‘Recovered’ by the state, rejected by community: Women in partition, 1947

Pages: 551-554
Vrushali Pathak (Department of Psychology, Delhi University, Delhi )

The present paper attempts to explore into the matters of over-emphasis on women’s purity and chastity and converting them into national honor at the backdrop of India-Pakistan Partition in 1947. India- Pakistan Partition in 1947 was not just a broad political negotiation but had widespread implications on the masses. Almost every sphere of life was impacted by this shift and transfer but women became significant and also ‘problematic’ during the process (Butalia, 1998). The present paper tries to understand these negotiations by analyzing three texts – Rajinder Singh Bedi’s short story Laajwanti (1995) Kaili, a character from Amrita Pritam’s Kaili, Kamini, and Anita (2009 edition) and a movie ‘Pinjar’ based Amrita Pritam’s work, directed by (Chandra Prakash Dwivedi, 2003).