ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the killings in the 1947 India-Pakistan Partition genocide, particularly the role of religion. For the same, interview summaries of 50 Partition witnesses from India and Pakistan were accessed through the 1947 Partition Archive (https://www.1947partitionarchive.org">www.1947partitionarchive.org). I examined their narratives to understand the experiences of witnessing deaths, its associated emotions, and resulting effects on the interviewees. As the Partition was announced, the communities (Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan and Muslims in India) that were in congruence with the land irrespective of religious identity for years suddenly were pushed into a state of “incongruence” threatening their physical and social existence. This chapter explains how these states of congruence and incongruence were induced by the Partition and led to violence and destruction.
