Partition: The Day India Burned -4/9

This is a 90-minute BBC documentary on the Partition of India and provides a good overview of the fateful events leading to that cataclysmic decision by the British and the catastrophic suffering of ordinary people caught in the crossfire of communal hatred. It describes in detail: (a) British motivation for leaving India after World War 2 in a quick and face-saving manner; (b) the underlying distrust of Hindus and Muslims of each other despite centuries of living together; (c) Muslim educational and economic backwardness relative to Hindus and their fear of Hindu domination in a united India; (d) the failure of the March 1946 Cabinet Mission in Simla on account of Nehru's refusal to a agree to a decentralized Subcontinent; (e) the beginning of the Hindu-Muslim communal riots with Jinnah's call for Direct Action in Calcutta in August 1946; (f) the desperate attempts made by Gandhi to effect Hindu-Muslim unity via appeal to their humanity; and (g) the pressure exerted on most Princely States to agree to ascension to India. It also describes: (h) the manipulation of people by political leaders in the name of religion; (i) the slaughter, looting, raping, and mayhem among different communities at the village level; (j) the deep reluctance of people to abandon their generational homes; (k) the brave attempts of certain individuals to save their neighbors of "other" communities from forcible ethnic and religious cleansing; (l) the horrific price paid by women for "defending" their "honor"; (m) the utter lack of governmental preparation for a mass migration of people; (n) the "needless" human carnage caused by Mountbatten's decision to expedite the planned Partition; and (o) the decline of hitherto culturally rich and cosmopolitan cities like Lahore by loss of "other" communities. This documentary was made in 2007.

PLEASE READ MY COMMENTS ON THE VIDEO BEFORE WATCHING.

Category:

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[KashifHKhan]

PART 5:

Finally, I agree with one of the interviewers that Lahore has suffered tremendously as a result of Partition. Of course, I never witnessed his pre-Partition cosmopolitan, liberal, and progressive Lahore. But I have seen the decline of the city from mid-70s onwards due to Islamization. ("Islamization" is a direct consequence of Partition; it is a means to give people a new identity). In fact, the same can be said of Pak in general; Islamization is slowly but surely devouring it.

-Kashif

[KashifHKhan]

PART 4:

It may sound naive, I think a mechanism should have been instituted to allow those who wanted to stay behind in Punjab to be able to do so. I am an ethnic Punjabi from my father's side as well as a native of Lahore. My father - who witnessed Partition as a college student in Lahore and hails from a village in West Punjab - also told me that Partition was brutally enforced by local mobs. The best a neighbor could do was to help "other" community member escape to a refugee camp.

-Kashif

[KashifHKhan]

PART 3:

The suffering of women during the Partition is particularly deplorable. It is heart wrenching to hear tales of "honor killings" where fathers murdered their own daughters to prevent them from being "dishonored". Equally horrific are the instances of mass rapes of women by members of the "other" community. Finally, given a mother's natural love for her children, who would not be moved by decision of some of them to abandon infants during long march to other side of the border?

-Kashif

[KashifHKhan]

PART 2:

As Partition occurred on British watch, I believe it was their responsibility to ensure safety of people during expected migration. It is shocking that Mountbatten actually started returning British troops to the UK upon his arrival, did not utilize the Indian Army (under British command) to guarantee law and order, precipitated chaos by moving forward the date of Partition by one year, and invited additional killings by keeping the fate of Lahore a secret till last minute.

-Kashif

[KashifHKhan]

PART 1:

What can I say about Partition that has not already been said? It is the seminal event of the history of the Subcontinent as well as one of the defining moments of the 20th century. Still, I would like to make four observations: (a) the utter lack of preparation for mass migration; (b) the horrific treatment meted out to women; (c) the enforcement of Partition in Punjab against people's will; and (d) the decline of Lahore - and Pakistan in general - as a result of Partition.

-Kashif

[boneimage]

You are SO FULL OF IT. Sikhs never raped anyone? Look, i have many sikh friends, but this is so false. You are being emotional, and thinking that your people who follow your religion can do no wrong. In this very documentary, it is told how a muslim girl school in amritsar was raided and all the girls were stripped and raped. I have spoken to old sikh babaji's who themselves have told me that they knew men who raided and raped women and then cut their heads and breasts off.

[humanseasons]

The carnage was POINTLESS!!! Needless!! Frutiless!!!

[LRA1969]

Well , Documentary was one sided . For example , Its a reality that a train had reached Lahore from Shimla and all the Muslims in the train were butchered.

BUT YES I AGREE , Atrocities were committed on Both Sides.

[mhlmehul]

i wish jinnah was alive! just so i could kill him again!

[timetraveler2006]

@bhasinuscuscable

and clearly you are mistaken.

Religion was the cause of all this violence

[TheKpsd]

@ComradeJin Yea. He's right. See, the customs and traditions of older generations were really twisted. Honour and respect was placed above all else. So therefore, instead of risking "dishonour"(which is a pathetic way of putting it) which will be brought upon the family by raped women,they chose to kill those women before anyone of them was raped.. GOD IT MAKES ME MAD! STUPID RELIGION WAS THE REASON FOR ALL THIS!

[sappho01]

It's sad that a woman's rape is considered her community and family's dishonour that she can avoid only by death. Men consider it their virility and honour to rape women or to kill them for honour.Partition was deliberately done, all plans were kept on hold till the last so that people killed and got killed. And it was obvious killing would happen -- land and livelihoods was involved. The British used the traditional distrust between Hindus and Muslims to crack open the sub-continent.

[ganeshanI1]

@KashifHKhan : One needs to read about domestic violence in all colonies at the time they are being vacated by colonial masters, will reveal a lot about the Imperialist culture. See Africa for instance. An optimistic thought is that an undivided India would have seen lessening communal tensions with Gandhi perhaps. And once India started recognizing national heroes in diverse fields, it would have been really progressive. The British created this Holocaust to avoid a backlash.

[russkikanji]

@nomani7 Yeah and what would you propose, Muslim and Sikhs ganging up to screw Hindus. The Hindus paid in blood in Bengal and the Sikhs suffered in Punjab and in both the events the honorable Muslims were the culprits. So please stuff your logic where it belongs, up your posterior hole...

[nomani7]

I am a muslim from Lahore-Pakistan and I am in tears listening to this Sikh brother. It was not right.I am ashamed. Neither muslims nor sikhs should have done all this only to make the hindus better.

[ComradeJin]

What was the Sikh gentleman saying at 8:00? He seems to be describing his own father killing his sister. WTF? Could somebody explain?

It's a really moving documentary. I learned a lot.

[oct1984]

honor killing! do all Indian religions practice this matted?