Table of Contents

THE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Short Essay Type Questions with Answers

Q. 1.Comment on the “Ghosts” in “the Ghost of Mrs Gandhi”.

Ans. Traditionally by ghosts we mean spectres which are always ominous and harm people in different ways causing disturbances in their life and sometimes take their life also using human beings as medium.

Amitav Ghosh does not talk of the ghosts from the angles of superstition .

In this text, he uses the assassination of Mrs. Indira Gandhi and its subsequent impact on her followers as the ghosts. The news of assassination of their beloved Mrs. Gandhi, just like a ghost, metaphorically enters into her followers leading them to go on reign of terror causing numerous massacre of the Sikhs in New Delhi and other parts of the country.

So disasterous and hellish was the continuity of the riots by violent mobs with its dragging of the Sikhs from their houses and burning them alive, no other metaphor, probably, could have expreesd the intensity of this violence other than its analogy with the ghosts.

Besides, we can, metaphorically, compare those violent mobs to ghosts because, just like ghosts, they went on bringing ominous activities on the Sikhs especially throughout New Delhi. They, being encouraged by certain politicians and administration, went on zooming throughout New Delhi with trucks, motor vans, trucks etc with can of petrols in their hands. Their only target was to find the Sikhs and drag them to burn them alive after hard beating.

The metaphorical comparison of these violent mobs to the ghosts become extremely appropriate when we come to know from the reporting of a surviving Sikh woman to Veena Das, a Delhi sociologist, how brutally the mobs burned her husband along with their three sons alive.

Even the treacherous activities at the heart of the people made the neighborers ghosts also.

Ghostly spirits were lurking at the heart of the common people in the form of treachery that led the mutual trust was in crisis. The ghostly activities of the violent mobs assisted by the treachery of some of the neighbourers transformed New Delhi and its surrounding areas into a graveyard. The reign of terror was prevailing due to the ghosts, i.e, the followers of Mrs Gandhi and the treacherous neighbourers. The metaphorical use of ghosts becomes more penetrating when Amitava Ghosh compares the intensity of this violent riots to that of 1947 in the time of partition.

To conclude, Amitav Ghosh’s efficient use of the metaphor of “ghosts” successfully narrated the intensity of the violent riots created following the assassination of Mrs. Gandhi.

Q. 2. “A survivor – a woman… offered the following account to Veena Das” – How did this account bring out the intensity of the violent riots?

Ans. The text, “the Ghosts of Mrs Gandhi”, narrates efficiently how the violent mobs terribly inflicted reign of terror on the Sikhs dragging them out from their houses, and cars, and buses and burned them alive setting fire following the assassination of Mrs. Gandhi by her two bodyguards.

The reporting of the surviving women to Veena Das, the Delhi sociologist, narrating how brutally her husband along with their three sons were burned alive, shows the intensity of the violent massacre done on the Sikhs by the violent mobs supported by certain politicians and local administration. The surviving women reported that her husband hid their three sons along with himself in an abandoned house in order to save them from the bloddy slaughtering of the “ghosts”,i.e, the violent mobs. But the mobs found out their hidding place due to the treachery of their neighbour and set fire on the abandoned house only to get them burned alive there.

This reporting shows that the violent ghostly mobs not only created massive massacre murdering the Sikhs and burning their houses, bisinesses, but also gave birth to the destruction of humanity at the heart of some people making it difficult for the people to trust their neighbours through the reign of terror. This violence brought existential crisis and feeling of alienation making people, especially the Sikhs homeless and displaced.

This reporting also shows the intensity of the violent activities of the riots which led Amitav Ghosh, the author, to bring this massacre and socio-economic and political scenario during this riots at the same level of the intensity of violence created in 1947 during the partition of India and Pakistan.

Q. 3. How did the year 1984 fulfil its apocalyptic portents in India ?

Ans. The year 1984 hit India worst as various kind of natural and manmade disasters tremendously affected socio-economic and political spheres of India.

Communal riots consisting of separatist violence in Punjab, along with its subsequent emergence of reign of terror and sending of military troops by Mrs. Indira Gandhi to raid the Sikh Golden temple which eventually led two Sikh bodyguards of Mrs. Gandhi to assasinate her and the subsequent emergence of violent mobs; and the tragedy of Bhopal Gas disaster were the catastrophes brought its apocalyptic portents in India.

After the terrible and bloody memories of communal riots of partition in 1947, these violent disasters, especially the emergence of violent mobs following the assassination of Mrs. Gandhi fundamentally affected the base of socio-economic and political spheres that led the author to equalize it with the terrible communal riots of 1947.

Earlier in 1984, Mrs. Indira Gandhi sent military troops to raid the sacred Golden temple of the Sikhs at Amritsar. Mrs. Gandhi’s this decision attacked the religious sensibility of the Sikhs. Therefore, the Sikhs nurtured the violent desire of revenge which was fulfilled by the assassination of her by her two Sikh bodyguards. This assassination gave birth to the communal riots by the followers of Mrs. Gandhi killing the Sikhs irrespective of old or child mercilessly. The mobs set fire in the Sikh houses, shops and businesses. They burned the Sikhs alive dragging them and frequently burned them inside their houses. This incident clouded the socio-economic and political sphere in India.

The separatist movement in Punjab also gave birth to the bloody communal intolerance causing similar kind of distress in India.

The tragic gas disaster in Bhopal led thousands of innocent people to die affecting the fundamental base of India socio-economic and politically.

Q. 4. How did the author present the hellish condition of the Sikhs in this text?

Amitav Ghosh, the author of “the Ghosts of Mrs. Gandhi”, presented, realistically, the inhuman and hellish physical and psychological torture and oppression inflicted on the Sikhs by the violent mobs following the assassination of Mrs. Gandhi in 1984.

The seed of the assassination of Mrs. Gandhi was in her decision to send military troops to raid the sacred Sikh temple namely the Golden temple at Amritsar earlier in 1984. By sending the military troops there, Mrs. Gandhi attacked the religious sensibility of the Sikhs that set fire of revenge in the hearts of the Sikhs. It was fulfilled with the assassination of Mrs. Gandhi by her two Sikh bodyguards.

The news of her assassination got spreaded among her followers like a fire in the dry grass. The violent and linched mobs, encouraged by certain politicians and local administration, entered the town in New Delhi in scooters, motorcycles, trucks and tempo vans with cans of petrol. They carried with them knives, rods, and bicycle chains wrapped around their wrists. They went on searching the Sikhs in the cars, buses, and the houses. They stopped the buses to find if there was any Sikh inside. They zoomed the town and surrounding areas for the Sikhs. They went on setting fire on the Sikh houses, and businesses and put the trace of burning fire everywhere. The violent mobs drag the Sikhs from their houses, especially the young ones, and burned them alive after hard beating.

The reporting by a surviving woman to the Veena Das, a Delhi sociologist, perfectly describes the kind of helish condition the Sikhs went through. The surviving woman went on narrating that though her husband hid their three sons along with himself in an abandoned house the mobs entered to set fire on the house to get her husband and sons burned alive.

The subsequent riots made the life for the Sikhs a living hell.

They went through identity crisis and existential crisis. The reign of terror by the linched mobs made the Sikhs homeless, and displaced. They remained without food and clothes and shelter. But this assassination and its subsequently riots saw the emergence of the Nagrik Ekta Manch which protested actively against the autocratic riots. This organization tried its best to provide the Sikhs their Belonging, Place, identity and existence. They begin to provide foods, clothes and shelter also.

To conclude, it can be said that Amitav Ghosh presented both the autocratic and humanitarian aspects the Sikhs had to go through throughout the violent and communal riots after the assassination of Mrs. Indira Gandhi.

Ans. Amitav Ghosh in,”the Ghost of Mrs. Gandhi”, shows the humanitarian aspect through the formation and movement of the Nagrik Ekta Manch with their humanitarian activities.

Q. 5. How did the author show the humanitarian aspect during the riots in the text?

After few days of the violent riots, a small group was made to challenge and face the slaughtering activities of the followers of Mrs. Gandhi. The group, initially small, consisted of the members like Swami Agnivesh, a Hindu ascetic; Ravi Chopra, a scientist and environmentalist; Chander Sekhar, the former prime minister of India. The fifty percent member of this group was female.

The remarkable fighting back of this group was done when the female members of the group surrounded the male members making an wall with their sarees and kameezes while the armed mobs marched towards them angrily. Thus, the women threw a challenge to the mobs making them hesitated, confused, and ultimately the mobs departed. Thus, this communal riots witnessed the women empowerment and humanitarian aspect.

This small group, namely Nagrik Ekta Manch, initiated their protest to make a counter fighting against the violent mobs and certain politicians who encouraged this mobs from behind. They aimed to save the humanity through saving the helpless Sikhs during the riots.

The Nagrik Ekta Manch did what the military troops needed to do. This unified group resisted the violent mobs, and extended their helping hands to provide necessary living sustenance to the helpless Sikhs in terms of foods, clothes and shelter. The various businesses men sent thr trucks full of clothes, and foods which were perfectly distributed among the Sikhs by this group. The author himself worked with a team from Delhi University to distribute supplies of foods and clothes in the slum areas who had been worst victim.

The humanitarian aspect is continued with the publication of a pamphlet,by this group entitled, Who Are the Guilty to in investigate the political leaders who fired the mobs from behind. It digs the government a little deeper every year. The humanitarian side becomes evident with Hari Sen’s mother who, despite being a devout Hindu and taking risk, phoned the Sikh neighbour to take shelter at their house so that the mobs can’t kill them.

Thus, we can say that Amitav Ghosh “the Ghosts of Mrs. Gandhi”, presents the humanitarian aspects side by side the atrocities created by the violent mobs.

Q. 6. Why hadn’t the author, Amitava Ghosh, written the account of the communal riots of 1984?

Ans. Amitav Ghosh, the author of “the Ghosts of Mrs Gandhi”, expresses various reasons for not writing the account of communal riots of 1984 following the assassination of Mrs. Indira Gandhi.

First, there had been immense political pressure on the writers that made it very difficult for the writers to write this particular communal massacre of the Sikhs through the reign of terror created by the violent mobs who were encouraged by the certain politicians from behind. Secondly, the author talked of the complexities of the spreading of this particular riots as it didn’t remain limited within New Delhi, rather it was spreaded in the Punjab involving the terrorists. These riots were getting generated through a cycle of violence in Punjab in the one hand and the the government of India on the other hand. It became a kind of fighting between the Sikhs and the government of India making this riot

very complicated even for the writers to write. Thirdly, any careless writing of these riots through the selection of words could have been fatal for the writers also as the meaning of his writing could have been misinterpretated as the endorsement of terrorism or repression.

In addition to the above mentioned causes, another reason was there. The author himself felt in conflicting mind because he could not understand with what identity he would write. A conflict was there between his identity of a writer and that of a citizen remembering what the Bosnian writer Karahadan calls “the contemporary world’s indifference to violence”.

To conclude, it can be said that due to those above mentioned reasons, Amitav Ghosh, the author had not written anything on the communal riots which occurred following the assassination of Mrs. Gandhi.

Q. 7. “Just as it was pulling out, a man ran out of the office and jumped on” Explain

Ans. The quoted line has been extracted from the essay called, “The Ghosts of Mrs. Gandhi” by Amitav Ghosh

In the context of showing how terror stricken was the Sikhs due to the out break of communal riots in New Delhi following the assassination of Mrs. Gandhi, the author said this line, though the author could not realize the reason behind that person’s hurried jumping.

The deadliest and bloody communal riots were created by the violent mobs following the assassination of Mrs. Indira Gandhi. This mobs were encouraged and fired by certain political persons from behind. The mobs began to find out the Sikhs from anywhere in the city. They drag the Sikhs, beats them mercilessly and finally burned them alive. This particular Sikh passenger came to know of the outbreak of this riots. He, therefore, wanted to reach home at the earliest. He, therefore, came running and jumped on that bus to keep himslf out of the claws of the mobs.

Q. 8. “I came upon a sight I could never have imagined” – Explain .

Ans. The quoted line has been extracted from the essay, “the Ghosts of Mrs. Gandhi” by Amitav Ghosh.

In the context of his unthinkable wonder to witness the bloody cruelty of the riots created following the assassination of Mrs. Gandhi, the author uttered this line.

The assassination of Mrs. Gandhi gave birth to the emergence of communal riots to murder the people from Sikh community in New Delhi. The mobs, encouraged by certain political leaders, entered with petrol, knives, and rods and went on zooming throughout the city and the surrounding areas in search of the Sikhs. After waking up in the next morning of the assassination at Hari Sen’s house, the author notices the emitting of smokes towards the skies. He, after some time, came to know truth which is that the mobs began to set fire on the Sikh houses, shops and businesses. He also came to know that, the mobs are marching towards their colony to burn the Sikhs alive setting fire on their houses. Through this quoted line, the author expressed his unthinkable atrocities in New Delhi following the assassination.

Q. 9. “How do you explain to someone who has spent a lifetime cocooned in privilege” –Why did the author make this comment?

Ans. Amitav Ghosh, the author of,” the Ghosts of Mrs. Gandhi”, describes Mr. Bawa, a Sikh and neighbor of his friend Hari Sen, in that way as Mr. Bawa rejected the offer of Hari’s mother to go their houses to remain safe from the bloody slaughtering of the Sikhs by the mobs.

Mrs. Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her two Sikh bodyguards and this incident gave birth to the communal riots killing the Sikhs mercilessly whereever they can be. Seeing the marching of the mobs towards their colony, Hari’s mother phoned them to bring them at their house.

Mr Bawa never believed that they could be åttacked for several reasons. First, he says that as he had firm hate against the Sikh terrorist.Secondly, He expressed his greater revulsion at the assassination. Thirdly, he was heartily committed to India. Besides everything, he thinks firmly that his belonging to the country’s ruling elite will keep the mobs away from him. But what Mr.

Bawa could not realize that his identity of belonging to the Sikh community was enough for the mobs to drag him from his house and set fire on him and his wife after hard beating and his this ignorance led the author to describe his lifetime as “cocooned”. His belonging to elite class and sound financial ability never allowed him to realize the reality of his life and the vulnerability of his belief.

Mr. Bawa’s cocooned like existence was vanished when he ultimately realized the cruelty of the mobs who were marching towards them.

Q. 10. “Our fates depended on this lone, frightened man” – Who is being referred to? What happened subsequently?

Ans. The “frightened man” was the Hindu cook in the house of Mr. Bawa. The violent mobs were dragging and burning both the Sikhs and the people who were providing shelter the Sikhs to get them saved. As Hari Sen’s mother kept Mr. And Mrs Bawa at their house to keep them away from the cruelty of the mobs, both the author and Hari Sen felt threatened with the upcoming danger. If anyone could save them was the Hindu cook of Mr Bawa.

The linched mobs entered the room and asked the cook whether his employer and owner of that particular house were Sikhs. Despite being terror-stricken, the cook succeeded to hold his nerve. The cook replied that his employer were Sikhs and they had escaped out of fear. He also informed the mobs, who were with kerosene, knives, and other weapons, that though his employers were Sikhs, they were not the owner of that house. The Hindu owner of that house rented the Sikhs. Thus, the cook successfully convinced the violent mobs and the mobs departed from there. Some of the mobs still roamed and peeped the house only to be driven away by the author and Hari, his friend. Thus, the cook saved both families of Mr Bawa and Hari Sen by establishing the victory of humanity and communal tolerance.

Short Questions with Answers

Q. 1. Whose assassination is narrated in the text, “The ghosts of Mrs Gandhi”? When was this text published?

Ans. The assassination of Indira Gandhi, the first and only female prime minister of India is described in, “The Ghosts of Mrs Gandhi”.

The text was published on 17 th July, 1995.

Q. 2. Name the apocalyptic portents occurred in 1984 in India.

Ans. The year 1984 hit India with so many apocalyptic portents such as separatist violence in Punjab, the raiding of the sacred Sikh temple in Amritsar, the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh bodyguard and its subsequently emergence of the rios to burn Sikh people alive, the tragedy of Bhopal gas disaster.

Q. 3. Why was it difficult for the people in New Delhi to open the newspaper in the mornings of 1984?

Ans. The year 1984 hit India worstly with the occurence of so many disastrous events. Therefore, the day of people in New Delhi began with the narration of the apocalyptic portents like these through the newspaper. For this reason, it needed enough courage for the people in New Delhi to open the newspaper.

Q. 4. Which catastrophe had the greatest effect on Amitabh Ghosh? Why did he think so?

Ans. Among all the apocalyptic portents that hit India worstly, the assassination of Mrs. Indira Gandhi had the greatest effect on the author, Amitabh Ghosh.

Amitav Ghosh thinks so because the socio-political and economic experiences he gained from this assassination along with its subsequent emergence of violent riots profoundly influenced him to develop as a writer. Besides, this evet influenced him so profoundly that he had never attempted to write about this particular event until 1995.

Q. 5. Describe the place the author was living.

Ans.

The author was living in a part of New Delhi called Defence Colony. He described the houses in that colony as honeycomb. The houses were large and labyrinthine. Various kinds of people was living there like journalists, copywriters, minor executives, and university people like the author.

Q. 6. How old was the author when the assassination occurred? Name the date of occurence of this assassination.

Ans. The author, Amitav Ghosh, was twenty-eight years old when the assassination of Mrs. Gandhi was taken place.

The assassination of Mrs. Gandhi was taken place on 31 st October.

Q. 7. Did the author notice anything unnatural during his bus journey to the university on the day of assassination after the assassination?

Ans. The author found nothing unnatural happenings anywhere during his ninety minutes bus journey to the Delhi university though he noticed passengers uttering words related to the happening of assasination.

8 .How did the author come to know of the assassination of mrs Gandhi?

Ans. When the author reached the university campus, he saw a small group of people inside the campus with a transistor radio trying to listen about the assassination of mrs. Gandhi. One young man from that group came to the author and asked him if he(the author) had heard of the assassination. Thus, the author came to know of the assassination.

Q. 9. Who assassinated Mrs. Gandhi? Why was she assassinated? Or, What was popularly known as the cause of the assassination pf Mrs. Gandhi?

Ans. Mrs. Gandhi was assassinated by her two Sikh bodyguard. Earlier in 1984, Mrs Gandhi sent military troops to raid the sacred Sikh temple at 2017 Amritsar namely the Golden temple. To take the revenge for sending military troops to raid their sacred temple, her two Sikh bodyguards assassinated her.

Q.10. What was the effect of Mrs Gandhi’s death on the author?

Or, How did Amitav Ghosh feel after hearing a report on the assassination of Mrs. Gandhi on All India radio?

Ans. In the middle of his lecture in the class, the author looked, outside the classroom, at the outside nature and getting his consciousness back, he forgot what he had been lecturing on which happened for the first time in his career. Though he was not a great follower of Mrs. Gandhi, and disliked her for her semi-dictatorial totalitarian rule, her assassination reminded him of her strong impressive personality with dignity. Thus, it may be said that the author was effected psychologically.

Q.11. What was the first reliable source to report Mrs. Gandhi’s assassination? What was happening at All India Radio right then?

Ans. The first reliable report on Mrs. Gandhi’s death was broadcasted from Karachi by Pakistan at around 1.30 p.m.

Regular broadcast on All India Radio was replaced with music right then.

Q.12. With whom did the author leave the university campus? How did that person help him?

Ans. The author left the university campus at afternoon with his friend, Hari Sen. Hari helped him by offering him to use their telephone to make a long-distance call the author needed.

– Q.13. “…which was unusual “ . What was unusual? Why did the author think so?

Ans. On the day of assassination, the bus they took to reach Hari’s home at afternoon, remained unexpectedly empty though in other days it remained crowded which is narrated by the author as “unusual”.

On the day of assassination of Mrs. Gandhi, the violent mobs supported by certain politicians began to drag the Sikh people and burned them alive whereever the sikh people were found. Therefore, the Sikh people returned home much earlier on that day and other people also returned due the fear of riots. Therefore, the bus didn’t remain crowded.

Q.14. Who was Giani Zail Sing? What happened to him?

Ans. Giani Zail Sing was a Sikh who was the president of the Republic.

The mobs, supported by certain politicians, attacked his motorcade.

Q.15. How was the Sikh passenger in the bus saved?

Ans. The linched mobs began to stopthe bus to find out Sikh passengers from the bus to drag and burn them alive and stopped the particular bus in which the author was. Being asked if there was any Sikh passenger inside the bus, the driver and other fellow passengers answerd negatively and the mobs permitted the bus go. Thus the particular Sikh passenger was saved.

Q.16. How did the author describe the mobs?

Ans. The armed mobs, being supported by certain politicians, arrived in group in tempo vans, scooters, motorcycles or trucks with petrol and systematically set fire to Sikh-houses, shops, and drag the young Sikhs and burned them alive. They gave birth to the reign of terror within few days in New Delhi.

Q.17. Where did Hari sen live? Describe the place.

Ans. Hari sen, a friend of the author, lived at Safdarjang Enclave, a colony in New Delhi.

Safdarjang Enclave is a colony where middle class people lived. It was neatly organized and the neighborhood in this colony had aspirations rather than opulence.

Ans. Macondo is a fictionally created town that we find in the novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a famous spanish novelist.

Q.18. What is Macondo? What is described as Macondo?

The author, Amitav Ghosh, described Safdarjang Enclave, the living place of Hari Sen, as Macondo, the name of fictional town due to the eccentricity and largeness of Safdarjang Enclave.

Q.19. “I came upon a sight that I could never have imagined” – Describe the sight.

Ans. Waking up in the morning, the author became surprised with terror to see the emitting of smoke from all the directions as the violent mobs raided the houses of Sikhs and the people who gave them shelter to protect them. The mobs set fire in those Sikh houses and businesses and burned the Sikhs alive there. The author felt threatened to see this reign of terror that get reflected through these rising of smokes towards the sky.

Q.20. “it was the day’s motif” – What was the day’s motif?

Ans. The day’s motif of the violent mobs was to keep the traces of fire everywhere throughout the city, through looting the Sikh houses at first, and setting fire, afterwards, to burn the family members alive very often.

Q.21. What did the surviving woman report to Veena Das?

Ans. The surviving woman narrated how violently the mobs, under the support of certain politicians, burned her husband and their three sons alive. She reported that to keep their sons safe, her husband hid them in an abandoned house. But reaching there through treachery, the mobs burned them alive there.

Q.22. “treachery in people’s heart” – explain.

Ans. While reporting to Veena Das, a Delhi sociologist, the surving Sikh woman talked of the treachery that was lurking in the heart of people during the period of riots caused by the assassination of Mrs Gandhi. Her husband along with their three sons were burned alive as some neighbourers treacherously informed the mobs of their hidding place. This line exposes the naked truth of humanity of some people and existential crisis of the people at the time of riots.

Q.23. “…could never happen again” – What did the poet mean by this?

Ans. The generation of Amitav Ghosh grew up with the bitter experience of communal riots of 1947 at the time of partition. They believed that no other riot can come to the level of 1947 massacre. But the intensity of cruelty of violent mobs which was created following the assassination of Mrs Gandhi proved that generation false as the intensity of this violence was similar to that of 1947.

Q.24. Whom did Hari’s mother phone? What was the reply his mother got?

Ans. Hari’s mother, feeling the upcoming life-threatening danger for the Sikhs, phoned

Mr and Mrs Bawa to save their life by bringing them at their home. The answer Hari’s mother got was an awkward silence as Mrs. Bawa didn’t respond thinking this call as joking.

Q.25. Why did Mr. Bawa not belive, at first, that they could be attacked?

Ans. Mr Bowa could not believe of their upcoming attack as he thinks that as he had no sympathy for the Sikh terrorist and he had hate for the assasinaters, they will not be attacked. Moreover, he though of his committment to his motherland, India and his belonging to the ruling elite that will keep the mobs away. But what didn’t strike them is that the Sikh identity is enough to be brutally burnt alive.

Q.26. “Every few minutes we turned to radio ” frequently? -….Why did “we” turn to radio?

Ans. The author and his friend Hari Sen turned to radio frequently in order to listen whether the government had sent military troops to New Delhi to defend the Sikhs from the ongoing reign of terror. They believed if anyone could destroy the violent mobs to save the Sikhs and check the riots, it was the military troops.

Q.27. “Our fates depended on this lone, frightened man” – Who is this “frightened man”? Why did the speaker think so?

Ans. “frightened man” refers to the Hindu cook in the house of Mr. Bowa. The violent mobs began to drag and kill both the Sikhs and the people who tried to save them by providing shelter. As Hari sen along with the author provided Mr and Mrs Bowa shelter bringing them at their home, they felt also at the verge of death. If the Hindu cook began to tell the mobs the truth being asked out of fear, the fates, i.e, the lives of all of them will be extinguished.

Q.28. Name the eminent personalities of the group which was formed to defend the helpless Sikh people from the violent mobs.

Ans. The eminent personalities of the group consisted of the following members : Swami Agnives, a Hindu ascetic; Ravi Chopra, a scientist and environmentalist; Chnder Sekhar, the former prime minister in India.

Q.29. Who helped Amitabh Ghosh to think himself as a writer in English and how?

Ans. The author praised V. S. Naipaul very much and being a great fan of his writing, read everything he could get by Naipaul. The author read the writings by Naipaul lovingly and with rapt attention which, generally, a person reserves for one’s most efficient interlocutors. Thus, V. S. Naipaul helped him to think himself as a writer, writing in English.

Q.30. How was the male members of the Nagrik Ekta Manch saved from the upcoming danger of the mobs?

Ans. While moving tpwards Lajpat Nagar with the slogans to protest agains the mobs, they faced the violent mobs who were coming towards them angrily. Suddenly, all the women made an wall with their saris and kameezes surrounding the male members at the centre. The women went towards the mobs to challenge them daringly. With this sudden movement of women, the mobs got faltered and they went away.

Q.31. How did the Nagrik Ekta Manch help the helpless Sikhs during the riots?

Ans. The Nagrik Ekta Manch worked hard to help the helpless Sikhs by providing them necessary foods, clothes, and arranging places to sleep. The businessmen sent cars and trucks full of blankets, second hand clothes, and shoes, and sugar and tea to help the helpless Sikhs. These providings in terms of foods and clothings were efficiently distributed among the needy Sikhs by the Nagrik Ekta Manch.

Q.32. Name the pamphlet published by the Nagrik Ekta Manch. What was the significance of this pamphlet? Or Mention the significance of the pamphlet namely Who Are the Guilty.

Ans. Name of the pamphlet published by the Nagrik Ekta Manch was Who Are the Guilty.

This pamphlet later proved to be a great for the villanious politicians who encouraged and fired the riots to get the Sikhs burned alive. This pamphlet tried to go on pressurizing the government by making a dig a little deeper every day. This pamphlet, symbolically, stands for the resistance of humanity against autocracy and totalitarianism.

Q.33. Name the book mentioned in the text by the Bosnian writer Dzevad Karahasan. What does he show through this book?

Ans. Literature and War by Dzevad Karahasan, the Bosnian writer, is mentioned in the text.

He describes in this book the strange connection between the modern literary aestheticism and the contemporary worldworld’s indifference to the violence. It narrates how, despite witnessing the reign of terror, the contemporary people remain unaltered and detached themselves from it. This gets proved false at least in case the assassination of Mrs. Gandhi and its subsequent riots because the responsible citizens in New Delhi formed a group called the Nagrik Ekta Manch to help helpless Sikhs and challenged the violent mobs. BAN

Q.34. Name the novel the author, Amitava Ghosh, started to write within three months. What does that novel describe?

Ans. The author started writing, The Shaddow Lines, a novel within three months The Shaddow Lines deals with the bloody bitter memories of communal riots and atrocities during the partition in 1947 through which the generation of Amitav Ghosh was brought up. This novel shows how these kind of bloody memories affect the individual universally.

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THE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS THE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSTHE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSTHE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSTHE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSTHE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSTHE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSTHE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSTHE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSTHE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSTHE GHOSTS OF

MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSTHE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSTHE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSTHE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSTHE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSTHE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSTHE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSTHE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSTHE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSTHE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

THE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSTHE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSTHE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSTHE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSTHE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSTHE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSTHE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSTHE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSTHE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSTHE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSTHE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSTHE GHOSTS OF MRS GANDHI QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

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