CLC / CAPSTONE RESEARCH LITERATURE REVIEW
Literature Research Review
APA citation of article:
Copy and paste citation in this column
Chakrabarti, S. (2016). Interpreting the legacy of http://www.jstor.org/stable/24920193
partition in the subcontinent: Indian and Pakistani
perspectives. Politeja, 40, 21–30.
Talbot, I. (2007). A Tale of Two Cities: The
Aftermath of Partition for Lahore and Amritsar
1947-1957. Modern Asian Studies, 41(1), 151–
185.
Retrieved from (website address):
http://www.jstor.org/stable/4132347
Notes from article (summarized in YOUR OWN
WORDS):
-Pakistanis often describe their identities heavily around
being “not Indian”
- Territorialization that has occurred is displayed through
extravagant nationalism. Especially with the rituals at
Wagah border which include aggressive marching and
stomping.
-Enclaves between post-partition India and Bangladesh
allow its citizens to choose their citizenship.
-South Asian discourse heavily consists of identity
politics around religion and ethnicity. Many nationalists
try to push their narratives of a post-partition identity. Ex.
Taliban and the Kashmir conflicts
- There is now a warped version of federalism due to
creating specific ethnic lands. For instance, the Sikhi
separatism in Punjab through violence from India.
-Pakistan centered a Sindhi ethnic assertion and began
building an Urdu-speaking nation. It became authoritarian
and formed a militant political Islam.
- Pakistani identity has developed in contradistinction of
India rather than with its own cultural values. However,
Indian identity does not correlate or revolve around India
whatsoever.
-Amritsar’s Muslim population rapidly dropped on the
eve of partition from about half of the citizens being
Muslim to 00.52%.
-The Hindu and Sikhi populations voyaged further into
India.

Hasan, M. (2002). Partition Narratives. Social
Scientist, 30(7/8), 24–53.
CLC / CAPSTONE RESEARCH LITERATURE REVIEW
https://doi.org/10.2307/3518150
- Lahore and Amritsar were two cities at the heart of the
partition conflict and thus, were damaged the most. 13
million displaced.
-There was much violence; there were attacks motivated
by British propaganda amongst the people of Lahore and
Amritsar.
- There became “Hindu dominated” and “Muslim
dominated” areas. The people killing each other and
running from each other as a result of British
manipulation.
- The infrastructures of the cities suffered immensely.
Fires burned countless buildings, piles of rubble blocking
alleys. The water and electricity supplies were also
failing.
-Gandhi’s inability to persuade the congress on containing
violence displays a decline in his political influence after
dominating it for three years.
-Gandhi lacked the resources to prevent the partition; his
colleagues in the Congress had different views.
-Gandhi's crusade for non-violence greatly clashed and
contrasted with Jinnah’s desire for a separate Muslim
homeland.
-The congress approved the partition as they gave in to
recognize this vastly formed divide between Muslims,
Hindus, and Sikhs.
-The colonial thesis revolved around the idea of setting up
an imperial system which would cause a clash between
civilizations and create violence similar to that of a civil
war. For example, Muslims under the law were
considered a separate group than other Indians and were
only able to elect other Muslims.
-”Somebody has mixed poison in all the five rivers. The

Kaur, N. (2011). Violence and Migration: A
study of killing in the trains during the partition
of Punjab in 1948. Proceedings of the Indian
History Congress, 72, 947–954.
Thakur, K. K. (2013). British colonial
exploitation of India and globalization.
Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, 74,
405–415.
CLC / CAPSTONE RESEARCH LITERATURE REVIEW
http://www.jstor.org/stable/44146786
http://www.jstor.org/stable/44158840
rivers we use to water our fields.” [6] pg. 36
-Punjab was engulfed in a civil war within the span of a
few months in 1947
-Some things that took place were arson, forced religious
conversions, abductions, massacres, militias looting
villages, gangs derailing trains etc.
-Around 2.8 million refugees were transported across the
India-Pakistan Punjab border during the Partition.
-Many also fled by cars/trucks or on foot.
-The trains were described as “[full] from the roof, legs
dangled... to the doors and windows. The doors and
windows were jammed with heads and arms.” Pg. 949
[1].
-Trains full of dead people being sent to the other side of
the border became a competition of who will kill even
greater to send back across.
-Messages would be written on these trains carrying dead
people saying “a present from India” or “a present from
Pakistan”.
-Mobs would stop trains, hiding especially in the
countryside as it provided the best cover. These attacks
were carried out with military precision. Some groups
involving ex-military personnel who possessed
knowledge of things like bombs/explosives.
-It was not only militants, but also the railway staff. They
would not let trains depart until those of the other religion
were slaughtered.
-Native India has been looted numerous times in history,
the most by the British.
-In the 18th century, India was the major supplier of items
such as ivory, muslin, pearls, etc.

Roy, R. (2010). Partition: The Holocaust. In
South Asian Partition Fiction in English: From
Khushwant Singh to Amitav Ghosh (pp. 33–62).
Amsterdam University Press.
CLC / CAPSTONE RESEARCH LITERATURE REVIEW
http://www.jstor.org/stable/
j.ctt46mz7z.5
-The industrial revolution in Britain changed India into a
textile/ raw materials market for Manchester, destroying
the Indian handicraft industry.
-India was made to pay for British war expenses during
WW1.
- The East India Company further drained India of its
resources.
-fiction books based on the partition often portray trains
on the covers or contain content about the trains.
-the trains are a large symbol of the partition, a dark one
as well.
-the books analyzed in this article portray how the killings
and abductions were seen as mere statistics and tales to
those who were performing them.
-they also highlight the experience of being displaced
from ones home by talking about people having to leave
behind their belongings, not being able to say goodbye,
being taken away by soldiers, etc.
-many of these books also have common passages about
fleeing Hindu and Sikh communities running into swarms
of Muslim refugees causing riots to break out.