International Museum Day: Delhi to rekindle tales of the Partition

Mention Partition and it’s difficult to hold back memories of separation, grief, and nostalgia that’s associated with that time. In Delhi, which is the melting pot of cultures, almost every street and neighbourhood is steeped in the stories from the era of 1947. These tales are often narrated in episodes by our grandparents or parents, but now these will thrive in front of us as memorabilia that is curated inside the new Partition Museum.

Opening its doors to the public from May 19, this museum is housed in Dara Shukoh Library inside Ambedkar University Delhi campus at Kashmere Gate. This site was restored by the government before being handed over to The Arts And Cultural Heritage Trust (TAACHT), which also curated the Partition Museum in Amritsar, Punjab. Kishwer Desai, curator of the museum and director of TAACHT, shares, “All the artifacts, memorabilia, and pictures have been donated by survivors or families who witnessed that trauma. This is incredibly personal for every single person involved because the Partition of 1947 connects all of us together. It’s a people’s museum.”

Built under Adopt A Heritage scheme by the government, this museum has six galleries namely Movement towards Independence and Partition, Migration, Refuge, Rebuilding homes, Rebuilding relationships, and Stories of hope and courage. Photographs from wedding albums and newspaper clippings are exhibited here alongside some installations such as those by artist Veer Munshi — the horse, Zuljanah and the Fallen House that carry the burden of trauma of Partition survivors while depicting how households crumbled under the weight of those who migrated.

The exhibits also capture oral history such as the audio visual narrative by Swatantera Hora, whose brother-in-law Hemwant Singh Hora’s Indo-Pak passport is displayed in one of the galleries. “We had two of these passports. One belonged to my great grandfather, and is a family heirloom. The other belongs to my grandfather’s brother, which we have donated to this museum. We have also donated a rehabilitation certificate,” says Swatantera Hora’s granddaughter Mitthat Hora, a Gurugram resident. She adds, “We’ve grown up listening to stories of that time, but now we feel this reality is being overlooked and people don’t speak enough about it. It’s been 75 years since Independence, and when I look back at the letters that my great grandfather wrote to the government under the Buried Treasure Rescue scheme, it breaks my heart. But at the same time, ours was a fortunate family which got to carry objects from Peshawar when they crossed the border. This is history in my hands.”

Paintings by renowned artists Jogen Chowdhury, Arpana Caur, Krishen Khanna, and Satish Gujral are also part of the museum and depict the pain of the Partition. Beyond these, lie the tales of rehabilitation, attempts of restoration, and initiatives to imbibe refugees into the fabric of Indian society through letters written to the government claiming lands lost, movable and immovable property and assets and requests for finding homes and missing persons.

Some contributions have come as pro bono work such as by Pitampura-based Deepak Luthra, who runs a spice business. He has restored the lawns behind the historical site of the library. “I did this work in my father’s memory, who was a survivor of the Partition. My late father and elder sister told me all about our ancestral home in Sargodha (Pakistan),” recalls Luthra adding, “My sister was 12 when the Partition took place. We got a chance to visit our ancestral home in Pakistan, in 2006, and she narrated me everything she remembered from her childhood. The family that stays there now, were very hospitable, and in fact they knew my father’s name from the old documents that they found after moving in.”

The museum is open all days from 9am to 5pm, except Mondays and public holidays. To visit, one needs to make a prior booking by sending an email to entrancedslb@gmail.com or calling +911146108441.

Author tweets @KritiKambiri

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