Understanding Partition of India: Causes and Impacts

Rayat Shikshan Sanstha DAHIWADI COLLEGE DAHIWADI PARTITION LITERATURE General Topics BA II English (opt) By Dr. Anil N Dadas MA, MA, MPhil, PhD

B. A. Part II (Discipline Specific Core) (DSC-C6 and C30) Semester III (Paper IV) and Semester IV (Paper VI) PARTITION LITERATURE (CBCS) June 2019 Onwards

PARTITION LITERATURE English (Paper IV) (Semester III) Module I Partition: Causes and Effects Module II Communal Conflicts and Violence (Paper VI) (Semester IV) Module I Impact of Partition on Women Module II Home and Exile

OBJECTIVES To create an awareness of the partition scenario among the students. To examine the socio-cultural and psychological issues of women who lived/ experienced partition. To understand issues of women across the cultures, irrespective of their caste, class, creed, religion and community. To understand the impact of partition on society- widespread violence and displacement. To think on its impact on cultural and critical narratives. To inform trauma that continues to shape ethnic and national identities.

LEARNING OUTCOMES After completing the course, students will be able to: Appreciate the historic relationship between India and Pakistan Muslims and Hindus. Explain the Causes and Effects of Partition. Link the political and cultural phenomenon to violence, terror and ethnic nationalism. Summarize and Contextualize the Events and Opinions about the Partition of India.

MODULE I PARTITION: CAUSES AND EFFECTS

PARTITION OF INDIA: CAUSES Long-Term Causes Muslim had conquested northern India in 1100s British imperialism in India: In 1858, after the Mutiny, the British government took full control of India. Nationalists had organized the Indian National Congress in 1885. Muslim nationalists had formed separate Muslim League in 1906.

PARTITION OF INDIA: CAUSES Short-Term Causes World War II weakens European colonial empires. Pressures from Indian nationalists increased. Insistence by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the Muslim League that Muslims have their own state. Antic thinking of the Muslims and their communalism. Congress s policy of Appeasement. Communal Reaction

EFFECTS OF PARTITION During the split of India, there was a mass migration of over 15 Million. The Muslims were going to Pakistan as the Hindus were leaving for India. The name Pakistan was coined in 1933 by Choudhry Rahmat Ali The creation of Pakistan was tumultuous, resulting in chaos, riots, deaths & crimes against humanity. This deepened the rift between Muslims and Hindus.

EFFECTS OF PARTITION Increase of Power of Stereotypes Violence and Communal Clashes Religious Nationalism Adverse Impact on Agriculture, Industry, Trade, Banking, Public Finances Large Number of Migration

MODULE II COMMUNAL CONFLICTS AND VIOLENCE

COMMUNAL CONFLICTS IN INDIA CAUSES Divide and Rule Policy of the British Political Organizations Activities of the Muslim League Mohammad Ali Jinnah and extreme communalism

COMMUNAL CONFLICTS AND VIOLENCE Partition left both India & Pakistan devastated socially & economically. Some of the atrocities committed between the Muslims & Hindus were widespread rape, looting & murder, bordering on genocide. This included the bombing of trains of immigrants by Hindus and even filling trains full of the dismembered bodies & sending them across the border into Pakistan.

COMMUNAL CONFLICTS AND VIOLENCE Mass Cremation: 6,00, 000 people were killed in Punjab alone. It is estimated that another one million people were killed. 12 million people were left homeless. Thousands were raped.

MIGRATIONS Based on the 1951 census of displaced persons, 72,26,000 Muslims went to Pakistan from India. And 72,49, 000 Hindus and Sikhs went to India from Pakistan. All of this happened IMMEDIATELY after the partition.

MODULE I IMPACT OF PARTITION ON WOMEN

IMPACT OF PARTITION ON WOMEN Familial Consequences: Religious Consequences: Psychological Consequences: Economical Consequences: Political Consequences: Social Consequences: Literary Consequences:

MODULE II HOME AND EXILE

HOME AND EXILE Phase of Immigration. Loneliness, depression, despair, forced displacement, identity and existence. Widowhood and exile. Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs-- Women of all ages, ethnic groups and social classes were victimized, tortured and raped and also dislocated. Troops of displacement, exile and the state of being refugees.

PARTITION LITERATURE Khushwant Singh s Train to Pakistan Bapsi Sidhwa sIce Candy Man,Cracking India (1991) and Bride Salman Rushdie s Midnight s Children K.A. Abbas Inquilab, Manju Kapur SDifficult Daughters (1998)

PARTITION LITERATURE Bhisham Sahni s novel Tamas (Darkness, Ignorance 1974), Govind Nihalani, who made Tamas into a television film in 1987, described it as a grim reminder of the immense tragedy that results whenever the religious sentiments of communities are manipulated to achieve political objectives. It is a prophetic warning against the use of religion as a weapon to gain and perpetuate political power.

Film-Screening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18Y_ZqH7iSI The Day India Burned Partition---BBC Documentary 2007 kishubhai The Partition of India: A New Divide https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl41mFlF bVI Sarthak Garg Published on Feb 17, 2013

FRAMING QUESTIONS What ideas led to the death and suffering of so many innocent women during the Partition? Why did the Indian and Pakistani governments agree to exchange their women? Do you think they were right in doing so? Why was British India partitioned? How did women experience Partition?