UNCOVERING THE DIFFUSION OF PARTITION MEMORY FROM SIKH REFUGEE TO NON-REFUGEE SIKH

Shyamal Kataria

UNCOVERING THE DIFFUSION OF PARTITION MEMORY FROM SIKH REFUGEE TO NON-REFUGEE SIKH

Shyamal Kataria

Abstract

Memories of the 1947 Partition have, unsurprisingly, remained far from uniform across the Indian subcontinent. Rather, it has varied (often quite drastically) depending upon who is doing the recalling and in what context they are doing so. However, the degree of ‘overlap’, or homogeneity, in memory of Partition between individuals increases when observed from the parameters of a particular group to the extent that we can speak of ‘collective memories’ of Partition. There are of course many collectives within the subcontinent and people, more often than not, identify with more than one collective at any given time. While taking this into consideration, this paper nonetheless assumes the existence of a particular Sikh refugee Partition memory and focuses upon, following this group’s arrival into truncated India from the territories of perspective/realized West Pakistan, how, why, and what aspects of their memory have diffused into the consciousness of their non-refugee ethnic kin and, after a period of time, down into the consciousness of their post-event offspring.

Keywords

Sikh; Refugees; Punjab; India; Partition; Memory; Diffusion

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