Subverting the Imperial: Indian Nationalist Ethos in Khushwant Singh'sI Shall Not Hear the Nightingale

Abstract

Indian nationalism as represented by Khushwant Singh inI Shall Not Hear the Nightingaletakes the double shape in its resistance against the British Imperial power. The first shape is the politics of non-violence attributed to the Gandhian influence and the second is the armed protest of the nationalists group spearheaded by Bhagat Singh and his colleagues. Khushwant Singh has depicted both the cross-currents of the Independent Movement very clearly but he gives precedence to the armed revolution, which he valorizes as true nationalist ethos. He believes in a militant form of nationalism, and hence depicts the youths as the harbingers of the escalating national political consciousness in the whole nation. Through the character sketch of Sher Singh and Madan, Khushwant Singh captures the popular imagination of the time: to wrest freedom from the rulers by force rather than having to beg for it.