The partition memory and the Pakistan nation-state project, 75 years on

ABSTRACT The partition of India began to take shape after years of contestation over nationalism, the rights of citizens, and minorities between the Indian National Congress, which claimed to represent all Indians and stood for a secular, democratic and united India, and the All-India Muslim League which claimed to represent all Muslims within the subcontinent. This article argues that Partition memory is selective, and that, like all memories, it is appropriated by post-colonial states to justify and legitimate their exclusive sovereign control over their populations and territories. In the case of Pakistan, the partition memory has also been important for Islamisation which began quite soon after the country’s formation and which has proceeded apace since.