Communal Conflicts and Violence

 

B. A. Part II

Semester III, Paper No. IV

Partition Literature

Communal Conflicts and Violence

After three hundred years of rule, finally, the British left India in August 1947. The dream of independent India came true but at the cost of the Partition. Due to Partition two independent nations – India and Pakistan were formed.

The announcement of the Partition was followed by a horrific (भयावह) period of communal violence and population transfer. Millions of Muslims migrated to Pakistan, while millions of Hindus and Sikhs migrated to India. Many of them unfortunately never made it. It is one of the greatest migrations (स्थलांतर) in human history. They had to leave behind all their properties and belongings overnight (रातोरात). They had to travel on foot, bullock carts, and trains. Punjab saw the maximum number of displaced persons from Pakistan. 4.7 million (दशलक्ष) Hindus and Sikhs migrated to India from Pakistan. 6.5 million Muslims migrated to Pakistan from India. Around 2.23 million people went missing during mass transfer along the Punjab border.

The incidents of violence were nightmarish (दुःस्वप्न) and barbaric (रानटी). The events displayed the tendencies of ‘genocide’ (नरसंहार). It included terrible incidents like chopping off limbs; killing pregnant women; hitting the heads of babies against brick walls; and exhibiting dead bodies. In Punjab and Bengal, the violence was intense with massacres (हत्याकांड), burning, forced conversions (जबरदस्तीने करण्यात आलेले धर्मांतर), mass kidnappings, and sexual violence. Some seventy-five thousand women were raped, and many of them were then disfigured (विद्रूप करणे)) and dismembered (विच्छेदन करणे). In Lahore and Delhi, the streets were full of dead bodies. On the railway platforms, there were pools of blood. The flames of violence spread from village to village. Punjab was the principal centre of the violence. Innocent Hindus, Sikhs as well as Muslims were killed like animals. Special refugee trains crossing the frontiers (सरहद्द) were full of dead bodies. People returned ‘home’ in funeral silence.

It took years for both India and Pakistan to resettle the refugees. In India, the refugees were initially given shelter in different military sites. The Indian government took up several building projects in Delhi. The Indian government came up with several schemes across India to provide provision for education, employment and other opportunities for refugees (निर्वासित). The violent partition of British India in 1947 however developed a complex and hostile relationship between India and Pakistan that prevails till today.

*       *       *       *       *