Bearing Witness
Partition, Independence, End of the Raj

Sukeshi Kamra

About the Book

August 14/15, 1947, reverberates with meaning for Indian and Pakistani people and means much more than the "independence" of India. This momentous time marks the birth of two nation states, India and Pakistan, and is fixed in the memory of many as Partition and end of the Raj.

Bearing Witness attempts to nuance this historical moment by considering contemporary and post-event responses to Partition, which Indians and Pakistanis have inherited as one of uncontested significance. From testimonials and speeches by Jinnah and Nehru to fictional and non-fictional accounts by Indians and the British, and political cartoons that appeared in English newspapers at the time, Kamra offers an inductive study of primary texts that have been ignored until now. The book studies the three groups most affected by the events of 1947: the educated Indians, for whom the event is inextricably linked with trauma and loss of home, family, and community; and the British, for whom this was the beginning of exile.

Author Sukeshi Kamra asks, "Why do we not consider these valid and contesting readings in the teaching and learning of our history? Not doing so means that testimonials to Partition, such as narratives of trauma, autobiographies as 'personal' statements on a 'public' moment, and political cartoons as a minute-by-minute construction of history have yet to be considered."

About the Author

Sukeshi Kamra, is associate dean of the faculty of arts at Okanagan University College. She teaches in the English department. She has published articles on Salman Rushdie and Rohinton Mistry and is currently working on a study of popular protest in colonial India.

Table of Contents

Chronology
Introduction

1. The Word on the Streets: Editorials and Political Cartoons
   in English-Language Dailies (1947)
2. 'Dare to Know': Aug. 15, 1947, the Partition
3. Narratives of Pain: Fiction and Autobiography
   as 'Psychotestimonies' to the Partition
4. The Children of India Remember: Reflections, Chronicles,
   Diaries and Autobiographies
5. The Rhetoric of Anxiety: The End of the Raj in the Writings
   of the British and the British Press Conclusion

Appendix A: Historical Background to the Partition in the Punjab
Appendix B: History of the Indian Press under Colonial Rule
Appendix C: Biographies Notes Bibliography Index

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