Communal Commotion in Mahesh Dattani’s “Final Solution”

Abstract

Mahesh Dattani explores the cause of communalism in Southeastern countries. He signals that the communalism of the present time aroused in British India, where British divided Indians based on caste and religion. Final Solution is a play about communal hatred. There is a long standing rancour in the minds of orthodox and conservative. The playwright has tried to bring sanity to the communal-persons. Bobby and Javed offer to bring water from the tap outside, but Aruna, who is rooted in old beliefs, does not allow them to touch the drinking water, saying that she has her ways and customs which she will observe in spite of knowing that ‘All religions are one. Only the ways to God are many’. She believes that the water brought by Bobby and Javed will not be pure enough to bathe her gods. She tells Sunita frankly, ‘we bathe our gods with it. It has to be pure. It must not be contaminated’. Such misbeliefs and bad customs cause communal hatred. Some of his characters have spoken against the tendency of berating other religions. Ramnik and even Arunahave said that all the religions are based on the same fundamental values. Daksha has sympathy with Tarine and wants her father-in-law to give job to Zarine’s father. Mahesh Dattani has tried to create an atmosphere of communal harmony through such characters.