Partition India-Pakistan: 1947-2007

The BBC World Service did a series called India-Pakistan 07' this past week on radio and television programming detailing issues and conflicts and positive developments since the independence of India and Pakistan 60 years ago this past August 14th 1947. While independence from the British Empire and division of the colony into the free states of India and Pakistan is a matter of celebration, the politics and division of the country also resulted in one of the largest mass migrations of individuals in the 20th Century and also in the deaths and assaults of thousands of migrants in the process.

India and Pakistan are some of the most multicultural, multiethnic and multi-religious countries in the world today and India is seem to be one of the next major international economic powers and Pakistan an increasing regional power. India's and Pakistan's Diaspora also have become large and important communities in Europe, North America, the Middle East, Africa and of course Asia, working in all levels of society and some of the most important fields of study and the economy in their adoptive nations. This mass movement of people all around the world starting within the British Empire, towards mass migrations in 1947 on the border between the newly independent states and forward into the modern world towards the Americas and Europe and the Mid East have made the people of India and Pakistan one of the most widely spread communities around the world, but also has created enormous debate on the history of many of the conflicts which propelled much of the migration and the violence resulting from the forced migration arising out of Partition.

Inspiring many poets, artist, politicians and filmmakers, the division of India and Pakistan has left a deep impression on people on all sides of the conflict to date. This inspiration has followed much of the people from the region overseas and across generations. In a Canadian production, the movie Partition was created to reflect issues surrounding the conflict at the time and illustrate the problems different ethnic and religious communities faced during the period of separation of India and Pakistan. Described as a South East Asian Romeo and Juliet, the movie focuses on a couple from different religious background during the forced migration of Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and other ethnic communities in the border regions of India and Pakistan during Partition of the former British Colony. The fictional story reflects thousands of similar real accounts and artistic interpretations of the conflict and history of the region.

It should be encouraged to look into more of the history of the people and the region, as many of us all around the world have Indians and Pakistanis as friends and neighbors. It would be a positive development for all people to understand more about the debates and conflicts in a region of ever-growing importance.