The Shadow Lines: Interrogating the Great Divide

Abstract

The article The Shadow Lines: Interrogating the Great Divide questions the concept of border and Partition- a solution to the problems of social unrest on religious grounds or political motivation. During the British Raj feeling of suspicion and hatred were planted in the heart and mind of millions of Indian people. The gulf of communal disharmony widened with time and this resulted in the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. The ulterior motives of British Empire, the Congress Party and the Muslim League caused the partition of India. The then political leaders failed to resolve their difference over power-sharing. The ever widening gulf between the Hindus and the Muslims on communal issues was said to be the main cause of partition, though both the communities had a long history of peaceful co-existence for more than a thousand years. The Partition divided friends, families, lovers and neighbours. It led to the disintegration of human values, rootlessness and alienation