3. Let me state this quite unequivocally:
it is my firm conviction that the hidden purpose of the Indo-Pakistani war
of 1965 was nothing more nor less than the elimination of my benighted
family from the face of the earth.
This quotation occurs in Book Two, in
the chapter “How Saleem Achieved Purity.” Throughout the telling
of his story, Saleem often places himself at the center of major
political events. While we can detect a strain of narcissism in
Saleem’s desire to see himself as either the central cause or primary
victim of various historical events, his life does converge with
national history on countless occasions. If we consider that Saleem—born
at the dawn of India’s independence, and destined to break into
as many pieces as India has citizens—represents the entire population
of India, it makes sense that his life seems directly impacted by
national events. Things that happen on a national or global scale
will always affect the collective life of a nation’s people.
By claiming that the purpose of the Indo-Pakistani war
was to eliminate his family, Saleem draws critical attention to
the fact that the war was justified in religious terms. The Indian
presence in Kashmir was represented as a kind of defilement, and
the Pakistani government claimed that Pakistan needed to reclaim
Kashmir for the good of the country. Saleem claims that he and his
grotesque family also needed to be cleansed in order for the nation
to be purified. The absurdity of Saleem’s claim that an entire war
might be fought in order to murder a family of civilians highlights
the absurdity of Pakistan’s claim.
