THE UNFOLDING OF PARTITION: OFFICIAL REPRESENTATIONS AND LIVED REALITIES IN DELHI (1947-1949)

Harnoor Kaur Bhatia

doi:10.29121/shodhkosh.v2.i2.2021.5791

Authors

Harnoor Kaur Bhatia MA History, Ambedkar University Delhi

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29121/shodhkosh.v2.i2.2021.5791

Keywords:

Partition of India, Refugee Migration, Delhi, Oral History, Class and Gender

Abstract [English]

This research examines the complex realities of the 1947 Partition of India through the migration and resettlement experiences of West Punjab refugees in Delhi between 1947 and 1949. Breaking away from macro-politics narratives, the paper draws on oral histories, state records, and historical newspapers to investigate how material failures, unequal state support, ubiquitous class hierarchies, and gendered suffering influenced the "last journey" of the thousands. Gleaning from memory studies, trauma theory, and subaltern historiography, it complicates the simplistic imaging of Partition as one uniformly shared suffering experience, instead highlighting the stratified form of displacement and rehabilitation. The study identifies the key role of unofficial community support amidst tardy official intervention and highlights the ethical complexity involved in post-Partition resettlement, such as property occupation. Finally, this paper makes an innovative contribution to a nuanced understanding of Partition as an extended human disconnection, repeatedly renegotiated through individual accounts and evolving historical analysis.

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