The Partition of India and the associated bloody riots inspired many creative minds in the republics of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh to create literary/cinematic depictions of this event. While some creations depicted the massacres during the refugee migration, others concentrated on the aftermath of the partition in terms of difficulties faced by the refugees in both side of the border. Even now, more than 60 years after the partition, works of fiction and films are made that relate to the events of partition. W.H. Auden in his poem "Partition" showed the dilemmas of Cyril John Radcliffe, 1st Viscount Radcliffe, responsible for deciding which parts of India went where.
Literature describing the human cost of independence and partition comprises Khushwant Singh's Train to Pakistan (1956), several short stories such as Toba Tek Singh (1955) by Saadat Hassan Manto, Urdu poems such as Subh-e-Azadi (Freedom's Dawn, 1947) by Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Bhisham Sahni's Tamas (1974), Manohar Malgonkar's A Bend in the Ganges (1965), and Bapsi Sidhwa's Ice-Candy Man (1988), among others. Salman Rushdie's novel Midnight's Children (1980), which won the Booker Prize and the Booker of Bookers, weaved its narrative based on the children born with magical abilities on midnight of 14 August 1947. Freedom at Midnight (1975) is a non-fiction work by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre that chronicled the events surrounding the first Independence Day celebrations in 1947. There is a paucity of films related to the independence and partition. Early films relating to the circumstances of the independence, partition and the aftermath include Nemai Ghosh's Chinnamul (1950), Dharmputra (1961), Ritwik Ghatak's Meghe Dhaka Tara (1960), Komal Gandhar (1961), Subarnarekha (1962); later films include Garm Hava (1973) and Tamas (1987). From the late 1990s onwards, more films on this theme were made, including several mainstream films, such as Earth (1998), Train to Pakistan (1998) (based on the aforementioned book), Hey Ram (2000), Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001), Pinjar (2003), Partition (2007) and Madrasapattinam (2010),. The biopics Gandhi (1982), Jinnah (1998) and Sardar (1993) also feature independence and partition as significant events in their screenplay.
Some of the books and films are discussed here. However, the list is far from being exhaustive.
Fiction
Ordered by date of publication
Hyder, Qurratulain, Aag Ka Darya (River of Fire) (1959). Translated into English by the author in 1998. Reprint 2019 by New Directions. "River of Fire tells a completist and syncretistic version of 2,500 years of history in modern-day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh—beginning with the Nanda Dynasty on the brink of defeat by the founder of the Mauryan Empire (323 to 185 BCE), and ending in post-Partition despair." Rushdie, Salman, Midnight's Children (1980). New York: Knopf, 1981; . Manto, Saadat Hasan, Kingdom's End and Other Stories (1987). Penguin Books India. . The majority of stories by this Punjabi writer revolve around the end of the Raj, Partition and communalism. Sahni, Bhisham, Tamas (1987). Penguin Books India. Sidhwa, Bapsi, Ice-Candy Man (1989) later published as Cracking India (1991). Singh, Khushwant, Train to Pakistan (1990). Grove Press; Lahiri, Jhumpa, Interpreter of Maladies (1999). Mariner Books/Houghton Mifflin. Baldwin, Shauna Singh, What the Body Remembers (2001). Anchor: Mistry, Rohinton, A Fine Balance (2001). Random House (though this book is set in 1975 Partition plays a dominant role in the narrative)
Hoshyarpur to Lahore
Entitled Hoshyar Pur say Lahore tak in Urdu, it is a true story based on a train journey from Indian city of Hoshiarpur to Lahore in Pakistan. It is written by a Police officer who traveled in this train.
This is Not That Dawn (Jhoota Sach) Jhootha Sach is arguably the most outstanding piece of Hindi literature written about the Partition. Reviving life in Lahore as it was before 1947, the book opens on a nostalgic note, with vivid descriptions of the people that lived in the city's streets and lanes like Bhola Pandhe Ki Gali: Tara, who wanted an education above marriage; Puri, whose ideology and principles often came in the way of his impoverished circumstances; Asad, who was ready to sacrifice his love for the sake of communal harmony. Their lives—and those of other memorable characters—are forever altered as the carnage that ensues on the eve of Independence shatters the beauty and peace of the land, killing millions of Hindus and Muslims, and forcing others to leave their homes forever. Published in English translation for the first time, Yashpal's controversial novel is a politically charged, powerful tale of human suffering.
