Abstracts

History

Panel 1: Rewriting History

• Oral History: A History from Below in Pakistan
• Literary Responses to 1971: Case Study of Urdu Fiction and Poetry
• Dhaka University and the Birth of the Nation: Reliving the Trauma of 1971
• Fractures of Memory: Personal Narratives and the Partition of 1947

Oral History: A History from Below in Pakistan

by Anandi Mehmood*

This paper will consider the ways in which oral history could be used to develop critical discourse on Pakistan and its past by establishing a history from below. While official histories present a picture of inevitable communal divisions and focus on the workings of political parties, oral histories and lived experience give ample evidence of a more complex picture. The work of Ahmed Salim in Sindh and Nighat Saeed Khan in Punjab and Sindh have begun an exploration of personal narratives in Pakistan and how we can use them to understand the way Partition has been internalised by communities in Pakistan. This paper will develop these critical discourses by analysing memories of Partition in Pothohar.

The paper will make use of interviews which record the memories of individuals in villages across the northern part of the province, Pothohar. It will to try to enable a peasant and class based analysis of the rola (disturbances and violence) which occurred from March 1947 onwards starting in Rawalpindi and spreading across the region. Over 50 interviews have been conducted between 2005 and 2006 in towns such as Chakkwaal and Pindigheb and Chuha Khalsa, as well as in more remote areas such Lehri, Sohan, Khalsa Talar and Bishandot.

These interviews give evidence of both violence, as well as numerous occasions where neighbours, servants and friends supported their fellow villagers. There are incidences of Hindus and Sikhs staying behind and being protected by their communities. These narratives act to highlight the forcible nature of the bulk of migrations. At the same time memories also offer evidence of class divisions, which were apparent and often mirrored religious divisions. These were easily manipulated by outside forces.

In the process of rewriting history, this paper will highlight the importance of understanding and remembering the experience of daily life for the majority of people, whose main concerns have always been to have food, clothing and shelter.

While considering the importance of oral narratives, the paper will also highlight the difficulties of conducting oral histories on Partition, which have been experienced. It will consider the wider implications, values and ethical problems of such research, through reference to critical writings on oral history and memory studies.

* Dr. Anandi Mehmood works with the Department of Humanities, University of Central Lancashire, UK.  She is the author of Imperial Persuaders: Images of African and Asian People in British Advertising (Manchester University Press 2003). More recently she has worked on oral history projects in Britain and Pakistan.

Literary Responses to 1971: Case Study of Urdu Fiction and Poetry

Asif Farrukhi*

Urdu literary figures in post-1971 Pakistan responded to the events of that year in a variety of ways. A majority wrapped themselves in nationalist and anti-Bengali sentiments and represented Bangladesh's war of liberation as a story of betrayal and treachery. In this respect, they echoed the state's own position on the subject. Yet in the 1970s and 1980s, numerous short stories, poems and novels were written by people such as Masood Asher, Intizar Hussein, Razia Fasih Ahmed, among others, that were more critical of the role the Pakistani state and military played in the period. Through a reading of these works the paper will show how various authors who were more sympathetic to the cause of Bengali nationalist aspirations created a space of critique within Urdu literature on the complex politics surrounding 1971.

* Asif Farrukhi is a writer and critic who has published seven collections of short stories and two volumes of critical essays, as well as edited a volume of selected short fiction from Pakistan focusing on socio-political issues from the country's history. He has also edited a selection of post-modernist Urdu poetry and has translated contemporary Sindhi literature into English. He is the founder editor of Duniyazad, a series devoted to contemporary writing.

Dhaka University and the Birth of the Nation: Reliving the Trauma of 1971

by Imtiaz Ahmed*

In his convocation address in 1922, the Chancellor of the University and Governor of Bengal, Lord Lytton, made a poignant remark regarding the birth of Dhaka University: “It is no use recalling the days when Dacca had just ceased to be the capital of Eastern Bengal and when the late Sir Robert Nathan and his Committee were busy designing the University of Dacca as a splendid Imperial compensation.” Since then, the University could never rid itself of its political foundation. Dhaka University was at the forefront during the demand for a separate homeland for the Muslims and later on for the independence of the eastern wing from the state of Pakistan. In fact, as far as the latter is concerned, it is the only university in the world where students raised the flag of the new nation and handed it over to its national leaders and, at the same time, suffered a mass killing of its students, teachers and employees at the hands of the Pakistani military. Neither the political role of the University, nor the violence within the campus seems to have subsided in post-independence Bangladesh. The question that merits attention now is whether the University is reliving the trauma of the past, particularly the bloody birth of Bangladesh in 1971. The paper will address this issue in detail based on in-depth interviews of victims and witnesses of 1971.

* Imtiaz Ahmed is a Professor of International Relations at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Fractures of Memory: Personal Narratives and the Partition of 1947

by Pippa Virdee*

The use of oral history has been a growing trend in Partition studies since the 1990s. Popularised by the need to explore “history from below” it has changed our understandings of Partition from researching the “great men” of history to those who represent the human dimension. The use of oral history in Partition studies has greatly enhanced our understanding of the trauma and turmoil ordinary citizens endured during those chaotic and frenzied days. It has provided an opportunity to document the history of those people who often fall outside the remit of “official” history. Although research in this area is largely confined to India there have been developments in recent years in Pakistan. However, this is largely fragmented and the narrow perimeters of the research objectives restrict the full potential of such projects. Through this paper, I hope to provide an overview of the recent developments in oral history in Pakistan and how it can enhance our understanding of Partition. However, at the same time there is also the need to encourage debate on the use of oral narratives and the associated problems of collecting such histories.