1947-Partition-Archive is Filling Gaps in Our History
By A.H. Cemendtaur
Recording history is also an act of making history. For when history is recorded, it can be shared, and such sharing can influence people. Many years from now when historians will be able to construct a 1947 ‘ethnic-cleansing map’ of South Asia, or better still, when the progeny of people displaced by the communal violence associated with the birth of new South Asia at the end of the colonial rule will slowly start moving back to its ancestral homes, Dr. Guneeta Singh Bhalla and ‘The1947 Partition Archive’ team members will be smiling on their accomplishment. ‘The1947 Partition Archive’ is paving the way for a clear understanding of the 1947 riots. In a long chain of causes and effects every communal riot in South Asia is an effect of communal events before it and a cause for others to come. In the long saga of communal violence, 1947 ranks huge. The volunteers associated with ‘The 1947 Partition Archive’( http://www.1947partitionarchive.org/ ) are busy collecting testimonies of partition survivors knowing well that with the passing away of each 1947 survivor South Asians are losing an important part of their history.
‘Art for Partition’ held at the UC Berkeley Skydeck, on Saturday, April 6, was a fundraising event for the benefit of ‘The 1947 Partition Archive’ project. The program, emceed by Reena Kapoor, featured readings by Bapsi Sidhwa and Roshni Rustomji-Kerns, a presentation by Dr. Priya Satia, testimonies by partition survivors, songs by Anupama Chandratreya, and an auction of ‘Partition Art’.
See a video of the event here:
http://youtu.be/Bvd49CJTYSY
See photos of ‘Art for Partition’ program here:
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