Passage through Partition: Stories of Five Families

Abstract

Drawing upon the journey of five families across the Bengal border, this piece attempts to explore Partition narratives through the accounts of the second-generation migrants. Three of these families had establishments on both sides of the border, with roots in East Bengal. Of the rest, one came from Haora (or Howrah), near Calcutta (now Kolkata), and the other from Jangipur, near Murshidabad.With a degree of variation, the migrating generation from all these families was educated, with some holding excellent academic credentials, and endowed with social and cultural capital. In most cases, these families had members doing salaried jobs in both the private and public sectors; there were business persons and politicians. Some were landed gentry. Two families had zamindari during those years of Partition. One family had seen the decline of their zamindari, with education saving them. One family member from a relatively rural area was determined: 'Ekta kichhu korte hobe' (I have to do something). Calcutta, the hub of opportunities, seemed to be a long way from him and his family. The remaining four, however, had close contact with Calcutta if not residing there permanently. They were accustomed to an urban lifestyle. While these differences impacted the way they encountered Partition, migration, and life on 'this side', with their varied professional and economic abilities, descendants of these families are well established in present-day Bangladesh (earlier East Bengal) with more or less great control over social capital. Does that mean educated, middleclass Bengali Muslim migrants from India had a smooth transit through Partition? Did they experience very little of the hardship or bitterness associated with the series of events that took place in the years preceding and following 1947?