Partition the dominant entity in the select works of Salman Rushdie and Saddat Hasan Manto

Abstract

The Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie and Toba Tek Singh by Saddat Hasan Manto serve as this paper's primary sources for its outline of the partition. Both works stick out as the most eloquent descriptions of the bizarre effects of partition that families throughout the affected areas had to endure. Better than most standard histories, these authors have caught the tensions of these historical events. When Saleem, a young Muslim, enters the newly formed Pakistan, he loses his memory, his connection to his past, and his connection to the history of Muslims in India; he is now relegated to a different chapter, a different country, and a distinct history. It would seem that Rushdie's enchanted settings are the most effective way to understand the realities of partition. Rushdie builds on a tradition of interpretation that goes beyond the biographies of real actors and delves into the fictions, the profound surreality, of partition, much like in Saadat Hasan Manto's famous Urdu short story, Toba Tek Singh, where the actions of the sane appear insane and the insane sane. The partition of India was traumatic and profoundly scarring; by stifling trade and other activities, it had a direct impact on the lives of ordinary people and the economy. Both India and Pakistan were divided 70 years ago, and the upheaval of that period continues to influence both nations even today.