11 devastating pictures from the 1947 Partition

[Devil Soul]

11 devastating pictures from the 1947 Partition
Published: April 5, 2015

PHOTOS: MARGARET BOURKE-WHITE

In 1947, the Subcontinent was divided into two parts: India and Pakistan. Countless people living on both sides of the border were displaced and began to flee from one side to the other. During this massive immigration, several riots broke out and rivalry soared to new heights between Hindus and Muslims.

During the horrific period of partition in 1947, an American documentary photographer, Margaret Bourke-White, captured some of the crucial moments of that time that sum up what partition was like and how it affected millions of lives.

Bourke-White was the first American female war photojournalist, and the first female photographer for Henry Luce’s Life magazine.

The following photographs that Bourke-White took appeared in Indian novelist Khushwant Singh’s book Train to Pakistan:



*WARNING: Some images contain graphic content.



1. Several people board the train to the other side of the border in search of a new life. PHOTO: MARGARET BOURKE-WHITE

2. A train leaving for Pakistan being given a warm send-off. PHOTO: MARGARET BOURKE-WHITE

3. Over 10 million people were displaced from their homeland and travelled on foot, bullock carts and trains to their promised new home. PHOTO: MARGARET BOURKE-WHITE

4. An elderly, abandoned Muslim couple and their grandchildren sit by the roadside. “The old man is dying of exhaustion. The caravan has gone on,” wrote Bourke-White. PHOTO: MARGARET BOURKE-WHITE

5. During the summer of 1947, over a million people were slaughtered on both sides in the riots. These are the bodies of the victims being picked up from a city street. PHOTO: MARGARET BOURKE-WHITE

6. Two men carry an elderly woman on a makeshift stretcher. PHOTO: MARGARET BOURKE-WHITE

 

[Devil Soul]

7. “The street was short and narrow. Lying like the garbage across the street and in its open gutters were bodies of the dead,” writes Bourke-White’s biographer Vicki Goldberg of this scene. PHOTO: MARGARET BOURKE-WHITE

8. A young refugee sits on the walls of Purana Qila, transformed into a vast refugee camp in Delhi. PHOTO: MARGARET BOURKE-WHITE

9. Men, women and children who died in the rioting were cremated on a mass scale. Villagers even used oil and kerosene when wood was scarce. PHOTO: MARGARET BOURKE-WHITE

10. The migration was a “massive exercise in human misery,” wrote Bourke-White later. PHOTO: MARGARET BOURKE-WHITE

11. Women were left to fend for themselves after their husbands were killed in riots. PHOTO: MARGARET BOURKE-WHITE

A slideshow of these pictures originally appeared on BBC News.

 

[Indian Patriot]

I have seen these pics, most of them, before but every time the feeling is heart-wrenching. A humanitarian tragedy that could have been avoided.

 

[SipahSalar]

I hope we can make Pakistan a country worthy of their sacrifices.

 

[Indian Patriot]

I hope we can make Pakistan a country worthy of their sacrifices.

A senseless slaughter looks "sacrifice" to you?

 

[root]

Very tragic pictures.

 

[Jf Thunder]

and here the same Mullahs who opposed Pakistan are out to reform it by "tableegh", enforcing of the green turbans and burkas

 

[DESERT FIGHTER]

Never forget ! PAKISTAN

 

[ghazi52]

True..Never forget ! PAKISTAN

 

[ali_raza]

reminds us the greatest sacrifice we gave to get this country.

 

[Kinetic]

Remind me the words of my grandfather! We lost everything due to this partition.

reminds us the greatest sacrifice we gave to get this country.

Pakistan was created in the last moment when Jinnah DIDN'T AGREE gANDHI EVEN AGREED TO MAKE jINNAH THE FIRST pm OF INDIA. Any way all those riots and killing to show british that we cannot live togther has failed.

 

[ali_raza]

Remind me the words of my grandfather! We lost everything due to this partition.







Pakistan was created in the last moment when Jinnah DIDN'T AGREE gANDHI EVEN AGREED TO MAKE jINNAH THE FIRST pm OF INDIA. Any way all those riots and killing to show british that we cannot live togther has failed.

he didn't took prim ministery for pakistan.what gopd had it done anyway.after some time when britishers would be gone hindoos would've throwed him away.but that time he didn't compromise on his standing.u have to admit that it is greatest on table victory that granted us a country.

 

[Kinetic]

he didn't took prim ministery for pakistan.what gopd had it done anyway.after some time when britishers would be gone hindoos would've throwed him away.but that time he didn't compromise on his standing.u have to admit that it is greatest on table victory that granted us a country.

I respect your view but he didn't comprise for that, know the history. A Nation doesn't depend on one person. A nation is a different entity, different than others. Till 1947 it was not clear whether Pakistan will be there or not, whether Jinnah will agree or not. Thi is not a party politics yaar. he wanted special provisions for Muslims in India, which was not practical. Some meeting failed at the last moment, few people doesn't agree at the last moment doesn't change the society of 1000s years old.

If San Yat Sen and Mao don't agree on some points and China is divided into two parts, that doesn't break China into two cultural parts which are one for last many thousand years.

Anyway ....

But personally I thank QeAzam Jinnah for Pakistan though. he did a great job not agreeing to Gandhi's point. Together it would have been a disaster for us.


We are from some where near Peshwar (grandfather) as well as my grandmother. My mother is a bengali though. We were settled in Indian Punjab after partition.

 

[ali_raza]

I respect your view but he didn't comprise for that, know the history. A Nation doesn't depend on one person. A nation is a different entity, different than others. Till 1947 it was not clear whether Pakistan will be there or not, whether Jinnah will agree or not. Thi is not a party politics yaar. he wanted special provisions for Muslims in India, which was not practical. Some meeting failed at the last moment, few people doesn't agree at the last moment doesn't change the society of 1000s years old.



But personally I thank Jinnah QeAzam for Pakistan though.


We are from some where near Peshwar (grandfather) as well as my grandmother. My mother is a bengali though. We were settled in Indian Punjab after partition.

there is a big division between hindus and muslims.i m not saying that hindus are not good.but culturaly its very different.i have many friends from india but i can't imagine how would we have made it together.btw now its better to be having good relationship between our nations

 

[Kinetic]

there is a big division between hindus and muslims.i m not saying that hindus are not good.but culturaly its very different.i have many friends from india but i can't imagine how would we have made it together.btw now its better to be having good relationship between our nations

I agree to some point about partition and Muslim population. Thats why I said I thanked QeA Jinnah.


But see Indian Muslims also live in India (almost equal to the number of Pakistan) and we are living together for last many centuries. So if parts of Punjab, Bengal and Sindh decide to be live apart, its fine for us. We still have our own Punjab, Bengal, Awadh, Gujarat, Maratha, Rajasthan, Himalaya, South and Northeast.

Yes friend, we need Peace