In April, 1947, the Constituent Assembly of India was discussing the provisions for citizenship and the debates were largely on administrative points. This was all set to change post the partition. In the wake of the mass migration that followed and the unique situations it created, the bitterness across the nation saw full expression in the citizenship debates. What were they saying? How did the assembly deal with the question of citizenship? What was happening beyond the nation in this period?

Joining us in exploring these questions is Ganeev Kaur Dhillon, former curator of the Partition museum, Amritsar and a lawyer. Together we talk about what the partition resulted in, how different communities dealt with the question of belonging, the ideas that the assembly members proposed and more.

The episode features an audio clip from a 'BBC Stories' documentary on Partition. The clip of the assembly discussion is from the mini series, Samvidhaan, available on Rajya Sabha TV. The episode also features an excerpt from Sardar Patel's speech on the Partition. Audio clips from the 1994 Hindi film, 'Mammo' and the 1973 film, 'Garm Hava' can be listened to. An excerpt from an Al Jazeera interview with Krishna Kumar Khanna is featured at the end.

References:

https://www.partitionmuseum.org/partition-of-india
Citizenship and the Constitution, Gautam Bhatia
The long partition and the making of modern South Asia, by Vazira Fazila-Yacoobali Zamindar (Book)
Forgetting Partition - Constitutional Amnesia and Nationalism, Kanika Gauba
Constituent Assembly Debates
Can a Muslim be an Indian? Gyanendra Pandey

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