From the Ashes of 1947: Reimagining Punjab
Cambridge University Press, 2/1/2018
EAN 9781108428118, ISBN10: 1108428118
Hardcover, 276 pages, 23.8 x 16.1 x 2.3 cm
Language: English
Originally published in English
This book revisits the partition of the British Indian province of Punjab, its attendant violence and, as a consequence, the divided and dislocated Punjabi lives. Navigating nostalgia and trauma, dreams and laments, identity(s) and homeland(s), it explores the partition of the very idea of Punjabiyat. It was Punjab (along with Bengal) that was divided to create the new nations of India and Pakistan. In subsequent years, religious and linguistic sub-divisions followed - arguably, no other region of the sub-continent has had its linguistic and ethnic history submerged within respective national and religious identity(s). None paid the price of partition like the pluralistic, pre-partition Punjab. This work analyses the dissonance, distortion and dilution witnessed by Punjab and presents a detailed narrative of its past.
List of photographs, maps and tables
List of excerpts
List of abbreviations
Glossary
Acknowledgements
Preface
memories create history
1. Partitioned lands, partitioned histories
2. The treasure within the five rivers
3. Handing over the reigns
4. Violence, migration and the making of the refugee
5. Sacred Malerkotla
6. Migrating to the promised land
a tale of two cities
7. From refugee to citizen
8. Cleansing hearts and minds
9. Lost innocence and sold honour
10. Dreams, memories and legacies
Bibliography
Index.