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The Long Partition and the Making of Modern South Asia
This remarkable study reflects the sufferings of the people caught in the vortex of Partition. It records their confusion regarding their property, status, citizenship and the most important—their lives. In fact, the reader gets an idea that the leaders at the helm of affairs at that time perhaps did not realise the magnitude of the problem of Partition. It traces histories of people who were left in the lurch because their families were divided. Nation-building needs far-sightedness and an impartial attitude by the political leadership. This became a necessity because along with the joy of freedom came the news of Partition. However, leaders in Pakistan and India sometimes could not prove equal to the task. "Some 12 million people were displaced in the divided Punjab alone, and some 20 million in the subcontinent as a whole, making it one of the largest displacements of people in the 20th century, comparable only to the nearly contemporaneous displacements produced by the Second World War in Europe." This research deals with the problems of this displaced population on both sides of the border. In India, the "departure of Muslim ‘evacuees’ thus came to be perceived necessary to accommodate Hindu and Sikh refugees". Pakistan adopted the same policy, though the evacuee property laws were framed to protect the properties of the displaced till the owners could return to them. Sadly, the same laws were used to see that the displaced people could not return to them. The migrants were in a no-win situation because while demanding Pakistan, the Muslim League leadership had declared that Pakistan would be a home where the Muslims would be welcomed. But as the Muslims started pouring into Pakistan, the government of that country retreated from its promise. In India, some of the Muslims were given a raw deal for their areas were described as ‘mini-Pakistan’ in India and the Muslims acting as the ‘fifth column’ against the Indian Union. Unfortunately, this in particular was expressed by the then Deputy Commissioner of Delhi, and the allegations continue till today. They realised the problem of settling these migrants. There would be paucity of houses in the fledging nation, despite the Hindu exodus. The permit system between the countries added to people’s woes while increasing corruption among the government officials. Divided families bribed officials so that their relatives could join them and stay together in one country, irrespective of the country—India or Pakistan. The case studies drive home this point. A mother could not attend her son’s marriage because the official issuing visa believed the mother’s presence was not required in her son’s marriage! But a wife could get a visa for the reason that she had to offer prayers at her husband’s grave. The author explores Pakistan’s illogical demand to ask for more territory to accommodate the refugees from India. In India’s Uttar Pradesh, Muslim ancestral houses were divided, with Hindu families allotted the other half of the house. The people of two different cultures were being forced to share the washroom and cooking areas. The problems were such that had not been dealt with before and the solution was equally absurd. Thus, the author has stepped in spheres that have yet not been focused by many scholars. The writer has sifted through a large number of newspapers and official records to unveil facts. The work is commendable keeping in view the stumbling blocks. For example, records in Pakistan kept shifting because "Karachi’s status kept shifting, from periphery to Capital, to periphery again, with Islamabad becoming the new Capital of Pakistan in the early 1960s." A librarian even went to the extent of advising the author to visit India to read the authentic records of Karachi’s past! A work to be studied in great detail by those pursuing their research on Punjab politics, Partition as well historians attempting to record and clarify the history of the Indian subcontinent.
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A
growing number of researchers are delving into the history of the
partition of India. The studies are welcome as they help in
understanding Partition in a fresh perspective. With people in the
Indian subcontinent still divided over caste and religion, we need to be
aware of the mistakes of the past lest we repeat them.