As part of her wider public outreach on the history of Partition, Dr Anwesha Roy, Departmental Lecturer in Indian History and Culture at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and a core member of teaching staff on the Modern South Asian Studies Programme, breaks down some myths surrounding Partition and explores some of the legacies of Partition in India today in this podcast for History Extra.
Dr Roy has also collaborated with the British Library and several other historians from the UK on the project Voices of Partition. This resource examines how the histories of Indian independence and the foundation of India and Pakistan are fraught with the traumatic legacy of Partition violence and mass displacement. Leading historians reflect on the British Library’s collections and present current scholarship on the events that led to Partition, some focusing on the politics and others on the experiences of ordinary people.
Dr Roy’s article argues that the Second World War and the policies instituted by the British government in India were directly responsible for mass anger and resentment, serving as a powerful political catalyst for the Quit India movement in 1942.
