Analytical Discussion of Partition in Short Stories in Bengali Literature (বাংলা ছোটগল্পে দেশভাগের বিশ্লেষণাত্মক আলোচনা)

Abstract

The Partition of Bengal in 1947, part of the Partition of India, divided the British Indian Bengal Province along the Radcliffe Line between the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan. The Bengali Hindu-majority West Bengal became a state of India, and the Bengali Muslim-majority East Bengal (now Bangladesh) became a province of Pakistan. On 20 June 1947, the Bengal Legislative Assembly met to decide the future of the Bengal Province, as between being a United Bengal within India or Pakistan or divided into East Bengal and West Bengal as the home lands for the Bengali Muslims and the Bengali Hindus respectively. At the preliminary joint session, the assembly decided by 120-90 that it should remain united if it joined the new Constituent Assembly of Pakistan. Later, a separate meeting of legislators from West Bengal decided by 58-21 that the province should be partitioned and that West Bengal should join the existing Constituent Assembly of India. In another separate meeting of legislators from East Bengal, it was decided by 106-35 that the province should not be partitioned and by 107-34 that East Bengal should join Pakistan in the event of Partition. The Partition of Bengal in 1947 divided Bengal into the two separate entities of West Bengal belonging to India, and East Bengal belonging to Pakistan. This was part of the Partition of India into the two states, of India and Pakistan which officially took place during August 14-August 15, 1947. East Bengal was renamed East Pakistan, and later became the independent nation of Bangladesh after the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. The government of Bengal supported a unified, independent Bengal as a separate third state, rather than joining either India or Pakistan. However, the British vetoed this option since it would lead to other provinces also wanting independence, resulting in too many non-viable states. As Britain was determined to grant independence and to do so as soon as possible after the end of World War II, the government began to see partition as the quickest, most pragmatic solution. The majority of Muslims did opt to join Pakistan but wanted to take the whole province of Bengal with them. They did not choose partition. In 1971, they asserted their cultural difference from West Pakistan to become Bangladesh. Turning the two communities against each other and lighting up the fiery grudge among the society and also giving it an institutional image, by converting a united land in to different nations, was a part of this partition. It was a brutal attack on mutual companionship. I will try to review some of the selected stories in that research paper.