Abstract

This book discusses explicitly the trauma of the Partition of 1947 in Eastern India in a way that has not happened before. The lack of overt public discourse has meant that people outside Bengal believed that the impact of Partition was limited in the east. Indeed, the sufferings, the loss of life, livelihoods and of shelter were very real but of a different nature from the fast-moving horror of the Punjab. In the east it seemed more like an oozing wound. The editors have drawn upon interviews with women who were uprooted, on diaries, memoirs and creative literature. The book provides an invaluable discussion on displacement, rape, loss, and why women pay the price.