Politics and Practices of Remembering the Partition of India (1947): Musealization and Digital Archivization of Partition Experiences in South Asia

After ruling the country for about two centuries, the British left India in 1947. Before departing, they partitioned the subcontinent into three parts and two countries: India and Pakistan, based on religious majority. The eventuality of the Partition was traumatic; it permanently changed the demography and geography of the region. Millions were uprooted, several hundred thousand people were killed, and countless numbers were raped, converted, and faced the violent outcomes of this event. The wound of the Partition is still present; it is the reason for mistrust and suspicion among the countries and communities in South Asia. The tragic history of the Partition was sidelined and silenced for many decades in the official history of this event. Memories of loss, trauma, and displacement resulting from the Partition are featured in various films, a range of literature, and oral history – but museums have kept such memories behind the curtain for a long time.

Only very recently have museums and archives made concrete attempts to commemorate the Partition. In 2017, the Partition Museum in Amritsar opened its doors, aiming to become the repository of information and stories of the Partition. The city of Kolkata, India, is also establishing the Kolkata Partition Museum, and Delhi is preparing to open its Partition Museum this year. Besides museums, a few online archives are coming forward to preserve and share the memories of the Partition. Thus, in India, after a long silence, a few museums and archives are beginning to commemorate the atrocities of the Partition. Besides India, the two other Partition-affected countries, Bangladesh and Pakistan, are not taking any notable initiatives to recall the Partition, and Partition memories continue to be a side plot in the larger museal representations of national histories.

This research project combines the memories of India’s Partition with museums and digital archives. It compares how the entangled memories of the Partition of India are commemorated in the museums and digital archives of the three countries affected by the Partition: India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. How are Partition memories expressed in the interplay of various media available to museums and archives in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh? Why were Partition memories silenced or in a state of amnesia for many decades? What are the politics of silencing/remembering the Partition in museums and digital archives? This project explores how the politics of remembering and forgetting influences the construction of nationhood in museums in the South Asian context. By investigating all these points, this study provides a better understanding of the practices of remembering Partition memories.