The New Constitution

The New Constitution
Saadat Hassan Manto



Question # 1 
Describe the conditions and atmosphere before the introduction of the new law? 

The British Raj in India produced a grim story of cruelty and arrogance on the part of haughty English rulers who considered the Indians as a lower creation of God. There was no concept of basic human rights for the Indians. They had no legal protection; government, administration and law courts were a puppet in the hands of goras and they misused all these discretionary powers to terrorize and humiliate the natives. This story pertains to the era before the Second World War. The condition in the sub-continent was full of turmoil and chaos. The control of British Raj was weakening and the anti-Raj activities and violence was on the rise. The people of India were quickly getting awareness about their own rights, so they demanded to be treated as a “human being”. The anti government parties were fueling their activities up because of the changes in international scenario. The bomb blasts and arrests taking place in different cities of India were an observation of everyday. In these circumstances the introduction of the new law was taken to be a whiff of fresh air by innocent masses of the sub continent. Ustad Mangu being one of them was also very eager and enthusiastic about this act. He thought it to be a herald of salvation. Thus the Government of India Act 1935 was a lollypop for the enslaved masses of India.

Question # 2
What were the expectations of the people?

Every day Ustad Mangu went out with his Tonga and overheard the discussion of different people about the anticipated results of the new act. People had diverse opinions about the law and every body was calculating his own interests. He overheard some lawyers who were talking about the technical aspects of the law. One of them declared it to be an effort to make a federation in India but in his view it was not feasible thus Ustad Mangu thought him to be against the law. Then one day he picked two moneylenders who were concerned about the changes in the act about the interest and their apprehensive tone made Ustad Mangu laugh as he called them the “bugs” who sucked the blood of the poor. Then he had some students at the back of his Tonga who were really happy about the act and they hoped to get jobs if the people of their circle came in the government. They were also anticipating some other good changes following the promulgation of this act.
All these discussions were the message of hope and independence as far as Ustad Mangu was concerned. His mind was in the seventh heaven by visualizing a free India and his expectations about the changes, being brought on the April 1st, were mounting day by day. On the April 1st he was out of himself with fervour and confidence of his assumed freedom.

Question # 3
What type of person Ustad Mangu was?

Ustad Mangu is one of the best characters portraying the innocence, sincerity and fervour of a common man. The incomplete knowledge and innocent faith in the crooked ways of politicians make him expect good things and revolutionary changes in the state of his existence though all of them prove wrong at the end. Common people lead their lives in misery and then silently die without any of the promises of good life getting fulfilled. In this way Ustad Mangu is not an individual character but he represents a whole class of naive masses who are befooled through different promises.

Ustad Mangu was thought to be man of a higher wisdom among his fellow Tongawalas and they resorted to him for any kind of expert opinion and Ustad never disappointed them, as he knew something about everything in the world. He had some specific views and notions and he was inclined to interpret every event or occurrence in the light of his own notions. As he had a concept of the presence of a mighty king in Russia who was the reason of every event and it was he who introduced new laws and controlled the whole world. Then he used to talk about the curse of a holy man and he thought that due to his curse the Muslims and Hindus had been slashing each other.
He hated the goras and their ominous presence in his land. He called them human monkeys and white mice. He even called them lepers and disliked their white complexion equating them to the rotten dead bodies. The attitude of goras in general and the gora soldiers in particular aroused strong reaction in his heart and he said that they order Indians, as they were their father’s servants. He was sick of the Urdu or Hindi spoken by them and contemptuously called it gitpit. In short he was really weary of the presence and rule of English in the sub continent like all the common men and women of India. In all these circumstances and the mental anxiety felt by Ustad Mangu the news of a new act that promised to somewhat liberate the Indians was really a torch in the dark wilderness for him. So his enthusiasm and expectation were on the highest level and he was not ready to get anything less than the total freedom. Here he made a sheer mistake and misunderstood the implications of the new act. The act, of course, had a lot for Indians in terms of rights but as far as the true freedom was concerned it was a far-fetched idea coined by the straightforward and simple minds of poor, ignorant and down trodden masses of India.

The general attitude of Ustad Mangu changed after this news and he was much elated at the anticipated freedom that in his opinion was to come with the promulgation of the new act on the 1st April. He prepared himself and his fellows for the changes that were to come with the act. He even bought a new plume for his horse and was very anxious. He was an impatient man who could not wait for the things to take shapes. He wanted to see a thing before its completion and his attitude towards the new act was the same
. At 1st April he got up early in the morning to celebrate its arrival and took his Tonga to the narrow and wide roads of Lahore. He wanted to see the colours and glitter brought about by this superb act but he could see none. The streets were full of buyers and the routine trade in the bazaar was going on. There was nothing extraordinary. He had expected that the new act would be inaugurated in the courts and would be received with garlands and shouts and slogans by the people but no such thing happened. He went to the cantonment area to catch any news there. There, he was confronted with an insolent gora soldier who was severely beaten by Ustad Mangu. This act took him to the jail and he was still in the fantasy of being liberated by the new act. He kept screaming “the new constitution” “the new constitution” but he was told that there was no new constitution and it was the same old constitution … at the end he was locked up in jail.
This is the proof of his innocent beliefs and his dreams of a better life that led him to think in an exaggerated way about the advantages of the new act. He is not a person but he stands for the majority of people present in the third world countries who remain eternally disappointed and dissatisfied amidst the Herculean tempo and magnitude of exploitation and tyranny.

Question # 4
Describe mangu’s encounter with the gora soldier?
Ustad Mangu had very high expectations about the soon to-be-introduced Government of India Act 1935. He thought that this act was going to change the fate of Indian people who were suffering heavily under the burden of slavery and unwanted rulers. His miscalculated hope gave him a new confidence and he dared to confront a gora soldier who had been insolent and haughty to him a year before. He misbehaved with the gora and infuriated him. The gora asked to be taken to the dancing girl’s bazaar and Ustad Mangu demanded five rupees as a fare that of course was not right. The gora was shocked at his attitude and he tried to neglect Mangu’s aggressive stance and talked to him in an authoritative manner but Ustad Mangu was not in any mood to relent. He attacked the gora as soon as he realized his intention to hit Mangu. He mercilessly thrashed him and was out of himself with rage bordering to madness. People tried to control him but he was hitting the gora and shouting that it was a new day with a new law for Indians. But the poor man was mistaken as some policemen came there and arrested him. Even behind the bars he was shouting about the new law. But he was silenced when they told him the reality of presence of same old law according to which the Indians were the subjects while the English were their rulers. This story explicitly establishes the conditions in which the wretched Indians lived during the British Raj. They had no rights and were exploited at every step without the right to protest even.

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