MALAYALAM
Fictional biography
MUHAMMAD ABDURRAHMAN: N. P. Muhammad; D.C. Books, DCB Complex, Good Shepherd Street, Kottayam-686001. Rs. 55.
THIS WORK is a fictional biography of Muhammad Abdurrahman, a highly respected freedom fighter, who trod the path of secularism unswervingly until his death in November 1945 at the age of 47. The author who had the opportunity to watch him at close quarters as a young man assesses the doughty leader in these words, "Muhammad Abdurrahman was a failure. A hearty failure."
The novel opens with Abdurrahman's return to Kozhikode in September 1945 after five years in Bellary jail and dwells on his last 77 days in communally charged Malabar. The Muslim League had gained ground during his absence and the separatist slogans of its supporters could be heard above the nationalist slogans raised by his followers at the railway station.
Nowhere else in the south had the conflict between Indian nationalism and Muslim sectarianism assume such dimensions as it did in Malabar. Abandoned by the Left, which had stood by him earlier and alienated from the Muslim masses, which had come under the sway of communal forces, he met with his end like a tragic hero.
The novel, published posthumously, raises the question whether it is a finished product. N. P. Hafiz Muhammad, the author's son, says in an introductory note that the idea of a novel based on Abdurrahman's life was as old as the author himself. He had collaborated in the preparation of a biography of Abdurrahman, but it was not until 1990 that he started working on the novel.
The manuscript was found among his papers after his death. The fact that he had put it away even though more than one publisher had evinced interest in it suggests that he wanted to revise it. However, even in the present form, the work is a valuable addition to the growing body of biographical fiction.
B. R. P. BHASKAR
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Book Review
