That the Partition of the Punjab was a catastrophe for a vast multitude of the people is a familiar story. What is, however new in this well-researched work is the poignancy with which the trauma suffered by a physically broken and emotionally shattered humanity has been brought out. It gives a fairly comprehensive account of the tragic events, the trials and tribulations of the uprooted people and the manifold problems created by the partition. The migration, evacuation and resettlement of millions of people was a truly gigantic task which the infant state of East Punjab found increasingly difficult to cope with. With the economy totally dislocated and the administrative machinery thrown out of gear, the new government was put to unusually heavy strain in providing immediate relief to the refugees and evacuees, and simultaneously devising ways and means for their permanent settlement. This was rendered all the more difficult by the artificial division of an administrative, economic and cultural unity resulting in a complete disruption of the normal activities of life.
July-August 1987, volume 11, No 4