On religious harmony

DARKNESS BEFORE DAWN: Ajay Singh Yadav; Lighthouse Books, 101/24 B, Shivaji Nagar, Bhopal. Rs. 195.

BHOPAL'S HISTORY makes it an ideal locale for a novel set against the background of centuries of Hindu-Muslim interaction. Ajay Singh Yadav, who describes himself as a farmer and a champion of unpopular causes like abolition of caste, uses its rich past with telling effect in the book under review that explores the theme of religious fundamentalism.

The novel is in two parts. In fact, it can even be taken as two novels held together by a slender thread. The first part takes place in the Moghul period and the second in our own time. Each part tells the story of two protagonists, one Hindu and the other Muslim. Their life-stories run on parallel lines and are told alternatively.

The tales of Dost Mohammed, a Pathan adventurer, who establishes a kingdom of his own deep down in the sub-continent, and Vijay, a Maratha prince, struggling to preserve the kingdom that he inherited, flow like meandering rivers for the most part. Eventually they move towards a confluence that may be seen as a triumph of the best in the religious traditions. That part ends with Dost Mohammed proposing to Sukehsini, Vijay's cousin, and her accepting on condition that they continue to follow their respective faiths and give their children the right to choose their own path when they come of age.

Centuries later, in the city of Dost Mohamed and Sukehsini, an engineering student, Anil, falls in love with Munira, leading to complications in which religious fundamentalists play their part. However, the story ends happily, thanks to the timely renewal of Sukehsini's message. She believed "the same God rules over Hindus and Mussalmans.''

Ajay Singh Yadav manages to convey the message of religious harmony without being polemical or propagandistic.

B.R.P.BHASKAR

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