Partition
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.
THE SHELF / Stories that move you
In keeping with the spirit of Partition of 1947, we have compiled a list of stories that deal with movements and migrations,
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.
A refugee's tale in Calcutta
Unlike many of the war refugees from Bangladesh in Calcutta, he felt no urge to be involved in the war. He had fled the country to save his life, not to participate in the fight.
BOOK REVIEW: FICTION / Family of feelings: Iffat Nawaz's 'Shurjo's Clan'
Part memoir, part magical realism, this is a story about identity and the idea of home.
BOOK EXCERPT: NONFICTION / Toward Ladyland: On the life and work of Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain
Her 1903 piece “Alonkar na badge of slavery” marked the start of Rokeya’s explicitly feminist writing.
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.
7 recent books on the Partition of India
With this list, we bring to attention the books recently released which deal with the politics and loss associated with this defining moment in history, in the form of both fiction and nonfiction.
73 years later, partition victims find their way back in virtual reality
After seven decades, many of the victims of 1947 partition are getting a chance to get a glimpse of their ancestral lands once again, thanks to a virtual reality project by a team of tech and history enthusiasts from Oxford University. Here’s the story of Project Dastaan, and of people yearning to go back home.
Seven decades of joy and pain
My father, who practised medicine, was stopped from migrating whenever he thought of moving out of Sialkot. One day, my mother and he decided to travel without letting people know. They boarded the train unnoticed.
From “bare lives” to “bare citizens”
The fateful line of Radcliffe, as most of us know, not only decided the border between two new states (India and Pakistan) but also sealed the fate of millions of people.
