but makes me appreciate the country I live in much more.
Albert Bandura (1977), in his social learning theory, indicates that individuals learn violence and aggression through the behavioral marlin (Theory of Development, n.d., p. 52). Breivik was somewhat moralling the ideologies of the terror organization and the actions of any terrorist. He thought that a warfare was needed to eliminate the Muslims from Norway and he practiced what he believed was necessary to set off that war, despite the consequences. Bandura explains that a person’s actions are in part determined by what they perceive the consequences of their action or lack of action will be ("Chapter 8: Social Learning Theories", 2010). In extension to the social learning theory, Breivik’s aggression and actions were instigated by his unfounded or bizarre beliefs that violence is necessary or justified (Davidson, n.d.). This explains why Breivik felt no remorse for his victims or their families. He believed that what he did had to be done.
After the British empire separated itself from India, inner-country religious problems began to arise. The Muslims and Hindus of the liberated India released their pent up anger on each other and combusted into civil war right after they won the peaceful war against Great Britain. This war distressed Gandhi, who has insight into the unity of mankind, and encouraged him to go on a hunger strike until the brutality ceased. While on his near-death bed, he is approached by a Hindu who “killed a child” because the Muslims “killed [his] son,” and in response, Gandhi said that the way out of his “Hell is to “Find a [Muslim] child, a child whose mother and father have been killed and raise him as your own,” therefore the man would be able to see the equality in all religions. Throughout his entire life, Gandhi, though a Hindu, never prosecuted anyone for their religion and was able to see through everyone’s eyes as fellow brother’s and sisters, not enemies. This ability to empathize and recognize the general unity of the human population allowed Gandhi insight into the human
During a class discussion of the Sudanese Civil War, a student attending the class who is of Southern Sudanese nationality spoke-out about his hatred for all Islamic people which greatly offended a number of other students in the classroom, one of which is of Afghan decent, and a practicing Muslim. The teacher and some students chimed in with various degrees of opinions and attempted too reason in a just manor, but the Southern Sudane...
Research has shown that all this is possible because of scientific racism and the specific characteristics of races. The troubled topic is something that would be better off, without. Works Cited Ali Rattansi, Racism: A Very Short Introduction (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007), 14. Rattansi, Racism, 13-14. Mahmood Mamdani, Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, The Cold War, and the Roots of Terror (New York: Three Rivers Press, 2005), 5.
The most threatening conflict between Hindus and Muslims is the province of Kashmir. This is where the decision to divide India into India and Pakistan seems to have been a terrible mistake. Kashmir, which is the only Muslim majority city in India, lies between the divided India and Pakistan. After India’s independence in the 1940’s, Kashmir had to choose to either unite with India or Pakistan. The Prince of Kashmir chose India but Pakistan invaded the province soon after and have occupied part of Kashmir since then. Controversy still surrounds the province today because naturally, Muslims want to control it. While many Muslims relocated to Pakistan and the Hindus to India, half of the Muslim population was left in India and their relations did not improve after being partially separated.
During the Cold War, many regional conflicts occurred and were noted as the significant battles which later led to decolonization. One of the regional conflicts were India and Pakistan fighting for their independence. In 1947, India was released under Great Britain’s control and gained its independence. However, the country was divided between Muslims and Hindus, which share different religions. Muslims wanted church and state to become unified while Hindus wanted a separation of these two establishments. Since these two ethnic groups disagreed, it was difficult to create a new government. Therefore, India was divided into two nations: India for the Hindus and Pakistan for the Muslims. Hindus and Muslims were racing to the border in order to get to their nation state which led to killing 500,000 people due to rioting. Although, Mohandas Gandhi, an Indian National Congressman, wanted to obtain peace between these two religions. Pakistan refused the H...
In both given articles, “The Roots of Muslim Rage” by Bernard Lewis, and “The Roots of Muslim Rage Revisited” by Nicolaas J.E. van der Zee, argue about the enhancement of the Muslim fundamentalism with different perspectives; however, I believe that Lewis’ view may be quiet misleading to the actual perception. Lewis indicates that Muslim fundamentalism is conceived through the Muslim community’s oppression and dissatisfaction with the West’s political involvement, as well as “Islam is a source of aggression” . In defiance of Lewis’ opinion, the word ‘Islam’ comes from the word peace as well as the will of submission to God. The notion of aggression and violence that Lewis conceptualizes to be the headline of Islam does not have any supporting
Davis, Paul B. "The Terrorist Mentality." Cerebrum: The Dana Forum on Brain Science 3.3 (2001): 22-23. The Dana Press. Web. 23 May 2011. .
The causes of ethnic conflict cannot be generalised to fit all incidents, as the conflicts in Sri
Bhan, T.N. Weblog post. An Eyewitness Account of the 1947 Raid by Tribals from Pakistan. N.p., 22 Nov. 2007. Web. 15 May 2011. .
Each and every person or a community belongs to some heritage. We require this heritage as our collective resource for distinct subculture identity of the society. In the past, every society belonging to different religions was living together in the subcontinent, respecting each other’s institution. Soon after 1947, when Muslims claimed their separate homeland, the situation changed completely. Most of the religious institutions belonging to different societies were destroyed and the remaining is being demolished. Violence, hatred, extremism based on religion has started increasing now. I am concerned about the fact that why there is no tolerance among people belonging to a different religion? Why there is no passion to preserve the cultural identities or heritage which belongs to the past? Every place of worship
Ruby Kaur May 10, 2014 Source 1 Ricardo Pollack is distinguished as a director because of the documentary, Partition: The Day India Burned (2007). The documentary itself discusses the detrimental consequences of the withdrawal of Britain's reign from India in 1947, which led to the forced relocation of men, women, and even children across newly defined border lines, along with violence, rape, and murder. The film makes its argument through dramatized reconstructions and witness testimonies, which offer personal insight into the horrors of the partition and conjure up feelings of sympathy and remorse. The film intends to make an educated public more aware of how an ethnically diverse nation was tragically divided and its effects on civilian lives. This is a secondary source with primary sources because it is based on witness testimonies and an actual historical event, but offers its own evaluation on the issue through dramatized reconstructions of the event.
...shown through Lenny’s point of view. Prior the partition, Lahore was a place of tolerance that enjoyed a secular state. Tension before the partition suggested the division of India was imminent, and that this would result in a religious. 1947 is a year marked by human convulsion, as 1 million people are reported dead because of the partition. Moreover, the children of Lahore elucidate the silences Butalia seeks in her novel. The silence of survivors is rooted to the nature of the partition itself; there is no clear distinction as to who were the antagonists. The distinction is ambiguous, the victims were Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims, and moreover these groups were the aggressors, the violent. The minority in this communal violence amongst these groups was the one out-numbered. This epiphany of blame is embarked in silence, and roots from the embodiment of violence.