Causes of Partition of India

 (E-content developed by Dr N. A. Jarandikar)

B. A. Part II

Semester III, Paper No. IV

Partition Literature

Causes of Partition of India

1) The Independence War of 1857: The 10^th century onwards, the Muslims came to India. They came from central Asia. They came to India as soldiers and merchants. In course of time, they settled here. They lived in India for years together. Hindus and Muslims never considered each other as the rivals. During the first war of Independence of 1857, Hindus and Muslims fought together against the British. So the British realised that if they want to rule India, they must ‘divide’ these two communities. This is how, the British made systematic efforts to separate Muslims from Hindus right from 1857.

2) The Partition of Bengal: Bengal was the largest province. The Indian independence movement was gaining momentum, particularly in Bengal. Hindus and Muslims were fighting united against the British.  So the British wanted to weaken the Bengal. So the British used the policy of “Divide and Rule”. They divided Bengal on the basis of Hindu and Muslim community in 1905. As a reaction against this partition, the freedom struggle movement became very powerful. Indians used the weapon of “Swadesi” against the British. The song “Vande Mataram” became their slogan. Lal–Bal–Pal were the three pillars of this movement. British failed in separating Bengal. The partition of Bengal called back in 1911. But the British became successful in sowing the seeds of enmity between the two communities.

3) Role of Muslim League: All the Indian leaders came together under Indian National Congress. But the Muslim leaders who were loyal to the British formed a new party Muslim League in 1906. The British encouraged the Muslim League to work against the Hindus. At first, the Muslim League demanded separate places (electorates) for Muslims in elections. It proposed the “Two-Nation Theory” for the first time. This theory later on became a basis for the partition of India. Barrister Jinnah played an important role in the Muslim League.

4) India Act 1935: As per the India Act of 1935, the British conducted elections in India. In the elections, the Congress party won majority. The Muslim League lost many seats. So the leaders of the Muslim League became upset. It was a turning point in the history of India. A gap between Hindus and Muslims widened. Jinnah came to conclusion about forming an independent nation for the Muslims.

5) Quit India Movement: During the Second World War, Gandhiji and the congress thought it as a right moment for final fight against the British. So in 1942, Gandhiji gave a call for the “Quit India Movement”. By this time, the Muslim League had confirmed the idea of not going with congress and demanding Pakistan. So as a reaction against the “Quit India Movement”, the Muslim League gave a slogan “Divide and Quit”.

6) Direct Action Day: Congress made all the efforts for the freedom of united India. But Jinnah remained firm on the issue of separate Pakistan. In the elections of 1946, the Muslim League won the majority in the Muslim dominated states. It boosted the confidence of Jinnah. So for the new nation of Pakistan, Jinnah gave a final call to all the Muslims. He declared “Direct Action Day”. 16 August 1946 was observed as the Direct Action Day by the Muslim League. The Muslim League used violent steps like murders, rapes and looting on this day. After the Direct Action Day, the communal violence became terrific. Congress leaders became helpless and accepted the Partition of India.

7)  Indian Independence Act 1947: Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India prepared a draft of Indian Independence Act 1947. As per the Act, it was decided that India will be divided into two nations namely India and Pakistan. There will be East Pakistan and West Pakistan. It was decided to divide Punjab, Bengal and Assam. The areas with Hindu and Sikh majority were assigned to new India while the Muslim-majority areas were assigned for the new state of Pakistan. The boundary line was finalised by Sir Radcliffe. On the night of 14^th August, at 12 O’clock, two separate nations took birth. Thus ended the 150 years old British Raj in India. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru became the first Prime Minister of India. Barrister Jinnah became the first Governor General of Pakistan.

*       *       *       *       *

 

Angoor and Comedy of Errors

 (E-content developed by Dr N. A. Jarandikar)

B. A. Part II

Semester III, Paper No. III

Literature and Cinema

 ‘Comedy of Errors’ and ‘Angoor’

‘Comedy of Errors’	‘Angoor’
Ephesus	Shikarpur
Syracuse	Dinkapur
Egeon (Father of Antipholus)	Raj Tilak (Father of Ashok)
Emillia (Mother of Antipholus)	Shammi (Mother of Ashok)
Antipholus of Ephesus	Ashok R. Tilak from city
Dromio of Ephesus  - Servant	Bahadur from city (Ashok’s servant)
Antipholus of Syracuse	Ashok R. Tilak from village
Dromio of Syracuse – Servant	Bahadur from village
Adriana - Wife of Antipholus	Sudha (Wife of Ashok from city)
Luciana - Sister of Adriana	Tanu (Sister of Sudha)
Nell - Adriana’s kitchen-maid and wife of Dromio	Prema (Sudha’s kitchen-maid and wife of Bahadur)
Angelo – Goldsmith	Chedilal- Jeweller
Solinus - Duke of Ephesus	Inspector Sinha

 

*       *       *       *       *

Similarities in the play and film:

1)   The twin brothers are separated by shipwreck.

2)   The city Ephesus becomes Shikarpur. The city Syracuse becomes Dinkarpur.

3)   Egeon becomes Raj Tilak. Emillia becomes Shammi.

4)   Ephesian Antipolus becomes Ashok R. Tilak from Shikarpur. Ephesian Dromio becomes Bahadur from Shikarpur.

5)   Syracusan Antipolus becomes Ashok R. Tilak from Dinkarpur. Syracusan Dromio becomes Bahadur from Diknkarpur.

6)   Adrian becomes Sudha. Lucian becomes Tanu. Nell becomes Prema.

Major Changes made in the film:

1)   In the play, the father comes to the city in search of the lost twin.

In the film, the father is dead.

2)   In the play, there is rivalry between two cities.

In the film, instead of two cities, there is a reference to a village and city.

3)   In the play, the brother from village knows about his lost brother.

In the film, the brother from village does not know about his lost brother.

4)   In the play, the brother from village comes to city in search of his lost brother.

In the film, the brother from village comes to city to purchase the grape vineyard.

5)   In the play, the mother lives with the brother from city.

In the film, the mother lives with the brother from village.

6)   In the play, there are no songs.

In the film, there are songs.

 

*       *       *       *       *

Angoor, the film

          The film ‘Angoor’ is an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play ‘Comedy of Errors’. The film was released in 1982. It is directed by Gulzar.

          The events in the film take place in the city – Shikarpur. The film begins with the journey of Raj Tilak and Shammi. They have one identical twin. The name of both the brothers is Ashok.  They stop in one village before starting the ship journey. In the village, Raj Tilak gets one more identical twin. Raj Tilak adopts them as servants to his own sons. Both these boys too have a common name – Bahadur. The next day, Raj Tilak continues his journey. But the ship is wrecked. Raj Tilak and his family members are separated. Raj Tilak is found by a person from Shikarpur. Raj Tilak tells him about his story. He hands over one pair of Ashok and Bahadur to him, and he dies. The person who brings up Ashok and Bahadur is the father of Sudha and Tanu. Later on Ashok from city is married with Sudha. Bahdur becomes his servant. He is married with another lady named Prema. Ashok, Sudha, Tanu, Bahdur and Prema live in a bunglow in Shikarpur.

Sudha is demanding one necklace from Ashok for some days. So there is a fight between Ashok and Sudha. Ashok angrily leaves the home saying he will not return home until he brings the necklace.

          After the shipwreck, Shammi and another pair of Ashok – Bahdur are also saved. They are living in the village Dinkarpur. Grown up Ashok and Bahadur come to Shikarpur. Ashok comes to Shikarpur because he wants to buy a grape yard. In Shikarpur, they stay at one hotel. In the market, Bhadur form city sees Ashok from village. He is surprised looking his master smoking a cigarette. Ashok from city never smokes cigarette. Bahadur asks Ashok to come home. Ashok from village is surprised by the behaviour of Bahadur. So he beats Bahadur. Shocked Bahadur tells Sudha and Tanu about the strange behaviour of Ashok.

There is a song performance of Tanu in a theatre. Ashok and Bahadur from village come there coincidently. After the programme, Tanu drags Ashok and Bahadur to her home. Ashok is not ready to go home. Tanu thinks he is still angry with his wife. Inspector Sinha who knows Ashok asks Ashok not to make any drama. Due to Inspector Sinha, Ashok and Bahadur from village go with Tanu. Now they come to Sudha’s home.

Ashok from city is at the jeweller’s shop. He wants a necklace for Sudha. As the necklace is not yet ready, late at night he and Bahadur return home. At home, Bahadur from village does not allow them to enter the home. Angry Ashok goes to the house of his another friend.

Ashok and Bahadur from village somehow manage to run away from the home. They decide to leave the city as early as possible. The next morning, the jeweller’s assistant gives the necklace to Ashok from village. After some time, Ashok from city comes to the shop and asks for the necklace. The jeweller is surprised by this strange behaviour of Ashok. He goes to the police station. At the police station, there comes Sudha and Tanu too in search of Ashok. Ashok asks Sudha about the necklace. She too denies the fact of necklace.

Ashok and Bahadur from village are going to the railway station. Police catch them at the railway station. For the first time, two Ashoks and two Bahadurs see each other. Everyone understands the problem of mistaken identity. All of them come to Dinkarpur to meet Shammi. Thus all complications are resolved at the end of the film. 

In the film, Sanjeev Kumar is seen in the double role of Ashok. Deven Verma has played a double role of Bahadur.        

         

*       *       *       *       *

Comedy of Errors_Plot

 (E-content developed by Dr N. A. Jarandikar)

B. A. Part II

Semester III, Paper No. III

Literature and Cinema

‘Comedy of Errors’

Characters:

Egeon and Emillia: Parents of Antipholus(es)

Ephesus	Syracuse
Antipholus of Ephesus	Antipholus of Syracuse
Dromio of Ephesus  - Servant	Dromio of Syracuse - Servant
Adriana - Wife of Ephesus	Egeon-Emilia (Parents of Antipholus twin)
Luciana - Sister of Adriana
Nell/Luce   - Adriana’s kitchen-maid and wife of Dromio
Solinus - Duke of Ephesus
Angelo – Goldsmith
Balthasar – Merchant

 

Plot of the play:

Story of Egeon: Ephesus and Syracuse are the two rival cities. People of these cities are not allowed to cross the boundaries. If someone breaks the law, he is charged with a death sentence. Egeon is a merchant of Syracuse. He comes to Ephesus in search of his lost wife and lost twin. As Egeon breaks this law, he is charged with a fine of one thousand marks. But he tells Duke Solinus the real reason for his entry to the city of Ephesus. He says that his wife and the other twin were separated from him 25 years ago in a shipwreck. The other twin, who grew up with Egeon, is also travelling the world in search of the missing brothers. The Duke is moved by this story. He grants Egeon a day to raise the thousand-mark amount to save his life.

Twin brothers: Antipholus of Syracuse is a twin brother of Antipholus of Ephesus. Dromio of Syracuse is a twin brother of Dromio of Ephesus. Both the Dromios are the servants to the respective Antipholuses.

Coincidently, Antipholus of Syracuse along with his servant comes to the city of Ephesus. However, Egeon is unaware of the arrival of Antipholus of Syracuse. As the play begins all the twin brothers meet each other separately. As their names and faces are the same, they fail to recognise the real ones.

Adriana and Antipholus of Syracuse: Adriana is the wife of Antipholus of Ephesus. Luciana is a sister of Adriana. As Antipholus of Syracuse comes to the city of Ephesus, Adriana mistakenly assumes him as her husband. She drags him home for dinner. She asks his servant to stand guard at the door. The servant too is Dromio of Syracuse. Shortly thereafter, her real husband with his servant returns home. He is refused entry to his own house by Dromio of Syracuse.

Gold chain and confusion: The confusion increases when a gold chain ordered by Antipholus of Ephesus is given to Antipholus of Syracuse. Antipholus of Ephesus refuses to pay for the gold chain because he never received it. His wife, seeing his strange behaviour, thinks that he has gone mad. So, she invites one exorcist. He orders them to tie with a rope. Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant run away from that place and take shelter in a nearby abbey. But Antipholus and Dromio of Ephesus have been tied with rope.  Adriana and Luciana are unaware of this. They come to the abbey. But Lady Abbess refuses to hand over both of them.

Antipholus of Ephesus demands justice: Duke and soldiers are taking Egeon to give him punishment. At that time, Adriana complains against Lady Abbess and begs the Duke to release her "husband" from the Abbey. At this point comes one messenger and informs Adriana that her husband (Antipholus of Ephesus) who has been tied with a rope is escaped. Adriana does not believe this because according to her, her husband is hiding in the abbey. And then there comes Antipholus and Dromio of Ephesus. Antipholus of Ephesus demands justice from the Duke. He complains about his wife for misbehaviour with him.

Egeon is observing all this. He is surprised that his son and servant (Antipholus/Dromio) do not recognise him. Antipholus of Ephesus says, “I never saw my father in my life”.

Role of Lady Abbess: Amidst all this confusion enters Lady Abbess along with Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse. Here, Lady Abbess recognises Egeon and tells him that she is his Emilia. Emilia says that in Epidamium, the fishermen took Antipholus and Dromio from her forcefully, and what happened with them later on, she didn’t know. But Antipholus of Ephesus tells the Duke that he and Dromio were brought to Ephesus by the Duke’s uncle.

In this way, finally, all complications are resolved. Egeon gets his long-lost wife, and all the brothers are united. Adriana gets her chain. Angelo gets his money. All ends happily.

*        *        *        *        *