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Memories of India-Pakistan Partition and Hindu Nationalism

  • Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University
  • 2023, 80(4), pp.227-261
  • DOI : 10.17326/jhsnu.80.4.202311.227
  • Publisher : Institute of Humanities, Seoul National University
  • Research Area : Humanities > Other Humanities
  • Received : October 11, 2023
  • Accepted : November 19, 2023
  • Published : November 30, 2023

park kyumpyo 1,  Lee Dongwon 2

1한국외국어대학교
2한국외국어대학교 인도연구소

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study is to examine the political use of the memory of the India-Pakistan partition, the establishment of Partition Horrors Remembrance Day, and the possibility of healing trauma resulting from the partition. To achieve this, the study analyzes the partition as a historical event, examines the anniversaries and commemorative events established by the INC and BJP, and assesses the impact of the establishment of Partition Horrors Remembrance Day on the healing of trauma resulting from the partition. This study primarily focuses on literature analysis, and it reviews related data, existing studies, and analyzes relevant news. Both the discourse immediately after the partition and the BJP’s discourse point to the Hindu-Muslim conflict and the Muslim League’s demand for Pakistan as factors in the partition. However, the primary factor is not the Hindu-Muslim conflict but the political conflict between the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League during the time leading up to the partition. The introduction of a representative system played a major role in the conflict between two groups. Therefore, the partition of India-Pakistan was caused by a collaboration between the British colonial government which introduced a representative system, the Muslim League which was concerned about the political representation of Muslims as a minority, and the Indian National Congress which failed to understand or embrace the concerns of the Muslim League. During the INC period, anniversaries were established with the main keywords of independence struggle and national development. During the BJP’s years in power, its identity as a Hindu nationalist party was revealed by establishing anniversaries centered on figures or historical events that were not noticed by the INC government and Partition Horrors Remembrance Day. Although the keywords of the establishment of anniversaries are different, it is the same that each ruling party has revealed its identity through the politicization of historical memory. The INC ignored the memory of the tragedy of partition, but the BJP established Partition Horrors Remembrance Day. This could be a turning point in healing trauma resulting from the tragedy of partition. Trauma at the national level must be premised on reflection and agreement between both the perpetrator and the victim. If it is a memorial day that aims to sincerely heal the trauma of partition, it should be premised on communication between India and Pakistan, both of which suffered the devastation, rather than placing blame on Pakistan or the INC. It should be noted that establishing Partition Horrors Remembrance Day without such a careful premise may exacerbate old wounds and promote conflict instead of fostering healing.

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This paper was written with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea.
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