Manchester University Press
10 Partitioned identities? Regional, caste and national identity in Pakistan
Abstract
Since its emergence in 1947, the state of Pakistan has grappled with the challenge of constructing a national identity that either supersedes or incorporates various markers of linguistic, regional and ethnic identity. Following the partition, Pakistan literally had to create a new Pakistani identity among individuals who, on the one hand, lacked a sense of ‘sameness’ with others inhabiting the territorial boundaries of the state, and, on the other hand, continued to share linguistic, regional, ethnic and religious identities with people across the border. This chapter examines how regional, caste and linguistic identities, which have a transnational dimension, relate to, are reshaped by, and resist, the Pakistani state’s attempts to shape a national identity and notion of a shared past. It focuses specifically on the province of Punjab, which was partitioned between India and Pakistan. The aim is to demonstrate how alternative imaginations of the self and community in films, songs and ballads respond to and challenge the state constructions of nationhood. Particular focus is paid to the popular portrayal of two rebellious figures – Maula Jatt and Dullah Bhatti. Regional, caste and linguistic identities in Punjab are not, however, approached in this chapter as primordial and unchanging. Indeed, the act of ‘partitioning’, and the subsequent displacement of people, gave rise to conceptions of loss, displacement and separation which, in turn, shaped notions of identity.
Abstract
Since its emergence in 1947, the state of Pakistan has grappled with the challenge of constructing a national identity that either supersedes or incorporates various markers of linguistic, regional and ethnic identity. Following the partition, Pakistan literally had to create a new Pakistani identity among individuals who, on the one hand, lacked a sense of ‘sameness’ with others inhabiting the territorial boundaries of the state, and, on the other hand, continued to share linguistic, regional, ethnic and religious identities with people across the border. This chapter examines how regional, caste and linguistic identities, which have a transnational dimension, relate to, are reshaped by, and resist, the Pakistani state’s attempts to shape a national identity and notion of a shared past. It focuses specifically on the province of Punjab, which was partitioned between India and Pakistan. The aim is to demonstrate how alternative imaginations of the self and community in films, songs and ballads respond to and challenge the state constructions of nationhood. Particular focus is paid to the popular portrayal of two rebellious figures – Maula Jatt and Dullah Bhatti. Regional, caste and linguistic identities in Punjab are not, however, approached in this chapter as primordial and unchanging. Indeed, the act of ‘partitioning’, and the subsequent displacement of people, gave rise to conceptions of loss, displacement and separation which, in turn, shaped notions of identity.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- List of contributors ix
- Foreword by Lucy Chester xiii
- Acknowledgements xvi
- Introduction - Connecting the partitions of India and Palestine 1
-
Part I: The partition of British India
- 1 The Mountbatten Viceroyalty reconsidered 35
- 2 The paradigmatic partition? The Pakistan demand revisited 57
-
Part II: The partition of Palestine
- 3 Partition and the question of international governance 75
- 4 Fighting for Palestine as a holy duty? The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood and the partition of Palestine in 1947 91
-
Part III: The partitions of India and Palestine compared
- 5 The communal question and partition in British India and mandate Palestine 113
- 6 India’s dilemmas of pragmatism v. principles 138
-
Part IV: The consequences of partition for South Asia, the Middle East and beyond
- 7 The partitions of India and Palestine and the dawn of majority rule in Africa and Asia 159
- 8 ‘Unfinished’ partition 193
- 9 Civil war, total war or a war of partition? Reassessing the 1948 War in Palestine from a global perspective 222
- 10 Partitioned identities? Regional, caste and national identity in Pakistan 259
- Afterword 278
- Index 289
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- List of contributors ix
- Foreword by Lucy Chester xiii
- Acknowledgements xvi
- Introduction - Connecting the partitions of India and Palestine 1
-
Part I: The partition of British India
- 1 The Mountbatten Viceroyalty reconsidered 35
- 2 The paradigmatic partition? The Pakistan demand revisited 57
-
Part II: The partition of Palestine
- 3 Partition and the question of international governance 75
- 4 Fighting for Palestine as a holy duty? The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood and the partition of Palestine in 1947 91
-
Part III: The partitions of India and Palestine compared
- 5 The communal question and partition in British India and mandate Palestine 113
- 6 India’s dilemmas of pragmatism v. principles 138
-
Part IV: The consequences of partition for South Asia, the Middle East and beyond
- 7 The partitions of India and Palestine and the dawn of majority rule in Africa and Asia 159
- 8 ‘Unfinished’ partition 193
- 9 Civil war, total war or a war of partition? Reassessing the 1948 War in Palestine from a global perspective 222
- 10 Partitioned identities? Regional, caste and national identity in Pakistan 259
- Afterword 278
- Index 289
