Pathetic Condition of Women: A Study of Urvashi Butalia’s The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India

The partition of India in August 1947 caused one of the most painful human disruptions in history: over twelve million people were displaced, murdered, raped and abducted. Thousands of people were slaughtered and families were divided, their own home and country became unknown and alien land for them. For decades these violent realities remained buried in silence. But the scars of brutality never faded away. Partition of Indian sub-continent was one of the most horrible events in the history of the sub-continent. Thousands of people displaced from their homes and country so quickly. During few months there was migration of thousands of people; about 12 million people crossed the western border, Muslims travelling west to Pakistan, Hindus and Sikhs east to India. It was a period full of trauma. There was bloodshed, abduction, rape, and all types of sufferings.People had lost everything, their family members, properties and their dearest belongings during that hard-hitting time. Many writers wrote about the Indian partition history and about the sufferings of the people but they did notprecisely focus on women trauma that was because of partition. It was a very crucial period especially for women. They faced abduction, rape, discrimination and all types of miseries. It is Urvashi Butalia, who is interested in partition oral histories from a feminist point of view and expressly writes about the women sorrows due to partition. In her very famous work The Other Side of Silence: Voices from thePartition of Indiashe tried to reveal the pathetic plight of the women due to partition. She gave a feminist voice to the history of India/ Pakistan partition. In this book she discloses the barbaric deeds of the people during partition. In this book based on true stories Butalia reveals the sufferings of women, which they had to face throughout partition. The primary objectives of this research study are to explore the sufferings of women due to partition in the light of Urvashi Butalia’s TheOther Side of Silence: Voices from thePartition of India. For the present study theory of Feminism will be applied afterwards.