partition of punjab 1947

1947

The Partition 

                                                                                                                    Of Punjab

In 1947 British India was divided into two parts, one of which was the Punjab. It's no surprise that a poet from Jhang, Pakistan's Punjab province, laments the loss of beauty. He claims that in exchange for vultures, which he interprets as a metaphor for death, uniformity, and ugliness, Punjab had to give up much of its culture and a large number of its people, including many beautiful maidens. This couplet was sent with me by a Punjabi Muslim woman from Jhang, who grieved the loss of diversity in partitioned Punjab.

Despite my limited personal experience, I can assert that I value diversity. I was born in Connecticut, raised in Cambridge, Delhi, and Rochester, where I attended a Catholic school, and went on to study at universities in Chicago's south side and New York's Harlem. I show Puritan, Catholic, Sikh, American, Punjabi, and probably a lot of other influences that I'm not even aware of or don't want to admit.

All of these many influences have changed and enhanced my life, and I'd like to believe that they have made me less prone to hate and more likely to understand Guru Nanak's sentiment: "He created the world, in all its various colours, and watches over it with joy."

Armies alone will not be able to defeat hatred and horror in this planet. Terrorism, including state-sponsored terror, spawns more horror.

Each of us must help to the dismantling of ignorance barriers. Following September 11, I found myself in Pakistan, trying to understand

Impressum

Verlag: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 14.04.2022
ISBN: 978-3-7554-1176-5

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