Partition of India: Postcolonial Legacies

Description

The Partition of British India in 1947 set in motion events that have had far-reaching consequences in South Asia – wars, military tensions, secessionist movements and militancy/terrorism. This book looks at key events in 1947 and explores the aftermath of the Partition and its continued impact in the present-day understanding of nationhood and identity. It also examines the diverse and fractured narratives that framed popular memory and understanding of history in the region. The volume includes discussions on the manner in which regions such as the Punjab, Sindh, Kashmir, Bengal, Uttar Pradesh (Lucknow) and North-East India were influenced. It deals with issues such as communal politics, class conflict, religion, peasant nationalism, decolonization, migration, displacement, riots, the state of refugees, women and minorities, as well as the political relationship between India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Drawing on major flashpoints in contemporary South Asian history along with representations from literature, art and popular culture, this book will interest scholars of modern Indian history, Partition studies, colonial history, postcolonial studies, international relations, politics, sociology, literature and South Asian studies. Cover Half Title Title Copyright Contents List of illustrations List of contributors Preface List of abbreviations Glossary Introduction 1 Partition of India: a reaction against ‘differences’? PART I Impact of partition in the provinces and princely states 2 The 1947 partition of Punjab 3 Peregrination of Sindh’s march towards Pakistan: communal politics, class conflict and competing nationalisms 4 Peasant nationalism, elite conflict, and the second partition of Bengal, 1918–1947 5 Recovering a forgotten partition: decolonisation, displacement and memories of home and uprooting in postcolonial Assam 6 Did India’s Partition lead to the segregation of North-East India? 7 Balochistan: from British rule to a province of Pakistan PART II Migration and displacement 8 Unwanted refugees: Sindhi Hindus in India and Muhajirs in Sindhi 9 1950 riots and fractured social spaces: minority displacement and dispossession in Calcutta and its neighbouring areas PART III Personal history, interpretation and (re)presentation 10 Kashmir as Partition’s ‘unfinished business’ 11 Lucknow: a personal history 12 Bacha Khan: the legacy of hope and perseverance 13 Whose history of partition?: Tamil cinema and the negotiation of national identity 14 Re(presenting) refugee women in Bengal’s partition narratives PART IV Relationships: India–Pakistan–Bangladesh 15 Seventy years of India–Pakistan relations 16 India, Bangladesh and International Crime Tribunal 17 Bangladesh–Pakistan ties: future prospects of a troubled relationship Index