Attempt any one of the following:

Critically comment on the trauma of Partition with reference to Amrita Pritam's Waris Shah or

Chugtai has represented the pathos of women as victims of patriarchal constructions Or

Critically analyse the ghazal with reference to post partition disillusionment and trauma. Or

Critically comment on Shrilal shukla's representation of a society that is decadent and corrupt. Or

Critically comment on the element of nostalgia that informs Cabulliwallah.

https://classroom.google.com/c/NDM3MTU5NzcwMjQ3?cjc=yb2trsi
Critically comment on the trauma of Partition with reference to Amrita Pritam's Waris Shah

The partition of British India into India and Pakistan is described as one the most
unplanned, sudden and tragic transfers of population. The responsibility of
dividing India into two was given to Sir Cyril Radcliffe who was in India for only
seven days. He had no idea about the cultural fabric of our country which shows
how rushed and unplanned the decision of partition was. Amrita Pritam was one of
the many victims of Partition. Her poem, To Waris Shah is considered to be the
Preamble of the Partition and one of the most poignant reminders of the horrors of
partition.

The poem was originally called aj Akhaan Waris Shah Nu and is addressed to the
author of Heer Ranjha, Waris Shah. She appeals to him to rise from his grave and
express the pain of thousands of women. She argues that when Heer cried, he filled
pages with songs of lamentation, now that thousands of daughters of Punjab weep
due to rape, violence and displacement, he ought to rise from the dead. During the
partition, men equated conquering women’s bodies to conquering the land, they
thought they owned the bodies of women. In the eyes of Amrita Pritam, women are
daughters of Punjab irrespective of their religion.

Corpses were scattered on the fertile land, Chenab, which is one of the five rivers
of Punjab was filled with blood. It seemed as if someone had mixed poison in the
rivers of Punjab and that the land was sprouting venomous weeds. A curse of
bloodshed and communal violence had taken over the land. Amrita Pritam goes on
to say that even the air was poisoned, it shows how deep the rage, agony and pain
runs, for her to call their rivers, land and air to be poisoned.

The flute bamboos which are a symbol of the festive spirit of Punjab have turned
into snakes and they’ve stung everything that has come in their way. No part of
Punjab is left untouched by the poison of partition. Songs which were
representative of celebration are now crushed in every throat. Swings of joy and
flutes that sing songs of love are now lost. She believes that all of Punjab has
turned blue, which means it is metaphorically poisoned, people’s minds are
poisoned with ego, violence, superiority and ownership.

The partition snapped the invisible thread of unity and love among people
replacing it with a thread of dead bodies. She reveals that there is no safe harbour
for people anymore and it seemed that Punjab had no future, no further destination,
no hope of people recovering from this cultural trauma.

She reminds us how blood kept falling, it didn’t stop oozing out drop by drop from
the graves. Queens of love like Heer, Mumtaz, Sassui Punnhun, shed many tears of
grief. To Amrita Pritam it seems that all people have become Kaidoos, treacherous
enemies of love. She feels nostalgic and longs for “Punjabiyat” which refers to the
assimilated, accepting culture of Punjab, which became a victim of the partition.
She ends the poem, yearning for the Punjab she knew before it was poisoned.