Discourses of Multicultural Co-existence: A Comparative Study of Partitions, and River of Fire

Abstract

This dissertation compares and contrasts the discourses of multicultural co-existence in Partitions, a novel by an Indian writer Kamleshwar and River of Fire, by QurrutulainHyder. With reference to the evidences from these fictions on partition of India, the researcher comes to find out that Kamleshwar’s novel valorizes the idea of hindutva embedded in Indian secularism as a correct way to heal the present ethnic and religious unrest, while Hyder’s vision of multicultural co-existence upholds the concept of cosmopolitanism. So, Hyder’s notion of nationhood is broader and more democratic. In this regard, the researcher opines that contemporary version of Indian secularism which presupposes a hierarchy between and among the citizens, cannot be an effective means to bring about peaceful co-existence in the present day India. In comparison to it, the thought of cosmopolitanism, which dismantles all the hierarchies among people, and welcomes every person from anywhere of any belonging without any constraints, can be an apt way to maintain peace in a multi-cultural nation like India.