Prose of Otherness in Tamas

Abstract

Set in a small-town frontier providence in 1947, just before partition, Tamsastells the story of a sweeper named Nathu who is bribed and deceived by a local Muslim politician to kill a pig, ostensibly for veterinarian. The following morning the carcass is discovered in the steps of the mosque and the town, already tension-ridden, erupts. Enraged Muslimsmassacre scores of Hindus and Sikhs, who in return, kill every Muslim they can find. Finally, the areas British administrator call out the army to prevent further violence. The killings stop but nothing can erase the awful memories from the minds of thesurvivors, nor will the various communities ever trust one another again. The events described inTamasare based on true accounts of the riots of 1947 that Sahani was a witness to in Rawalpinid, and this new and sensitive translation by the author himself resurrects chilling memories of the consequences of communalism in which we find Shani's sorrows associated with Hindus. No doubt, he has given a detailed account of partition violence but he presents Hindus as an innocent and Muslims as barbaric. He gives much focus to prove Muslims as criminals and he protects Hindus crimes as self defending act. When we reach the depth of this novel we can clearly find out Sahni's sense of separation towards Hindu and Muslim. Being a very skilled and wonderful narrator of partition movement he seems to be taken a neutral position. But ultimately how he favours his belongings is the interesting aspect of this research.