Violence and Partition: Representation of Women in Amrita Pritam’s Pinjar
Abstract
The partition of the sub-continent was one of the most distressing and bloodiest massacres in the history. Partition created fissures among the people and countries. The partition of the Indian sub-continent was announced by Lord Mountbatten on 3rd June, 1947. The declaration of the splitting of the continent leads to mass exodus of people. This exodus leads to brutal killings on both sides. That is why the separation is often remembered as one of the bloodiest massacre in the history of India. Ritu Menon and Kamla Bhasin in Borders and Boundaries define partition ‘as the unfortunate outcome of sectarian and separatist politics and as a tragic accompaniment to the exhalation and promise of a freedom fought for with courage and valor.’(3) The intensity of violence and the brutality held at the time of partition is the matter of conversation in this proposed paper in novel Pinjar by Amrita Pritam. The protagonist Pooro in the story embarks the vulgar face of society, where she suffered in the hands of Muslim person. This paper studies the alteration in the disposition of Pooro and her whole course of transformation. The entire journey of reversal of Pooro to Hamida analyses the novel as depressing and saddening. The paper examines and traces down the hitch in the life of the protagonist Pooro during the time of the partition.
Keywords: Partition, history, transformation, violence, gendered mutilation.
