Literature does not exist merely as text and storytelling; it acts as a “proof of history” when official records stay silent. The concept of secularism is a bridge that is supposed to connect the Ruler (the State) and the Citizenry. However, literature is the report card that tells us if the bridge is actually standing, pretending to stand, or it has collapsed a long time ago.
In the study of South Asian secularism, writers like Rohinton Mistry, Nikhat Hassan, and Gunisha Kaur played an important role in witnessing the shifting relationship between the minority citizen and the powerful state. Let’s look at what else literature can reveal and the theory of secularism in South Asia.
The Parsi Diaries: Preserving a Vanishing Identity
Rohinton Mistry’s Tales from Firozshah Baag (1987) is a great example of how minority communities felt living in a post-colonial India. It talks about the Parsi community’s struggle to maintain their cultural purity and how they often feel alienated.
Mistry uses “Chutnification”—a term popularized by Salman Rushdie—to blend native dialects with English, reflecting a hybrid reality. In stories like “Auspicious Occasion,” the protagonist Rustomji embodies the Parsi “eccentricity” and the trauma of being labeled an “alien” in his own city of Mumbai.
Allegories of Suppression: Silent Kingdom
While Mistry documents culture, Nikhat Hassan uses allegory in “The Tongue” to expose the “lawlessness of the administration”. It is a story about censorship. By depicting a ruler with a nine-yard tongue while his subjects are mute, Hassan creates a great portrayal for the “binary of identities”.
A view of the all-powerful Ruler and the silenced Citizenry. This mirrors the secular struggle for freedom of expression in regions where democratic disagreement is treated as a disease. The story also talks about how finding your voice back is a human need and how even cut tongues can grow back.
The 1984 Watershed: History vs. Propaganda
The most eye-opening “proof of history” comes from Dr. Gunisha Kaur. Her work, Lost in History: 1984 Reconstructed, is an open challenge to the government’s “White Paper” on Operation Bluestar. She argues that the state-sanctioned military campaign and subsequent anti-Sikh pogroms were not mere accidents.
These campaigns and programs were described as “calculated assault” on a minority group. Kaur uses primary source material and eyewitness accounts to show that unless past atrocities are acknowledged, future generations cannot be safe or feel safe.
Historical Timeline of Secular Conflict
Below is a sneak peek into the real-world timelines of the secular conflicts:
- 1947: Partition of India and Pakistan; the “Broken Promises” to minorities like the Sikhs regarding autonomy.
- 1966: The Punjab Reorganization Act, which redistributed Punjab’s river water rights to other states, portraying economic communalism.
- 1975: Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declares a National Emergency, allowing her to rule by decree and suspend civil liberties. This led to Dharam Yudh Morcha (Righteous Struggle).
- April 13, 1978: The first major Sikh-Nirankari clash on Punjabi New Year, signaling rising communal tensions and failure of state in protecting the minority.
- June 1984: Operation Bluestar results in the attack on the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple); Kaur estimates casualties could exceed 100,000. It was presented as a “security measure”, however, the community described it as a “calculated assault.”
- October 31, 1984: Assassination of Indira Gandhi, followed by the “Nameless Operation” of organized anti-Sikh violence across India. This movement severely fractured the credibility of India’s claim to secularism.
Conclusion
These authors who used a pen to leave us the legacy of thought and proof is the ultimate record of secularism. Whether we see it through Mistry’s “periscopic vision” of the diaspora or Kaur’s forensic reconstruction of state violence, the “lost” parts of history can never be truly forgotten.
These texts and testimonies invite us to question whether secularism is actually a substantive truth or a mere word that hasn’t manifested completely yet. They serve as a reminder that the seeds of justice are often sown in the “most repressive soils.”