How the Partition of 1947 Impacted Indian Folklore
It did not just part land, nations, property, people, and families, but a long-standing history, culture, folklore, and stories.
There is an old Iraqi (and Native American) saying that when two fish in a river fight, an Englishman must have passed by. In the year 1947, there rose from the lands of Southeast Asia, the cries for liberation that eventually cascaded into such an excess of undefined freedom, that people lost a sense of belonging, and parts of their own.
The Partition of 1947 did not just part land, nations, property, people, and families, but a long-standing history, culture, folklore, and stories.
It is impossible to understand the Partition of 1947 without delving into the historical context that gave rise to it. The British colonial rule (vernacular British Raj) had a profound impact on the subcontinent, and it is no exaggeration to say that the Partition was a direct consequence of the policies and strategies pursued by the colonial administration.
One of the most insidious of these policies was the "divide and rule" strategy. Introduced by the 17th Viceroy of India, Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, through the Morley-Minto reforms, which aimed to create divisions within Indian society by playing different communities against each other. This strategy was particularly effective in stoking communal tensions between Hindus and Muslims, and it laid the foundation for the Partition.
The British administration systematically created divisions along religious and ethnic lines and actively encouraged the formation of separate political entities based on these divisions, for example, the bullets and rifles greased by tallow and lard, considered religiously forbidden and sinful by the (Brahmin) Hindus and Muslims respectively. This policy of communalism was institutionalized through the infamous Communal Award of 1932, which granted separate electorates for Muslims and other minority communities.
The result of these policies was a deep-seated mistrust and animosity between different communities, which was reflected in the folklore and tales of the region. From Punjab (in Pakistan) to Kashmir, Lahore and Thatta, and many other places in British Raj’s India, were folklore from millennia and centuries ago. As these slapstick policies came into place, the sense of tribalism strengthened and communities pitted themselves against each other in violent, bloodshed riots. It was here a few such folktales arose that threw one caste against the other.
What is so peculiar is that almost all throughout history, this was never the case. LK Advani notes that there is an idea of Sindh that was built on religious harmony, where people respected Jhulelal Krishna and Shahbaz Qalandar alike. He says and I quote, “Religious fanaticism was foreign to both Muslims and Hindus in Sindh.”
The pride of belonging to one land soon turned into shouts of ‘Hindustan Zindabad’ or ‘Inquilab Zindabad’, with groups that chose either ‘Har Har Mahadev’ or ‘Allah Hu Akbar’ as their motto.
Ram Jethmalani notes that people of the region viewed themselves as Sindhis first and Hindus or Muslims second.
Yet all this commotion never broke that spirit in the lores and despite these attempts to divide and conquer, the folktales and legends of the region reflected a different reality. They often celebrated and to this day celebrate interfaith love stories, where couples overcome social norms and taboos to find happiness together. But we must awaken ourselves to acknowledge the impact the Partition of 1947 had on them.