The Partition Museum is a public museum located in the town hall of

Amritsar Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-List of cities in Punjab, India by population, largest city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportatio ...

Punjab, India Punjab () is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab, Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the States and union territories of India, Indian states ...

. The museum aims to become the central repository of stories, materials, and documents related to the post-partition riots that followed the division of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

into two independent dominions:

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. The museum also focuses on the history of the “anti-colonial movement, the

Jallianwala Bagh massacre The Jallianwala Bagh massacre (), also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919. A large crowd had gathered at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab, British India, during the annual Vaisakhi, Baisakhi fair to protest aga ...

, the

Komagata Maru incident The ''Komagata Maru'' incident involved the Japanese steamship ''Komagata Maru'', on which a group of people from British Raj, British India attempted to migrate to Canada in April 1914, but most were denied entry and forced to return to Budge ...

, the

All India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party founded in 1906 in Dhaka, British India with the goal of securing Muslim interests in South Asia. Although initially espousing a united India with interfaith unity, the Muslim League lat ...

and the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

, and the journey of resilience and recuperation for women”. The building wherein the museum is located in Amritsar was also “once the British headquarters and a jail”. The museum was inaugurated on 25 August 2017.

History

In 1947,

was divided into India and Pakistan. The partition lines, drawn on a map by the British lawyer

Cyril Radcliffe Cyril John Radcliffe, 1st Viscount Radcliffe, (30 March 1899 – 1 April 1977) was a British lawyer and Law Lord best known for his role in the Partition of India. He served as the first chancellor of the University of Warwick from its 1965 fou ...

, divided the province of Punjab and

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

into two parts on the basis of religion. As a result, millions of people found themselves on the wrong side of the border overnight. According to various estimates, more than 800,000 Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs were killed in the riots that followed the partition between August 1947 to January 1948. Additionally, more than 1,400,000 people became refugees. The Government of Punjab founded this museum with The Arts and Cultural Heritage Trust of the United Kingdom as a way to memorialize those who were affected by the partition. Therefore, the museum documents the catastrophic history of migration, loss of life and livelihood through testimonies of the first-generation partition survivors and their lived experiences. Based on extensive oral testimonies from individuals who witnessed the partition, the experiences of their family members, and material memories (the various objects that individuals managed to migrate with - be it jewelleries, clothes, or cooking utensils), the museum provides a platform for the younger generations to know the aftermath of what has been dubbed as one of the cataclysmic events in the recent history of the Indian subcontinent. The museum acts as a reminder of not only the millions of individuals who lost their lives owing to violence as a result of the

Partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

but also one of resilience as many individuals despite finding themselves in challenging circumstances turned their lives around and contributed in their own ways towards the cause of nation-building. Mallika Ahluwalia, the Managing Trustee and co-founder of the Partition Museum, has documented some of the notable stories of individuals in her book titled ''Divided by Partition, United by Resilience: 21 Inspirational Stories from 1947'' (2018).

Collections

The museum is divided into fourteen galleries: "Why Amritsar?, Punjab, Resistance (1900-1929), The Rise (1930-1945), Differences (1946), Prelude to Partition, Boundaries, Independence, Borders, Migrations, Divisions, Refuge, and Hope". With a "linear and chronological narrative" structure, the museum seeks to provide a history of the partition and why it took place. In doing so, the museum focuses on the people's perspectives and their experiences of living through that time in history. These galleries comprise “oral history accounts, object biographies, photographs, music and audio, contemporary artwork, and various unique exhibits such as a jail cell, train platform, riot-hit house, metal saw, a well, hanging banners, refugee tent, and a tree of hope (paper leaves on barbed wire, a participatory installation)”.

References

{{reflist Museums in Punjab, India Tourist attractions in Amritsar History museums in India

History

Collections

See also

References