Sanjha Panjab
Before the Radcliffe line in 1947, there was Sanjha Panjab – a territory sharing language, food and agricultural knowledge. Cyril Radcliffe had never even visited the region, nor were the United Nations invited to the conversation – a deliberate decision to avoid delays – the British empire wanted to show that they could govern themselves without any support from the ‘outside’.
We Are Cheesemakers, illustrated by Parmeet Arora Bori, ©Saffron Press, 2025.
Divisions were drawn in secret and with much haste. Almost overnight, Sanjha Panjab became Charda Panjab and Lehnda Panjab – cutting through the heart of Panjabis on the east and west of a line, drawn without regard for the people who would be pushed away from their homes or those pulled towards uncertainty. Rivers were divided too, leaving the land and people broken.
We Are Cheesemakers, illustrated by Parmeet Arora Bori, ©Saffron Press, 2025
The current devastation of the flooding in Panjab has impacted millions of inhabitants in over 1000 villages, on both sides of the Radcliffe line. It happened because of decades of State neglect and mismanagement of waterways, dams and rainwater. Groundwater has been almost depleted, leading to farmers taking their lives in acts of desperation. Instead of partnering with agricultural workers and soil scientists of local universities to find innovative solutions, the State has ignored the danger of the climate crisis, systematically destroying the land by poisoning soils and canals with chemicals and simultaneously, the psyche of resistance in the people of Panjab. It was not just a natural disaster, it is devastation by design.
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