Interrogating the Partition in Rahi Masoom Reza’s A Village Divided (AadhaGaon)

A substantial part of scholarship on the partition literature overlooks the constructive role played by the villagers against the idea of the partition. RahiMasoom Reza‟sA Village Divided (AadhaGaon shows how the commoners wisely interrogate the division of the Indian sub-continent along religious lines. Their unflinching love for the homeland renders the idea of partition illogical and absurd. The age-old cultural institutions and traditions, nurtured by both Hindus and Muslims, question the idea of the partition in many ways. The novel foregrounds the humaneness and farsightedness of the villagers in the face of betrayals and shortsightedness of the people sitting at the helm of affairs.They interrogate the irrational claim of the hardliners that distinct modes of worship need different geographical, social and cultural territories. They are too committed to the homeland to embrace the idea of migration to the utopian land.The wayMoharram is celebrated introduces us with the sense of communal harmony and cooperation between Hindus and Muslim. Though they suffer tremendously, they refuge to submit tothe allurements given by the political outfits, religious groups and university educated youth.