War has been an important topic of analysis in all ages. It’s been extolled in some of the greatest classics of the world. In the latter part of the twentieth century, in the aftermath of two world wars and in the shadow of nuclear war, more was written on the subject than ever before. War, undisputedly, is not a civilized act. It is decried by thinkers and writers alike. Still, some countries resort to war to expand their territories or to safeguard their sovereignty. (Frankel, Joseph, 2021)

In Sons Must Die the reference is to Kashmir (now a union territory). This region can be said to be a piece of heaven drifted from the kingdom of God. But the irony is that hundreds of lives are lost on this beautiful land every year due to armed conflicts. The author is of the view that the Kashmir issue can be taken from any perspective but the fact is that youth is dying – whether one dies as a soldier, it is the loss of mother India. Anjana Trivedi says, “Sons Must Die exposes the experiences of three women in 1947 India. The plot structure, technique and style of the play depict Parameswaran’s interest in Greek tragedies.”(p.172)

Sons Must Die is set against the backdrop of Kashmir, and India – Pakistan war of 1947 – 48. The author tries to reflect on the problem of war in/ for Kashmir through three women, each coming from different parts of the country, all unfamiliar with the geographical and political realities of Kashmir. They see the real bloodshed of men. Their maternal sensibilities transcend political boundaries and see only what Wilfred Owen calls the “pity of war” (p. 8). Besides, Uma Parameswaran portrays different cultures of India through these women. The first of them is Meenakshi, a Tamil Brahmin, wearing conjeevaran silk. The second one is Zohra Begum, a Muslim mother dressed in a salwar – kameez suit with gold embroidery on the blue valet and the third one is Prem Behn, a Punjabi mother.  

The play begins with the chorus of old men dressed in old Kashmiri dresses praising the beauty of Kashmir in 1948 A.D. The beauty and richness of Kashmir are the reason for conflict/ war:

Uma brings out the history of rulers of Kashmir from Kushans, Noble Harsha, Karkato, Utpalan, Gupta and a long line of Hindu Kings to Muslim warrior Shah Mirza. These kings protected the beautiful land from enemies.

From the North came Kushans, the Scythians sword

Sweeping o’er these vales…
Noble Harsha, last of a glorious race, ruled you
And then came dynasties – Karkato, Utpala, Gupta –
And the long line of Hindu kings ended
When the land was seized
By that muslim warrior, Shah Mirza,
Whose scion found favour of Tamerlane.
Sons of Islam kept you a long time – adventurers
Whose zeal for faith spurred them to scale perilous cliffs,
Face roaring seas, leaving their desert land,
Their homes and caravans to spread Islam.

 (Lines 8 to 19)

Among the three mothers, the first one is Meenakshi. Like Zohra and Prem Behn, she has come to Kashmir looking for her soldier son. Meenakshi views war as meaningless and needless in the present context. She thinks that India has enough land and resources. It can feel proud of its rich treasures and diversity. There’s no need to spill the precious blood of the sons of India for a piece of land though beautiful it may be. Meenakshi says:

Kashmir? This the valley beloved of the gods?
Likely so far ‘tis beautiful, aye a pity ‘tis so beautiful,
For its beauty causes war. A beautiful woman
Beautiful, too too much so.

 (Lines 75 – 78)

She calls her son, asks about his whereabouts and compares Kashmir to an enchantress, a siren in whose bloody arms her son is dying:

My son, my son! Where are you?
This enchantress has lured you away. It was ever
Your wish to fly high into the clouds, and here
The clouds girdle the vale below.
Are you satisfied, my son?
She looks so cold to me…

                                                                                              (Lines 79 - 84)

The second mother Zohra Begum enters from the right and advances to the front. The chorus greets her in Muslim fashion, bowing with their right hands raised to the forehead. For her, religion is more important than the ruler. As long as the people of Kashmir happen to be Muslim there is no need for war:

Happy is our land ruled by the learned and strong
And happy we as long as we stay within.
But new lands, why new lands? Why Kashmir?
People here are of our faith I know,
But what faith has to do with politics?
What matters who rules them so long
As they bow to Islam? 

(Lines 194 – 200)

Prem Behn’s perspective of war is different from the other two mothers. The geographical proximity of Kashmir has shaped her consciousness. She is all praise for Kashmir and at the same time patriotic and brave. She is of the view that the fight for Kashmir is a just one. She feels proud of her son who has sacrificed his life for Kashmir:

Proud am I that my son is fighting
For such a prize. Lovely vale, had I a thousand sons
I’d send them all to fight for thee, and consider it
Scant sacrifice for such a treasure.   

(Lines 407 - 410)

Speaking of the sons, Hari, a young Indian pilot crawls in slowly, pistol in hand. He is the son of Meenakshi, and in his last moments reminds the childhood memories. It was his dream to be a pilot and fly high. His dream was fulfilled but he flew high literally, seeing the lovely high land of Kashmir. His decision to volunteer had nothing to do with a sense of duty to him nor did he seek glory and public acclamation by making a patriotic gesture.  Meenakshi, looking at her badly injured son, who has lost his left leg, cries to do something to ease his pain. Her son is in his last moments, remembering the beautiful seashore of Madras, babbling as if boozed up and then dies.

Ma, our sands stretched out beside the sea
Was more beautiful, was it not?
I see the white foam wall
The hand-scooped towers I built
For you.
And now for a moment I saw divinity gleam,
Let me close my eyes and see it again –

 (dies) (Lines 527 – 534)

Just then, Lieutenant Nand Kishore, the son of Prem Behn appears on the stage, who is too young to die. Happy to see his mother, he pitifully cries out that he does not want to die. He asks his mother to prevent his death. His implorations to his mother are painful. He refuses to be dead in his twenties. He says:

I am too young to be dead.
I refuse.
I want to live;
Feel the blood of youth
Coursing through my veins,

 (Lines 580 – 584)

Kishore dies a broken young man, being unable to understand his mother, who wants him to accept his death calmly. There is no suspense in the play. The dialogues between Hari and his mother Meenakshi; and Prem Behn and her son, Nand Kishore are very touching. Parameswaran uses spoken English when she is critical of the cruel consequences of war; she composes powerful dialogues of a serious nature. The last dialogue between Prem Behn and Nand Kishore is the best example in this sense:

Prem:
I am left alone with only my ideals
To support me. Leave me my ideals,
Illusions if you will…
And live with love in my heart
Not hate.
Go my darling, go. 
Nand:
I go, mother. I don’t know why
For I cannot understand you.
But the pleading in your voice
Comes straight to me and I know
I must go. 

 (Lines 695 – 707)

There are other characters, too. The nun is prejudiced against Muslims due to her past, unpleasant experiences. The dacoit is a cynic, ‘godless’, ‘heathen’ and utters blasphemous words. When everyone is blaming him, he scores a point when he says:

And so with one voice you dismiss me,
You who so fanatically kill each other
For your faiths, slaughter women and children
Where I but steal their gold. 

 (Lines 366 – 369)

Thus, the dacoit opens the eyes of the audience and makes them introspective.

Then there is a poet, romantic turned disillusioned soul. Once he sang the green splendour of the valley and the majestic might of the mountains. But now, he is the commentator of the nightmarish reality of Kashmir. He has seen the stream of blood from the bloody sun flooding the vale of Kashmir. He is pained to see the sufferings of the three mothers. In an act of extreme sympathy for the dying Kishore, he, in an emotional moment, stabs himself saying:

Take my life, friend, and live.
Take it, Allah, ha Allah!   (stabs himself)

(Lines 683 – 684)

Then, last but not least is the character of the Sadhu. Parameswaran uses this character to present her view on spirituality. He searched God into the Himalayan ranges, in self-control, detachment and yoga; but found Him in the form of a mother and her babe. All these characters reveal their views on spirituality, religion and patriotism. The characters are well-portrayed. Through them, Parameswaran has tried to expose the conflict between patriotism and attachment for life, between life and death. There is not much scope for the characters to unfold themselves here and the play remains a very simplistic presentation of a significant theme. Parameswaran uses chorus in the play as it was used in Greek drama. Like in a Greek drama, Uma Parameswaran’s Chorus does not take part in the action of the play. It informs and guides the audience.  Parameswaran’s Chorus consists of Old Men wearing traditional Kashmiri dresses. The cut of their beards and their caps show that two of them are Hindus; one, a Sikh and the other eight are Muslims. It reminds us of the Chorus in Mahesh Dattani’s play, Final Solutions. The chorus in his play too consisted of Hindus as well as Muslims. However, exchanging the masks, the same men represented Hindus and Muslims as per the requirement. Here the chorus is restricted in observing the action and commenting on it or on the major characters. The dialogue of the chorus is in the form of short lines. “There is a Chorus of Old Men, larded with several “Ye God”s, “Ah me”s and “Aye”s, which immediately betrays the pseudo romanticism of the play” (p. 212).

The play can be called a short poetic drama and has hardly any plot. It has no acts and scenes in it. The action is impeded by excessive doses of dialogue. What the audience can enjoy is the only description of the valley of Kashmir as an enchantress. The plot seems to be mainly concerned with the three mothers in search of their sons and their comments on war either acclaiming or protesting against the war. The futility of war is apparent in the play.