PARTITION: 60 Years Later, The Refugees at the Other Border

SEE SAJA ROUNDUP of dozens of 60th anniversary stories.

[UPDATE: I hear there's a major Time magazine cover story coming soon; and a National Geographic issue on Pakistan in September.]

[A photo by Dan McDougall from a story about the 60th anniversary of India-Pakistan independence. See below.]

When the 50th anniversary of the India-Pakistan came along in 1997, there was a lot of U.S. press coverage, including special cover stories in National Geographic, Newsweek and The New Yorker (and London-based Granta ran an entire issue on India, still available for purchase).

But with the 60th anniversary about 10 days away (Aug. 14/15), there's been very little in the American press (please correct me if I am wrong). Part of the reason, I reckon, is that there's so much more being written about India and Pakistan on a daily basis now than in 1997 that doing special coverage isn't as necessary. Still, I'd have liked to see some big packages that step back and look at the progress of those two countries over the past six decades, as well as the 10 years since 1997. I hope to see some of that over the next 10 days or so.

The British press, on the other hand, continues to keep a close eye on the former British Raj (as it should), and I was alerted to a story in The Observer by SAJAer Srabani Roy. Almost all the stories about Partition are about the India-Pakistan border on the western part of the Subcontinent, but, of course, there was mass slaughter and mass movement on the eastern part as well, in what was carved out as East Pakistan (and in 1971 became Bangladesh).

The Observer piece is one of the most disturbing stories I have read recently. It documents the miserable lives of people in a refugee camp called Coopers Camp in West Bengal. They are refugees and descendants of refugees who crossed over from East Pakistan. "We hardly ever hear of the people crossing th eastern boarders in 1947," Srabani wrote in an e-mail to me. And she's right.

The story by Dan McDougall (who also took the sad, sad photos) opens with an 84-year-old named Kajal.

Kajal is part of a community history forgot. For the past 60 years he has lived in Coopers Camp, a place largely ignored by modern India. With a population of more than 7,000 people, each resident is a family member of those who escaped from Pakistan amid the horrors of British India's partition, out of which emerged the states of Muslim West and East Pakistan (1,600km apart) and mainly Hindu India.

'India was a dream for us when we left everything behind during partition in 1947,' says Kajal. 'I was 15. We had lands near present-day Dhaka [in East Pakistan, which after a civil war became Bangladesh in 1971]. But as Hindus, my parents were threatened unless they handed over their home to Muslims. So we escaped. We hoped for a new life, for land, for homes. But 60 years on India has given us nothing, not even a nationality. My parents, like I will, died here in the same temporary camp they fled to. I sit here before you a refugee now as I was when I crossed the Bay of Bengal.

'I never had the option to leave and I have been unable to give my children and my grandchildren the education they need. It is my biggest regret.'

Read the full story here and see the photos here.

One way to judge how much is known about the camp is by typing in the words coopers camp bengal into Google. Surprisingly, this article, which is in the Sunday, Aug. 5, edition of the Observer, is the third result within a few hours of being published. The Wikipedia entry on the camp, which is first, consists of just one paragraph of demographics, without the word "refugee" appearing anywhere.

Post your thoughts in the comments section below.

 

Comments

[ashish dimri]

Dear Sri,
One of the reasons that these guys are being ignored is influx of illegal immigrants from the other side of borders.
One does not know how many such illegal immigrants are in India.
As a result, one finds utmost confusion between those who deserve to be called refugees and those who donot!
Assam will be a good example to illustrate my point.
yours sincerely,
ashish dimri
India

[Sree Sreenivasan]

A note I received from an American Indophile currently in India on a short trip:

"Hmmmn. Not much hoopla about the anniversary here either. Have read a couple of things in Lucknow and now in Delhi over the past few days. The inflight magazine on Air Deccan has a nice profile of freedom fighters. But I've been surprised by the lack of enthusiasm. Maybe everyone is burned out from celebrating the new
president.

I just asked the 22 and 19 year-old girls I'm sitting with what they thought of the pending 60th anniversary and they said, "not much." They were really excited for the 50th, but then found it anti-climatic. They see a lot of change for some, but too many
important things have not been addressed in the past ten years -- even though they are very smart young women from privileged backgrounds."

[Su Perera]

It would be interesting to find out whether there is any way of helping. Are there any charities that work with the refugees? How about the school in the camp? Is there any way of contributing directly to it?

If anyone know, I'd be very interested in the answer.

[sandhya]

There is a piece "Exit Wounds" in this week's NEW YORKER magazine by Pankaj Mishra on the 60th anniversary. It's actually a review of a new book INDIAN SUMMER, by Alex von Tunzelmann. It's available at http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2007/08/13/070813crbo_books_mishra.

[Partha Banerjee]

Coopers Camp in West Bengal is one of the many examples of post-partition refugees' misery. The 1947 partition created havoc on both sides of the borders, thanks to the whimse and greed of power-hungry politicians and the elite class, the class that's still in power in South Asia.

Generations have suffered because of the blood-soaked partition, and the suffering is still on. We have many personal stories, both from 1947 and 1971, bearing testimony of the everlasting pain and human misery, caused by the followers of Gandhi, Nehru and Jinnah (the 1971 bloodshed and subsequent refugee problems from Bangladesh were largely due to the covert actions of Henry Kissinger and CIA, according to many).

I'd strongly urge people to know, write and speak about the incredible violation of human rights and dignity since 1947. Maybe, South Asian Journalists' Association (SAJA) and other such privileged groups can undertake a project to document this piece of history, that, unlike Jerusalem or Berlin (or even Saigon), not too many Westerners know about.

As far as the definition of illegal immigrants and their influx into India, here in America, we human rights activists have been fighting against similar stereotyping of immigrants, refugees and asylees by the restrictionists and conservative right wing. We don't believe any human beings are illegal. They're only branded illegal by the people in power and their mouthpiece media, which serves their purpose to retain the status quo.

This status quo is very visible in post-1947 South Asia. This status quo and the so-called electoral politics are responsible for the plight of poor refugees in West Bengal, Punjab, Assam, Tripura or Tamil Nadu. These poor people don't have a vote or other forms of political power (such as money or media to influence the elections), and the South Asian rulers are taking advantage of it.

[Dr Anil Basu]

I am surprised that you people missed you the best 60 years of partition coverage in the media. It was on BBC News Online - here's the url http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6943598.stm. It has some of the most brilliant writing, audio galleries etc. I am amazed that Saja blithely ignores or fails to check the absolutely brilliant BBC News South Asia site (www.bbcnews.com/southasia.com), just indicating how America-centric it is, and totally failing to map and follow one of the best sources of news and views on South Asia. They have the best line up of columnists (Ahmed Rashid et al) and some of the best features, and a huge readership in North America, but I read nothing on the site in Saja.

[Sree Sreenivasan]

Anil: Thanks for your note... We appreciate your feedback. I do want to point out that in the collection of partition coverage, we have linked to several BBC resources: http://www.sajaforum.org/2007/08/partition-cover.html

Also, please note that the item you are commenting on above is, in fact, from a British newspaper.

SAJA is specically a North American organization and our goal is to highlight - and improve - the work of US and Canadian media. We do that by focusing on what they do, rather than what UK (or South Asian, speaking of experts on South Asian topics) outlets do. That said, we regularly cover and talk about what's going on in the BBC and elsewhere.

We hop you will continue to contribute your thoughts. And send us links, please!