The partition of India was the most consequential and brutal event that looms over South Asian history. It has affected the destiny of two billion people. Over 6 million people were displaced and perhaps a million died in this colossally inept last act of British decolonization. The aftershocks have festered ever since and the eventual human toll is still to be tallied.
One Indian historian wrote that for Indians the Partition was the most important event of the 20th century compared to which the Second World War should be thought of as a mere European Civil War. Yet volumes have been written scrutinizing every aspect, every human story or recollection from WWII. By contrast very little is written about the Indian Partition and that history has stayed largely in oblivion.
Now, under the painstaking and meticulous scholarship of Guneeta Bhalla and her colleagues, The 1947 Partition Archive has been diligently piecing together a lived history of this era. She and her team have conducted and recorded in person interviews with tens of thousands people who have lived through the horrors as well as the humanity of this period, the fiery birth of two countries carved carelessly and violently by an exhausted and uncaring colonizer. There are heart-warming as well as gut-wrenching stories – history being recorded before those who lived it are no more.
I have been fortunate enough to support Guneeta Bhalla’s dedicated work. She has published and guardedly circulated the book “10,000 Memories, The Lived History of Partition” – guarded because the Partition is still a delicate subject for many. Emotions run high and religion-based animosity to lived truths and opinions remains.
Guneeta is working tirelessly to build the Archives databases and work in conjunction with Universities and Libraries to illuminate this important chapter of history and to preserve stories from eyewitnesses before they are all gone. She is building an invaluable resource for future historians and researchers.
Unfortunately under the current environment her budgets are being severely restricted by the US Government. She is still soldiering on, working on shoestring funds and raising money from private donations. I have been very impressed, have funded many aspects of her work and strongly endorse her.
Her website is here
https://1947partitionarchive.org/mission/
I would urge all who would like to be a part of this continent-spanning, meticulous chronicling of Indian History to visit her website, attend some of her outreach events and donate to keep it alive. She is soldiering on with scarce resources but unlimited passion and hard work.