UNHEALED WOUNDS: THE INSCRIPTION OF TRAUMA IN BASHARAT PEER’S CURFEWED NIGHT AND SHAHNAZ BASHIR’S THE HALF MOTHER

Abstract

Kashmir once known for its majestic beauty and harmony on earth has now been discussed as a bloody conflict zone since 1989, which turned this heaven into man made hell. During this period, a full-fledged freedom struggle and resistance movement began in the valley of Kashmir. The root cause of the movement was the rigged election of 1987. The ongoing ambivalence had made the life of its inhabitants miserable. It is because of this conflict the people of Kashmir suffered both physically and mentally and history testify the fact. Bodily wounds can be noticed but mental wounds in the form of trauma, anxiety and depression usually go unnoticed. Basharat Peer and Shahnaz Bashir in their respective novels Curfewed Night and The Half Mother have attempted to paint the sufferings, pain, trauma and other psychological disorders in Kashmiri people generated because of the conflict, based on their own experience and reminiscences. In this regard, both Curfewed Night and The Half Mother act as trauma narratives. The paper therefore, attempts to explore trauma and mental agony embedded in Basharat Peer’s Curfewed Night and Shahnaz Bashir’s The Half Mother.