By Gurpreet Singh
Rauleyan Vele (In the Time of Unrest), by Balbir Parwana, is the story of a YouTuber trying to document the tragedy of the Indo-Pakistan division. Partition, which was based on religion, resulted into the separation of Pakistan from India in 1947. It led to a large-scale transfer of population with Hindus and Sikhs being forced to leave their lands in newly formed Muslim-majority Pakistan and Muslims being evicted violently from India.
Whereas Pakistan chose to become an Islamic state, India remained secular and accommodated Muslims. It’s a separate matter that Muslims in India continue to be persecuted more aggressively under the current Hindu supremacist regime and under the garb of secularism. India has witnessed a series of ruling party–supported massacres targeting religious minorities.
The protagonist of the story, Gurpreet Singh (no connection to the writer of this article), is passionate about his work and tries to revisit the violence of 1947 that resulted in thousands of deaths and rapes on each side of the fledgling border. He interviews witnesses and collects documents and memoirs. And he questions why this history remains obscured even though more people died during this period of communal violence than those who perished in the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.
Pakistani Muslim explores roots in Indian Punjab
Through his work, Gurpreet comes into contact with Abida, a Pakistani researcher based in Canada. Incidentally, her paternal side has its roots in the region of Punjab, India, that Gurpreet belongs to, and he is also curious to know more about how the landscape of their ancestral lands has changed over the years. They eventually become friends and develop a romantic relationship, bringing Abida to India to reconnect with her roots.
The novel gives hope for a better future and peace between India and Pakistan, which have already fought two major wars and continue to have a hostile relationship.
The author also tries, even though very sparingly, to link the 1947 tragedy with the post-independence acts of sectarian violence in India. He examines the complicity of the political leadership in inciting the basest emotions of the people to sustain power.
Dhahan Prize finalists
Parwana, who is based in India, is among the three finalists for this year’s Dhahan Prize for Punjabi Literature. The Canada India Education Society and the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia created the prize in 2014, with financial support from Vancouver businessman Barj Dhahan.
They aimed to promote Punjabi literature in Gurmukhi and Shahmukhi scripts from India and Pakistan, as well as books written in either script by members of the Punjabi diaspora.
The other two nominees this year are Mudassar Bashir from Pakistan for his novel Goyal (Precious Shelter) and Bhagwant Rasulpuri from India for Delivery Man, which is a collection of his short stories.
The winner will receive $25,000 and the two runners-up will each receive $10,000. The winning book will be announced on November 13 at the Northview Golf and Country Club in Surrey.
Gurpreet Singh is a B.C. author and co-founder of Radical Desi. He will launch a daily news and current affairs show on YouTube at 6 p.m. on October 1. Follow Gurpreet Singh on Bluesky @gurpreetradical.bsky.social. Visit the Dhahan Prize for Punjabi Literature website to learn more about this literary award. Find the Toronto Spark on Bluesky @torontospark.bsky.social.
