Divided Bengal: Problems of nationalism and identity in the 1947 partition<sup>1</sup>

Gordon, Leonard A.

doi:10.1080/14662047808447306

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 6 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This, among many other issues, soon became a point of contention regarding the role that the Bengali province played in the newly established Pakistan. Gordon (2001) analyses the historical background of 'Bengali identity' and highlights the many issues involved, such as cultural belonging and difference, Bengali nationalism, local religious identity and linguistic traditions, and how these have influenced the Bengali population that was to become Pakistani citizens in 1947 and then Bangladeshi citizens in 1971.…”

Section: The Partition Of 1947 As a Precursor Of Bangladesh's Liberat...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Gendered Nationalism: Bangladeshi Narratives of the War of Liberation

Fedtke

2023

South Asia Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Within the frameworks of postcolonial analysis and gender studies, focused on the involvement of women in the struggle for independence of Bangladesh in 1971, this article presents and discusses three literary and filmic representations of Bangladesh’s War of Liberation. This analysis combines non-fictional and fictional perspectives and input and clearly confirms that, contrary to popular perceptions of predominantly male war heroes, women also participated in the struggle for independence. Women’s sacrifices and commitment to independence and justice have helped build Bangladesh and strengthen gender equality in the context of Bangladeshi nationalism. The analysis establishes the Bangladeshi Liberation War of 1971 as an aftermath of the partition of the subcontinent in 1947. This theme assumes particular importance upon the 50th anniversary of the War of Liberation in 2021 and the 75th anniversary of the Partition in 2022.

show abstract

Section: The Partition Of 1947 As a Precursor Of Bangladesh's Liberat...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Gendered Nationalism: Bangladeshi Narratives of the War of Liberation

Fedtke

2023

South Asia Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The historical setting of these assertions was complex, and it is not possible to describe it here. Events that occurred in Bengal in the late 1930s and the 1940s as the Muslims League gathered strength, the turmoil and tragedy of partition, the politics of the Muslim League in Bengal, and the proposals for an independent Bengal were all crucial (see Sen 1976, Gordon 1978, and Baxter 1976.…”

Section: Implications Of the Belief In Pakistanmentioning

confidence: 99%

“A Place Insufficiently Imagined”: Language, Belief, and the Pakistan Crisis of 1971

Oldenburg¹

1985

J of Asian Stud

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The breakup of Pakistan in 1971 can be explained in pt by a failure of understanding on the part of the West Pakistani leadership of Pakistan, a seeming inability to recognize what the meaning of Pakistan was for Bengalis, and thus the cause of the demand for Bengali as a state language equal to Urdu. Exploration of the language issue in the period before and afterndependence helps to illuminate the divergence of belief about the form of the new state and the meaning of parity in representation between east and west wings of the country. The final tragedy of the attempted crushing of the movement for an autonomous Bangladesh is also in part an outcome of this pattern of belief, in particular the belief about the role of Hindus in the expression of Bengali identity.

show abstract

“…However, as the political mobilisation for a separate Muslim state gathered momentum in the late 1930s and early 1940s, the larger Bengali cultural and linguistic identity increasingly came to be fractured along sectarian and religious lines (Gordon, 1978). As a result, when partition occurred in 1947, most people increasingly looked upon themselves as Hindus or Muslims first and Bengalis afterwards (see Das, 1991;Chatterji, 1994).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Divided Landscapes, Fragmented Identities: East Bengal Refugees and Their Rehabilitation in India, 1947–79

Kudaisya

1996

Singap J Trop Geogr

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947 was followed by the forced uprooting of an estimated 18 million people. This paper focuses on the predicament of the minority communities in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) who were uprooted and forced to seek shelter in the Indian province of West Bengal. It considers the responses of Indian federal and provincial governments to the challenge of refugee rehabilitation. A study is made of the Dandakaranya scheme which was undertaken after 1958 to resettle the refugees by colonising forest land: the project was sited in a peninsular region marked by plateaus and hill ranges which the refugees, originally from the riverine and deltaic landscape of Bengal, found hard to accept. Despite substantial official rehabilitation efforts, the refugees demanded to be resettled back in their "natural habitat" of Indian Bengal. However, this was resisted by the state. Notwithstanding this opposition, a large number of East Bengal refugees moved back into regions which formed a part of erstwhile undivided Bengal where, without any government aid and planning, they colonised lands and created their own habitats. Many preferred to become squatters in the slums that sprawled in and around Calcutta. The complex interplay of identity and landscape, of dependence and self-help, that informed the choices which the refugees made in rebuilding their lives is analysed in the paper.Punjab and Bengal, the provinces that were divided, experienced the disruptions of partition most acutely. The bulk of the killings took place in Punjab where, on both sides of the newly-created borders, the minority communities were almost

show abstract

Divided Bengal: Problems of nationalism and identity in the 1947 partition¹

Cited by 5 publications

References 6 publications

Gendered Nationalism: Bangladeshi Narratives of the War of Liberation

Gendered Nationalism: Bangladeshi Narratives of the War of Liberation

“A Place Insufficiently Imagined”: Language, Belief, and the Pakistan Crisis of 1971

Divided Landscapes, Fragmented Identities: East Bengal Refugees and Their Rehabilitation in India, 1947–79

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Divided Bengal: Problems of nationalism and identity in the 1947 partition1

Cited by 5 publications

References 6 publications

Gendered Nationalism: Bangladeshi Narratives of the War of Liberation

Gendered Nationalism: Bangladeshi Narratives of the War of Liberation

“A Place Insufficiently Imagined”: Language, Belief, and the Pakistan Crisis of 1971

Divided Landscapes, Fragmented Identities: East Bengal Refugees and Their Rehabilitation in India, 1947–79

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Divided Bengal: Problems of nationalism and identity in the 1947 partition¹