Ibn ul Vaqt, Imperialism and Exile

Nazir Ahmad’s narrative of exile, Ibn-ul-vaqt, illustrates that imperialism breeds nationalism and exile emerges as a diametrically opposed by-product of nationalism. Situated in the subcontinent, it relays the tale of the personal identity crisis of ibn ul vaqt in the face of the imperial power structure represented through the figure of Noble Sahib.

The crux of the account is the unceasing identity crisis of the protagonist, and others like him; to either retain a strong filiative connection with his homeland through culture, language, habit and religion or to adapt to the changing socio-political atmosphere by learning and adopting the ways of the new colonial rulers. In the beginning chapters we sense a strong compelling need to retain a semblance of balance between filiative connections and imperial associations. This is apparent in the example stated by the narrator of a person who would wear English boots when travelling from field to field but ‘whenever he would he came back home for a day or two, he would wear his old, worn-out Indian shoes’ (1).

 Similarly, the central character’s indecision to ally with the imperialist noble sahib or with his people is clearly apparent during the time period of 3 months when he nurses noble sahib to health. His moral dilemma is voiced when he says to Nobel, ‘If life is such a burden to you and you want to commit suicide, then let me have the reward of the virtuous act of disposing of a dead body!’ (15) Despite his decision to nurse the noble back to health there is still a conscious realization of a betrayal to his roots by siding with the Other.

Ultimately his contact with Nobel places him indefinitely outside the Muslim national ‘habitus’. His habits and lifestyle-‘he adopted the English lifestyle when even to learn English was considered blasphemy’-place him outside the coherent amalgam of practices which link him to his native inhabitance. Edward Said, in his Reflections on Exile defines nationalism as ‘an assertion of belonging in and to a place, a people, a heritage. It affirms the home created by community of language, culture, customs; and, by doing so, it fends off exile, fights to prevent its ravages’ Said 176. Ibn-ul-vaqt emerges as a character indefinitely in exile because he is not longer part of the Muslim national habitus nor the imperial superstructure; In fact, he is so deeply assimilated within the colonial structure by virtue of his adoption of the English language and customs and simultaneously completely uprooted and external to the Muslim milieu owing to his disregard for his native customs, culture and language. And as a result he remains a detached, aloof, homeless and alien figure and a victim of the ‘crippling sorrow of estrangement’.