Identity Crisis in Benyamin’s Jasmine Days

Abstract

Benyamin reflects upon the identity crisis which is haunting the lives of the migrants through the eyes of the protagonist Sameera Parvin, in the novel Jasmine Days. The novel Jasmine Days underlines the irony of identity existence. In the host country, the migrant community, once invited for their potential to contribute to development there, becomes unwanted during a political crisis. They feel riven between two factions and siding with one, even if their heart favours it, poses existential threat. While the main focus of the novel is the migrant community from the Indian subcontinent, the religious differences among the native people are seen intertwined with the political entanglement. This research article titled “Identity Crisis in Benyamin’s Jasmine Days” tries to decode the ties of Sameera to her homeland and her immigrant existence.  Being an immigrant in Pakistan amidst the ambience of the Jasmine Protest, adds to the turbulence, causing strain on the life of Sameera. The prevailing Sunni-Shia conflicts seeks her to be the daughter of the victim family. The upheaval of thoughts in Sameera seeks for a larger wisdom for humanity.