Reflections Of Pluralism And Polarization In Krishan Baldev Vaid’s The Broken Mirror

Abstract

Pluralism and Polarization have emerged as the two most discussed terms in contemporary times. India, consisting of people belonging to various religions, races, castes, and cultures claims to be a plural society. However, the presence of enmity, hatred, and distrust among the communities has also been a reality, and was so, even before the 1947 partition of India. The religion-based political practices have consistently fed the strains of polarization among different community groups even as India continues to celebrate her pluralism. The paper focuses on the two aspects - pluralism and polarization as depicted in Krishan Baldev Vaid’s novel The Broken Mirror (2014) and examines the reasons as well as consequences of the movement towards polarization which eventually resulted in the partition of India in 1947