Talk on how Partition shapes present

The painful memories of India’s Partition will be discussed in the city on August 17, on the anniversary of the declaration of the Radcliffe Line as the boundary between India and Pakistan.

The discussion is mounted around the launch of political anthropologist Pranav Kohli’s book Memories in the Service of the Hindu Nation.

‘What does it mean to remember the Partition in a time of increased religious tension?’ will be the central question of the discussion between Pranav and author-journalist and moderator Amandeep Sandhu.

Amandeep says the discussion will throw light on “what transpired before and after Partition”, which impacted the then-provinces of Punjab and Bengal. It will also dwell on how the Partition was different from other tragedies such as The Holocaust and the Vietnam War, the stories of women and the poor who were forced to cross borders, factors that fuelled the violence, and the impact of collective memory in the face of contemporary challenges like the rise of far-right nationalism.

Pranav’s book is based on 14 months of ethnographic fieldwork with Partition survivors from West Punjab and the North-West Frontier Province. Published by Cambridge University Press, it touches on the interplay of past and present, trauma and politics, and memory and identity.

The event is called ‘76 years since — Remembering the Partition through Ethnography’.

On August 17, 6.30 pm–8 pm, at Bangalore International Centre, Domlur. Book available for Rs 1,145 online.