Partition 1947
BOOK REVIEW: NONFICTION / (Re)visit to the alleys of contestation, narratives, and memories that the Partition left behind
The book discusses the lack of sensitivity among policymakers in acknowledging the distinct socio-cultural differences and linguistic and community identities of the refugees that often got merged. It explores how different categories of refugees received different treatments.
Into the intersection of identity & violence
It is worth considering that, according to historian Yuval Noah Harari, we may not be able to fully evade violence, as our evolutionary past has instilled certain inclinations within us that could be linked to violence.
'Independence': A painfully poignant Partition story
Divakaruni has a message to send with this novel. To her, independence entails not just liberation or freedom from subjugation, it also means doing the right thing for oneself and for the people around us.
Anuradha Roy's book of longing and belonging
In Hindu mythology, the figure of the flaming, underwater horse has been repeatedly used to represent balance and harmony—a state in which both the elements of fire and water can coexist.
Ismat Chughtai and her stories of the unsayable
Chughtai spoke about taboo topics such as homosexuality, abortion, female desire, and their rights and independence.
75 years of Partition: A young boy's loss
I belong to a generation that was overtaken by the pestilence called Partition.
75 years of Partition: How the Noakhali riots came to be
Communal tension brewing for years led to the violent riots the year before Partition.
INTERVIEW / In Iffat Nawaz’s debut novel, 1971 is not an open wound
Shurjo’s Clan uses magic realism to conjure Shurjomukhi’s freedom fighter uncles, who were martyred in Sylhet’s tea gardens during the 1971 Liberation War, and her grandmother, who took her own life shortly after the 1947 Partition.
Partition 1947: Lessons we need to un/learn
Narratives from the peripheries are needed to balance out the indocentrism of Partition Studies
What impact did the Partition have on Dhaka's book trade?
The impact of the 1947 Partition was felt in every aspect of Dhaka's printing and publishing business, and the book trade in the new provincial capital took a momentous turn. How did it impact the booksellers, printers, and the material being published?
‘The danger in telling a single Partition story is that it completely erases the individual’
1947 was overtaken almost immediately by the language question, and the question of identity.
Death and Displacement in Syed Waliullah’s Partition Stories
Perhaps the starkest image of the Partition, which created the two independent states of India and Pakistan in 1947, is that of the train massacres.
Sabuha Khan
When Partition occurred Sabuha Khan's parents were divided on whether to leave Delhi and Rohtak permanently.
From postmemory to post-amnesia
For both Pakistan and Bangladesh, the time between 1947 and 1971 was best forgotten.
Amiya Kanti Mutsuddy
Mutsuddy was born into a Buddhist family in Rangunia, Chittagong, British India.
Mahammad Appu
A special train was arranged for Mr Appu's family and all of the workers in his father's factory to migrate from Lucknow.
Partition 1947: Uprooted and divided
"It took me a long time to realise that my family and I, like every other citizen of the current state of Bangladesh, were directly and indirectly a by-product of the Partition to the extent that even our daily struggles sometimes evolved around it," writes Meghna Guhathakurta.
Partition 1947: How a nationalist movement turned communal
Who is to blame for the 1947 Partition of India and the large-scale violence that it triggered? There are accusations and recriminations.
