MAHATMA AND THE RAMS: A STUDY OF VISUAL-LITERARY RECREATION OF THE HISTORY OF THEO-POLITICAL HINDU IDENTITY IN POST-PARTITION INDIA.

Abstract

This paper explores the visual and literary recreation of the Theo-Political Hindu identity in post-partition India. It examines how the secondary witnessing of India's partition contributed to a militant Hindu-Muslim political binary, which was later reshaped after the assassination of M. K. Gandhi. Focusing on Hey Ram and The Great Indian Novel, the study discusses how Mythistory and lived history can be expressed in an epic mode. Drawing on the writings of Gandhi’s contemporaries, including J. B. Kripalani, Syama Prasad Mookerjee, and Nathuram Godse, it argues that Saket Ram, the protagonist of Hey Ram, symbolizes the Hindu intelligentsia of the partition period. The paper concludes that Gandhi’s assassination halted the militant Hindutva expansion, reshaping Indian secularism into a more inclusive identity.