Partition: The Long Shadow

Seen as the dark side of independence, the tumultuous Partition of British India into the nations of India and Pakistan in 1947 has not really been explored in all its aspects, and yet its long shadow and enduring legacies are ever present in the lives of people in Pakistan, Bangladesh and India in very fundamental ways. The borders that were drawn in 1947 and that were redrawn in 1971, following the Independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan, divided families, friends, institutions, histories and hearts. Even today, more than six decades after the event, Indians and Pakistanis cannot easily travel to each other s countries. Even today, more than thirty years after Bangladesh split from Pakistan, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis carry a sense of hostility towards each other. The essays in this volume explore new ground in Partition research, looking into areas such as art, literature, migration, notions of foreignness and belonging among others."