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The paper is basically about "Impact on Women
during the Partition of India" (examining how women were affected
during the partition of India) and you may put headings as you wish.
Consider the following
sources
1. The Great Partition The Making of
India and Pakistan. By Yasmin Khan
2.- Midnight's Furies:
The Deadly Legacy of India's Partition. By Hajari, Nisid
3.- The Shadow of the
Great Game. By Narendra Singh Sarila
4.-The Partition of India.
By Ian Talbotl
IMPACT ON WOMEN DURING THE PARTITION OF INDIA
Students
Name
Course
Name
Date
of Submission
1.0
Introduction
After
the partitioning of British India, the aftermath was the creation of two
independent countries, Pakistan and India. Besides, the partition also led to
the highest forced migrations in human history[1]. The partitioning resulted in the displacement
of at least 12 million people, who fled from their ancestral homes to newly
delineated borders depending on their religious beliefs. Muslims exited from
the India that was Hindu-dominated to Pakistan conversely Sikhs and Hindus
departed from Muslim-dominated Pakistan into India. In the middle of the forced
migration, arguably over 1 million people lost their lives. Countless numbers
of women were exposed to harsh treatment as they were murdered, gang-raped,
tortured, and so on. Besides, daughters were coerced into committing suicide by
their parents to avoid being raped. In more tragic situations, women were
killed by their relatives to shun these atrocities as a way of protecting the
‘honor’ of a family. Women despite their social status or ethnicity were
stripped naked and forced to walk down the streets as a way of strengthening
their humiliation and trauma.
2.0
Violence
In
March 1947, systematic violence against women began in Rawalpindi district
where Muslim mobs targeted Sikh women[2].
These actions preceded the wipeout of various Sikh and Hindu villages. The
attacks happened amid travels of people back and forth between Pakistan and
India between 1947 and 1948. This migration between the two borders can be
termed as the most extended migration in history. The Hindus moved back to
India while the Muslims departed for Pakistan. After the partition convoys of
refugees traveled in both directions. It is during this massive migration that
many people lost their lives, in particular men; meanwhile, women between the
ages of 12 and 40 were murdered, gang-raped, tortured, and raped. The Partition
of Indian and Pakistan affected over 30,000 non-Muslim women in Pakistan and
over 45,000 Muslim women within the Indian borders[3].
Gender-based violence against women was witnessed in two kinds. First, men from
the different religious group attacked women by humiliating them publicly,
mutilating their genitalia and so on. Second, women were assaulted by their
family members through coercion to commit suicide and honor killings.
The violence against
women supports the claim that after the partition women were not treated as
humans but as elements for national and communal pride. For example, women were
killed by their relatives so that to avoid being raped eventually protecting
the standing and “honor” of a family in the community[4].
As a result, the riot situation after the Partition of British Indian resulted
in victimization and gender-based violence against women. There exist both
proven and unconfirmed stories where men killed their family relatives as a way
of sparing themselves of the shame of forced religious conversion and rape.
Besides, women went to the extent of committing suicide; they also killed their
female children through throwing themselves into wells and self-immolation.
Still, women who had been raped or converted failed to live with their dark
realities for that reason they took their own lives. Further women who had been
raped were forced to wear physical signs of their shame, victims were also
mutilated and their skins disfigured with symbols that depicted the religious
and political affiliation of the perpetrators. These symbols included the Islamic
crescent moon and the Hindu trident.
Victimization of women
As an irony, within their societies, women became victims of gender-based violence while their neighbors were regarded as enemies. Sikhs, Muslims, and Hindus had coexisted peacefully before the partition; they were characterized by the similar intentions and goals during the fight for independence for British India. In contrast, after the attainment of independence, they all started fighting against each other and began to give their...