The Forfeited Tribes: Residues of Partition on the Garo Hills of North East India
Firdosi Akhtara Basid
Assistant Professor, HoD in History, Govt. Degree Model College, Baghbar, Assam
Habib Fazlul Basid
Assistant Professor, HoD in History, Barnagar College, Sorbhog, Assam
The 1947 Great Divide is the most significant signpost in the evolution of South Asia as a socio-political unit. After having drawn the boundaries of two independent countries vis India and Pakistan, the British had finally withdrawn. If there were causes to rejoice at the end of Colonialism, the celebrations were undoubtedly marred by a tragic partition along religious lines which took an unacceptable toll in human life and suffering. Not only was India redefined; But both the Hindus and Muslims redefined their identities through a process of contestation of vision, contestation of beliefs and contestation of history. However, the division of Indian subcontinent into two independent countries, left its legacy on every aspect of the ‘civilized’ society, and the North-Eastern frontiers of India are not exceptional. The Partition of 1947 brought un-expectable horrors to the life of the people of the tribal communities on the border areas of India and East Pakistan, irrespective of community, creed, caste, tribes, geography, and identity. The Redcliff line touched the boundaries of North-Eastern frontier on the one side and East-Pakistan on the other, which fundamentally created such problems like dislocation, identity crisis, refugee influx, political unrest, inter-community gulf among the tribal communities like the Garos, Hajongs, Khasis, Jaintias, Mizos, Chakmas etc. of North East India. The present research paper is an attempt to bring conscious efforts to find the fundamental problems created by the 1947 Partition, with special reference to the Garo tribes of Meghalaya, living on the edges of the Garo Hills and Bangladesh border.
Keywords: Partition, Ramification, Borderlands, Garo Hills, Tribes
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