“It was May 1947, when my parents locked their house in Dera Ghazi Khan and the whole family moved to Delhi. My father knew Partition was going to happen,” recalls 74-year-old Sudha Bhattacharya, born in Delhi to refugee parents. Decades later, she is archiving these stories – memories her parents rarely spoke about – for her children.On Partition Horrors Remembrance Day (August 14), the Partition Museum, in collaboration with the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), commemorated the 79th year of the Partition. Stories were narrated, people were remembered and the experiences of a generation that witnessed displacement, violence and loss were brought into the spotlight.
The Partition Museum is divided into seven galleries, taking visitors on a journey from resistance to the British Raj in the 1900s to the aftermath of Partition. One of the galleries also showcases films depicting the violence, loss and displacement of Partition
‘We must never forget, we must never repeat’“We did a lot of research and debate while setting up the Partition Museum, and our biggest concern was that when people leave the museum, they must say, ‘This must never happen again. Look at what people lost, how they had to live in small tents, struggle for day-to-day livelihood and find homes. These are the things that happen when a country gets divided, when you divide up a society,’” says Kishwar Desai, founder and chair of the Partition Museum.
Kishwar Desai
The museum’s final gallery, Gallery of Hope and Courage, reflects the journey from loss to rebuilding. Kishwar elaborated, “The idea is to communicate how people helped each other, how they visited each other, the love they exchanged despite everything that had happened. People who survived it hid their sorrows and their pain from the next generation. It is our duty now to recognise what they went through. It’s cathartic for them.”Lakshmi Puri, former Assistant Secretary-General, United Nations, also shared her father’s Partition story at the gathering. “It is important because we must never forget, we must never repeat. It is a lesson in what we must do to ensure harmony and unity of the country.”
Lakshmi Puri
‘The memories must be preserved. Otherwise, we risk reducing Partition to statistics and dates’The need to preserve the memories is becoming urgent as the generation that experienced Partition firsthand is fading away. “Someone who was 10 in 1947 is almost 89-90 as India celebrated 79 years of Independence,” says Sachchidanand Joshi, member secretary, IGNCA, adding that younger generations may not know the agony their parents or grandparents endured.
Sachchidanand Joshi
K Mahesh
In a message to the gathering, Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, who could not attend the event, wrote, “Neighbourhoods such as Lajpat Nagar, Punjabi Bagh, Model Town were shaped by the rehabilitation of Partition refugees. Even Khan Market has its origins in the rehabilitation of displaced families. Those who arrived with little, rebuilt their lives and contributed enduringly to Delhi’s economic, social and cultural fabric. Yet, for many, these stories remained within their homes. These memories must be preserved and shared, particularly with younger generations. Else, we risk reducing Partition to statistics and dates.”
Anu Singh Lather and Lithuanian Ambassador Diana Mickeviciene
