Understanding Communalism and Partition of India: Caricature in Print Media in Bengal (1906-1947)

Abstract

An important part of Indian history was shaped by the roots of communal politics and violence in pre-independence India. Various perspectives have been taken on communalism, including views of it as a distorted consciousness, an unavoidable primal reality, or the product of vested interest-based politics. In Bengal, there were two significant communities: Muslims and Hindus. While these two communities had developed in somewhat different ways in terms of education, society, and economics, even though, on paper, they had been living in harmony for decades, there was a constant sense of hatred and hate within them. This study examines cartoons, a type of visual art that uses caricature to portray themes of communalism and possible separation in light-hearted ways. The study examines a few cartoons linked to the conflicting ideologies that tore apart the Indian subcontinent in the years leading up to 1947.