5 books and films that tell the story of the trauma of the Partition of India and its aftermath
2 years, 6 months ago

5 books and films that tell the story of the trauma of the Partition of India and its aftermath

Salon  

Editor's note: At midnight on Aug. 14, 1947, India achieved independence from British colonial rule and Pakistan was created as a separate homeland for Muslims. "My Name is Radha: The Essential Manto" Recommended by professor Madhur Anand, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada Partition in South Asia refers to that horrific year when an arbitrary red line was drawn across a map by British colonial rulers – namely, the last viceroy, Louis Mountbatten, and Cyril Radcliffe, a barrister from England who was given five weeks to draw the line that severed India and created Pakistan. "Train to Pakistan" Recommended by professor Amitabh Mattoo, University of Melbourne, Australia Khushwant Singh's "Train to Pakistan" is one of the most moving accounts of the Partition of India and the way local communities, which had lived peacefully for generations, were torn apart by the forces of communalism. "Earth" Recommended by professor Ajay Verghese, Middlebury College, U.S. Deepa Mehta's 1998 film "Earth" is a chilling story about the horrors of the Partition. Based on Bapsi Sidhwa's novel "Cracking India," the film revolves around three friends in colonial Lahore, in present-day Pakistan: Shanta, a Hindu nanny to a young Parsi girl named Lenny, and two Muslim suitors, Hassan and Dil.

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History of this topic

A gendered telling of Partition
7 months ago

A gendered telling of Partition

Hindustan Times  

Thousands of lives were lost during the Partition of India. Kashmir: Book 3 of the Partition Trilogy by Manreet Sodhi Someshwar ₹499; HarperCollins Sodhi Someshwar’s Partition Trilogy, which includes Lahore: Book 1, Hyderabad: Book 2, and Kashmir: Book 3, not only tells the story of the Partition of India but also informs readers about the drama that unfolded during the …

Book Review | Renewal or break? A Partition memoir
8 months ago

Book Review | Renewal or break? A Partition memoir

Deccan Chronicle  

As a member of a Partition-affected family, I have always had a strong attraction to stories about that time in India when cries for division were suddenly added to calls for Independence from British rule. Yet the second my editor suggested that I review Broken Threads: My Family from Empire to Independence by Mishal Husain, a British journalist of Pakistani …

The CAA, Muslim exclusion and the lens of the right
1 year ago

The CAA, Muslim exclusion and the lens of the right

The Hindu  

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, while speaking at a conclave recently, gave two reasons, during the discussion, for the exclusion of Muslims from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh in the recently implemented Citizenship Act, 2019. If the Hindu right seeks to justify Muslim exclusion owing to Partition, it needs to be blamed for deliberately failing to appreciate the resistance that Muslims …

Partition only due to 2 persons: Manik Saha
1 year, 7 months ago

Partition only due to 2 persons: Manik Saha

Hindustan Times  

AGARTALA: India was partitioned in 1947 due to the wishes of only “two persons” though many Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and people from all other religions were against it, Tripura chief minister Manik Saha said at a programme to mark Partition Horrors Remembrance Day in Agartala on Monday. Tripura chief minister Manik Saha “If we think that only Hindus didn’t want …

Partitioned Freedom: Ram Madhav's new book triggers shift in popular perception of RSS’ view on Mahatma Gandhi
2 years, 3 months ago

Partitioned Freedom: Ram Madhav's new book triggers shift in popular perception of RSS’ view on Mahatma Gandhi

Firstpost  

The book marks an important intervention in the study of India’s colonial struggle and eventual partition, and definitely forms a significant contribution to RSS’s historiography on partition Tomes of literature and scholarly work on India’s bloodied partition have been produced over decades, so much so, as to reduce the effort to write on the subject to a banal exercise. In …

ESSAY | Remembering the Dalit experience of Partition on Ambedkar’s death anniversary
2 years, 3 months ago

ESSAY | Remembering the Dalit experience of Partition on Ambedkar’s death anniversary

The Hindu  

Published : Dec 01, 2022 10:35 IST Remembering and forgetting go hand in hand. At the very beginning, they pay tribute to the “spirit of enterprise” and “hard work” of Partition refugees who came into Delhi. Dutta explained was through their “superior initiative and enterprise”, there is this passage from Greater Delhi about the refugee from East Bengal: “He is …

Partition Remembrance Day: Painful Memories and Lessons to be Learnt - News18
2 years, 7 months ago

Partition Remembrance Day: Painful Memories and Lessons to be Learnt - News18

News 18  

Belonging to a refugee family from West Punjab, I grew up with the pain of being uprooted from our native place with a thought of going back there one day. I still remember one of the elders telling the story of living in Pakistan’s Rawalpindi even after 15 August, converting to Islam to get back one of the female family …

India at 75 | What would a conclave of Partition writers look like?
2 years, 7 months ago

India at 75 | What would a conclave of Partition writers look like?

The Hindu  

‘Zindaginama’ by Krishna Sobti The magnum opus of one of the all-time great Hindi writers, this novel eschews traditional plot structures and character development to deliver a stunning, wide-angle view of both Partition and Indian society in general. ‘Basti’ by Intizar Hussain Intizar Hussain is one of the most important Pakistani writers of all time and Basti was the work …

Book Review: S.S. Sharma's 'The Great Tragedy of India’s Partition’ helps to understand the circumstances of India’s Partition
3 years, 1 month ago

Book Review: S.S. Sharma's 'The Great Tragedy of India’s Partition’ helps to understand the circumstances of India’s Partition

The Hindu  

P artition, or rather the vivisection of India, as Mahatma Gandhi termed it, is a theme of enduring interest, both to the rapidly diminishing generation that suffered and survived it and to the succeeding generations in the subcontinent. As for the Lahore Resolution, adopted in March 1940 by the Muslim League without mentioning the word “Pakistan”, the author correctly points …

What does fiction tell us about Partition?
3 years, 7 months ago

What does fiction tell us about Partition?

The Hindu  

Parsing Partition is a national pastime. Daisy Rockwell tries to explain why in the Afterword to her translation of Khadija Mastur’s A Promised Land : “Like the Holocaust, or the American Civil War, or the French Revolution or any other epochal conflict that has shredded the fabric of society and caused many deaths, it is both a deep psychic preoccupation …

Interview: Pallavi Raghavan, Author, Animosity at Bay: An Alternative History of the India-Pakistan Relationship
4 years, 2 months ago

Interview: Pallavi Raghavan, Author, Animosity at Bay: An Alternative History of the India-Pakistan Relationship

Hindustan Times  

Often, even as India and Pakistan exchange lists of nuclear installations and hold talks about the Indus Water Treaty, ceasefire violations and retaliatory shelling continue along the Line of Control. We need to remember that the story of “othering” is just one of many different kinds of narratives that can be shaped around the subcontinent’s history. It’s a slower process …

'Muslims chose to stay in India after partition' is a myth used to make Hindus feel guilty
4 years, 7 months ago

'Muslims chose to stay in India after partition' is a myth used to make Hindus feel guilty

Op India  

Hindus celebrated across the world as the 500-year-old battle to reclaim the Ram Janmabhoomi culminated with Prime Minister Narendra Modi doing the ‘Bhoomi Pujan’ for the Bhavya Ram Mandir. One of the foremost arguments used by the apologetics of Islamism when any criticism of the barbarity heaped by invaders is mounted is that any such criticism is misplaced since the …

Watch: Jawaharlal Nehru’s interview where he says all Muslims in India are descendants of Hindus
5 years ago

Watch: Jawaharlal Nehru’s interview where he says all Muslims in India are descendants of Hindus

Op India  

The first Prime Minister of independent India Jawaharlal Nehru believed that all Indian Muslims are descendants of Hindus. In a video uploaded by Indian broadcaster Prasar Bharati on its YouTube channel, Nehru can be heard saying how some minority were afraid of India becoming free and they ‘remaining a minority’. At around 14 minutes into the video, Nehru says, “They …

Partition was a historic swindle that India, Pakistan and Bangladesh must see through; steps to undo British wrongdoing necessary
5 years, 2 months ago

Partition was a historic swindle that India, Pakistan and Bangladesh must see through; steps to undo British wrongdoing necessary

Firstpost  

A historical united people’s struggle led by patriotic, modern-minded leaders, like Mustafa Kemal of Turkey or the leaders of Japan after the Meiji Restoration, will be required for bringing about a transformation to lift India from the ranks of underdeveloped to developed countries Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s birth anniversary was on 25 December, and on this occasion, many Pakistanis said that …

Partition: An event to celebrate, mourn, or forget
5 years, 7 months ago

Partition: An event to celebrate, mourn, or forget

Al Jazeera  

More than 70 years ago today, the Indian subcontinent was divided by its British colonial rulers into two nation-states – India and Pakistan. In the schools that I work in Pakistan, students frequently tell me that they celebrate Pakistan’s independence from not the British Empire but “Hindu India” every August. Mourning a breakup in India As Pakistan celebrates the “making …

How a Postcard From India Brought Back Painful Partition Memories
6 years, 4 months ago

How a Postcard From India Brought Back Painful Partition Memories

The Quint  

Khanna’s letter to my great-grandfather is an expression of the regret and grief that many felt at having to leave their homelands unwillingly. Because of the massive exchange of population that took place between India and Pakistan, there are millions of people in each country descended from those who experienced the trauma of partition. Indeed, because of their entwined pasts …

Migrants, refugees... Just look at our history!
7 years, 4 months ago

Migrants, refugees... Just look at our history!

Deccan Chronicle  

The rhythmic, lyrical literature of Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali perhaps reflects the best possible description of Indian history — invasions, infiltration, immigration, migration and streams of “refugees” down the ages. Independent India’s journey began with an unprecedented influx of millions of its uprooted nationals who became “religious refugees” overnight, thanks to Partition. The irony of this, however, is that whereas Hindu …

‘Partition: 1947’ Parts With the Human Plight of Independence
7 years, 7 months ago

‘Partition: 1947’ Parts With the Human Plight of Independence

The Quint  

Lord Mountbatten was brought in to oversee the change of power, which was going to be a messy and tragic affair. The film, dubbed in Hindi and re-christened Partition: 1947, closely follows the workings of the last Viceroy to India and the events leading up to 15 August 1947. Incidentally, the English title, The Viceroy’s House, is more apt for …

Partition: Borders of Blood
7 years, 7 months ago

Partition: Borders of Blood

Al Jazeera  

Seventy years after the partition of India, we examine the troubled legacy of the event that shaped the subcontinent. Follow Al Jazeera’s coverage of the 70 years of India-Pakistan partition It sparked three wars, the birth of Bangladesh, and transformed Kashmir into one of the world’s most militarised zone. As tensions between India and Pakistan persist, 101 East explores partition’s …

For India's Oldest Citizens, Independence Day Spurs Memories Of A Painful Partition
7 years, 7 months ago

For India's Oldest Citizens, Independence Day Spurs Memories Of A Painful Partition

NPR  

For India's Oldest Citizens, Independence Day Spurs Memories Of A Painful Partition Promila Saigal remembers the men in her family tossing her "like a football" from the rooftop of one family home to the next, in a bid to save her from the frenzy that washed over the Indian subcontinent 70 years ago. Enlarge this image toggle caption Julie McCarthy/NPR …

70 Years Later, India And Pakistan Still Feel Impact Of Partition
7 years, 7 months ago

70 Years Later, India And Pakistan Still Feel Impact Of Partition

NPR  

70 Years Later, India And Pakistan Still Feel Impact Of Partition Seventy years after the partition of India and Pakistan, both countries are still shaped by the turmoil of that time. ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: Seventy years ago this week, Britain granted independence to the Indian subcontinent which was partitioned into two countries - Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan. Well, NPR's …

Partition wounds are still fresh
7 years, 7 months ago

Partition wounds are still fresh

Deccan Chronicle  

Hyderabad: “They would have butchered us if we had stayed back,” recalls 83-year-old Gurucharan Bhavanani, one of the oldest surviving members of the Sindhi community that came from Quetta in Balochistan to Hyderabad, when their hometown became part of Pakistan. Dayal Chimnani, chairman of Bottles and Chimney Muslims helped many escape It was Muslim friends who helped many people escape …

How the Partition of India happened – and why its effects are still felt today
7 years, 7 months ago

How the Partition of India happened – and why its effects are still felt today

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy “Partition” – the division of …

India at 70: Horror of Partition sealed Nehru’s drive for a secular democracy after Independence
7 years, 7 months ago

India at 70: Horror of Partition sealed Nehru’s drive for a secular democracy after Independence

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. open image in gallery Spectacles: Jawaharal Nehru and Gandhi …

70 years since Partition, Pakistan still hasn’t been able to separate itself from India
7 years, 7 months ago

70 years since Partition, Pakistan still hasn’t been able to separate itself from India

The Independent  

The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Pakistan came …

Partition 70 years on: The violence that created Pakistan and India
7 years, 7 months ago

Partition 70 years on: The violence that created Pakistan and India

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Speaking to Associated Press, Krishen Khanna, who was 21 …

Remembering Partition: 70 years since India-Pakistan divide
7 years, 7 months ago

Remembering Partition: 70 years since India-Pakistan divide

Associated Press  

It’s been 70 years since India and Pakistan were carved from the former British Empire as independent nations, a process that triggered one of the largest human migrations in history. “There was always something going on, and life in that village was very good.” Chopra’s family moved through refugee camps on both sides of the border, eventually reaching the bustling …

Partition of India: Objects that tell the story of a mass exodus
7 years, 7 months ago

Partition of India: Objects that tell the story of a mass exodus

CNN  

Editor’s Note: Aanchal Malhotra is a New Delhi-based artist, oral historian and author of “Remnants of a Separation: A History of the Partition through Material Memory.” The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author. In many Indian and Pakistani families like mine, “Partition” has become a word unspoken, shrouded in silence and sheathed with painful memories. …

India, Pakistan’s independence: The story behind one of history’s greatest mass migrations
7 years, 7 months ago

India, Pakistan’s independence: The story behind one of history’s greatest mass migrations

CNN  

Millions of Indians flee their homes from India to a newly-formed Pakistan, or in the opposite direction. In August 1947, around 12-15 million people fled their homes from one side of a new border within the former British colony of India to the other. What became known as partition gave birth to a new nation called Pakistan, conceived by a …

Memories of partition: One man’s return to Pakistan
7 years, 7 months ago

Memories of partition: One man’s return to Pakistan

Al Jazeera  

Seventy years on, a now 92-year-old man returns to the home he fled during the ‘poison’ of partition. “When we left, we had just put a lock on the house, thinking that we’d return within 10 or 15 days,” he says. It happened, and we had to flee.” The trauma of forced displacement Khanna’s characterisation of a “poison”, or “madness”, …

Going Back to Pakistan: 70 Years After Partition
7 years, 7 months ago

Going Back to Pakistan: 70 Years After Partition

Al Jazeera  

Mr Khanna returns to Pakistan for the first time since he was forced to flee when India was split apart in 1947. “Before I die, I want to go back to where I was born.” Krishan Kumar Khanna grew up just outside Lahore, Pakistan’s second-largest city. He has dreamed of going back ever since and, after trying for several years, …

Partition: A fallout of 1942?
9 years, 7 months ago

Partition: A fallout of 1942?

Deccan Chronicle  

There has been a spate of books in recent weeks on Partition and the birth of Pakistan. Did Nehru and Patel, and perhaps Mahatma Gandhi too, give in because they were too tired after a long struggle for freedom and saw a smaller but more organically united India as more workable than the sum of many parts held together by …

What Pak's crisis tells all Indians: Partition was an excellent idea
10 years, 6 months ago

What Pak's crisis tells all Indians: Partition was an excellent idea

Firstpost  

Contrary to what peace-wallahs think, it is not India’s job to rescue Pakistan from theocratic mess or any other crisis they pass through. In fact, we would have been in every kind of sectarian strife if we had had a united India in 1947 If one were to look at what’s happening across our western borders – where an elected …

Was partition worth it?
14 years, 6 months ago

Was partition worth it?

Al Jazeera  

As India and Pakistan celebrate independence, we revisit the partition of the subcontinent. While India’s economy has grown exponentially, it is still struggling with grinding poverty, a slew of internal separatist movements and a growing leftist insurgency. Both nations have also fought three wars – two of them over the disputed region of Kashmir – and are perennially hovering on …

Partition: conflict for state power
15 years, 2 months ago

Partition: conflict for state power

The Hindu  

History is often dismissively spoken of as about ‘dead yesterdays’; but like Bram Stoker’s ‘Un-Dead Count Dracula,’ it has a wicked habit of returning to the world of the living to haunt it. The Partition has been called variously as a “vivisection,” “an imperialist betrayal,” and “a historical denouement of two-nation theory.” Those found ‘guilty’ have been ‘impeached’, counterfactual histories …

Divided minds
16 years, 9 months ago

Divided minds

The Hindu  

Partition has led to sectarian strife in Pakistan; in India it fuels the Sangh Parivars hate industry. Its evil consequences are still being felt: in Pakistan, where it led to sectarian strife and in India, w here it fuels the hate industry that the Sangh Parivar set up decades before Partition. If Partition is a tragedy of monumental proportions, the …

Rushdie’s new novel, Partition literature, India after 1947 and more | The Hindu on Books
77 years, 5 months ago

Rushdie’s new novel, Partition literature, India after 1947 and more | The Hindu on Books

The Hindu  

This article forms a part of The Hindu on Books newsletter which brings you book reviews, reading recommendations, interviews with authors and more. As he writes in his memoir, Joseph Anton, “If he was going to have one last try at achieving his dream, he didn’t want it to be with a safe, conservative, middling little book.” In reviews, we …

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