'Who am I?’ Critiquing Refugees in Asif Currimbhoy's The Refugee

Abstract

The word "partition" immediately conjures up the images of the division of British India into two independent states and the gruesome massacres that took place in past decades. The unimaginative partition of India based on religious identity overlooked the geographical and ethnic oddities between the two parts of Pakistan: East Pakistan and West Pakistan. As a result, the people of East Pakistan, who are ethnically similar to West Bengal, had to organize a ‘Mukti Juddho’ (liberation war) against the elitist West Pakistan government's religious and linguistic imperialist ideologies. During the nine months of the unequal and gruesome liberation war, no less than ten million people were forcefully displaced from their native land. The stateless people were given refuge by their relatives or by different social organizations on the other side of the border. They are now homeless, though their ethnic identity remains the same. Will ethnicity matter least to a refugee housed in a foreign land against his own will? The research paper looks into this question of identity over ethnicity by delving deep into the pages of Asif Currimbhoy's 1971 play The Refugee. The research article further critiques partition narratives through the lens of historical data. The study focuses on the semiotics and metaphor of separation that the literary work involves in retelling the plight of refugees. The research also takes a deep insight into the constant psychological battle and mental schizophrenia that the uprooted refugees suffer due to the unforgettable and gruesome memories experienced during migrations.