Critically examine the importance of oral history in studying an event such as the Partition of India.

Solution

By oral history we generally mean the individual experiences of the people. The information about such individual experiences can be gathered by having interviews of the concerned people.

Merits : The main advantage of the oral history is that it can be helpful in enlivening the events occurred in the past. By this method, we can even know the experiences of the weak and the poor, who are often neglected in history.

Demerits : The main disadvantage of the oral history is that it is based on memoirs. It lacks credibility. It is unreliable.

Our view of oral history and Partition : When we adopt the method of oral history about the partition of the country, our knowledge is widened. In government, reports we get data and statistics. But they do not tell us about the trials and tribulations of the people. For example, we can know how many women were exchanged after the partition of the country between India and Pakistan but we cannot know how much sorrow and hardships those women suffered. Only the bearer knows where the shoe pinches. Only the distressed women can relate their tales of woes.

Some More Questions From Understanding Partition Chapter

Examine the strengths and limitations of oral history. How have oral-history techniques furthered our understanding of Partition?

Find out about the ethnic violence that led to the partition of Yugoslavia. Compare your findings with what you have read about partition in this chapter.

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Understanding Partition

Critically examine the importance of oral history in studying an event such as the Partition of India.

Some More Questions From Understanding Partition Chapter

What were Mahatma Gandhi’s arguments against Partition?

Why is Partition viewed as an extremely significant marker in South Asian history?

Why was British India partitioned?

How did women experience Partition?

How did the Congress come to change its views on Partition?

Examine the strengths and limitations of oral history. How have oral-history techniques furthered our understanding of Partition?

Find out about the ethnic violence that led to the partition of Yugoslavia. Compare your findings with what you have read about partition in this chapter.

Name the writer of ‘Sare Jahan Se Accha Hindustan Hamara’. What did he speak to the Muslim League in 1930 in his presidential address?

What did the Urdu poet Mohammad Iqbal meant by “North West Indian Muslim State”?

Why and when was the Cabinet Mission sent to India?

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