Partition Of Indian Subcontinent Research Articles

An Overview of Non-fictional Literature in English About Partition of Indian Subcontinent

It is said that literature is the mirror of the society. The reflection of the partition of India can be seen in the partition literature. Partition literature has mainly been divided into two types. First is fictional partition literature and second is non-fictional partition literature. Fictional partition literature sheds light on the partition of India through a fictionalised manner and is seen more as an art. Non-fictional partition literature talks about real life events and happenings that took place during the partition. They are presented by real life people such as eye-witnesses, survivors and their descendants and are penned and documented by writers from both India and Pakistan based on true events, stories that have been passed down from generations to generations. Fictional partition literature revolves around the partition with an essence of love stories and artistic expressions where as non-fictional partition literature is made of the actual experiences and does not contain artistic expressions.

Acculturation Level and Cultural Adaptive Strategies of Camp-Dwelling Biharis in Bangladesh

This study rambles on those ‘Bangladeshis’ who made mass people of Bangladesh contemplate for a long time whether ‘Bangladesh is for Bangladeshis or for Bangalis.’ This statement is sufficient for hinting that current research is on Urdu-Speaking Bangladeshi minor group who were the victims of political jumbles and helplessly migrated to present territory of Bangladesh after the partition of Indian subcontinent and hold a range of fundamental cultural heterogeneities with native Bengalis. The research aimed to investigate the acculturation level, cultural adaptation strategies and factors stimulating the acculturation process of camp-dwelling Biharis. In order to reach the objectives, mixed research methodology has been followed where composite indexing of numeric values and qualitative analysis of observation, narrative interviews and KIIs have been conducted. The study reveals that due to having social, cultural and ideological conflicts, Biharis have not been able to fully assimilate with the host community. Yet, they have managed to integrate with native Bengalis as indicated by composite index value of 0.53 through cultural learning, intermarriages, social interactions, legalizing political identity, entrance to labor force etc. Because of persisting discrimination, power conflict, prejudice and lack of peoplehood, they are still on the third stage of Gordon’s Model of Assimilation.
 The Dhaka University Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Vol. 11(1), 2022, P 16-26

“Self-Help is Help-Self”: ‘The New Motto of Self-Aggrandizement in Manto’s Women’

This research paper aims to study Saadat Hassan Manto, a well known short story writer in South Asia. Most of his works target the whole generation of women who were the worst sufferers before and after partition, whose bodies and ‘self’ were crushed. They suffer the heaviest acts of rape and murder which became common during the partition of Indian subcontinent in 1947. This research paper emphasizes on the victimization and narrative of women who were detected and supposed to be mute and totally ignored. Manto does not differentiate between classes and represent the magnified image of despoiled and partitioned self of women. He remains neutral and yet strong when it comes to his view. It also comments on Manto’s innovative technique of giving voice to the ignored section of society, women, who displayed their victimization and marginalization strive to make a living and try and make sense of their scattered realities.

Living between brackets: Public-private patriarchal violence and the mental state of women on both sides of Radcliffe line

The study examines the public-private patriarchal notion of Sylvia Walby and its violent effects on women’s mental state during and after the partition of Indian Subcontinent. Systematic electronic searches were conducted in 7 electronic databases and 42 studies were included for final review. Findings explored private patriarchal violence including ‘honor killing’, ‘collective suicide’, hate and curse, social rejection, sex trap, cancelled communality, and twice displacement. Public patriarchal violence became evident through rape, forced marriage, and abduction. The private and public patriarchal violence captivated and imprisoned women’s minds and resulted in mental traumas including estrangement and emotional detachment, unbalanced minds, diseased thought and paranoia, post-traumatic stress disorder, ‘feeling of loss’, depression and sadism, ‘disturbing memory’ and insanity, haunted nightmare and spooky dream, and concealed grief.

Partition of Indian Subcontinent: A Thought-Provoking Outcome of the Prevailing “Anachronistic” Approach to Religion instead of “Modern”

Understanding of the holocaust event, ‘Partition of Indian Subcontinent’(1947) still appears a problematic chapter to deal with even after more than seven decades of the holocaust event not only for millions of Indians and Pakistanis but for many in abroad too. The momentous event still continues to tantalize many historians, writers, researchers and scholars at present day context even. Reading history is not enough to understand this event of great vastness. Literary representation of Partition also plays a significant role in this regard. The cataclysmic event has been documented in a wide range of literary genres -fictions, non-fictions, poetry, memoirs, oral history etc., published in multiple languages in many countries. All the writers try to capture the most harrowing scenes of the turbulent period of history as per their immensity of experiences and meticulous observation. Besides many reasons responsible for the Partition, the underlying ‘anachronistic’ approach to ‘religion’ is noticed as the most prominent one in resulting the thought-provoking disaster of 1947. The present paper seeks to explore ‘the’ least attended aspect but ‘the’ most important reason of the holocaust i.e. the prevailing anachronistic approach to “religion” instead of “modern” with special reference to Brent Nonbri’s idea of “modern concept” of an “ancient( traditional)” notion of “religion.”

THE PARTITION OF INDIA AND ITS REFLECTIONS IN KHUSHWANT SINGH’S TRAIN TO PAKISTAN AND BAPSI SIDHWA’S ICE CANDY MAN: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Partition of Indian Sub-continent is one of the most terrible events in the history of the sub continent. The Sub-continent got freedom in 1947 along with its vivisection on the communal basis which leaves us puzzled weather the year 1947 is worthy to be remembered for the independence or for the massacre and atrocities during involuntary migration of a huge mass of people for their existence. Various writers have attempted to deal with the theme of Partition of Indian Sub-continent in their works. However, a kind of variations in the depiction of the historical events, differences in the approaches to the truth and differences in the focus and attitude of the authors are quite natural. Even the treatment of the same event or incident may differ from author to author. The present paper aims at the comparative study of Khushwant Singh’s Train to Pakistan and Bapsi Sidhwa’s Ice Candy Man. Both the writers have witnessed the event themselves and tried to depict the terror of the conflict and the suffering of people during those days in their novels. Both the writers have got worldwide recognition for their treatment of the theme of partition in their novels. The present paper discusses the similarities and dissimilarities in the treatment of the same theme.

In-Between Spaces: Resettling Reminiscences of 1947 Partition of Indian subcontinent through Five Rivers: A Portrait of Partition

Staged inside a shamiyana (tent-house), the video-installation Five Rivers: A Portrait of Partition, a documentary in cyclorama by Sheba Remy Kharbanda and William Charles ‘Chuck’ Moss narrates Amrik Singh’s personal account of the 1947 Partition of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan. The Partition Scholarship is largely divided into the narratives based on ‘high politics’ and ‘voices from below’. Seemingly, the urgency of political survival – on both sides of the border, India and Pakistan – stifles demand to acknowledge the genocidal violence which has caused moments of rupture in the history of subcontinent’s Independence. Shifting away from the discourses embellished with exclusive political immediacy, the subaltern develops an alternative language to reincarnate the pain of dislocation and disassociation under the canopy of conflagration of communities. The article focuses on the subaltern representation of the Partition of the subcontinent by the diasporic artist, Sheba, third generation vis-à-vis Partition. The discussion shows how the video-installation, set against the aesthetics of photo-montage, literary verses and socio-political valency of history, brings novel understandings to deviations and delineations about the memory of historical trauma. Critically investigating the performative use of public space as the moving architectural settings in the shape of shamiyana, the discussion opens multiple perspectives shared between artist and audience. The article is an attempt to juxtapose the notions of displacement and identity politics with vocabulary of visual aesthetics in order to add new meaning to the critical understanding of historicity of conflict and memory narratives.