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Bengal Partition: Reflection on culture

21 June 2006, 18:00 PM
LIFESTYLE
By Cultural Correspondent
21 June 2006, 18:00 PM
The Partition of Bengal in 1947 was a traumatic event with far reaching emotional and political consequences at personal as well as collective levels of identity formation. It was a crucial event in the history, politics and culture of the South Asian subcontinent. It uprooted millions, leaving the deepest scars in individual and collective memory. Many were forced to abandon the homes that they had lived in for generations. Families were divided, friends and neighbours were left behind, and an immense mass confusion developed as to where to go and what to expect when they got there. All of these factors created tremendous tension which led to the religious hatred, riots and murders.

The overall impact of the Partition on the history, society and culture of the subcontinent is reflected in films and literary works from both Bangladesh and West Bengal. Most of such works deal with the consequences of Partition: particularly the insecurity and anxiety engendered by the homelessness of the refugees of Bengal. They convey how Partition struck at the roots of Bengali culture.

These views were expressed at a seminar on Bengal Partition: Reflection on Culture organised by Rainbow Film Society and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on the occasion of the World Refugee Day in the city on June 20. Mofidul Hoque presented the keynote paper while National Professor Kabir Chowdhury presided over the seminar. Poet Nayeem Gowhor, filmmaker Badal Rahman and columnist Ali Ahmed were discussants.

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Mofidul Hoque pointed out "We have a good number of books expressing the nostalgia and yearning that many Bengalis' have for their pre-Partition way of life and the consequences of Partition, but a scholarly objective analysis of Partition is almost absent."

Nayeem Gowhor shared his childhood memories of Partition. Ali Ahmed said "Our generation's general experience is different- we are not as emotionally attached to the Partition as the older generation." He emphasised the need for an authentic history of Partition.

Kabir Chowdhury emphasised on the need to promote pluralistic values and ideas. "Since history will not alter and political unification is impossible, to go forward we must think in terms of cultural integration rather than cultural segregation. Through cultural unity and programmes we can achieve this objective," he said.

The seminar was followed by a screening of a documentary film, Legacy of Blood.