Partition_Journal of Refugee Studies 1995 HAQUE 185 209

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Journal oflUfygtt SauBu VoL 8. Ne. 2 1995

The Dilemma of 'Nationhood*and Religion:A Survey and Critique of Studies onPopulation Displacement Resulting fromthe Partition of the Indian Subcontinent*C. EMDAD HAQUEBrandon University, Brandon Manitoba. Canada

The volume of migration following the 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinentformed the largest and most spatially concentrated streams of refugees in modernhistory. This article attempts to compensate for the lack of comprehensive reviewson this issue by, first, surveying studies on population displacements resulting fromthe partition, and second, critically evaluating this information. The study iscomposed of four thematic parts dnrign"^ to frame the existing disparate andfragmentary literature on the subject The first part deals with explanations of thepartition, causes o f migration, and the nature and role o f nationalism and religion in' the founding of separate staffs The second part evaluates demographic aspects suchas the magnitude, direction and impact of population displacement. Given the factthat post-partition migration formed the largest flow of displaced population of thiscentury, the available demographic data, ironically, are chiefly often unreliableapproximations. In the third part, the focus is placed upon individuals, andparticularly on the experience of the refugees themselves. This part assesses work o nrefugee survival strategies, trauma, the rebuilding process, and Ar.^riu\mr^ oninstitutional a id. The fourth thematic part considers issues COIHTI "*" rehabilitation.Special attention is given to government policies and programmes which treatedrefugees as a distinct ethnic group. Finally, directions for future research are

i including consolidating research efforts for multidiscipunary study;more coverag e of less-studied geographical areas; directing further attention towa rdscontemporary and critical issues, such as gen der, ethnicity, state-society conflicts andthe ecological implications of population displacement; and wihnnrjng theinteraction between araHrmir and policy-makers.

IntroductionThe primary aim of this paper is to survey and critically evaluate the themesand approaches, findings and methodologies of previous research on theA draft of this paper m i pretented at the fourth International Research an d Adviiory PanelConference on Forced Migration (ERAP), Refugee Studies Programme, Oxford, 5-9 January 1994.COxfofd Umremty Pi ts 1995


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186 C. Emdad Haquerefugee issues of post-partitioned India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. While thecoverage of this review is in no w ay exhaustive, it attempts to encompass m ostof the important studies so far undertaken on population displacement in thepost-partitioned subcontinent The major issues in the literature includeexplanations of the partition and its aftermath, the magnitude and nature ofinvoluntary migration, the displacement experience and survival strategies ofthe refugees, the relief and rehabilitation efforts of the prevailing institutions,and the integration and assimilation problems that resulted from the partition.Altho ugh the number of refugee studies per se in the subcontinent is limited toa handful, literature on the historical explanations of the partition isvoluminous. This article focuses on forced migration, largely caused by thefoundation of new states on the basis of religion; studies dealing with theimpact of the partition of colonial India in 1947 on population displacementwill be the principal consideration.The Formation of Two 'Nations' and the Partition of the SubcontinentAlthough the international boundary of India has not undergone anysignificant modification since 1947, the status of the former two wings, theprovinces o f Pakistan, has changed. The eastern wing of Pakistan, following acivil war in 1971, . separated from the western wing and emerged as anindependent country with the new name of Bangladesh. The western wingretained its former name of Pakistan. For the purpose of clarity, the termswhich will be used in the text to refer to specific geographic territories and timeperiods are as follows: (a) India (pre-partitioned India: the period prior to1947; and Indian U nion : since 1947); (b) Pakistan (united Pakistan consisted o ftwo provincesWest Pakistan and East Pakistan: 1947-1971; West Pakistan:1947-1971; and Pakistan: since 1971 to date); (c) Bangladesh (Bengal or EastBengal: early 20th century to early 1950s; East Pakistan: 1947-1971; andBangladesh: since 1971 to date); (d) Punjab (the province of united Punjab:prior to 1947; East Punjab or the state of Punjab, India: since 1947 to date;West Punjab or the province of Punjab, Pakistan: since 1947 to date).In the regional context, the 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent hashad profound geographic, economic, social and cultural ramifications. Therecom me ndation s o f Sir C yril Radcliffe, the British chairman of the mixedpartition commission, left 27 per cent of Punjab's Muslims in the Indian Unionterritory and 32.5 per cent of the non -Muslim s (i.e. H indus and Sikhs) in thethen proposed Pakistani territory (Figure 1). Implementation of theserecommendations instantaneously transformed local majorities intothreatened minorities, who totalled almost 5 million on each side (Keller1975:36). The partition plan was declared on 3 June 1947, and wasimplemented on 14 August 1947. The mass exodus of H indu, Muslim andSikh populations began immediately after the declaration of the plan.

The partition-induced population movement consisted of both involuntaryand voluntary migrants and involved more than 13 million persons. During the


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FtgumiDistribution of Muslims and Hindus, Punjab (Based on the 1941 Census)

N MUSLIMMajority (50 -69%)Predominantly (7 0%+ )HINDU AND SIKHMajority (50-69%)Predominantly (70% 4)

DATA NOT AVAILABLE^ International BoundarySince 1947

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Ftgure.2Distribution ofMuslims and Hindus,Bengal (Based onth e 1941Census)

MUSLIMMajority (50-09%)Predominant ly (70 %+)H I N D UMajority (50-89%)Predominant ly (70% )

oo00

International BoundarySince 19470 a Hi1 ', ' l ' ,' I '0 on*. BAY

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The Dilemma of Nationhood and Religion 189initial years (i.e. 1947-1951) almost all the migration streams developedinvoluntarily, while the migration flows during 1951-1961 were characterizedby a mix of both voluntary and involuntary migration.The partition-related migration in the subcontinent has been virtuallyforgotten in the Western literature, despite the fact that it has been the largestinter-country transfer of population in the twentieth century. The volume ofrefugees produced by the partition h as been larger than the current populationsize of many European countries (e.g. Norway, Sweden, Austria andSwitzerland). While the subcontinent was divided along communal lines, theensuing political and religious conflicts have had far reaching effects,particularly on the course of economic development, and political andterritorial stability of the region. It may be worth noting here thatcommunal antagonisms in the subcontinent were based on religious faithbetween the M uslims and the Hind us, as well as between the Muslims and theSikhs. The scales of such antagonism s ranged from small comm unities to broa dregions, such as a state or province. At the international level, these pertinentissues and p roblem s have not received any significant intellectual and academicattention over the last four decades. Such abstention may be attributed to tworeasons: first, refugees in India had been fairly evenly distributed over EastPunjab and Haryana states, and thus became constituent parts of the overallpopulation; and second, the displaced people were indistinguishable from thenon-refugee population, especially in the western states of India (see Keller1975).

of the Partition and the C anscs of the Refugee ProblemA great deal of research, primarily based on historical and archival documents,official and unofficial notes, and personal diaries and recollections, has beenused to examine the process of the partitio n an d the events tha t followed i t Theoverwhelming concern with these issues has resulted from a deep-seated publicdebate on whether or not the partition, on religious lines, was an inevitableoutcome of popular demand for independence from the British colonial rule.Interest in these issues has not only been shown by academics, but manypoliticians, social activists, bureaucrats and philanthropists have also madeimpo rtant co ntributions to this debate. However, the general approach of thesehistorical-political studies has been interpretive, and has concentrated upondescriptions and explanations of events and processes.

The research foci of the studies on explanations and causes of partition werenonetheless quite varied. In his attempt to assess the available literature, Keller(1975) has synthesized five distinct categories of explanations for the cause ofthe partition and the resulting dislocation problem of the minorities. These are:(1) the two-nation concept; (2) the backwardness explanation; (3) the class-warfare or economic-deterministic notion; (4) the divide and rule hypothesis;and (5) the 'personal devil' explanation. The following discussion presents


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19 0 C. Emdad Haquesome details of the varied approaches to explain the partition of the Indiansubcontinent and uses the Keller model as a mode of presentation.

The Historical Approach: Political Events and PersonalitiesMost political studies of the partition of India and Pakistan have generallyfollow ed descriptive-interpretive meth ods. Th e scholars in this area of research,con sisting mainly of nraH wnira and politicians (e.g. Az ad 1960; Philips andW ainwr ight 1970; H odson 1969; Am bedk er 1946; Prakasa 1965; Singh. 1956;Rai 1965; Seshadri 1982), have attempted to determine courses and causes ofthe evolutionary process o f the partition by looking into the historical events,the character and role of individual leaders, and characteristics of politicalorganizations. Determining the influence of personalities like Gan dhi, N ehru,Sardar Patel and Maulana Azad of the All India C ongress Party, and Jinnah,Liaqat AH and Iqbal of the Muslim League has been a com mon objective ofanalysis. Sayeed (1970), for instance, identified the charismatic leadership ofJinnah as essential to the successful formation of a separate land for theMuslims of India. In his research, Sayeed reviewed Jinnah's involvement in thepolitical process, as the leader of the Muslim League; specifically, Sayeedcredited Jinnah's role in reorganizing the Muslim League in the 1920s and1930s, and th e tactics he used to negotiate w ith the C ongress and the BritishGovernment in India. In contrast, Prakasa (1965) blamed the personalaspiration of Jinnah and the other leaders of the Mushm League for theiruncompromising positions and the division of a possible united Indianfederation, a view also supported by Spear (1961) and Seshadri (1982).Seshadri (1982) suggested that the Muslim leaders of the western regions usedtheir power to gain a separate territory from the Muslims of Bengal. Thisassertion was substantiated by the evidence of a lack of participation of BengaliMuslims in the Mushm League leadership of the 1940s. Seshadri's studyconclude d that the lack of a firm stand on the part of the C ongress leadersagainst the partition resulted in both the division of the subcontinent and the'genocide'. Similarly, in analysing the character of Mountbatten, Mosley(1961) found him *to be the prime villain, a manipulator' of his counterparts.Several of these politically oriented studies presented factual informationwhich praised the roles and responsibilities of a specific religious group orgroups, such as H indus, and/or Sikhs, or Muslims, and in turn accused otherreligious groups for the agony and sufferings of the millions of refugees. Keller(1975) labels these interpretations as the 'personal devil' explanation.

The Socio-religiovs Approach: Internal Forces as Determining FactorsTwo explanations have been used by investigators to show that internal socialforces were primarily responsible for the partition of the subcontinent Thetwo-nation explanation states that partition was inevitable because of theinherent distinctiveness of H indus and Mu slims; both Sm ith (1947) and


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The Dilemma of Nationhood and Religion 191Ispahani (1970), in highlighting this point, noted that the code of ethics, natureof faith, m ode of life and social organization of Muslims an d H indus arecharacteristically different Syed Ahmad Khan (cited in Gopal 1959:67) wasalso a strong advocate for a separate status of Muslims in India based on theunalterable differences between these two major religions. Although Khan'sview, first published in 1888, did not gain m uch ground initially, it emerged as acrucial element when Jinnah began to pursue this notion as a rationale for twoindependent states in the subcontinent Azad (1960), one of the prominentMu slim leaders of the C ongress Party, refuted the notion o f two nation s withthe argument that the rights and privileges of the Muslims in the subcontinentwould be better protected under a secular, but unitary (i.e. all India-based)country.

The second group of analysts argued that the forces associated with socialstructures led to the partition of British India; religious hegemony was, in thisview, used as a tool for achieving the goals of the 'dominant class' (Puckle1946; Gopal 1959; Gankovsky and Gordon-Polonskaya 1964; Mukherjee 1957;H aque 1987). Ana lysts identified tw o pivotal social forces that coincided withreligious divisions: (1) the rise of the H indu zamindan (landlords) after thepermanent settlement in Bengal, and their ruthless exploitation of the Muslimpeasants (ryats an d sub-ryats) (Mukherjee 1957); and (2) the loss of, andaspiration to regain, ruling class status by the Mu slims of w estern India (i.e. theAligarh group) (Gop al 1959; Gankovsky and Gordo n-Polonskaya 1964).Literature on the peasant movements in Bengal during the late nineteenth andearly twentieth centuries does support Mukherjee's assertion of class conflictalong religious lines (Umar 1974). H aque (1987) has insisted that theemergence of the trading and industrial entrepreneur class from the Persiansand other Muslim sects in and around Bombay and Karachi resulted in a newaspiration for self-government This group eventually replaced the traditionalland-based leadership of the Muslim League from Bengal.

The Multiple Factors ApproachKeller (1975), in his explanation of the partition, stresses the simultaneouseffects of 'histo rical' and 'cultural' factors. Fo r h im, neither of these is sufficientwithout the other as an explanation of the events in 1947. The cultural factor,as he called it, was part of the 'zero sum game' whereby any gains by theC ongress Party or Muslim League were equalled ou t by another's losses. Theprime historical factors included in his analysis were the motives and actions ofthe concerned political parties and religious groups. The pervasive mistrustamong the political parties, the traumatic events such as communal riots andmass slaughter, and ageing of the leadenall of these factors, Keller argued,resulted in the partition. This approach rightly cautions against the easyacceptance of a gingninr causation to explain the partition of India.


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19 2 C. Emdad HaqueThe Divide-and-rule Policy of the British RajGopal (1959), Gankovsky and Gordon-Polonskaya (1964) and Moon (1962)asserted that India's partition stemmed from a conscious British policy ofdividing the tw o major groups (i.e. H indus and M uslims) within Indian societyand m obilizing them against each other. Though G opal (1959) did not believethat divide-and-rule was the prime factor, he nonetheless did not rule out itssignificant role in partitioning India. Gankovsky and Gordon-Polonskaya(1964:96) described the British 'divide-and-rule' policy as:

an inevitable consequence of the colonial policy of playing off different religionsand castes against etch other, of dividing entire peoples, and of destroying theirhistorically moulded economic, political and cultural integrity.The support for such an accusation was, however, absent from their analysis.M oo n (1962), by examining the local case of Punjab, provided concreteevidence to demonstrate how the lower officials of the Raj introduced irritants,or aggravated grievances, between the two communities, although the officialgovernment policy supported the generation and preservation of unity.

The Uprooting Process and the Demographic Dimensions of Mass ExodusThis section examines research on the uprooting process and the estimates ofthe demographic dimensions of the refugee problem, which in recent decadeshas constituted a major research focus in refugee studies internationally. Thefindings indicate the complexities and qualifications of the methods used todetermine the magnitude and nature of the displacement problem in thesubcontinent.

The Unanticipated M agnitude of Comm unal Riots and MassacresBased on first hand experience, eye-witness records and documents, severalstudies have revealed that administrative machinery and politicalorganizations, both in the subcontinent and in Britain, failed to predict thescale and speed of the communal massacre and the resultant mass migration(H odson 1969:403-418; Moo n 196253). M oon, wh o served as a civi ladministrator during the decade of partition in the united Punjab province,has written a detailed account of these events. Some disturbances due to thedivision of the state of united Punjab and Bengal were anticipated, but sincethe magnitude of the riots and massacre far exceeded the anticipated scale, thecivil administration collapsed immediately. The massacre and migration of tensof thousands of people across the new international boundary began as riotsbroke ou t in C alcutta on 16 August 1946; the riots were a consequence of a callfor 'direct action' by the Muslim League to pressure the government to acceptthe two-nation c onc ept The onslaught soon spread to NoakhaH andTepparah*. Bihar, Punjab and North West Frontier Province (NWFP) (Rao


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The Dilemma of Nationhood and Religion 1931967), resulting in mass displacement It has been recorded that in the threeand half months after the partition, 3,200 people were massacred and over100,000 non-Muslims fled eastward from West Punjab and NWFP (Keller1975). Talib (1950) has compiled documentation o f H indu and Sikh massacresand tortures in the NWFP and Punjab in 1946 and 1947, based on first handexperience and observations by key informants; these records include details o fevents, with specific dates and the number of victims from villages andcomm unities in these areas. This work illustrates the nature of the threats Sikhsexperienced, even though they were the predominant agro-economic force inmany of Punjab's districts, threats which forced them to leave Pakistaninvoluntarily. Its strength lies with its vivid documentation and recording ofatrocities committed by Muslims and by the effective use of anthropologicaltechniques. Nonetheless, the study has limited scope due to its presentation ofonly the Sikh perspective.

The Two-way Flows of Mass ExodusResearchers have used both primary and secondary data to depict the natureand characteristics of the mass exodus. It has been documented that inconsequence of the Muslim League's 'direct addon' in 1946 and the subsequentcomm unal no te and killings in different parts of British India, the minorities inboth Pakistan and India were forced to abandon their homes and look forshelter on the other side of the new international border. A synthesis of theresearch findings o n this unprecedented forced migration has bee n constrainedby the limited quantity of objective workthe facts and figures recorded andpresented in published material have been subject to political overtones.H owever , the magnitude and characteristics of the problem are identifiablefrom these biased studies.In order to provide a relatively comprehensive coverage, Keller (1975)analysed the various stages of the uprooting process. H is study assessed thehistorical records and ob tained primary data from a questionnaire survey. Thestudy noted that, after the riots in 1946, communal riots began once again inLahore (West Punjab), Amritsar (East Punjab), Delhi (see also Seshadri1982:211 -218), and in C alcutta (West Bengal) immediately after theindependen ce of India and Pakistan Within 10 days of the declaration ofindependence of Pakistan and India (i.e. 14 and 15 Augus t, respectively), about75 per cent of L ahore's (West Punjab) non-Mu slim pop ulation h ad left the city,and from the other direction, about 70,000 people from Amritsar, East Punjabhad moved to Lahore (Rao 1967). Foot convoys of over 40,000 people eachcovered an average of 240 km in their march. The foot co nvo ys an d trains wereattacked by rivals; people, including wom en and children, w ere slaughtered enmasse; women were abducted and tortured. Keller (1975) estimated that,through such fear and trauma, altogether 7.5 million H indus a nd Sikhs hadentered post-partitioned India from W est Punjab. The counter streams, formed


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194 C. Emdad Haqueby the Muslims leaving India for Pakistan, also accounted for more than 6million people.

Sche chtm an (1963) compiled conflicting estimates of casualties. H e foundthat the estimates of deaths in partition disorders ranged from 20,000-30,000(according to the Government of India official sources) to one million (i.e. thePakistan Government authorities claimed that one million Muslims were killedor abducted). During the initial months after the partition, the Indian PrimeMinister, Pundit Nehru, cited a much smaller figure in his attempt to reducepublic knowledge about the cost of the division. In later years, Indiangovernment officials, using a '10 per cent of population transferred rule ofthumb', estimated that at least one million deaths were attributed to partition.Elahi and Sultana (1985) investigated the changes in the populationcomposition due to selective population movement by religion. Theemigra tion of five million H indus and Sikh s from Pakistan and six millionMuslims from India had resulted in an increase of the proportion of Pakistan'sMuslim population from 79 per cent in 1941 to 97 per cent in 1951. Asemigration of H indus continued from East Pakistan to India during 1951 -1961, the proportion of Muslims in East Pakistan increased from 71 per cent in1941 to 75 per cent in 1951, and to 80 per cent by 1961. Lahiri (1964)substantiated this pattern, citing the minority population size in East Pakistanat around 13 million before partition, declining to only 9 million in 1961.C onsidering the m ortality conditions, a total of 4.5 million H indus wereestimated to have emigrated from East Pakistan to India.Mukerji (1985) compared the spatial aspects of the flow patterns between thePunjabi (i.e. Sikh an d H indu) refugees in the western regions of India andBengali H indu refugees in the eastern regions. The findings suggested that thePunjabis 'spread throughout the country [India] penetrating the entirespectrum of available ecologies' (Mukerji 1985:90), whereas the Bengalisconcentrated in smaller regions, mainly in West Bengal, Assam and Tripura.Similarly, in terms of occupational composition and mobility, the formergroup entered into all economic sectors, while the latter group mainly joinedthe farming monoeconomy. Ray (1982), based on her experience as theminister responsible for refugee rehabilitation in the state of West Bengal,reported that in 1954, when refugee concentration overwhelmed the city ofC alcutta and the surrounding districts, a federal policy to disperse the Bengalirefugees from East Bengal to the neighbouring statesUttar Pradesh, Biharand O rissaw as pursued. Such a policy eventually could not succeed,primarily because of the involuntary nature of rehabilitation programmes,and a wide cultural and ecological gap between the host communities and the'newcom ers' (Elahi 1981; Ray 1982; Mukerji 1985).

In the western part of the subcontinent, Punjab, the population movementsduring 1947-1951 were primarily prompted by violent riots, killings,abductions, tortures and other atrocities. Thus, the majority of these massdisplacements were certainly involuntary in nature. But in the east, in Bengal,population movements spanned more than two decades and did not involve


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The Dilemma of Nationhood and Religion 195any 'official' exchanges under a bilateral pact Several 'case' and macro-studiessubstantiated the fact that the exodus of H indus to India from East B engal/East Pakistan was, aside from sporadic communal conflicts, chiefly influencedby the loss of privileged socio-economic status by upper-caste groups, whousually made a living from non-agricultural professions, and by anticipation ofbetter economic opportunities in India than in Pakistan for the lower castes(De vi 1974; Gu ha 1959; C hakrabarti 1990). Gu ha (1959rviii), in an in-depthanthropological study, concluded that

Muslim League state policy in East Pakistan to elevate M uslims in to professional-managerial class deprived the H in dus. .. . What really, however, compelled themto evacuate was not so much the insecurity of life and property, and inability toget redress against unprovoked attacks, but a sense of complete frustration inpreserving the cherished values of life deeply embedded in their personality andwhich constitute their ego-wants.Dev i (197 4), using personal interviews, reaffirmed that the principal stimuli forthe mass displacement o f the H indu pop ulation were socio-economic factors,rather than threats to their lives.

The resultant migration processes were gradual and continuous, oftentriggered by civil disturbances such as the riots of 1964 in Dhaka andneighbou ring to wn s, and -civil war in 1971, which culminated in theindependence of East Pakistan as Bangladesh. The volume of migration,however, varied in accordance with the political and social situation in theeastern wing of Pakistan, For instance, during the slack period of the mid-1950s, the official monthly rate of influx (i.e. the number of individualsreceiving migration certificates) of H indus t o C alcutta was abou t 30,000 (Ray1982:155). In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Indian central governm ent wa sconfused about the nature of population movement and was reluctant toacknowledge that the displaced persons from East Bengal were in India forpermanent settlement Ray (1982) attributed such a reluctance partly to theabsence, in the east, of 'avalanches' of the exodus, as found in Punjab, andpartly to relatively calm communal relations in East Bengal All refugeerehabilitation programmes by the Indian central government dealt with theproblems in the western regions; the refugees in the eastern states, such a s WestBen gal, As sam and Tripur a, were H^rignntffrf 'temporary ' migran ts. Un til themid-1950s, the state governments, with some subsidy from the centralgovernments, handled the refugee crises by providing relief and shelter.Under extreme pressure from the state government of West Bengal, and facingan overwhelm ing concentration of refugees in C alcutta, the central governmentundertook rehabilitation measures in 1955.

The difficulty of dealing with the causes of population movements had beenreflected in the continually changing Indian federal policy which defined'migrants'. Based on its recognition of political division of the subcontinent,the Government of India identified those who arrived in the country during1946-1958 as 'refugees' or 'old migrants', having taken 1958 as an arbitrary


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196 C. Emdad Haguecut-off point. Nonetheless, after the 1964 riots, the 'new migrants' were onceagain deemed eligible for assistance, and the 'invisible' migrants of 1958-1964were accorded refugee status with entitlement to aid. With Bangladesh'sindependence in 1971, migrants from there were designated illegal aliens inIndia.

The Dearth of D ataAlthough many official and unofficial estimates have been attempted of boththe loss due to communal riots and killings, as well as the magnitude of massexodus, their methods and sources are generally unknown. The reliability andprecision of these data is therefore not very high. H ods on (1969:418), inmaking this point, noted that:

there was no effective civil authority to report widespread deaths; with the vastrefugee movements, local records were destroyed or rendered useless. The figureof a million was popularly bandied about. The truth was probably around200,000 men, women, and children, a terrible enough total, even seen againstIndia's 400 million.O nly a few attem pts have so far been made to address the problem o f obtainingthe necessary information on the historical forced population migration in thesubcontinent Visaria (1969) and Khan (1974), in two major studies ondemographic magnitude of migration between India and Pakistan, have shownhow some indirect demographic methods, such as using information onbirthplace and population by religious faith, could overcome some of theproblems arising from the unavailability of direct data. Findings of thesestudies are presented below.

The Magnitude of 'Displaced Persons' and MuhajirsFrom a demographic perspective, various authorities have attempted toenumerate and estimate the volume of displaced persons due to the partition.Ma ny such early attempts covered a short time period, and consequently failedto provide a comprehensive picture. The control of population movementbetween India and Pakistan was carried out by a 'permit' system until late1952, a practice which provided a partial official record)of migration data,although there was no effective administrative machinery to compile thisinformation with precision. Relatively reliable data on migration weregenerated in the 1951 census counts.

Table 1 presents, by sources, the various estimates of post-partitionmigr ation flows. C hatterjee (1947), who se work was based on censusenumerations, provided a statistical and demographic account of populationdistribution and compo sition for both Bengal and Punjab. Elaborate statistical


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The Dilemma of Nationhood and Religion 197Table 1EUhnatesofPc

SourceFlnM an/1

Sultana(1985)

Governmentof India(1954)

Governmentof Pakistan(1961)

ILO (1959)

Khan (1974)

ME O ( 1951)

Ministry ofRehabili-tation,C jovemmentof India(1950)

Mukerji (1985)Rao (1967)Visaria (1960)

Whhaker(1972)

palationM!IgratkmFbf 1^ 111..iirs KWH illlinThe exodus of Muslims fromIndia to Pakistan

Pakistan (both wings)

EastPakistan

0 4(1951-56)0.7(1941-51)

0.7(1947-51)

1 3(1947-61)

(in millions)West

Pakistan

0.65(1951-56)

Z l ( A u g . -Dec.1947)

6.7(1947-61)

Total

6(1947-61)

6.13(1947-61)

1.15(1951-56)

8(1947-61)

; From the Partition by SourcesThe exodus of H indus and Sikhsfrom Pakistan (both

wings) to India

EastPakistan

Z550947-51)

IS .(1951-56)Z5(1941-51)1.10951-61)

13(1948-49)1.87(1950)

Z6(1947-51)

(in muttons)West

Pakistan

4.7(1947-51)

2(Ang.-Doc.1947)5(1948-49)

4.7(1947-51)4.7(1947-51)

Total-

5{1947-61)

13(1947-51)

7.23(1947-61)

1

13(1947-51)

1.24(1951-61)


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198 C. Emdad Haquedescriptions of population distribution by district, language and religion areincluded in this work to demonstrate the basis of the partition. Figures 1 and2 are based o n C hatterjee's work. R ao (1967:27) estimated that a total of 5.7million non-Muslims lived in West Pakistan before partition, of whom 4.7million had emigrated to India by 1 March 1951. C ritical aspects, such ascomparability and reliability of census data on displaced persons, however,were not addressed in Rao's study. The Indian census (Government of India1954) enumerated a total of 7.30 million 'displaced persons' (4.70 millionfrom West and 2.55 million from East Pakistan) who entered the countryfrom Pakistan during 1947-1951. Similarly, the census of Pakistan(Government of Pakistan 1951) reported the number of Muhajirs(immigrants from India) in Pakistan as 7.23 million, implying a netincrease of 70,000 persons from India in the population transfers during1947-1951.C omparison o f census data with the published reports of the M inistry ofReh abilitation (Gov ernm ent of India) and the International Labou r O ffice,Geneva by Visaria (1969) reveals several qualifications in these enumerationsdue to multiple counting, mortality differentials and under- andoverestimations. In order to devise an alternative to direct counts ofmigrants, Visaria used data on birthplace and religious faith. To estimate thenumber of expected survivors of immigrants in 1961, he employed the survivalratios from the model life tables of the United Nations. The estimated netimmigration to India from Pakistan's two wings during 1951-1961 stoodsome wher e betwee n 1.19 and 1.34 million , i.e. an average of 1.24 million (Table1). Khan (1974), in a longitudinal study, found these figures to be inflated. Inbis study of birthplace data for 1901-196 1, Khan estimated that during 1951 -1961, 2.5 m illion H indus emigrated from East Bengal (or East Pakistan) toIndia, and that 0.7 million Muslims from India entered East Bengal; thesefigures show a net increase of 1.8 million in the population of India in thatperiod (Table 1). H owever, in the same study, an evaluation of the m igrationflows between both wings of Pakistan and India during 19511961 suggestedthat the net emigration from Pakistan to India was around 1.1 million persons(Khan 1974).Besides the census enumerations, experiential approaches such as personalaccounts and observations have also been used to study displaced minorities.Lahiri (1964 ) analysed the cond ition of H indu minorities in Pakistan duringthe 1950s and 1960s. State policies, formulated initially by the ruling MuslimLeague and later by the C onventional M uslim League, were held responsiblefor the general hostile and aggressive attitudes towards these groups. Suchpolicies not only deliberately isolated minorities, but also led to differentiallaws and regulations for them. A num ber of cases, for example the communalriots of February 1950 in Dhaka, Narayanganj and BarisaL which caused thedeaths of hundreds of H indus, were presented by eye witnesses to severalinvestigators to provide concrete evidence of threats to life of minorities inPakistan (Guha 1959; Devi 1974; Ray 1982).


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The Dilemma of Nationhood and Religion 199Institutional E fforts and Results in the Evacuation Process

Some research has explored the role institutions had in guiding massevacuations. In post-partitioned India, institutions such as military,voluntary and charitable organizations apparently took over from thecollapsed civil administration to address the problem of evacuating millionsof people. The sources of information used by those investigating this issueincluded reports by military personnel and government docum ents. It has beenreported that the entire civil administration disintegrated under the immensepressure from the phenomenal forced population movement and multitude ofrelated events. Subsequently, the Boundary Force was created, consisting ofIndian troops of a 'mixed class-race composition' under British command, toprotect mino rities and facilitate their transfer between. Pakista n and India.

The literature on institutional influence upon the evacuation process exhibitsopposing viewpoints. Many analysts were critical of limited institutionalpreparedness and effectiveness. For example, Rai (1965) found that theBoundary Force was entirely ineffective in the face of violent communaluprisings. H ods on (1969) compiled available information on the massacre andmigration in the north-west (i .e. Punjab and NW FP ) during Augu st-November1947. It appeared to him that the root cause of the massacre was thebreakdown of civil government; even the army, without the co-existence of acapable civil authority, could not function effectively to prevent murder, arsonand rape committed by 'ordinary people' against 'ordinary people'. The deathtoll of com munal kOH ngs was estimated to hav e surpassed 200,000 persons(H odso n 1969:418). To handle the migration crisis, the Military E vacuationO rganization (ME O ) was formed on 3 September 1947, following a meeting ofPundit Neh ru and Iiaq at Ali Kha n, the Prime Ministers of Pakistan and India.A report of the ME O claimed that, as of 31 December 1947, 2.1 m illionMuslims had m oved to West Punjab of Pakistan from India since 1 August o fthat year, and 2.0 million non-M uslims had entered East Punjab of India fromPakistan (cited in Rai 1965). It was recorded that even after the massevacuation guided by the ME O , there were 60,000 minorities left stranded inthe 'pockets' of Pakistan (EPLA R 1947). H odso n (1969), in his detaileddocumentation of historical records, identified the lack of anticipation byvarious levels of government as the pivotal cause of the scale and extent ofmass slaughter and torture.In the absence of planned population relocation by the governments of Indiaand Pakistan, practices of nepotism >w*m* rampant These practices were sowidespread that even official documents could not deny their existence, andrecorded them reluctantly (EPLAR 1957). The East Punjab Liaison AgencyRecords (EPLAR) suggested that the 'have nots' of rural origin had sufferedmost during the flight because of their limited access to government protectionor economic nggictnnre to pay for railway tickets, food or porters. 'Everyonetried to trade in human misery. All carrierstonga-drivers, taxi-owners, ricksha-coolies and even unlicensed street porters had a roaring trade' (EPLAR 1948).


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Th e Dilemma of N ationhood andReligion 201the necessary aid for refugees while they were concentrating on the distributionof 'liabilities an d assets'. However, many empirical studies found that it was thelocal communities, despite their limited capacity to provide shelter andmedicine, who provided basic material such as food and clothing, as well asemotional support, to the ongoing convoys.The Indian government prepared a three-tier plan to help the refugees: (1) byoffering shelters in camps immediately after evacuation; (2) by directing agradual dispersal of the camp residents to the rural and urb an areas; and (3) byrehabilitating the 'recovered women and children' (Rai 1965). There isconsensus in the literature on the effectiveness of emergency relief providedby the governments and public agencies through their mobilization ofmanpower and resources. For example, Rai (1965) elaborated on how themobilization of the whole Indian Ministry of Education succeeded in facing thechallenge of feeding and sheltering hundreds of thousands of refugees. Rao(1967:39) recorded that in India, a total of 908,019 refugees were sheltered incamps by the end of March 1948.Many autho rities, nonetheless, opposed the public policy of isolating refugeesfrom the local people in separate camp areas (Bajwa 1948). Formulation of apolicy of partnership and shared resources which would ureimflaht the refugeesinto the host social milieu was suggested as an alternative approach. Based onthe recommendations of various appointed committees, the process ofliquidating relief and refugee camps began as early as 1947. Governmentsubsidies had been accused of generating demoralizing effects, especially amongthe adult manpow er in the camps. In 1949, the Indian Ministry of Rehabilitationbegan to rehabilitate refugees, instead of supporting them with relief.Rehabilitation, Asstmflatioo and IntegrationStatistical documents suggest rtwt t as rehabilitation processes began, the numberof refugees in the camps of India gradually declined, from mo re tha n 900,000 in1948 to less than 620,000 by the end of 1949. Rao (1967) estimated th at more thanhalf of the 4.74 million refugees in the western regions of In dia had a rural origin.A total of 6.73 million acres of land were abandoned in Pakistan by the Hindusand Sikhs who left for India, and 4.74 million acres were abandoned by theMuslims in Ind ia wh o left for Pakistan. R ao (1967) has claimed tha t on th e basisof equality, irrespective of their past socio-economic status, all agriculturalistswere given land by the state government of Punjab (i.e. East Punjab).

Some analysts have recognized many flaws in such a compensation andrehabilitation policy. As Rai (1965:162-163) pointed out, since thecompensation policy only considered 'property owners', it left the 'have nots'outside the domain of effective public assistance. The policy thus ensured thecontinuation of the 'status quo', a bias which could be detrimental tocommunity welfare in the long run. In the subcontinent, moreover,rehabilitation required a workable agreement between the national andregional governments on evacuee property. Initially, all governments


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20 2 C. Emdad Haqueanticipated a repatriation of minorities to their original communities.Eventually that hope evaporated as the refugees refused to accept therepatriation option. Further, the lack of background information on thedisplaced persons and their properties hindered the attempts of public officialsto formulate appropriate rehabilitation policies.

Refugees are Innovative and Modernizing AgentsInvestigations show that the Punjabis, who were involved in clearing the forestsof the floodplains and valleys of W est Punjab and N W F P for agricultural use,were not discouraged from taking up new challenges after the displacement(Rai 1965; Rao 1967; Mukerji 1985). Their success has been seen as rooted inthe religjo-cultural characteristic of 'self-respect'; as Randhawa (1954:44)wrote, 'Sikbism has imposed a discipline on the Sikh farmer which is conduciveto efficiency'. Studies also repeatedly showed the significant role of the publicsector in allocating land, construction of large irrigation and other capitalprojects, and extending credits for agricultural activities. This assistance was acrucial factor for the rehabilitation of the refugee farmers. Both macro-econom ic developm ent, through infrastructure expansion and em ployment, aswell as micro-economic gains, were simultaneously achieved by theseinitiatives. Both Rai (1965) and Rao (1967) presented some case studies tosupport similar assertions.

The commitment of the refugees to becom e self-sufficient has b een identified,however, as the most important element in the success of rural rehabilitation.By following a social scientific survey method, Keller (1975) covered a sampleof 126 families from the rural and urban centres of East Punjab and H aryana,of whom 73 (57.9 per cent) were refugees, and the rf"i'"ing 53 (42.1 per cent)made u p a non-refugee control group; the survey was conducted during 1 967-1968. The findings reaffirmed th at refugees w ere more behaviouraUy aggressiveand feel mor e invulnerable than the non-refugee s. This sense of invulnerability,which manifested itself in a heightened willingness to take risks, grew asrefugees realized that they had come through a long struggle safely. This levelof confidence was expressed as follows.The refugees are more willing to d o new things or do old things in new ways. Theyare more geographically m obile, more occupationally m obile, and more likely toadapt inn ovations sooner than non-refugees (Keller 1975:271).

Such an attitude would in turn result in individual benefits and community-wide prosperity. Keller identified this psychological process as an important'element of the gestalt'.

Ethnicity and Religious BackgroundIt is suggested that some ethnic and religious groups are more dynamic thanothers in rehabilitation situations. The spatial and social mobility studies


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The Dilemma of Nationhood and Religion 203showed that the Punjabi refugees were not only most successful in Punjab, butin all other states as weD. The Punjabis are more economically diversified thanother displaced groups, while, as noted by Mukerji (1985), the Sikhs are morediversified spatially, occupying both rural and urban areas.

The role of East Bengali refugees in rehabilitation is also a major concern inthe available literature (Rao 1967; C hakrabarti 1990; Mukerji 1985). There aretwo opposing representations of this group: one viewpoint concedes that,unlike 'enterprising' Punjabi refugees, the Bengalis were apathetic andobstructive, requiring the government to provide initiative and motivation(Rao 1967); the other viewpoint asserts that the majority of Bengalisrehabilitated through informal social institutions rather than by the formalgovernment programmes, their discontentment eventually turning intooppositional politics. It has been argued further that the shortage ofagricultural land induced the occupational diversification of East Bengalis,which led to urban expansion in West Bengal over the last four decades(C hakrabarti 1990).Displacement and Family StructureSociological interests have focused on the impact of displacement on familyorganization. Pakrasi (1965:1971) tested a hypothesis concerning behaviouralchange of people due to the traumatic experience of displacement, and thepossib le effects on family, caste and social clas s. A to tal of 16,156 families werestudied by comparing two surveys, one carried out in 1948 and the other in1961-1962.

Burgess and Locke (1960) and Elliot and Merrill (1941), relying uponWestern experiences, postulated that individualism grows among displacedpersons as a result of isolation. Pakrasi rejected this notion, r.iniming insteadthat the displacees' integration was spontaneous: 'there were no refugees, theywere displaced people from one socio-political environment to another"(1971:50). H owever, he noted that the displacees were frightened anddisorganized; their family and other social organizations were strained as aresult of the b reak from an established mode*" of family living. T he uprootedpersons also faced difficulty in adapting to the 'devalued' circumstancesprevailing in their familial and social organizations; consequently, socialisolation persisted as the displacees formed distinct groups/ The researchconcluded that structural breakdown of families, considered as 'complex-constituent organizations', when compared to H indu families of undividedBengal , was not evident

Relocation as Distinct G roup and Assimilation ProblemsThe state and central governments of India undertook several colonizationschemes to relocate refugees, one o f which wa s the D oo n V alley project fundedby the Uttar Pradesh government. Saksena (1961) examined the attitudinal


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204 C. Emdad Haquecharacteristics of the rdocatees, taking a sample of 854 families (10 per cent ofthe 8,500 relocatee families). These characteristics were measured on a fivepoint likert scale. The investigator found clear signs of assimilation of therefugees, particularly through their success in the vegetable trade. H owever,such a success created local resentment and rivalry in economic activities. Therelocatees disliked the label saranarthi (asking for refuge), a term commonlyused by the natives, and called themselves purshwthi (one who believes in self-help). Thi s exam ple indicates that assimilation o f refugees is not always sociallyfeasible when they are relocated as a distinct group.Considerations of the Cultural-Ecological Identity of RefugeesBoth Elahi (1981) and Mukerji (1985) have analysed the characteristics andimpact o f the resettlement of Bengali H indu refugees in Dandakaran ya ofO rissa state. W hile these refugees had originated from an agriculturalbackground in East Bengal, mainly producing rice and jute, the physical andecologic al con dition s of O rissa and West Bengal were entirely unconducive tosuch activities. In spite of their persistent reluctance to resettle in such anunfamiliar eco logical setting, more than 20,000 families were forcibly relocatedto Dandakaranya during 1965-1978. Eventually, more than 15,000 familiesabandoned the area; the public sector investment into this failed resettlementresulted in an econo mic plan ning disaster. Several studies have confirmed thatparticipation of refugees in the decision-making process is a key to the successof resettlement schemes (Rao 1967; Elahi 1981).

Rehabilitating Refugees of Urban OriginIn comparison to the refugees uprooted from an agricultural-rural setting,rehabilitating the displaced peop le o f urban origin was a more difficult task forall levels of governments. Two reasons for this difficulty were identified: (1)construction of enough houses within a short period of time was not feasible;and (2) the H indus and Sikhs from Pakistan's urban areas were more affluentthan their Indian counterparts (Rao 1967), and their rehabilitation in the 1.36million hous es abandoned by low-income M uslims who migrated to Pakistan,was n ot feasible o n a permanent basis. H aque (1987), in his research on thenon-Bengali Muslim refugees in East Pakistan and Bangladesh, showed that aparticular ethnic refugee group could be utilized by the ruling powe r groups, o rsome vested interests, to their advantage; consequently, the refugees couldbecome the scapegoat as new political power structures evolved. According tothe 1951 census of Pakistan, more than 600,000 Urdu-speaking 'Bihari'Muhajirs sought refuge in East Pakistan, most of whom were rehabilitated inurban job sectors, such as on railways, in the postal services, in transportation,housing and other government services. Whitaker (1972) noted that, in thiscase, a number of public policy measures were taken to meet 'the colonialmotives of West Pakistan rulers', measures which included the building of


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The Dilemma of Nationhood and Religion 20 5large-scale estate housing facilities for the Mvhajirs, and granting them majorsubsidies. These policies led to strong resentment among the local Bengalis.Accompanied by several other political factors relating to regional rights andprivileges, .this resentment eventually led to the break-up of P akistan.Ironically, the 'Bihari' Muslims became refugees once again in their countryof asylum.

An O rerview of the Methods AppliedThis section provides an overview of the research methods applied in thestudies of the displaced population in the subcontinent The early researchtended to be of historical and political orientation. Generally, a descriptive-interpretive method of analysis was followed. A few political studies dealt withstructural aspects, the linkages and relationships between various political andsocial institutions, and their relation to the complex issues of nationhood,religion and minority rights. The historical research was aimed primarily atdocumenting events and their trends.Subsequently, a considerable volume o f literature has accumulated analysingthe socio-political processes which affected the communities. These researchefforts relied more on anthropological tools, such as participation-observation,observation by the informants, content ana lysis and field surveys. H owev er,anthropological research has not formed any distinct way of conductingrefugee analysis; rather contributions were centred around the broader socio-political context of the partition, and the resultant population displacement Abias towards historical, political and anthropological approaches andassociated tools was reflective of the general intellectual and academicinterest in the questions of emerging statehood, nationality and religion.Among the systematic social sciences, some psychological research, specificallyon the effects of displacement and associated trauma, was carried out in theearly decades. These studies applied the conventional experiential andperceptual methods of analysis.As the migration flows gradually diminished from a massive surge tosporadic infiltration, a concomitant shift in the research focus followed Inboth theoretical and applied research, concerns about rehabilitation andassimilation form ed the subject matter of refugee studies. C ontributions fromscholars in four disciplines, i.e. demography, geography, sociology anddevelopment studies, have become more visible in the last two decades.Using statistical tools and methods, demographers have attempted toovercome some of the serious constraints of direct census enumerations.Spatial distributions and cultural-ecological problem s were the major topics o fgeographical work. Insightful critiques of the government rehabilitationprogrammes, which relocated refugees in rnifatniKnrecological settings, havebeen made from the geographical perspective. Both descriptive and analyticalmethods have been applied in spatial analysis of refugee movements.


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206 C. Emdad HaqueSurvey-based sociological studies have inquired into the issues of structuralchange in families and possible alterations in individual behaviour due to

displacement Issues such as the role of refugees as agents of economicdevelopment and social change have received considerable research attention.The success of Sikh refugees in rural Punjab, particularly in the agriculturalsector, has been of greater interest to development analysts. Instead ofencompassing the related public finance, consumption and employment issues,the macro-economic perspectives of refugee studies reviewed in this paperremaine d confined to development issues. . 'Directions for Future ResearchIn conclusion, based on the review of the existing literature, recommendationson the directions of future research can be presented. First, the absence of botha coherent methodology for refugee studies and a multidisdpHnary dialoguehas resulted in somewhat piecemeal research findings. The comprehension ofrefugee problems, their dynamics and possible policy options has beenhampered by the lack of a common frame of reference in populationdisplacement research in the subcontinent. The tools and techniques, althoughvaluable for independent research, were often incompatible with each otherdue to their diversity. To address this problem, a frame of reference forconducting research on population displacement should be formulated by anumbrella organization.Second , the cutting-edge areas of scholastic interest, such as gender, race an dethnicity, human rights and governance, and ecology and environment, havebeen generally absent from research efforts of the past four decades. Futureresearch funds should be directed to cover these issues and arrive at an in-depthunderstanding of their implications for institutional policy. There has also beena general absence of United Nations involvement in refugee and displacementissues in the region, although the estimated volume of forcibly displacedpersons ranged between 40 and 50 million. The only exceptions were theinvolvement of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR) with relief and rehabilitation of uprooted people, namely, thoseaffected by the civil war in Pakis tan in 1971, the M yanm arian Roh ingas inBang ladesh, a nd Tamils in Sri T-nnirn Determ ination of political and oth errelevant reasons for, and effects of, this void in international involvementwould help to direct future courses of international engagementIn addition, India and Pakistan have experienced ongoing territorialdisputes, particularly in terms of Kashmir, since 1947. They fought tworegional wa rs, one in 1965 and the other in 1971. By the late 1980s, suchregional tension and uncertainty provoked both of these nations to procurenuclear weapon capability. Also, there have been frequent allegations of illegalinfiltrations of sizeable migration streams from Bangladesh into the north-eastern region of India. This has created regional animosity among the membercountries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (S AA RQ .


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The Dilemma of Nationhood an d Religion 20 7Future research should assess the security and strategic implications ofpopulation movements, especially of the 'unofficial' streams, in thesubcontinentThe emergence of ethnic refugees as power brokers in the contemporarynations of the subcontinent has created an unprecedented type of politicalstructure. The conflict between the traditional host societies and the refugeecommunities has evolved into a complex set of problems; notable examplesinclude the cases of Pakistan's Muhajirs and the Bengalis in West Bengal. Aseconomic rehabilitation of refugees has been quite successful in many parts, ofthe subcontinent, their assimilation into the social mainstream is still a seriousconcern for decision-mak ers in the host societies. Sharper ethnic contradictionsare resurfacing in different parts of the subcontinent, although the' partitiontook place more than four decades ago. To understand the dynamics of theseprocesses and conflicts, more research should be undertaken in problem areassuch as Assam, Punjab and Kashmir. A key to the success of this initiativewou ld be ob jectivity o f the studies. Support to en hance the research capacity inlocal areas is also needed.

Finally, research on refugee topics in the subcontinent h as been concentratedon Indian territory, and only very few covered Pakistan. Such geographicalbiases should be balanced out by undertaking more research in the deficientareas. More generally, a dialogue between academics and practitioners isneeded in order to deal with real-world problems. Development of a researchnetwork w ould be an appropriate step towards such an exchange of concepts,ideas and information.AMBEDKAR, B. R. ( i946) Pakistan or the Partition of India, 3rd edn. Bombay, Thicker.AZAD, A. K. (1960) India Wins Freedom, Bombay, O rient Longma ns.BA JWA , OS . (1948) East Punjab Legislative Debates, No. 11, Amritsar, Punjab, 29 March, pp.724-725.BO USKE-W H TTE, M . (1968) The Birth of Two Nationsthe Indian-Pakistani FT . (ed.) World Migration in Modem Times, Engtewood Off*, N J,Prentice-H all, pp . 127-1 31.BU R GESS, E . W. and LO C KE, H J. (1960) The Family: From Institutions to Companionship, 2n dedn. New York, McGraw-H il l.C H AKRABAKTL P. K. (1990) Tht Marginal Men: the Refugees, Karyani, West Bengal, LumierBooks .C H A TTER JEE, S . P . (1947) The Partition of Bengal a Geographical Study with Maps andDiagrams, C ntcntta, C alcutta Geographical Society.DEVI, M. (1974) Fr~*"f ln ttti. C ouncil for Promotion o f rnrnrmrnai H armony Publication.EAST PUN JAB LIA ISO N AGENC Y REC O RDS (EPLAR) (1947) FUe No . LVII/25/42, Letter

N o . 1301/4/1645, n.18., Delhi . (1948) File No . Vm /16/1 5-B, 13 and XII , n.18. , Delhi . (1957) 'Facts ab out Recovery of Abducted Persons in India and Pakistan, I", unpublished paper,DeOn.ELAH L ILM . (1981) 'Refugees in Dandakaranya', International Migration Review, 15, pp. 219-225.ELAHL. ZJiL and SUL TAN A, S. (1985) "Population Redistribution and Settlement C hange inSouth Asia: a H istorical Evaluation', in Korinski, LA . and Etahi, IC M. (eds.) PopulationRedistribution and Development in South Asia, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, D . Reidd, pp. 15 -35.ELLIO T, M A . and MER R ILL, F .E . (1941) Social Disorganization, New York, Harper andBrothers.


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20 8 C. Emdad HaqueG ANK OVS K Y, Y .V . an d G ORDO N- POLO NS K AYA, LJL ( 1964) A History of Pakistan (1947-1958), Lahore, People1! Publishing H ouse.GO PAL, R. (1959) Indian Muslims: A Political History, London, As a Publishing.GO VER NM ENT O F INDIA (1950) Report of the Working of the Ministry of Rehabilitation,Dd h L (1954) Displaced Persons: 1951 Coma, paper no. 4, C ensus of India, Delhi.G O VERNMENT O F PAK IS TAN (1951) Census of Pakistan, 1951, Vol. 1, Karachi, Ministry ofH o m e *m i Kashmir Afiairt. (1961) Census of Pakistan. 1961, VoL 1, Kfrr*"'. Ministry of Planning.GUH A, B. S . (1959) Studies tn Social Tensions among the Refugees from Eastern Pakistan, Memoirno. 1, Delhi, Manager of Publications, Department of Anthropology, Government of India.H AQ UE , C E. (1987) 'Non-Bengali Refugees in Bangladesh: Patterns, Policies, andC onsequences', in Rogge, J. R. (ed.) Refugees: A Third World Dilemma, Totowa, KJ,Rowman and Iittkfield, pp. 217-226.H O D S O N , H . V . (1 96 9) The Great Divide: Britain-India-Pakistan, London, H ntchms.INTERN ATIO NAL LABO UR O FFIC E (TJLO) (1959) International Migration, 1947-1957,Geneva, ILO .ISP AH AN !, M . A. H . (1970) 'Factors leading to the Partition of British India', in Philips, C H .and Wainwright, M. D. (eds.) The Partition of India: Policies and Perspectives. 1935-1947C ambridge, MA , The M J.T. Press, pp. 331-359.XKT.T.1CB. S. L . (197 5) Uprooting and Social Change: the Rolt of Refugees tn Development^ Delhi,Monohar Book Service.KH AN , M. R. (1974) *Pattems of External Migra tion to and from Bangladesh', 77K BangladeshEconomic Review 2(2): 599-632.LAH IRI, P. C (1964) India Partitioned and Minorities in Pakistan, C alcutta, Writers' ForumPrivate Ltd.M O O N , P . (1 96 2) Divide and Quit, Berkeley, University o f C alifornia Press.MO S LEY, L . ( 1961) The Last Days of the British Raj, London, Weidenfeld and Nkolson.MU KE RJL A . B. (1985) 'A Cuh ural-Ecological Appraisal of Refugee Resettlement in IndependentIndia', in Kosinski, L. A. and H ahi, K_ M. (eds) Population Redistribution and Development tnSouth Asia, Dordrech, The Netherlands, D. RekieL pp. 89-109.MUK H ERJEE, R . ( 1957) The Dynamics of a Rural Society, Berlin, At-ndm^ Verlag.MURPHY, H.B.M.etal. (1955) Flight and Resettlement, UNESCO , Paris.PAKR ASL K. (1965) 'O n Some Aspects of Fam ily Structures of the Refugees of West Bengal 19 47-48', Sociological Bulletin, 14:1, pp. 13-20. (1971) The Uprooted- a Sociological Study of the Refugees of West Bengal, India, C alcutta,Editions India.PH ILIPS, C H . and WAINWRIGH T, M. D. (eds) (1970) The Partition of India: Policies andPerspectives. 1935-1947 C ambridge, MA, The MJ .T. Press.PRAKASA, si (1965) Pakistan: Birth and Early Days, Meerat, UP , Meenakshi Prakasan.PUC KLE , F. (1946) Th e Pakistan Doctrine: its O rigins and Power', Foreign Affairs, 24, 520-522.RAL S. M. (1965) Partition of the Punjab: a Study o f its Effects ontht Politics and Administration ofthe Punjab (I). 1947-56, London, Asia Publishing Hou se.RANDH AWA, M. S . (1954) Out of the Ashes, Bombay, New Jack Printing Works.R A O , U. B. (1967) 77 K Story of Rehabilitation, Delhi, Department of Rehabflhalion, Ministry ofLabour, Employment and Rehabilitation.RAY, R (1982) My Reminiscences: Social Development during Gandhian Era and After, New D elhi,Allied Publishers Private Limited.SAKSENA , R. N. (1961) Refugees: a Study in Changing Attitude, Bombay, Asia Publishing H ouse.SA YE ED , K. B. (1970) Th e Personality of Jinnah and his Political Strategy*, in Philips, C . H . andWainwright, M. D. (eds.) The Partition of India: Policies and Perspectives. 1935-1947,C ambridge, MA , The MJ .T. Press, pp. 276-293.S C H E C H T M A N , J . B. (1 96 3) The Refugees tn the World, New York, A. S. Barnes.SESHADRJL H . V. (1982) The Tragic Story of Partition, Bengalore, Jagarana Prakaihana.SINGH , K. (1956) Train to Pakistan, New York, Grove Press.SMIT H , R. A. (1947) Divided India, New York, M cGraw-H flLSPEAR, P. (1961) India, Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press.T A U B, S. G. S. (compiled by) (1950) Muslim L eague A ttack on Sikhs and Hindus tn the Punjab,1947, Amritsar, Punjab, Gnrdwara Parbandhak C ommittee.


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The Dilemma of Nationhood and Religion 209UMAK, B. (1974) Chtrosthayt Bandoimthe Bangladaher Krishok (in Bengali) , Dacca, MaolaBrothers.VBABIA, P. M. (1969) "Migration Between India and Pakistan, 1951-61', Demography, 6:3, pp .

323-334.WH TTABER, B. (1972) The Biharis tn Bangladesh, London, Minority Rights Group.The author gratefully acknowledges the comm ents and criticisms ma de by John C .Everitt, Department of Geography, Brandon University, C anada and two anonymousreferees on an earlier draft of this paper. The author also extends thanks to KarenH amberg, Queen 's University, C anada, wh o assisted him in preparing a bibliography o nthe concerned topics, Glenn Bergen, University of Manitoba, Cffni" a for hiscontribution as a research assistant, and Do ug Braden, Brandon University, C anada,who prepared the maps for this paper.

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