The Partition of India – Part 5: A Crisis Made Flesh

The “chief sufferers” of Partition, according to Mohandas Gandhi, were women. As the subcontinent descended into chaos, women of all three religious communities become prime targets in the war for honor and land. Across the Punjab, tens of thousands of women and girls were assaulted, abducted and trafficked across the border. In response, the governments of India and ­Pakistan worked together to recover them – with mixed, and tragic, results.

Sources: Akbar, M.J. Tinderbox: The Past and Future of Pakistan. 2011. Tharoor, Shashi. Nehru: The Invention of India. 2003. Tharoor, Shashi. Inglorious Empire: What The British Did To India. 2017. Khan, Yasmin. The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan. 2007. Guha, Ramachandra. Gandhi: The Years That Changed The World. 2018. Sarila, Narendra Singh. The Shadow of the Great Game. 2005. Charles Rivers Editors. The Punjab. 2018. Charles Rivers Editors. British India. 2017. Puri, Kavita. Partition Voices: Untold British Stories. 2019. Malhotra, Aanchal. Remnants of Partition: 21 Objects From A Continent Divided. 2017. Von Tunzelmann, Alex. Indian Summer. 2007. Zakaria, Anam. The Footprints of Partition. 2015. Ahmed Akbar. Jinnah, Pakistan and Islamic Identity. 1997. Urvashi, Butalia. The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India. 1998. White-Spunner, Barney. Partition. 2017. Lawrence, James. Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India. 1997. Hamdani, Yasser Latif. Jinnah: A Life. 2020. Fischer, Louis. Gandhi. 1950. Kidwai, Anis. In Freedom’s Shade. 2011. Saxena, Chandni. “ON RELIGION AND ITS IMPLICATIONS ON WOMEN DURING PARTITION OF INDIA.” 2014. “India: A People Partitioned” Broadcast on the BBC World Service, 1997. Compiled and presented by Andrew Whitehead, producer Zina Rohan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices