Partition and Womanhood: Amrita Pritam’s Pinjar

Abstract

Partition of the Indian Subcontinent produced disastrous aftermath for the Hindu, Muslim and Sikh communities. The unparalleled human endurance during the period of Partition possesses unique nature by virtue of the enormity of unscrupulous violence. Travail of trauma experienced by the female folk during pre-Partition and the Partition period is unmasked in the novel Pinjar by Amrita Pritam. Women speak of the chilly experiences of violence unleashed against them.  This paper attempts to analyse the dreadful nature of female assaults  by Jolle Demmers’ theory on structural violence and  the traumatised minds of the female victims are placed  on the scale of shame-fear-dishonour syndrome  mentioned in Urvashi Butalia’s Borders and Boundaries.