Analyze the impact of the partition of India on Punjab and Bengal.
The partition had an adverse impact on Punjab and Bengal. Both the states were divided into two halves. One with Muslim majority, while the other with the Hindu or Sikh majority. It was felt that if there is no partition, they would be swamped by the Muslim community. The political power would not be in their control and began to fear the ‘tutelage of Muslims. The partition was most bloody and destructive in Punjab. There was a complete breakdown of authority in the city. British officials were unable to handle the situation. The near-total displacement of Hindu and Sikhs eastward into India from West Punjab and of almost all Punjabi speaking Muslims to Pakistan happened in a relatively short period of two years between 1946 and 1948. In Bengal, the migration was even more protracted with people moving across a porous border. People here also faced bloodshed and violence. In both, the states, women, and girls became prime targets of persecution. Attackers treated women’s bodies as territory to be conquered. Dishonoring women of a community was seen as dishonoring the community itself and a mode of taking revenge.
