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The 1947 British subdivision of colonial India into Pakistan and the independent Indian nation caused the loss of 500,000 lives and the relocation of millions-one of the most extensive movement of peoples ever.
After centuries of coexistence, Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims became victims of mutual suspicion as violence swept through the countryside. The resulting mass relocations of these groups transformed village populations overnight.
In DIVISION OF HEARTS ordinary people from Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh - cartdrivers, laborers, tradespeople, farmers - tell this history and recount their own tumultuous experiences. Their memories, combined with archival news film, bear witness to the traumatic birth of two independent nations.
'The real success of this well-produced film is that the refugees' repeated 'why?' and 'what was achieved by this division of hearts?' finds a responsive echo within our own hearts when we view the communal strife in Northern Ireland, the Middle East, and in India itself where Sikhs were burnt alive in the haven to which they fled at Partition.' -The Sikh Messenger
'Tells the survivors' stories in graphic and realistic descriptions and visuals. Recommended.' -Landers Film and Video Reviews
'Poignant... an interesting video well worth viewing by South Asian scholars and students.' -W.W. Reinhardt, Choice
'Pick of the Day... An extraordinary slice of history.' -Elizbeth Cowley, Daily Mail (London)
Citation
Main credits
Chappell, Peter (film director)
Chappell, Peter (film producer)
Chappell, Peter (cinematographer)
Khanna, Satti (screenwriter)
Khanna, Satti (film director)
Anthropology; Asia; Bangladesh; Cultural Anthropology; Geography; Global Studies; History (World); Human Geography; India; Migration; Pakistan; Sociology; South Asia
Keywords
Pakistan; India; Bangladesh; partition; migration; forced migration; Indian; creation; South Asia; division; subdivision; 1947; upheaval; regional; refugees; documentary; film; video; subcontinent; Independence of India; raj; communal; violence; borders; DVD; regional geography; human populations; political history; historical geography; "Division of Hearts"; Icarus Films;
WEBVTT
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00:01:55.000 --> 00:01:59.999 Amritsar in the East Punjab
00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:04.999 is one of the places which has suffered very heavily in the communal fighting in recent weeks.
00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:09.999 It’s the holy city of the Sikhs who with Hindus have been engaged in localized civil war
00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:14.999 against the Muslims. And caused the railway station in Pakistan, Sikh and Hindu
00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:19.999 dead and wounded add to causalities. These are huge and still mounting.
00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:24.999 Meanwhile, there’s a worse trek by Sikh and Hindu refugees making their way as best they can
00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:29.999 from areas in Pakistan to the competitive safety of Indian territory.
00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:34.999 Where communities are so mixed, it is of course impossible to go boundaries which will segregate Hindus
00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:39.999 on the one hand, Muslims on the other. The result is that there are two virtual migrations in progress.
00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:44.999 For Muslim refugees, in their tens and thousands are fleeing from India into Pakistan.
00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:49.999 It was a fore gone conclusion that something like this would happen when British authority withdrew
00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:54.999 and Britain sympathy undoubtedly goes out to all the peoples of the two new dominions
00:02:55.000 --> 00:02:59.999 at this time of trial.
00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:08.000 [sil.]
00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:38.000 [sil.]
00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:44.999 In August 1947, the British withdrew from India.
00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:49.999 Two centuries of colonial rule had sharpen
00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:54.999 religious difference and many Muslims felt, they would be secure
00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:59.999 only in a Muslim homeland to be called Pakistan.
00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:04.999 Hindus and Sikhs felt they would be secure in India.
00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:09.999 This film is the story of ordinary people.
00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:14.999 It is the story of their bewildered migration and the slow re-building of their lives.
