Bay Area Residents Recall Partition Experience
By A.H. Cemendtaur
A 1973 Indian movie dealing with the social impact of the relocation of vast number of Muslims of India to Pakistan was screened at Stanford University. The showing was arranged by Friends of South Asia, a group of Bay Area Pakistanis and Indians. The movie ‘Garam Hawa’ is based on a short story written by the renowned Urdu writer Ismat Chughtai.
Garam Hawa captures the dilemma of an Agra Muslim family after Partition. Many members of the extended family emigrate from India to avail better opportunities in Pakistan; others start leaving on experiencing increased discrimination in the new society that is evolving -- a society transformed by the mass movement of people.
Almost fifty people, mostly of South Asian-descent, attended the program. An interesting discussion focusing on Partition ensued at the end of the movie. The main themes of the conversation (positions maintained by individuals) are presented below.
Pakistan and generally Northern India were most affected by the Partition. For the majority of South Indians “Partition” does not mean much.
In the tumult of partition fortunes were reversed: many paupers amassed great wealth, many rich became very poor.
Religion-based tensions, aggravated by Partition, are on the rise in South Asia.
Hindus living in Pakistan are a tiny minority there; they don’t stand out and consequently don’t get as affected by the charged atmosphere as the Muslims of India.
Indian families who moved from present day Pakistan resent the division. The older generation still recounts the trauma of departure from their ancestral homes.
Pakistanis see Partition a bit differently. Whereas they feel sorry for the violence and the migration of people at the birth of the two countries, and they want to see brotherly relations between India and Pakistan, the Pakistanis don’t want to undo the Partition. This desire to remain free can’t be scoffed as mere nationalism. Liberal Pakistanis, who disliked Pakistani establishment’s arrogant attitude towards the Bengalis, were not displeased at the independence of Bangladesh. The underlying idea is that self-determination is every community’s birthright.
FOSA’s mission statement reads thus:
Founded in the Silicon Valley/San Francisco Bay Area, FOSA is a group of people with roots in South Asia. Its mission is to achieve a peaceful, prosperous, and hate-free South Asia that is demilitarized and free of nuclear weapons. FOSA brings together people. FOSA promotes respect for the diversity and plurality of South Asia, promoting amity between countries and communities, and working towards a South Asia where the rights of all -- regardless of religious, ethnic, sexual or other differences -- are respected and protected. FOSA carries out its work through people-to-people contacts, dialog, and other non-violent, non-exclusionary means; working on its own and with other organizations sharing similar aspirations.
|
|