Overdose of Partition coverage in UK media outrages Indians
DISTORTING HISTORY? Britain’s role missing from programmes across radio, TV, internet
August 15 has long been an occasion for the British media to remember the ‘jewel in the crown’, the empire and pass judgment on how India has fared since Independence, but the current focus on partition has not exactly enthused the Indian community.
The BBC in particular has unleashed a series of partitionthemed programmes across radio, television and the internet, but newspapers are not far behind pillaging the partition discourse, with much comment from writers and commentators.
Missing in the media narrative and imagery is Britain’s role and responsibility for the partition and its fallout. The British view of partition presents another dimension to 2017 that is billed as the UK-India Year of Culture.
“I'm a little partitioned-out. We are celebrating 70 years of Indian independence and it seems like the only thing we have to show for it is partition – look at the rash of films and programmes that have cropped up,” said London-based writer Seema Anand.
“Yes, partition marred the advent of our freedom. Yes, it was the most tragic and awful event and should never be forgotten. But isn't it also time to get some perspective? It's been 70 years – both countries have established their identities, they have earned the right to call themselves independent nations, rather than just two halves of a broken state”.
Several members of the Indian community told HT that the media focus on the partition here almost seemed like a ‘celebration’ of partition. It was the same dominant theme during the 50th anniversary of independence in 1997 and the 60th in 2007, they recalled.
A BBC spokesperson said: “To mark the anniversary, the BBC has commissioned a diverse range of programmes across TV, radio and online in a range of languages. The output utilises a wide variety of voices to provide fresh perspectives and ensure a balance between examining the impact of historical events and looking forward”.
“Along with programmes examining the things that unite the two nations today, there will be coverage of commemorative activity in India and Pakistan and a focus on personal stories to show how the events of 70 years ago still have an impact today, with many witnesses telling their stories now, for the first time.”
However, according to Jasdev Singh Rai, director of the Sikh Human Rights Forum, it is interesting how BBC and the rest of British media seem to have revived the partition by concentrating on perpetrators of violence and victims rather than those who managed the period.
“Why isn’t the British media exposing British culpability and gross incompetence in the violence? The partition violence is a greater reflection of the shambolic, racist and cruel colonial rule that thrived on dividing rather than co-opting local populations,” he said.
Daya K Thussu, professor and co-director of the Indian Media Centre at the University of Westminster, said: “Despite Britain’s direct responsibility for the partition, the BBC’s coverage – both in factual and fictional genres – has been to ignore British role in what was one of the worst tragedies of the 20thcentury”.
Visitors from India have also been intrigued. Kolkata-based economist Kunal Bose said: “India is bigger than partition; Much has happened in the last 70 years; economic progress, for example; they should be focusing more on that than on partition”.
The Viceregal Lodge that has stood a mute witness to history since the late 19th century, houses a table on which papers for Partition were prepared.
The carved table crafted from walnut wood is displayed in one of the rooms, which has a photo gallery displaying pre-independence pictures in general and that of Simla pact in particular.
“Not much is known about the table, but it is believed that papers for India-Pakistan partition were prepared on it during the Simla conference in 1945,” Prem Chand, officiating secretary of the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, told HT.
“This building is rich in history. We never knew that the foundation of India and Pakistan table was laid on this table,” marvels Rajat Sambhial, a tourist from Rajasthan.
The Viceregal Lodge is a building from where the British ruled South Asia during the summer months.
A galaxy of leaders, including Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Mohammed Ali Jinnah attended the Simla conference there that was called by Lord Wavell to find out ways to carve out Pakistan after Jinnah insisted on it.
“It was a mistake to educate my daughter and send her to IIT. I should have saved all the money for her dowry,” said Manoj Devak, waiting outside a mortuary on a hot summer evening in late May as doctors carried out an autopsy on his daughter, Manjula.
Less than 24 hours ago, Manjula, a civil engineer and a PhD scholar at the coveted IIT Delhi, hanged herself from the ceiling fan of her hostel room.
Manjula was among 58 women in Delhi who died between January and June after allegedly being bullied for more dowry, a toxic custom of brides’ families being forced to give gifts such as cash, cars and property to the groom. India outlawed the dowry tradition in 1961 but it continues to be as much a social reality as it was five decades ago.
According to Delhi Police statistics, dowry harassment allegations, filed under Indian penal code’s Section 498A almost doubled in five years, going from 2,046 new cases in 2012 to 3,877 last year. This is in contrast to the trend in other crimes such as murder, robbery, rape or dacoity, which decreased every year since 2012 or only had a marginal increase. The number of unreported cases of dowry harassment could be sizeable too. HT pored over all the 1,330 first investigation reports (FIRs) filed for such cases in the first six months of 2017, and found that the tradition cuts across demographics.
Women as educated as Manjula are as likely to be harassed for dowry as a woman from an impoverished background married to a rickshaw puller. The spectrum of dowry allegedly sought — from a gas cylinder worth around ₹1,500 to an Audi Q5 SUV and ₹2.5cr cash – suggests a woman’s economic status too did not make her any less likely to come under pressure.
A large number of complainants said the harassment over inadequate dowry began as early as during the honeymoon. One woman said she was assaulted in a taxi in Thailand. In 50 cases, women claimed they were forced
complainants specified giving cash as dowry into unnatural sex and five complainants said they accepted torture because their husbands allegedly shot sex videos.
Common items demanded, according to the complaints, included gold jewellery (543 cases), refrigerators (566 cases), sofa sets (217 cases), LED television sets, flats and land assets.
The cases studied are in the trial phase, and recent observations from India’s top courts, experts and activists suggest that all may not be genuine since the law’s misuse is common. Last month, the SC restricted automatic arrests under the antidowry law and in 2014, a separate SC bench called Section 498A a “a weapon, not a shield used by disgruntled wives”.
But, activists say, just as many cases may not be true, thousands of genuine cases are probably not being reported. SC advocate Rebecca John agrees there are false cases but says she is worried about the law being looked at from the prism of false cases. “You look at law from the objective it serves. Don’t look at women as revengeful human beings.”
But beside the debate, officials believe a part of the blame is with growing “materialism”. “Dowry is an ancient ritual where fathers helped their daughters even when they were not rich. Even a middle class or a lower middle class family gave dowry. Gradually, affluence grew and with it, so did the scale of dowry,” said former Delhi Police commissioner Ajay Raj Sharma. Maruti Swift