PARTITION'S FIRST GENERATION space, place, and identity in muslim south asia;space, place, and identity in muslim south asia

For my family: here, there, and everywhere. vi Contents Acknowledgments ix Preface xii This project has occupied my life in large and small ways for two decades, and my intellectual and personal debts are many. First, my humblest gratitude extends to the seventy-two individuals whose narratives form the foundation of this analysis. They and their families invited me-a veritable stranger in most cases-into their homes, offering tea, snacks, and stories. The interviews often blossomed into rich conversation that provided the comfort of family when I was far from home. I am grateful for their hospitality and their stories. Without them, this project would not be. Aligarh alumni the world over helped me to build the connections to narrators. I am indebted to the moderators of the Yahoo Groups AMU Network (and its moderator Shaheer Khan), WorldofAligs, and VoiceofAligs. Syed Ali Rizvi, a leader among American Old Boys, was tireless in his support of this project. He offered advice, connected me to narrators, and even once met me on a moving train! Similarly, independent scholar Afzal Usmani functioned as a network hub, linking me to Aligs everywhere I went. Naved Masood, son of Masood-ul Hasan, frequently helped me out with contact information and additional, (sometimes unpublished) materials. It is a testament to the global network of Aligs that I was able to engage such a geographically broad group of narrators. I owe my gratitude above all to my extraordinary Ph.D. supervisor, Gail Minault, in the History Department at the University of Texas at Austin. Her scholarship set the bar high for her students, and I aspire to do justice to her reputation. In addition to expertise, she modeled the ways of scholarly generosity, and I will always be grateful for her guidance and friendship. My dissertation committee, Kamran Asdar Ali, Martha Norkunas, Wm. Roger Louis, and Philippa Levine guided and shaped the earlier form of this project. In addition, scholarly mentors have constantly reminded me of the value of the work: David Lelyveld, Yasmin Saikia (herself an Old Girl of AMU), Lucy Chester, and Neilesh Bose. Many friends in graduate school and during fieldwork in India helped me to generate ideas, refine analysis, and stay motivated! Special thanks to Max Bruce for his help with the title. In India, my Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) adviser Shireen Moosvi of the Department of History and the Center for Women's Studies at AMU made me welcome and guided me when I was doing the field work there in 2009. I spent a lot of time in the History Department and faculty including Irfan Habib, Iqtidar Alam Khan, and Gulfishan Khan helped to connect me with narrators in Aligarh and Lucknow. I am also indebted to the staff of the Maulana Azad Library, especially Ramesh in the Sir Syed Room, and Dr. Shayesta Khan and S. M. "The Mohammadan Anglo-Oriental College (MAO), that became the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in 1920 drew the Muslim elite into its orbit and was a key site of a distinctively Muslim nationalism. Located in New Dehli, the historic centre of Muslim rule, it was home to many leading intellectuals and reformers in the years leading up to Indian independence. During partition it was a hub of pro-Pakistan activism. The graduates who came of age during the anti-colonial struggle in India settled throughout the subcontinent after the Partition. They carried with them the particular experiences, values and histories that had defined their lives as Aligarh students in a self-consciously Muslim environment, surrounded by a non-Muslim majority. This new archive of oral history narratives from seventy former AMU students reveals histories of partition as yet unheard. In contrast to existing studies, these stories lead across the boundaries of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Partition in AMU is not defined by international borders and migrations but by alienation from the safety of familiar places. The book reframes Partition to draw attention to the ways individuals experienced ongoing changes associated with ?partitioning?-the process through which familiar spaces and places became strange and sometimes threatening-and they highlight specific, never-before-studied sites of disturbance distant from the borders."-- Provided by publisher Title Page Copyright Page Contents Acknowledgments Preface Introduction Oral History and Partition Voices from Aligarh Muslim University Chapter 1: Defining the Aligarh Muslim University The Founder’s Context Creating a Victorian Muslim Education Pillars of the Moral Community Discipline and Place in AMU Conclusion Chapter 2: Self-Realization and the Nation: AMU Student Activism Education and Politics: Continuity and Change 1898–1937 From Muslim Nationalism to the Two Nation Theory 1937–47 The League Period at AMU, 1940–7 Aligarh Students and the 1945–6 Elections Conclusion Chapter 3: Pushing the Boundaries: Partitioning and Aligarh Muslim University The Inner Circle of Discipline, 1946 Outer Circles, Other Sites of Disturbance Conclusion Chapter 4: The Muslim Question in India after Partition Continuity and Slippage after 1947 The Nationalist Turn: AMU in Independent India Telling Moment: January 30, 1948 The Muslim Case in India Pakistans, Pakistanis, and India Conclusion Chapter 5: Muslimness and Pakistan When Minority Becomes Majority AMU, Pakistan, and Bangladesh Two Nations, Three States: 1947/1971 Conclusion Conclusion Redemption Epilogue:The Babri Masjid, AMU, and Indian Muslims The Babri Masjid Verdicts and AMU The Citizenship Amendment Act/National Register of Citizens Appendix of All Interviews—Alphabetical by Narrator Pakistan (2005–10) India (2008–9) Bangladesh (2010) Notes Interviews Cited Bibliography Index The Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has long been a center in the lives of Indian Muslims. Located ninety miles southeast of New Delhi--the historic center of Muslim rule--AMU has been home to many leading intellectuals and reformers. In the years leading up to Indian independence, it became a hub of pro-Pakistan activism. Graduates from the 1940s and 1950s carried with them the particular experiences, values and histories that had defined their lives as AMU students in a self-consciously Muslim environment surrounded by a non-Muslim majority. Partition's First Generation traces the paths of AMU graduates who came of age during the anti-colonial struggle in India and settled throughout the subcontinent after the 1947 Partition. Analysis of a new archive of oral history narratives from seventy former AMU students reveals histories of partition as yet unheard. These stories lead across the boundaries of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. The book reframes Partition to draw attention to the ways individuals experienced ongoing changes associated with "partitioning"--the process through which familiar spaces and places became strange and sometimes threatening--and it highlights specific, never-before-studied sites of disturbance distant from the borders--back cover