"main apni taareekh say bhaaga hua hun"

 In Intizar Hussain’s Basti, the protagonist Zakir never recalls the events of 1947, when the Indian sub-continent was divided into two countries, though the events preceding it and the conditions after it are detailed in the novel.  His inability to do is of particular importance because so many of the concerns of the book and Zakir himself stem from the partition of 1947.

The absence of the creation of Pakistan is particularly interesting because the novel reads like a creation myth, opening with the line, “Jab duniya nai nai thi, jab aasmaan taaza tha aur zameen abhi maili nahin hui thi.” This rememberance of his childhood is idyllic, and creates a past that is almost pristine. In comparison to this the events of 1947 are the first instance of trauma that Zakir truly faces, where he has to leave behind his home, his friends and the sense of awe and wonderment that is attached to these earlier memories.

Zakir’s reluctance to recall these events is again highlighted in these words, “Main apni taareekh say bhaaga hua hun aur zamaana-e-haal main saans le raha hun. Faraariat pasand. Magar be reham haal phir humain taareekh ki taraf dhakel deta hai.”  These words indicate that Zakir has deliberately shut out the violent events of 1947, because as a part of his history they are too painful to recall. The irony of this of course is that his own name marks him as the one to remember.

The memories chronicled in this book, both post and pre 1947 are a result of the 1971 partition of East and West Pakistan, a repetition of the earlier divide and what sets Zakir tumbling down history, “be reham haal phir humain taareekh ki taraf dhakel deta hai.”