'No-mans Land' and the Creation of Partitioned Histories in India/Pakistan

This chapter contextualizes the background to the violence and migration that accompanied independence and Britain’s departure from its ‘jewel in the crown’. It then discusses remembrance of these events as reflected in the main controversies among scholars surrounding the nature of the violence, the number of casualties and more recently to what extent partition-related violence should be considered genocide and/or a form of ethnic cleansing. The chapter then considers the ways in which literature and film have represented partition and debates over a peace museum and a memorial. The chapter finally considers the ways in which oral testimonies have been increasingly used to delve into the human cost of partition and consider the legacy of partition in conserving a re-imagined Punjabi community in the sub-continent and among the diaspora.