8 - Remembering Partition in the Time of Fascism

Summary

In this chapter, I explore the idea of ‘healing’ further. The two stories that I present in this chapter – Gangaram and Pooran Chand's – involve the juxtaposition of nostalgia and bigotry, often treated as contradictory perspectives. Both of them had revisited Pakistan following the Partition and had a number of close friends and acquaintances there. On the surface, their stories seemed to be exemplars of peace and reconciliation. Yet, even as they expressed a deep attachment with the place of their birth, they swore vengeance on Muslims. Although they fondly remembered the bonhomie of their visits across the border, they articulated a firm belief in the ideology of Hindu nationalism. I use these stories to reflect on the imprint of Hindu nationalism on these narratives and wonder how we might evaluate ‘healing’ in this context. Ultimately, both these stories explore what it means to inhabit a history that is not only alive but also unfinished.

Gangaram's Story

I met Gangaram for the first time in February 2018, through Bhanwarilal. They had known each other for quite some time through their involvement in the All-India Mianwali District Association. Gangaram, like Bhanwarilal, also hailed from Mianwali. Gangaram was born in March 1935 and was 12 years old at the time of the Partition. His family had owned a vast amount of agricultural land and a clothes shop in Mianwali. His family moved to Jalandhar in March 1947, in response to Punjab's March riots. By early August, when the situation appeared deceptively calm, his family left him in Jalandhar (as a precaution) and moved back to Mianwali to resume their business. However, by the end of the month the violence had escalated significantly leaving them no choice but to move to Jalandhar for good. Eventually his family decided to settle in Delhi and started a business. When I met Gangaram, he was living in north Delhi. As the oldest son of his father, he had taken over the family business and now owned three shops in different parts of the city.

Gangaram walked into my project like a breath of fresh air. By February 2018 I had begun to feel varying levels of disinterest and disgust towards some of my informants. Until I met Gangaram, all of the informants I had met were fairly Islamophobic. But Gangaram seemed different. His story seemed like a fairy tale of hope and reconciliation.