The Debates: Kamila Shamsie

Kamila Shamsie

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Broken Verses: A critical review

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The story of the novel tells about Asmani’s quest for her mother and her lover’s whereabouts who have been disappeared for years. After every discovery and information about their death, she gives herself a new hope of their being alive and keeps searching. The hunt takes her to the circles of literati, journalists, poets, media persons and writers. Asmaani comes across various mysterious signs and symbols which increase her curiosity and gives a new ray of hope to continue her search.

The novel makes mention of the Pakistan’s experience with democracy and martial law, and the dictator’s use of various tools for suppressing the voice of dissension and civil society in his reign and the draconian laws against women apparently engineered to woo the conservatives’ support for dictators’ regime. The novel shows how the feminist voices arose in Pakistan and were persecuted and suppressed by the regime. The search for Poet leads Asmani to the vast treasure of verses Poet had left behind.

Asmani’s quest paints a sympathetic picture of a bereaved child after its mother’s departure. she finds Shehnaz Saeed to help and soothe her, and comes across Ed who is a safety-valve for Asmani to release her frustration and they end up in close attachment.

The novel, though a good piece of fiction has its plot loosely knit, and opens so many threads, some of which are rarely woven together, and indicate a somewhat lack of unity in the overall structure of the novel.

Kamila Shamsie's A God in Every Stone: A review

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Kamila Shamsie's A God in Every Stone: A review

By:

Ullah, Inam Gul. iukhan233@gmail.com

A God in Every Stone is an elegantly written prose work by Kamila Shamsie, a renowned postcolonial Pakistani writer. The novel is set in different countries such as Turkey, France and India (Peshawar). The novel gives a vivid description of the colonial India, the days the British Empire was at zenith and its subsequent collapse and rise of the freedom movement in India. The novel especially describes the Pashtun’s contribution to the Indian freedom movement, the sacrifices Pashtun people have made in their anti-colonial resistance they offered to the Empire culminating the Pashtun massacre at the Kissa Khani in 1930. It also gives us a profile of the history of Peshawar and the Pashtun people way of life popularly called Pakhtunwali.

The opens with operation at an archeological site in Turkey led by Tehsin Bay, who is soon joined by Englishwoman Vivan Spencer Rose, a English young girl with extrovert personality. In the meanwhile the First World War breaks out, and the scene is shifted to Brighton where we see Indian soldiers fighting on behalf of the Empire. Among the soldiers, Qayyum Gul and Kalam Khan are the prominent ones. Qayyum Gul receives injuries in the war, loses one of his eyes and is admitted into hospital Brighton. Qayyum becomes much more loyal and an admirer of the Empire, however, he is afterwards discharged and he heads back to his hometown Peshawar. On the train he meets with the Englishwoman Vivian Rose who is also on her way to Peshawar to execute an archeological project at Shah Ji Dheri near Peshawar. She had been motivated by Tahsin Bay to dig out the circlet left by Scylax the noted Greek explorer. Qayyum and Viv develops a nodding acquaintance during the journey, however they part in different directions at the station. Najib Gul , Qayyum ‘s younger brother, who had come to receive his brother at the station, misses to see him and gets hired by Vivian Rose as her guide.

Najib gets closer to the woman and becomes her guide, Viv in turn teaches him lessons in history and English language. Najib gradually develops interest in archeology and history and finally receives a degree from the Islamia College Peshawar in history. Qayyum Gul in the meanwhile receives his ex- colleague Kalam Khan. On his return to his Peshawar, Kalam khan turns totally against the Empire and its control over his land. Both Qayyum Gul and Kalam khan join the Indian freedom movement in two different modes.

Kalam Khan joins the armed resistance, called Jihad, against the British colonial rule , led by Haji of Turagnzai. In their fight in the beginning, the British forces suffer losses during the tussles at various points in the Pashtun province (NWFP). The movement, however, does not last for long, and Haji Sahib, takes refuge in the Mohamand Agency and resorts to guerilla war.

Qayyum Gul on the other hand joins the Khudai Khidmatgar(Servant of God), a multi layered movement encompassing, social reformation, education, political awareness and purification of religion among the Pashtun masses, and unarmed resistance against the British. The movement is led by Ghaffar Khan popularly known as Bacha Khan. Qayyum Gul joins the movement as a teacher in one of the Azad Madrassas opened up by the Khudai Khidmatgar. Qayyum in the meanwhile tries to convince his brother Najib to abandon his services to the Englishwoman and join his own freedom movement instead. But Najib pays no attention to his words.

As freedom movement gains momentum and people across the India start to participate in the resistance movement under the All India Congress, Khudai Khidmatgar joins the movement and becomes a provincial chapter of the Congress. When the Congress gives call of the Civil Disobedience Movement across the India, Khudai Khidmatgar calls for a demonstration on April 23, 1930 at the Kissa Khani protesting against the arrest of their leaders. On the day of the demonstration, the British forces opens indiscriminate firing on the unarmed and peaceful demonstrators which results into loss of the hundreds of innocent lives of Pashtun people. Najib Gul, who had been averse to his brother activities and was more loyal to the Empire, finally participates in the rally and turns to be a volunteer of the Khudai Khidmatgar standing against the British troops in support of his own countrymen.

The novel gives a rich account of pre-partition Indian history, colonial administration, the British colonial mindset, the atrocities they had committed for maintaining their rule in India, the rise of freedom movement in India, and the contribution of Pashtun people to the freedom movement and losses they have suffered and sacrifices made therein.

Kamila Shamsi's Burnt Shadows: A Review

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By:

Ullah, Inam Gul. iukhan233@gmail.com

The Burnt Shadows is a brilliantly written prose piece by the noted Pakistani novelist Kamila Shamsie. The novel depicts the writer’s firm grasp over history, colonial discourses and imperial mindset. It gives a vivid account of the relationship between the British colonizers and the Indian colonized. The novel shows the burns and ills of the first use of atomic weapons in the history of the planet. The novel tells a sad, yet an interesting tale of the days the British Empire was to recede, end of colonization and the partition of the India. The novel is set in different countries, i.e Japan, India, America, Pakistan, Canada and areas lying between the boundaries of Pakistan and Afghanistan. The American’s imperialist war, the connection between CIA and ISI, the recruitment of the civilians to the war, run recurrently in the latter part of the novel.

The novel opens with the horrors and terrific scenes of the atomic explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki with a sense fear and sense of insecurity of life of limb the war had created there. Immediate after ,the plot leads the readers to the love story between Konard and Hiroko Tanaka. It’s after once their tryst, Konard succumbs to death when the bomb explodes at a cathedral, the burnt bodies and flesh scatter around, and the burnt bodies reflect their shadows on the walls. The shadow of Konard’s body being the larger one among them.

Hiroko driven by the sense of loss and grief and in order to escape the worries of war, comes to Dilli (Dehli) to meet Konard’s half sister Ilse and her husband James Burton. Hiroko here falls in love with Sajjad Ashraf, a servant of the James Burton household. Sajjad and Hiroko come closer to each other, he becomes her Urdu tutor and Hiroko confides in him the ills and suffering she had suffered during the war at Japan. She shows her the burns on the parts of her body, which brings them yet more closer. The relationship between Sajjad and the Burton household reflects the colonial mindset and the pride the British would take in their Empire. They would all the times, especially Ilse, treat him as an inferior and a colonized subject.

In the course of the novel the relationship between Hirko and Sajjad Ashraf grows deeper. Both being form different cultures and belief systems, now narrow down their alienation and differences in outlook. Once, when they are roaming, Hirko asks Sajjad how one can become Muslim? Sajjad enunciates the Kalma Tayyiba, Hiroko repeats after him, and she thereby embraces Islam. The relationship later develops into marriage ties between the two.

When the Empire vacates India, Asharf opts for Pakistan, and thus Hiroko and Asharf comes to Karachi and get settled there. The couple is soon blessed with a male baby, Raza. Whereas Ilse, already fed up of her husband along with her son Harry, leaves for America to live with someone she loved dearly.

Raza when joins school, undergoes worst identity crisis. He being a multilingual, and brought up in a multi cultural environment proves a failure, when it comes to his interaction with his mates and peers. He shows very poor performance in his studies, especially when it comes to the subject of theology. The failure leads him to abandon his studies and start working in a factory with his father. The character of Raza, symbolizes the identity crisis, by most account the concept of hybrid Identity as propounded by the postcolonial theorist Homi K. Bhaba.

Harry is now a grown up, and has joined the CIA and visits Pakistan to facilitate the American war against Russia in collaboration with the ISI. He comes into contact with Raza Ashraf at Karachi. Raza being a multilingual and having ties with Harry, is mistaken for a Haza boy by Afghan people in Karachi.

Raza joins the Mujahideen and later comes into to contact with Harry who works for CIA. During the course of the events Harry is killed and Raza grows home sick. Raza’s mother seeks help from Harry’’s daughters and Abdullah the person who had introduced Raza to the Mujahedeen. However at the time of exchange the security forces arrive on the scene.

The novel gives an account of the atomic explosions in Japan, colonial era of India, Indian partition and the American war against the communist rise in Afghanistan.