Book Review: A Partition in the Mind by Prosenjit Das Gupta

A Partition in the Mind by Prosenjit Das Gupta is, in the author’s own words, yet “another look” at the Partition of India in 1947.

The narrative begins as far back as the ancient period and ends with the partition of 1947. It is packed with information, references, and quotations and certainly gives the reader different perspectives at different points (not necessarily new). For example, the presence of Hindus at the lower and middle levels of administration during the Sultanate and the evolution of an Indo-Islamic culture as a result of ‘intermingling’. The book claims to ‘give context to the text and in pursuing this objective the author felt it necessary to explore the issue with a certain detachment through the ‘lens of historiography’.

It has been said that there is no such thing as ‘objective history’ as history does not constitute a body of facts but their interpretation backed by convincing evidence. A detached approach to history can be honest and fair but also dry and colourless. What is commendable is the author’s zeal to include the threads of historiography, social, and cultural anthropology, political science as well as the analyses of different historians but it has also made the book somewhat complex.

There is an attempt to explain why the Muslim rulers did not follow a divide and rule policy with regard to their Hindu and Sikh subjects as the British did subsequently, with Muslims and Hindus. Further, the author points out that many Muslim leaders did not support the Muslim League or Mr. Jinnah and fervently believed in a united India and in Hindu-Muslim amity. In this context, there is an important reference to the foreword to the Report of the Kanpur Riots Enquiry Committee in 1932. It mentioned that the communal view of medieval history found in schools and history books played a considerable role in estranging the two communities.  The Report indicates that it was the role and the inaction of the police and local administration that led to the outbreaks. (Indeed, despite the occasional friction, Hindu-Muslim amity assured that there was no partition till the beginning of the 20th century.) The reader may find a lesson here for our times.

The author suggests that frictions subside or “pass on” and “metabolism resumes”. Even beliefs and ideologies “mutate” over time and it is the management of change that is part and parcel of politics. So, a sense of history is imperative for those at the helm of a country. The future cannot be envisaged in terms of a ‘glorious past’ – it should be understood that everything is part of a ‘continuum’. Perhaps it is to explain the ‘continuum’ that the author goes back to the distant past (the 3rd millennium BC) in the 2nd Chapter titled, Thinking Back on India, (The 1st Chapter comprises the introduction to the book) to account for the potpourri of races, cultures, religions and philosophies that made up Hind or India.

It’s quite evident that the author has ploughed through a stupendous amount of material in the form of books, manuscripts, letters, documents, journals and newspapers to understand how the partition came about. He admits that he was put off by one-sided views and arguments and expresses his disappointment at not finding a new dimension to the topic in his searches and researches. Some emphasised the role of Jinnah and the Muslim League while others, the role of the Indian National Congress and its main stars. Still others pointed fingers at the Hindu Mahasabha and many held responsible the policies of the British rulers over the years – climaxing with the Divide and Rule policy in the last leg of their rule. Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy, has been pointedly blamed for wanting ‘to leave in a hurry’ while all along, influences from outside shaped the thinking of Indians in a significant way.

These explanations seemed narrow and simplistic to the author and this is the reason why he embarked on his long and arduous journey of discovery.  At the end of it Das Gupta arrives at a philosophical understanding of the partition which he describes as the result of “basic contradictions in thought and approach”.

Do read this book if you have a serious interest in India and the Indian history. Read it also if you want a vast amount of information in a nugget or a long and extremely useful list of works on the topic. The bibliography is arranged in alphabetical order, beginning with Ahmad, Jalaluddin, Speeches and Writings of Mr. Jinnah. 6th Edition, Sheikh Muhammad Ashraf, 1960. And it ends with Zavos, John, The Emergence of Hindu Nationalism, Oxford University Press. However, this reader was left with a nagging thought that such a painstakingly written book certainly deserved better editing.

Contributed by Devi Kar

(The reviewer is an MA in history from Calcutta University and has written numerous articles on modern history. She has been the Principal of the Modern High School for Girls in Kolkata).