Abstract:

"The 1947 British subdivision of colonial India into Pakistan and the independent Indian nation caused the loss of 500,000 lives and the relocation of millions in what may have been the greatest movement of peoples ever. After centuries of coexistence, Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims became victims of mutual suspicion as violence and murder swept through the countryside. The resulting mass relocations of these groups transformed village populations overnight. In DIVISION OF HEARTS, ordinary people from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh--cart drivers, laborers, tradespeople, farmers--tell this history and recount their own tumultuous experiences. Their memories, combined with archival news film, bear witness to the traumatic birth of two independent nations."