Women in the Partition of India

In the first episode of 2026, we welcome Urvashi Butalia, a feminist writer, historian, and Mercator Fellow at the RTG 'Ambivalent Enmity' to discuss the oral history of the Partition of India in 1947 and its violent impact on women's lives. During her conversation with Dr Fabian Baumann, she delves into the genesis and key findings of her seminal work, The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India (1998). Starting from her own family history, Butalia uncovered memories of sexual violence, abduction, and expulsion that had been suppressed by societal stigma and nationalist narratives in both India and Pakistan. How did violence erupt between Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus in Punjab? And why did women come to symbolise national purity, making them targets of sexual violence at the hands of male nationalists? Did familial ties survive the separation of states? Listen in!