Punjabi identities before and after the 1947 partition of Punjab
by Ishtiaq Ahmed, Sweden
Two contrasting approaches to identity have been current in social science. The primordialists argue that human beings have always been grouped together on the basis of objective primordial characteristics such as race, skin colour , tribe, caste, language, religion and so on. Additionally different historical experiences create different collective ambitions and aspirations. In contrast, the instrumentalists assert that identity is fluid and easily pliable and therefore contains no permanent boundaries. Rather political entrepreneurs exploit some shared cultural factor to create new identity in order to mobilize support for their agendas.
In my opinion both these positions fail to capture the complex socio-political nature of identity. It will be argued that identity needs to be seen as a multi-dimensional combination of so-called objective and subjective factors that impose limitations as well as provide scope for adjustment and manoeuvre in the historical-political processes of political competition. Thus political entrepreneurs can manoeuvre identity but only within the limits of the overall situation and context. Thus in some situations the religious identity can be overriding and in others the linguistic-cultural one. For example, despite common religion and language all attempts to mobilize elite and mass support to abolish the current territorial states in the Arab Middle East have foundered. On the other hand, despite common religion, East Pakistan broke away from West Pakistan to become the independent state of Bangladesh. The roots of Bengali separatism are usually traced to the language movement in favour of Bengali and against the imposition of Urdu.
The multi-dimensional and relational and contextual nature of identity will be demonstrated through the case of Punjab, where the religious identity came to dominate its politics only from 1940 onwards and the result was the partitioning of the province through bloody and traumatizing displacement. However, Punjab was not divided into two and not three parts - Muslims on the one side and Hindu-Sikhs on the other side of the border. The fallout of the religious basis of the division of Punjab was that the Pakistani Punjab became the bulwark of conservative Islamic forces and on the Indian side communal politics polarized during the Punjabi Suba Movement of the 1950s and early 60s and later escalated into the Khalistan insurgency. However, recent peace overtures between India and Pakistan may once again bring Punjabis of both sides to probe chances of greater cultural amity and thus lessen the hold of religious identity.
Migration and post-partition resettlement in Lyallpur: The impact of refugee labour
by Pippa Virdee, UK
To date very little work has been done on comparing the experiences of refugee labour as a result of the 1947 partition of the Punjab. This localised case study which is part of a wider comparative work on Ludhiana and Lyallpur focuses on the extent to which the migration of Muslim labour to Lyallpur (modern day Faisalabad) in 1947 played a role in the city's subsequent economic importance as a centre of textile manufacture. This is explored with the use of official documentation and supplemented with personal narratives of migrants from Ludhiana to Lyallpur. They highlight the relationship between the two cities before and after partition. This paper will examine the way Lyallpur adapted following the total out-migration of all non-Muslims and the influx of Muslims from East Punjab, especially Ludhiana. The local economy in Lyallpur changed dramatically in the post-1947 period and this theme will be examined with particular reference to the pioneering textile labourers in Lyallpur. The experience gained previously in Ludhiana seemed to play a vital role in the subsequent settlement and prosperity of these migrants. The textile workers of Ludhiana found new opportunities in Lyallpur, which sought to expand this sector in the post-1947 period. By tapping into a skill base already present in the city, Faisalabad was able to prosper much more rapidly then if the skilled labour had to be sought first.
The 1947 violence and the migration and resettlement of muslims from amritsar
by Ian Talbot,UK
The paper commences with an examination of the Muslim community's contribution to pre-partition Amritsar's demography and economy. It moves from a city wide to a locality based analysis that identifies the main Muslim residential areas, both within the walled area of the city and outside it such as at Sharifpura, Tehsilpura and Islamabad. The paper then focuses on the characteristics and causes of the violence in the city from March--August 1947. Conflicting explanations for this are understood in terms of the need for community 'blame displacement.' The extent of the damage to the walled areas of the city is revealed. The months of violence culminated in the mass migration of the Muslims to Pakistan following the drawing of the new international boundary. The final part of the paper examines the resettlement of migrants from Amritsar in the neighbouring city of Lahore. This account draws on both documentary and oral sources. The concentration of migrants in such localities as Nisbet Road and Gowalmandi is revealed. The paper's overall aim is to move beyond stereotypical portrayals and by means of this case study to uncover the complex and differential experiences of violence, migration and resettlement in the Punjab at the time of the 1947 upheaval.
