Midnight's furies : the deadly legacy of India's partition
Hajari, Nisid2015
Books, Manuscripts
Nobody expected the liberation of India and birth of Pakistan to be so bloody - it was supposed to be an answer to the dreams of Muslims and Hindus who had been ruled by the British for centuries. Jawaharlal Nehru, Gandhi's protege and the political leader of India, believed Indians were an inherently nonviolent, peaceful people. Pakistan's founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, was a secular lawyer, not a firebrand. But in August 1946, exactly a year before Independence, Calcutta erupted in street-gang fighting. A cycle of riots - targeting Hindus, then Muslims, then Sikhs - spiralled out of control. As the summer of 1947 approached, all three groups were heavily armed and on edge, and the British rushed to leave. Hell let loose. Trains carried Muslims west and Hindus east to their slaughter. Some of the most brutal and widespread ethnic cleansing in modern history erupted on both sides of the new border.
Main title:
Midnight's furies : the deadly legacy of India's partition / Nisid Hajari.
Author:
Hajari, Nisid, author
Imprint:
Stroud, Gloucestershire : Amberley, 2015.Stroud, Gloucestershire : Amberley, 2015.
Collation:
xxii, 328 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (black and white), maps (black and white) ; 24 cm
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN:
9781445647937 (hbk)
Dewey class:
954.042954.042HAJ
Language:
English
Subject:
BRN:
1741167