1.6 Ghosts of partition: contemporary India 1

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From the course by The University of Melbourne

Contemporary India

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The University of Melbourne

Contemporary India

29 ratings

This course presents some important vignettes of a complex, highly diverse India that is also witnessing unprecedented changes since its formal independence in 1947 from Great Britain. The lectures revolve around social dimensions of change, the continuing influence of ancient texts on contemporary India, political democracy, economic transition from the state to the market, gender relations, India's economic globalisation and changing world view. While one of the objectives is to capture the multifaceted process of change, the course also critically examines some of the tensions inherent in these changes. For example, how does gender inequality play itself out in a changing Indian society, how do the modernist conceptions of art entailing market valuation challenge the more socio-centric values found in South India, what are the politics linguistic identities, and how might India address its myriad development challenges such as poverty and unemployment. No specific prior knowledge is required. However, it would be helpful if students are aware of the socio political dynamics at play in contemporary India and keep themselves abreast with current affairs and debates in the country to fully appreciate the various dimensions and contours if the subject matter in the course. This course is taught in English. View the MOOC promotional video here: http://tinyurl.com/hx8mhxb

From the lesson

Contemporary India's history

We begin this course by discussing the history of pre-partition India i.e. before 1947. We will trace the trajectory of British rule from its inception in India and discuss important events like the mutiny of 1857, the formation of the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League, the divide and rule policy of the British, the idea of separate electorates and how it paved the way for partition in the subcontinent. You will be able to appreciate the devastation that partition brought to the region with millions of people killed, displaced and made refugees overnight. We will try to impress upon the fact that such a momentous event in world history, which involved ethnic cleansing in huge numbers, has been almost forgotten or is not remembered often enough; nor are the lessons learnt. The week concludes by discussing how partition still continues to affect community relations, relations between states and the very foundational ideas of the two nations: India and Pakistan.

1.1 Colonial history: British rule in India12:10

1.2 Pre-partition history7:58

1.3 The tryst with destiny9:38

1.4 Partition and nation-states: a technology of modernity11:10

1.5 Partition and amnesia12:33

1.6 Ghosts of partition: contemporary India 18:32

1.7 Ghosts of partition: contemporary India 212:39

Meet the Instructors

Anthony D'Costa
Professor
School of Social and Political Sciences

Welcome back.

And in the last section, we discussed the political social and

cultural amnesia that was associated with partition.

And in this section and the next, we

will talk about some spectres of partition that still haunt the sub-continent.

So first of all is international relations.

India and Pakistan construct each other as permanent enemies.

Really in a sense without India as an enemy,

Pakistan would lose one big reason to survive.

And similarly,

without Pakistan as an enemy, India would lose one big reason to survive.

And these enemies are again factors

that both nation states use to unite their people against this common enemy.

And as I think I said

a previous part of the lecture, that there have been three wars fought by these…

actually, three or maybe even four if you count Kargil as a war.

So there are many wars fought by India and Pakistan.

And there's the disputed territory of Kashmir.

So there's this constant war preparation and

arms race and in fact, even

the nuclear option in India and

Pakistan has been part of this construction of each other as enemies.

So when India performed its first nuclear test,

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who was then the President of,

the Prime Minister of Pakistan actually said we will get a nuclear bomb too,

even if we have to eat grass.

So it was really that, we have to keep up with the weapons, because

this perpetual enemy on the other side of the border will otherwise destroy us.

So this has been a really crucial factor in the international relations

in the sub-continent and has kept enmity and tension bubbling along.

And as I said also before, borders which were porous.

People sort of moved across borders, and went to visit and to trade and

do various things, are now fixed in the national imagination.

So, the inevitable cross-border migrations become illegal.

So for an Indian to get a visa to go to Pakistan and vice versa, is really

difficult, when in fact you, you speak the same language, eat the same food,

have very similar culture practices, but you are separated by this border.

And in the case of Bangladesh, it's a really big issue because there's

a very strong migration from Bangladesh into India,

especially by people looking for work.

And all of this migration,

all of these people are seen as illegal and live under the radar.

And are not able to access any of the benefits of citizenship

or even of legitimate workers.

And the absorption of migrants or refugees during partition,

has later sort of dominated sub-continental politics.

The MQM in Pakistan is basically made up of refugees mainly from India.

And the both in West Bengal and

Punjab, the absorption of refugees, how to resettle them, what to do,

has really been a very crucial factor in the post-partition decades.

And, also within the nation itself, in this case within India,

the idea, there's always a feeling that the nation was betrayed by a minority.

That the Muslims betrayed us because they wanted to create a Muslim nation.

So national politics then becomes majoritarian, that is the majority Hindus.

We are the ones who will be the major players in national politics.

And the metaphors of insiders, outsiders, religion, language,

other differences, are constantly created.

So where minorities are either looked upon

as groups to be appeased, especially at election time,

where they can deliver votes, or at other times as groups who are demonised

as the people who produce terrorists or traitors and so on.

So, again, as I said before, minorities have to constantly fight for

legitimate citizenship in the national community.

So the communal riots, for example, the recent ones in the ones

previously whether in Bombay or, other parts of the country where

there have been communal riots between Hindus and Muslims -

The rise of very strong

movement of Hindutva and the Bharatiya Janata Party, which wants to position

Hindus as at the centre of Indian culture, politics, and society.

And finally, in 1992 the demolition of a mosque which you can see here,

the Babri Masjid.

The mosque was was under dispute for a long time.

And

a Supreme Court injunction kept it locked up from people of both communities.

But the demolition of the mosque was all about the fact that

the Janata Party, which is now in power,

promulgated the idea that this mosque which is in Ayodhya.

The birthplace of one of Hindus' most revered deities,

Rama that this mosque was built on Rama's birthplace.

And in spite of a whole range of scholars pointing out that since

the Ramayana was written a long time ago,

nobody really knows where the birthplace is or this is just a myth.

In spite of that this idea took hold and eventually a huge

crowd of people descended on the mosque and destroyed it.

So all of these are really

the ways in which minorities and

minority religions have been recreated,

redefined in India as somehow other to the

future of India, to the well-being of India and so on.

So even though the national story is about the unity of Indians in their diversity,

this notion of national identity often undermines political pluralism because it

means that everybody.

Regardless of who you are and your religion,

has to behave in exactly the same way.

And it subordinates other identities, regional identities,

religious identities.

And the fear of partition and further territorial disruption

demonises minority groups, so India has a number of separatist movements.

We've talked about Kashmir a little bit but

there are also ones in the northeast in Nagaland for example.

And there is enormous oppression brought to bear upon these insurgent,

these separatist movements because of this fear

that partition in genders within the Indian polity.

So the partition the, the original partition,

that fear percolates and permeates the way in which the Indian's

re-polity deals with other dissonant groups,

or groups that disagree, or which have other

views of where they want to go and what they want to do with themselves.

So in the next section, we will discuss a bit further these spectres.

And specifically we will talk a little bit about the poetry and

fiction written about this event.

And also ask whether it's possible for

such traumatic historical wounds to actually recuperate and be healed.

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