Social Injustice In Colonial India Essay

In his Punjab trilogy Anand has examined different levels of social injustice in colonial India. In the first one, The Village peasants are subjugated by Indian landholders. It has been symbolized by hanging of Lalu’s brother who was blamed for the murder of a landlord and the whole saga ruins Nihal Singh’s family. Across the Black Waters takes Lalu to a different level of understanding where he questions colonial rule in India, as he learns during the dreadfulness of war that there is no connection between this war and Indians life in his own country. The last novel in the trilogy, The Sword and the Sickle, we find a awakened Lalu , seeking new ways of life, putting efforts with a revolutionary group to stand against the colonial system. Imperialism has that profound impact on India that it “broke up and changed India, but refused to renew it” (Niven 38). In his journey Lalu continuously seeks that rejuvenation, the change which can bring a better life for himself and other fellow peasants and ultimately he

In the second book in the trilogy, Across the Black Waters, the problems of colonialism and account of world war are dealt in detail. Lalu in this book is full of excitement on the news of visiting Europe. A noticeable impact of colonial powers can be seen on his mind as his mind is shaped by colonial schools that all good things belong to the lands of the sahibs. He ultimately will be able to go to Vilayat:
He was going to Vilayat after all, England, the glamorous land of his dreams, where the sahibs come from, where people wore coats and pantaloons and led active, fashionable lives – even, so it was said, the peasants and the poor sahibs. (Across The Black Waters