Protection of Human Rights: A Case Study of Basavaraj Naicker's The Sun Behind The Cloud

Protection of Human Rights: A Case Study of Basavaraj Naicker's The Sun Behind The Cloud

A.Palraj,

U.Yegovaraja,

Assistant Professor,

 Sri Ram Nallamani Yadhava College of Arts and Science,

Tenkasi.

 “Bhaskara Rao Bhave was a ruler of a princely state of Naragund.  Lord Dalhousie, the Governor-General of India, passed the harsh and hazardous policies for Inidan Jamsthaniks.  He brought into force the deadly laws like Disarmament Bill and the Doctrine of Lapse, which meant the total surrender of these Jamsthaniks and reduced them to slave”( Dhawan34).  Bhaskara Rao Bhave suffered from hairlessness, when the British authorities refused to grant him the permission for adopting, “he gathered the local rulers like Venkatappa Nayak of Surpur, Nawab of Savanur, Vira Rani of Chitradurga, Yashavantaraya of Jamekhandi and also Bhimaraya of Mundaragi, Desai of Soratur, Desai of hammagi and sought their help, and blows war against the British”( text). These activities proof the courageous attitude of the Hero Babasaheb in order to protect the self-respect, family honor, the Hindu religious customs, traditions and the kingdom of Naragund, in overall it indicates the protection of human rights.

Protection of self-respect:

 “…My days are over.  Remember what I tell you.  Don’t afraid of anybody or anything in life.  Never be a slave to anyone.  Nothing is greater than self-respect.  Never forget these mantras”(17).

            The above quote is told by Appasaheb who is the father of Babasaheb, when he was on his death bed. Thus the hero follows the footsteps of his father throughout his life.  In the mean time Mr. Manson- the political agent of British comes there and announces that, “therefore all the property belonging to the heirless states should be handed over to our government.          Everyone from king to farmer must submit themselves to our authority” (43).  Then the King questioned the legal credibility of the Doctrine of Lapse that; “our country is called Hindustan because we believe in Hindu religion which has allowed the privilege of adoption for the heirless all through the history.  You cannot take away that privilege from us” (44).

“Are you born to Hindu semen, bastards?  How are you connected with our Hindustan?  You should abide by certain ethical principles.  You shouldn’t rob us of our property denying us the privilege of adoption.  Everything will be all right if you grant the permission.  Otherwise, Mr. Manson…you cannot take my Kingdom except through war.  I will fight for my Kingdom and against the British rule until the last breath of my life.  Come what may! “(44)

Thus the seeds of protest shown by him in order to protect the self- respect and religious customs.

 Every here and there we could see the protection of self-respect by our hero. He has courage, strength and bold enough to face his enemies without any fear in him.He admitted, “I had to murder Mr. Manson because he refused to grant me permission to adopt a child. I refuse to be governed by the alien rule (Ibid: 215).

            Further we could see the boldness of  Babasaheb through asking his followers to smash the gates of the British in the following way, when the British General build the small gate in order to enter  the gate with bend head for the meeting that is arranged by  the Governor General of British. Babasheb said that,“What a shame that we had to get down from our horses in order to come through these gates!  We wish, we had done like this heroic King” (39) Further he said,

Do you remember the order sent to us?  You have asked us who are like your sons, to come here with all our glory and discipline.  Do you like your sons being insulted like this by being made to pass through the gates with bent heads?  I don’t think it becomes a father to insult his own children.  It is not in my nature to bend down like that.  That is the reason why I asked my Sarnayaka to smash them (39).

Family honors:

“Bhaskararao was shown by Niakar also as a pleasure loving ruler, lustful, treacherous and a ruler who eyed lascivious and gently ladies in his state.  He eyed the daughter-in-law of Gangadhar, courtier.  Annapurna was the wife of his son. Rudrappa”.(Watson,12).   The hero’s weakness also revealed by the author through the character of Annapurna a young and beautiful lady who is daughter- in-law of a rich merchant, Gangadhar.  The king Babasaheb wants to posses the lady but Gangadhar tries to divert the mind of the king but he was firm on that. In order to protect the family respect he burns his daughter-in-law to Goddess Lakshmi and consoles his wife’s while his son was in pretext.

“Saving the family honor is equal important for an individual.  Gangadhar a leading merchant dealer in grocery and cereals is seen to be in friendly terms with Babasaheb.  Once Babasaheb sees his daughter-in-law and develops an irresistible infatuation for her.  But to make matters worse he cites his desire before Gangadhar himself who is shocked to hear this.  But he does not betray his feelings to Babasaheb.  He decides to protect his family honour and arranges the assassination of his daughter-in-law under the pretext of the worship of Goddess Laxmi.  She is buried alive in the pit while engaged in the Pooja.  This is wailed by her mother-in-law (Gangadar’s wife) very seriously”( Abrams,23).  But Gangadhar consoles her “my dear, you have to bear this sorrow in the interest of family honour.  Now at least I am happy that Babasaheb cannot tarnish the honour of our family”(50).

I feel it is better to run away from here than being caught by the enemies.  One arrested by them, we are sure to be separated from one another.  Before such a dire thing happens, I think it is better to save our honour and follow the path as shown by the God Almighty… similarly I would like to suggest to both of you to pursue the path that you deem fit for saving your life, Dharma and hounour…please don’t bother about kith or kin, land or palace or gold or money or anything.  Honour is more important than anything.  Please rely upon the Lord and follow your path together”(122-123).

            The hero’s wife and mother are also have the individual self-respect and family honor in order to save the family honor they dead without in the hands of their enemies.

Thus the paper reveals the character of Babasaheb’s courage,brave and boldness to through away anything whether it is property, gold or kingdom. Nothing is greater than the self-respect and family honor. Here he readies to sacrifices his life or go any extent to save his protection of respect.  Overall it discussed about the protection of human rights.

Works Cited:

Naikar, Basavaraj. The Sun Behind the Cloud. New Delhi: Atlantic Publication, 2001.

Abrams, M. H.A Glossary of Literary Terms. Bangalore: Prism, 1993.

Dhawan, R. K. Commonwealth Fiction. New Delhi:Classical Publishing Company, 1988. Watson, George. The Study of Literature. London: Penguin Press, 1967.