The Aftermath of Partition in South Asia (Routledge Studies in the Modern History of Asia)

343 Pages·2001·4.09 MB·English

by  Gyanes Kudaisya

The Aftermath of Partition inSouth Asia
‘A valuable academic study of the subcontinent which is
accessible to the seriousgeneral reader and enhances our
understanding of some of its most intractableproblems.’
Judith M.Brown, Beit Professor of Commonwealth History, University of
Oxford
The partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947 was a defining moment which
has powerfully shaped the destinies of people in the South Asian region. The birth
of nation-states of India and Pakistan produced reverberations which were both
immediate and long-term. This book focuses on the aftermath of partition and
takes stock of its long-term consequences.
Earlier works on partition have portrayed it as a tragic and unintended consequence
of decolonization, or subordinated it to the larger dramas surrounding the advent
of independence. This book sees partition in its own terms. It argues that it was
not a single event, but a trigger of processes which have left a deep imprint on state
and society in the region. Where other books have looked only at the causes of
partition, this book broadens the horizon by looking at its effects. It is constructed
around two key motifs: the dislocations and disruptions, and the long-term impact
of partition on peoples, places and institutions.
The Aftermath of Partition in South Asia draws upon new theoretical insights and
fresh bodies of data to reappraise partition historically in the light of its long
aftermath. It uses a comparative approach by viewing South Asia in its totality,
rather than looking at it in narrow national terms. As the first book to focus on the
aftermath of partition, it fills a distinctive niche in the study of contemporary South
Asia. It will be important reading for scholars and students of the History and
Politics of South Asia and to those concerned with decolonization in general.
Tai Yong Tan is Associate Professor in the Department of History, National
University of Singapore. Gyanesh Kudaisya is Assistant Professor in the South
Asian Studies Programme at the National University of Singapore.
Routledge Studies in the Modern History of Asia
1 The Police in Occupation Japan
Control, corruption and resistance to reform
Christopher Aldous
2 Chinese Workers
A new history
Jackie Sheehan
3 The Aftermath of Partition in South Asia
Tai Yong Tan and Gyanesh Kudaisya
4 The Australia-Japan Political Alignment
1952 to the present
Alan Rix
5 Japan and Singapore in the World Economy
Japan’s economic advance into Singapore, 1870–1965
Shimizu Hiroshi and Hirakawa Hitoshi
6 The Triads as Business
Yiu Kong Chu
7 Contemporary Taiwanese Cultural Nationalism
A-chin Hsiau
8 Religion and Nationalism in India
The case of the Punjab
Harnik Deol
The Aftermath of
Partition in South Asia
Tai Yong Tan and Gyanesh Kudaisya
London and New York
First published 2000
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
Paperback edition published
2002 By Routledge
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
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©2000TaiYongTan andGyaneshKudaisya
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbook may bereprintedorreproducedorutilised inany
form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Tai Yong Tan.
The aftermath of partition in South Asia/Tai Yong Tan and Gyanesh Kudaisya.
336 pp. 15.6×23.4 cm
(Routledge studies in the modern history of Asia)
1. India—History—Partition, 1947. 2. India—History—1947.
3. Pakistan—History. I. Title. II. Series.
DS480.842. Y66 2000
954.04–dc 21 99–089134
ISBN 0-203-45060-4 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-45766-8 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0415289084 (Print Edition)
Contents
List of maps and tables vi
Brief biographical notes vii
Preface xii
1 Introduction: the place of partition in South Asian histories 1
2 ‘The enigma of arrival’: 14–15 August 1947 and the celebration of 27
independence
3 Partition and the making of South Asian boundaries 75
4 A community in crisis: partition and the Sikhs 99
5 From displacement to development: East Punjab countryside after 1 23
partition, c. 1947–67
6 Divided landscapes, fragmented identities: East Bengal refugees and their 1 39
rehabilitation in India, 1947–79
7 ‘Capitol landscapes’: the imprint of partition on South Asian capital cities 1 59
8 Punjab and the making of Pakistan 1 99
9 Contemporary South Asia and the legacies of partition 2 15
Glossary 2 39
Notes 2 43
Bibliography 2 97
Index 3 19
Maps and tables
Maps
1.1 Political map of the Indian subcontinent 1
1.2 India in 1947 3
3.1 The partition of Bengal 91
3.2 The partition of Punjab 93
3.3 The Radcliffe Award and Central Punjab 95
4.1 Distribution of Sikhs in Punjab, 1947 115
5.1 Consolidation of agricultural holdings in a Punjab village 133
6.1 Major Bengali refugee rehabilitation sites in India 139
7.1 South Asian capital cities 160
Table
5.1 Basis of permanent allotment of land to refugees 130
Brief biographical notes
Aizaz Rasul, Begum (1909–) a prominent Muslim League leader from Uttar
Pradesh; member of Constituent Assembly of India (MCA); subsequently joined
Indian National Congress.
Ali, Chaudhury Mohammad (1905–1980) civil servant before 1947;
Secretary-General to Government of Pakistan; subsequently Finance Minister and
Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Auchinleck, Field Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre (1884–1981)
Commanderin-Chief, India, January-July 1941 and from 1943 to 1947.
Azad, Abul Kalam (1888–1958) scholar and nationalist leader; President of
Indian National Congress 1923 and 1939–46; Minister for Education in
Government of India 1947–58.
Bhargava, Gopi Chandra (1890–1966) member of the Legislative Assembly
(MLA), Punjab; Chief Minister of East Punjab after 1947.
Campbell-Johnson, Alan (1913–) Press Attache to Viceroy, 1946–8.
Caveeshar, Sardul Singh (1886–1963) prominent Punjab leader; President,
All India Sikh League 1920; Secretary and later Acting President, Punjab Provincial
Congress Committee, 1931–2; President, All India Forward Bloc, 1941–8.
Correa, Charles M. (1930–) one of the best-known Indian architects.
Cripps, Sir (Richard) Stafford (1889–1952) Member of UK Parliament
(Labour); carried constitutional proposals to India in 1942; member of Cabinet
Mission to India in 1946; President, Board of Trade from 1947.
Darling, Sir Malcolm (1889–1952) member of the Indian Civil Service in
Punjab before 1947; well known also for his studies of village life.
Doxiadis, C.A. (1913–1975) internationally known Greek architect; prepared
the master-plan for Islamabad and was responsible for many of its buildings;
proponent of Ekistics, a new approach to human habitation.
Gandhi, M.K. (1869–1948) barrister from Gujarat who trained Indians in
South Africa to resist injustices by non-violent passive resistance; on return to India
in 1915 adopted same methods to resist British rule; lauded as ‘Father of the Nation’
by Indians; assassinated by a Hindu fanatic.
Gidwani, Choithram (1889–1957) President of Sindh Provincial Congress
Committee, 1947.
viii
Gupta, Saibal Kumar (1902–1989) member of Indian Civil Service; District
and Sessions Judge, 1931–47; Chairman of Calcutta Improvement Trust, 1950–60;
Chairman of Dandakaranya Development Authority.
Hamid, Shahid Military Secretary to the Commander-in-Chief, India, till
August 1947; subsequently joined the Pakistan army.
Hussain, Altaf (1953–) founder of Muhajir Quami Mahaz; now in exile in
London.
Iqbal, Sir Mohammad (1876–1938) an influential Islamic philosopher and
poet in Persian and Urdu; widely regarded as the spiritual inspiration behind the
idea of Pakistan.
Ismay, Hastings Lionel, 1st Baron Ismay of Wormington (1887–1965)
Chief of Viceroy’s Staff, 1947.
Jallundary, Hafeez (1900–1980) Urdu poet who composed the Pakistan
national anthem.
Jenkins, Sir Evan Meredith (1896–1985) member of Indian Civil Service,
Private Secretary to Viceroy, 1943–5; Governor of Punjab, 1946–7.
Jinnah, Mohammed Ali (1876–1948) President of All-India Muslim League,
1916, 1920 and from 1934. Spearheaded the Pakistan movement from 1940 and
popularly feted as the Quaid-i-Azam (the Supreme Leader).
Jinnah, Fatima (1893–1967) sister of Mohammed Ali Jinnah.
Kahn, Louis B. (1901–1974) well-known Estonian-born American architect;
drew the master-plan of the Capitol complex at Dhaka and designed its principal
buildings.
Karaka, D.F. (1911–1974) noted Bombay-based journalist and editor;
associated with Bombay Chronicle, 1938–49 and later with Current as its editor.
Kartar Singh, Giani (1905–1974) member of Punjab Legislative Assembly;
leader of Akali party and close ally of Akali leader, Master Tara Singh.
Kashmiri, Shorish (1914–1975) a prominent journalist and editor of the
journal Chattan; born in Kashmir but lived in Amritsar till 1947; migrated to
Pakistan.
Khaliquzaman, Choudhary (1889–1973) a prominent member of Indian
National Congress in Uttar Pradesh until 1937, when he joined the Muslim League;
member, Working Committee of All-India Muslim League, 1947.
Khan, Field Marshal Ayub (1907–1974) Lt. Colonel in the Punjab Boundary
Force, 1947; subsequently rose to become Commander-inChief and first military
ruler of Pakistan between 1958 and 1969.
Khan, General Yahya (1917–1980) Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Army
under Ayub Khan; subsequently Chief Martial Law Administrator of Pakistan
between 1969 and 1971.
Khan, Liaquat Ali (1895–1951) General Secretary of the Muslim League from
1936; member of Interim Government 1946–7; Prime Minister of Pakistan from
1947 until his assassination in 1951.
Khan, Nawab Ismail (1884–1958) son of Nawab Ishaq Khan (a prominent
landlord and one of the leading lights of Aligarh University); lawyer and politician;
ix
member of Legislative Council in the 1920s; one of the most prominent leaders of
the Muslim League in Uttar Pradesh.
Khosla, G.D. (1901–) member of the judicial branch of Indian Civil Service;
subsequently Chief Justice of East Punjab High Court; wellknown writer.
Kripalani, J.B. (1899–1979) President of Indian National Congress, 1946–7;
member of Constituent Assembly of India and Indian Parliament; subsequently
active as an opposition leader.
Kripalani, Sucheta (1903–1974) wife of J.B.Kripalani; Secretary, Women’s
Section of Indian National Congress; member of Constituent Assembly of India
and Indian Parliament; subsequently Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, 1963–7.
Lall, Dewan Chaman (1889–1965) Punjab politician; founded All India Trade
Union Congress in 1920; MLA, Central 1924–31 and 1945–8; MLA, Punjab 1937–
45; MCA 1945–8; Indian Ambassador to Turkey 1949–50; subsequently Member
of Rajya Sabha.
Le Corbusier (1887–1965) internationally reputed Swiss-born, French
architect; widely acknowledged as the founder of the influential Modernist school;
creator of the new capital city of Chandigarh.
Mandal, Jogendra Nath (1906–1956) Leader of the Scheduled Castes’ Bloc
in Bengal Legislative Assembly; Member (Law), Interim Government, 1946–7;
Member of Pakistan Constituent Assembly; Minister for Law and Labour,
Government of Pakistan, 1947–50; resigned from Cabinet in October 1950 and
returned to India.
Manto, Saadat Hasan (1912–1955) one of the most influential Urdu writers
of his generation; belonged to a Kashmiri family of Amritsar; educated at Aligarh;
worked in All India Radio, 1941–3; worked in Bombay film industry, 1943–8;
moved to Karachi in January 1948; celebrated for his sensitive writings on the
human dimension of partition.
Menon, V.P. (1894–1966) Reforms Commissioner of Government of India,
1946–8.
Moon, Sir Penderel (1905–1987) Indian Civil Service 1929–44; minister in
the princely state of Bikaner, 1947.
Mountbatten, Rear-Admiral, Viscount Louis (1900–1979) Viceroy of
India, March-August 1947. Created Earl Mountbatten of Burma in 1947; became
Admiral of the Fleet in 1956.
Mountbatten, Edwina, Lady (1901–1960) wife of Lord Mountbatten.
Munshi, K.M. (1891–1971) Home Minister, Bombay 1937–9; MCA.
Nazumuddin, Khwaja (1894–1973) Bengal Muslim League politician; Prime
Minister of East Pakistan, 1947; subsequently Governor-General of Pakistan.
Nehru, Jawaharlal (1889–1964) prominent leader of Indian nationalist
movement; President of Indian National Congress 1929–30, 1936, 1937, 1946.
Prime Minister of India, 1947–64.
Patel, Vallabhbhai (1875–1950) Congress leader from Gujarat; President of
Indian National Congress, 1931; Member, Interim government, 1946–7; Deputy
Prime Minister of India, 1947–50.