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The Partitions of Memory: The Afterlife of the Division of India
Echoes of the traumatic events surrounding the Partition of India in 1947 can be heard to this day in the daily life of the subcontinent, each time India and Pakistan play a cricket match or when their political leaders speak of "unfinished business." Sikhs who lived through the pogrom following the assassination of Indira Gandhi recall Partition, as do, most recently, Muslim communities targeted by mobs in Gujarat.
The eight essays in The Partitions of Memory suggest ways in which the tangled skein of Partition might be unraveled. The contributors range over issues as diverse as literary reactions to Partition; the relief and rehabilitation measures provided to refugees; children's understanding of Partition; the power of "national" monuments to evoke a historical past; the power of letters to evoke more immediately poignant pasts; and the Dalit claim, at the prospect of Partition, to a separate political identity. The book demonstrates how fundamental the material and symbolic histories of Partition are to much that has happened in South Asia since 1947.
Mukulika Banerjee, Urvashi Butalia, Joya Chatterji, Priyamvada Gopal, Suvir Kaul, Nita Kumar, Sunil Kumar, Richard Murphy, and Ramnarayan S. Rawat.
The eight essays in The Partitions of Memory suggest ways in which the tangled skein of Partition might be unraveled. The contributors range over issues as diverse as literary reactions to Partition; the relief and rehabilitation measures provided to refugees; children's understanding of Partition; the power of "national" monuments to evoke a historical past; the power of letters to evoke more immediately poignant pasts; and the Dalit claim, at the prospect of Partition, to a separate political identity. The book demonstrates how fundamental the material and symbolic histories of Partition are to much that has happened in South Asia since 1947.
Mukulika Banerjee, Urvashi Butalia, Joya Chatterji, Priyamvada Gopal, Suvir Kaul, Nita Kumar, Sunil Kumar, Richard Murphy, and Ramnarayan S. Rawat.
- GenresIndiaNonfiction
300 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2002
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June 13, 2018
The Partitions of Memory, edited Suvir Kaul
Unlike most other books written on the Partition of South Asia, Suvir Kaul’s edited work “The Partitions of Memory” brings together case-histories from either side of the borders of India and Pakistan. I found this approach extremely refreshing, and also intellectually stimulating, because from one chapter to the other, as a reader, I crossed geopolitical realities to read about the lasting legacies, the afterlife and the ramifications the Partition of South Asia have guaranteed to the succeeding generations. While the first chapter implicitly stresses on the importance of oral testimonials to gather bits and pieces of history, Butalia’s essay narrates at length regarding letters (both formal and informal) being an important repository that enhance our understanding of the event’s afterlife in its multifarious forms. Chatterji’s essay is perhaps the first of its kind to discuss in detail the persistent confrontation between the refugees and the West Bengal State Government concerning the rehabilitation schemes adopted to safeguard this newly dispossessed refugee-subjects. Studies on Partition focus on the gnawing communal distance between the Muslims and the Hindus in South Asia. Evidently enough, our attention gets riveted to the Direct Action day (16th August 1946) or the Great Calcutta killings as it is infamously named. The account of the Dalit struggle for identity presents a parallel history around the same timeline when the first riots broke out in South Asia between Hindus and Muslims. It raises the important question: Did the Dalits have a history of theirs in the Partition? The answer is yes, of course, and the institutionalised amnesia selectively silences the Dalit struggle leading to the days of Independence/Partition under the banner of their organization Scheduled Class Federation (SCF). The essay on Lahore and the ways the city has embraced and appropriated the Partition is an intriguing account of the high politics that men of power employ to cement their position. The literary approach to reading Partition stories and the plight of midnight’s children strengthen the interdisciplinary approach of the book.
Unlike most other books written on the Partition of South Asia, Suvir Kaul’s edited work “The Partitions of Memory” brings together case-histories from either side of the borders of India and Pakistan. I found this approach extremely refreshing, and also intellectually stimulating, because from one chapter to the other, as a reader, I crossed geopolitical realities to read about the lasting legacies, the afterlife and the ramifications the Partition of South Asia have guaranteed to the succeeding generations. While the first chapter implicitly stresses on the importance of oral testimonials to gather bits and pieces of history, Butalia’s essay narrates at length regarding letters (both formal and informal) being an important repository that enhance our understanding of the event’s afterlife in its multifarious forms. Chatterji’s essay is perhaps the first of its kind to discuss in detail the persistent confrontation between the refugees and the West Bengal State Government concerning the rehabilitation schemes adopted to safeguard this newly dispossessed refugee-subjects. Studies on Partition focus on the gnawing communal distance between the Muslims and the Hindus in South Asia. Evidently enough, our attention gets riveted to the Direct Action day (16th August 1946) or the Great Calcutta killings as it is infamously named. The account of the Dalit struggle for identity presents a parallel history around the same timeline when the first riots broke out in South Asia between Hindus and Muslims. It raises the important question: Did the Dalits have a history of theirs in the Partition? The answer is yes, of course, and the institutionalised amnesia selectively silences the Dalit struggle leading to the days of Independence/Partition under the banner of their organization Scheduled Class Federation (SCF). The essay on Lahore and the ways the city has embraced and appropriated the Partition is an intriguing account of the high politics that men of power employ to cement their position. The literary approach to reading Partition stories and the plight of midnight’s children strengthen the interdisciplinary approach of the book.
Displaying 1 of 1 review