"Post Partition Refugee Rehabilitation in India with Special Reference to Bengal, 1947-71" a talk by Ms. Pallavi Chakravarty at Teen Murti House, Teen Murti Marg > 3pm on 6th November 2012
Time : 3:00 pm
Entry : Free (Seating on First-Come First-Served basis)
Place : Seminar Room, Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML), Teen Murti House, Teen Murti Marg, New Delhi
Venue Info : Events | About | Map | Nearest Metro Station - 'Race Course(Yellow Line)'
Event Details : The Nehru Memorial Museum and Library cordially invites you to the Weekly Seminar on ‘Post Partition Refugee Rehabilitation in India with Special Reference to Bengal, 1947-71’ a talk by Ms. Pallavi Chakravarty, Doctoral Candidate, Department of History, University of Delhi.
Abstract:
This dissertation analyses the very first task set for the nascent nation-state of India—the rehabilitation of a vast number of displaced persons who were rendered homeless in the wake of the Partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. Partition created two sets of displaced persons in India—those coming from West Pakistan and those coming from East Pakistan. Here I look at the Government- sponsored rehabilitation policies implemented for these displaced persons, and draw out a comparison of the treatment meted out to them. I also look at the role of the displaced persons (West and East) in the task of rehabilitating themselves in the new homeland. Finally, the impact of Partition and rehabilitation on the Muslim minority community in India is also discussed. The work comprises five chapters. The first chapter discusses in detail the pattern of influx into India from West Pakistan and East Pakistan. I then describe in detail the evacuation policy as implemented by the Government of India on the western front and its limited implementation in the East, and I also mention the factors which led to such differences— varied pattern of influx and varied experience of violence. Finally, I mention the evacuation of different categories of migrants—privileged and the not-so privileged categories.
The second chapter deals with the rehabilitation policies as implemented by the Government of India for the refugees coming from West Pakistan. The following four Acts, and their impact upon the refugee population as well as the displaced Muslim population is discussed in detail—
1. The Delhi Land Requisition and Acquisition Act, 1948
2. The Administration of Evacuee Property Act, 1950
3. The Displaced Persons Claims Act, 1950
4. The Displaced Persons Compensation and Rehabilitation Act, 1954
The next section of this chapter describes the implementation of these Acts and their
impact in the city of Delhi. Finally the individual enterprise and grievances of refugees is also described in some detail towards the end of the chapter. Their conflict with the State in demanding better rehabilitation and their individual initiative is discussed. In the process, the marginalised community—Muslims—and their predicament, as the ones who were being pushed out of their homes, is also discussed with a view to see how the process of rehabilitation of one invariably meant the displacement of the other. Chapter three discusses the implementation of rehabilitation policies in the East. The same Acts are either not implemented (Claims Act and Displaced Persons’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act) or they were applied in a slightly different form (The West Bengal Administration of Evacuee Property Act and the Rehabilitation of Displaced Persons and Eviction of Persons from Unauthorized Occupation of Land Act, 1951). Hence, in this chapter the following Acts and polices have been discussed in detail:
1. The Nehru-Liaquat Ali Khan Pact, 1950, or the Delhi Pact, 1950
2. The West Bengal Land Development and Planning Act, 1948
3. The West Bengal Administration of Evacuee Property Act, 1951
4. The Eviction Bill later renamed as The Rehabilitation of Displaced Persons and Eviction of Persons from Unauthorized Occupation of Land Act, 1951.
5. Dandakaranya, the most ambitious project undertaken by the Government of India to rehabilitate the refugees coming from East Pakistan.
Chapter four discusses the response of the refugee from East Pakistan to such Acts and policies. It looks at the dual image of the refugee—the refugee as a rebel, and second, as that of a constructive worker. Whereas, it is the first which seems to have pre-dominated all official and often scholarly imagination, the latter was a role much less appreciated and acknowledged. It is this two-pronged response of the refugee to the hapless situation that they were in, which is discussed in detail in this chapter.
Thus, from looking at how the refugees sought to define themselves to elaborating upon the response of the refugees to the antagonistic and favourable policies of the government, and from looking at their own initiative in the process of self-rehabilitation to highlighting their struggle to be accepted as the citizens of this country, this chapter seeks to show that rehabilitation in the East was largely by the efforts of the refugees themselves. Towards the end, Calcutta city as it emerged in this post-Independence and post-Partition stage is described.
Chapter five discusses the role of refugee-women in ‘coming out of partition’ and contributing towards the rehabilitation programme in both East and West. This chapter focuses on the two lesser known images of the refugee women— identifying the latent violence women in the East were subjected to and the image of the refugee woman not only as victims but also as survivors in this cataclysmic event. The focus is on the similarities and differences in the experiences of the refugee women in the East and West as well as in their rehabilitation programmes.
Therefore, this work draws out a comparison of the rehabilitation policies as
implemented by the Government of India for the refugees coming from West Pakistan with those implemented for the refugees coming from East Pakistan. It is the policies regarding the following sub-themes that are compared:
1. Defining the displaced persons
2. Policy on evacuation
3. Policy on relief and rehabilitation
4. Policy on compensation for material losses suffered.
In doing so, I have been able to arrive at a conclusion on the following two aspects which were the main area of focus of this dissertation:
1. To probe into the factors responsible for this differential treatment of displaced persons coming out of the similar predicament of being uprooted from the homeland.
2. To question the representation of the refugee from East Pakistan as one who lacked initiative (as found in the official publications), and also as the one who could not take advantage of the State aid extended to them . Hence, this work seeks to contribute further towards a greater understanding of the complexities partition and its aftermath created for the new state and its people.
Speaker :
Ms. Pallavi Chakravarty is a Doctoral Candidate at the Department of History (University of Delhi) and also Assistant Professor of History (ad hoc) at Maitreyi College, University of Delhi, New Delhi. Her thesis looked at the theme of rehabilitation of refugees in post-Partition India. It looks into the long-term impact of Partition and its aftermath on the displaced persons and the nascent nation-state. She uses a comparative history approach whereby she juxtapose the experience (causes for and pattern of migration, government aid in rehabilitation, and self-initiative in the process) of the displaced persons coming from West Pakistan with that of those coming from East Pakistan, and then look at the similarities and differences in their respective rehabilitation programmes. This study also brings to light the way the nation was coming into being, since rehabilitation of the displaced persons was the very first task present before it. Her research interests lay in migration studies, communalism, and Bengal studies. One of her papers was selected for presentation at the Women’s History Network Conference, Oxford University. In her presentations, she has covered several themes in Partition history: Partition historiography, Partition archives, the Refugee women, and Refugee identity in Bengal. I have written a chapter on Partition and its aftermath for the Institute of Life Long Learning (University of Delhi) project. I have also reviewed books on partition for prestigious journals: Contributions to Indian Sociology, Social Scientist, and Contemporary South Asia.
Related Events : Talks | History
Entry : Free (Seating on First-Come First-Served basis)
Place : Seminar Room, Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML), Teen Murti House, Teen Murti Marg, New Delhi
Venue Info : Events | About | Map | Nearest Metro Station - 'Race Course(Yellow Line)'
Event Details : The Nehru Memorial Museum and Library cordially invites you to the Weekly Seminar on ‘Post Partition Refugee Rehabilitation in India with Special Reference to Bengal, 1947-71’ a talk by Ms. Pallavi Chakravarty, Doctoral Candidate, Department of History, University of Delhi.
Abstract:
This dissertation analyses the very first task set for the nascent nation-state of India—the rehabilitation of a vast number of displaced persons who were rendered homeless in the wake of the Partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. Partition created two sets of displaced persons in India—those coming from West Pakistan and those coming from East Pakistan. Here I look at the Government- sponsored rehabilitation policies implemented for these displaced persons, and draw out a comparison of the treatment meted out to them. I also look at the role of the displaced persons (West and East) in the task of rehabilitating themselves in the new homeland. Finally, the impact of Partition and rehabilitation on the Muslim minority community in India is also discussed. The work comprises five chapters. The first chapter discusses in detail the pattern of influx into India from West Pakistan and East Pakistan. I then describe in detail the evacuation policy as implemented by the Government of India on the western front and its limited implementation in the East, and I also mention the factors which led to such differences— varied pattern of influx and varied experience of violence. Finally, I mention the evacuation of different categories of migrants—privileged and the not-so privileged categories.
The second chapter deals with the rehabilitation policies as implemented by the Government of India for the refugees coming from West Pakistan. The following four Acts, and their impact upon the refugee population as well as the displaced Muslim population is discussed in detail—
1. The Delhi Land Requisition and Acquisition Act, 1948
2. The Administration of Evacuee Property Act, 1950
3. The Displaced Persons Claims Act, 1950
4. The Displaced Persons Compensation and Rehabilitation Act, 1954
The next section of this chapter describes the implementation of these Acts and their
impact in the city of Delhi. Finally the individual enterprise and grievances of refugees is also described in some detail towards the end of the chapter. Their conflict with the State in demanding better rehabilitation and their individual initiative is discussed. In the process, the marginalised community—Muslims—and their predicament, as the ones who were being pushed out of their homes, is also discussed with a view to see how the process of rehabilitation of one invariably meant the displacement of the other. Chapter three discusses the implementation of rehabilitation policies in the East. The same Acts are either not implemented (Claims Act and Displaced Persons’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act) or they were applied in a slightly different form (The West Bengal Administration of Evacuee Property Act and the Rehabilitation of Displaced Persons and Eviction of Persons from Unauthorized Occupation of Land Act, 1951). Hence, in this chapter the following Acts and polices have been discussed in detail:
1. The Nehru-Liaquat Ali Khan Pact, 1950, or the Delhi Pact, 1950
2. The West Bengal Land Development and Planning Act, 1948
3. The West Bengal Administration of Evacuee Property Act, 1951
4. The Eviction Bill later renamed as The Rehabilitation of Displaced Persons and Eviction of Persons from Unauthorized Occupation of Land Act, 1951.
5. Dandakaranya, the most ambitious project undertaken by the Government of India to rehabilitate the refugees coming from East Pakistan.
Chapter four discusses the response of the refugee from East Pakistan to such Acts and policies. It looks at the dual image of the refugee—the refugee as a rebel, and second, as that of a constructive worker. Whereas, it is the first which seems to have pre-dominated all official and often scholarly imagination, the latter was a role much less appreciated and acknowledged. It is this two-pronged response of the refugee to the hapless situation that they were in, which is discussed in detail in this chapter.
Thus, from looking at how the refugees sought to define themselves to elaborating upon the response of the refugees to the antagonistic and favourable policies of the government, and from looking at their own initiative in the process of self-rehabilitation to highlighting their struggle to be accepted as the citizens of this country, this chapter seeks to show that rehabilitation in the East was largely by the efforts of the refugees themselves. Towards the end, Calcutta city as it emerged in this post-Independence and post-Partition stage is described.
Chapter five discusses the role of refugee-women in ‘coming out of partition’ and contributing towards the rehabilitation programme in both East and West. This chapter focuses on the two lesser known images of the refugee women— identifying the latent violence women in the East were subjected to and the image of the refugee woman not only as victims but also as survivors in this cataclysmic event. The focus is on the similarities and differences in the experiences of the refugee women in the East and West as well as in their rehabilitation programmes.
Therefore, this work draws out a comparison of the rehabilitation policies as
implemented by the Government of India for the refugees coming from West Pakistan with those implemented for the refugees coming from East Pakistan. It is the policies regarding the following sub-themes that are compared:
1. Defining the displaced persons
2. Policy on evacuation
3. Policy on relief and rehabilitation
4. Policy on compensation for material losses suffered.
In doing so, I have been able to arrive at a conclusion on the following two aspects which were the main area of focus of this dissertation:
1. To probe into the factors responsible for this differential treatment of displaced persons coming out of the similar predicament of being uprooted from the homeland.
2. To question the representation of the refugee from East Pakistan as one who lacked initiative (as found in the official publications), and also as the one who could not take advantage of the State aid extended to them . Hence, this work seeks to contribute further towards a greater understanding of the complexities partition and its aftermath created for the new state and its people.
Speaker :
Ms. Pallavi Chakravarty is a Doctoral Candidate at the Department of History (University of Delhi) and also Assistant Professor of History (ad hoc) at Maitreyi College, University of Delhi, New Delhi. Her thesis looked at the theme of rehabilitation of refugees in post-Partition India. It looks into the long-term impact of Partition and its aftermath on the displaced persons and the nascent nation-state. She uses a comparative history approach whereby she juxtapose the experience (causes for and pattern of migration, government aid in rehabilitation, and self-initiative in the process) of the displaced persons coming from West Pakistan with that of those coming from East Pakistan, and then look at the similarities and differences in their respective rehabilitation programmes. This study also brings to light the way the nation was coming into being, since rehabilitation of the displaced persons was the very first task present before it. Her research interests lay in migration studies, communalism, and Bengal studies. One of her papers was selected for presentation at the Women’s History Network Conference, Oxford University. In her presentations, she has covered several themes in Partition history: Partition historiography, Partition archives, the Refugee women, and Refugee identity in Bengal. I have written a chapter on Partition and its aftermath for the Institute of Life Long Learning (University of Delhi) project. I have also reviewed books on partition for prestigious journals: Contributions to Indian Sociology, Social Scientist, and Contemporary South Asia.
Related Events : Talks | History
"Post Partition Refugee Rehabilitation in India with Special Reference to Bengal, 1947-71" a talk by Ms. Pallavi Chakravarty at Teen Murti House, Teen Murti Marg > 3pm on 6th November 2012
!["Post Partition Refugee Rehabilitation in India with Special Reference to Bengal, 1947-71" a talk by Ms. Pallavi Chakravarty at Teen Murti House, Teen Murti Marg > 3pm on 6th November 2012]()
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Tuesday, November 06, 2012
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