Imperialism and Exile

Prior to taking this course, my perception of exile was limited to the romantic notion of an individual being banished from his/her homeland and being condemned to face the oppression of a foreign culture and the solitude, isolation and alienation that comes attached with these vain efforts to assimilate. Nazir Ahmed's heart wrenching tale of Ibn ul vaqt, enabled me to see that Imperialism had the power to strip the natives of their feelings of security, belonging and identity without physically stripping them of their homeland. “Exile is a discontinuous state of being,” (176) and British Imperialism changed everything from power dynamics to ideals in the sub continent. The Indian reaction to these intrusive changes entailed a new emphasis on identity, and a rigid demarcation between different groups – unknown to the previously cosmopolitan India. Some groups held more grudgingly to religion, language, and culture, “clutching difference like a weapon to be used with stiffened will.” (182) In essence, they clung to tradition, to their roots which they felt were being threatened and in which they sought refuge. Others focused their efforts on assimilation and appeasement, to gain the favors of the new rulers. However, both the well wishers of the government as well as the ones resolved to expel the foreign invaders, felt an insurmountable feeling of estrangement. Their land was no longer theirs, they had no power no control and no sense of belonging.

The government well wishers felt isolated, like Ibn ul vaqt, “against the raging fire of the multitude” (57) while simultaneously their efforts also remained unappreciated by the British who lacked the ability to break away from their ethnocentrism and see them as anything but barbaric inferiors. The Indians who sought cooperation for mere sustenance also felt like outsiders, helpless to the harshness, inconsideration and disrespect of the superior British. This can be demonstrated by the Humiliating treatment of the tax collector whose hard work and devotion to gain his post and status is wasted solely because of his Indian identity. The feelings of the tax collector helps readers gain a sense of the deep resentment and helplessness of the Indians. “I meet them but only under a compulsion to protect myself” and “ I am disgusted by them.” In conclusion, amidst the conditions created by Imperialism, there was no escape or relief from exilic feelings.  

 “Exile is the unhealable rift forced between a human being and a native place, between the self and its true home.” British imperialism changed our homeland forever and generations later I still feel the trickle down effect of the feelings of estrangement felt by my ancestors who had to live in British India, not completely belonging and fitting the “Pakistani” identity, yet not belonging anywhere else. I feel like me along with much of the youth of Pakistan feels victim to the eternal anti thesis of nationalism and exile.