In Photos: A Walk Through Delhi's Partition Museum

Last month, India got its second Partition Museum in Delhi – the first being in Amritsar.

Last month, Delhi's Education Minister Atishi inaugurated India's second Partition Museum on the Ambedkar University campus in Kashmere Gate.

(Photo: Ribhu Chatterjee/The Quint)

The bitter memories of the Partition now rest in the form of stories, letters, and possessions of displaced people at India's second Partition Museum in Old Delhi. The museum was recently inaugurated by Delhi's Education Minister Atishi at the Dara Shikoh Library Building on the Ambedkar University Campus in Kashmere Gate. A similar museum was opened in Punjab's Amritsar in 2017.

Under the 'Adopt a Heritage' scheme of the Indian government, Kishwar Desai, the chairperson of The Arts and Cultural Heritage Trust of India, opened this museum, which is divided into six galleries that explore the lives of those affected by the Partition and its aftermath. The galleries have been named 'Towards Independence and Partition', 'Migration', 'Refuge', 'Rebuilding Home', 'Rebuilding Relationships', and 'Hope and Courage'.

Speaking about the museum, Desai says: "I think that as a country, we are not very good at preserving history. I come from a family that faced the effects of the Partition. When the Partition was announced, my parents had to leave overnight. Such stories have always intrigued me." 

The Mughal-era building, which is home to the remains of Shah Jahan's heir-apparent Dara Shikoh, was rebuilt by East India Company officer David Ochterlony in the 19th century. The building is now preserved as a hybrid one, with traces of both Mughal-era and colonial architecture. 

On being asked why a Partition museum was established in Delhi, the chairperson says: "Manisha Saxena, DG of Tourism, visited the Amritsar museum and suggested having a similar one in Delhi. This is a completely different museum entirely dedicated to showing the impact of Partition on Delhi. As it's a people's museum, we needed objects, artifacts, and memories they possessed."

The stories and photographs, which were scattered in various files and albums at the Nehru Memorial and National Archive, were weaved together as building blocks of the museum. 

When it was first established in 1959, the area in the photograph was known as the Refugee Housing Society – until Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru decreed that the colony should be renamed 'Punjabi Bagh'.

The museum is home to the stories of almost 500 displaced families – and 100-120 oral histories, with each oral history representing more than one family.

A unique exhibit that is on display is the special Indo-Pak Joint Passport, which was issued to the Hora family who left Peshawar for India on 13 August 1955. It had a validity period of one year. 

Inside the 'Refuge' gallery, visitors would find a tent (a replica of genuine refugee camp tents) as well as ration cards used during the Partition.

These wedding photographs and cards were donated by Siddharth Kapila. They belonged to his grandparents, Satya Devi and Om Prakash Malhotra. Kapila describes their wedding on 23 February 1947 as the "last peaceful marriage in Lahore". 

The 'Migration' gallery is designed to seem like a railway cabin, and contains the possessions of numerous survivors. On the walls are photographs and information on the voyage from India to Pakistan during the Partition. 

This sitar journeyed from Lahore in Pakistan, and then to Rajasthan, before settling in Delhi with the Batra family. When Savita Batra realised that the etching on the sitar was of "Rikhi Ram - The Sitar Maker," who had also relocated to India, she took it to her shop to get it restored. It served the family for many years before being donated to the museum.

Desai says: "There is not a lot of information about Delhi during the Partition, and the entire museum is built from objects donated to us. We are in the process of setting up a gallery dedicated to Sindh, called 'The Lost Homeland of Sindh'."

'The Cricketer', a bronze sculpture by Amar Nath Sehgal, was presented by the Indian government and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to the Pakistan National Cricket Team during their tour in 1961. The gift was considered a historic milestone for peace and goodwill between the two countries via sports. 

On being asked about any future plans related to the museum, Desai says: "I would love to call people to come in, participate, and talk about their experiences. I want it to be a people's museum."