Author: Sukeshi Kamra
Publisher: Roli Books
Year: 2003
Language: English
Pages: 41414
ISBN/UPC (if available): 817436286X
Description
August 14/15, 1947, means more than the independence of India. It marks the birth of two nation states, India and Pakistan, and is fixed in the memory of many as Partition and the end of the Raj. This work nuances this historical moment .
Bearing Witness nuances this historical moment by considering contemporary and post-event responses to Partition, inherited by Indians and Pakistanis as one of the uncontested significance. From testimonials and speeches by Jinnah and Nehru to fictional and non-fictional accounts by Indians and the British, and political cartoons from English newspapers at the time, Kamra offers an inductive study of primary texts ignored until now.
The book studies the three groups most affected by the events of 1947: the educated Indians, for whom the moment was a rite of passage; the survivors of Partition, for whom the event is inextricably linked with trauma and loss of home, family and community; and the British, for whom this heralded exile.
Contents
Foreword
Acknowledgements
Chronology
INTRODUCTION
The Word on the Streets:
Editorials and Political Cartoons in English-Language Dailies (1947)
Dare to Know: Aug 15, 1947, the Partition
Narratives of Pain: Fiction and Autobiography as
'Psychotestimonies' to the Partition
The Children of India Remember:
Reflections, Chronicles, Diaries and Autobiographies
The Rhetoric of Anxiety: The End of the Raj
in the Writings of the British and British Press
Conclusion
Appendix A:
Historical Background to the Partition in the Punjab
Appendix B:
History of the Indian Press under Colonial Rule
Appendix C:
Biographies
Notes
Bibliography
Index