Review: Midnight's Furies-- The Deadly Legacy of India's Partition by Nisid Hajari

Midnight's Furies: The Deadly Legacy of India's Partition is a book written by author and editorialist Nisid Hajari. The book explores the contentious relationship between India and Pakistan and its origins. From the beginning, Hajari sets the stage to depict one of the worst migrant crises of the 20th century. He looks at the intense relations between Indian and Pakistani politicians, and how religious and ideological differences catalyzed several years of bitter, deadly conflict between the various religious communities living in the two nations.

The partition of India is a very little known topic-- especially in the United States. It is sometimes added as a footnote in a lot of history books that discuss India and Pakistan. To have works out there that discuss this pinnacle moment in history is critical to understand international affairs today. What many people fail to realize is the conflicts from the War on Terror are actually all connected to this moment in history (and others before that as well). What I like about Hajari's book is that it chronicles the political and social unrest between the two countries and ties it together with the global affairs. While the politicians of India were wrestling with their philosophical differences-- entire communities of Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and other religious minorities found themselves the targets of the other's ire. Thus resulting in the devastating loss of between 200,000 - 2 million lives and the displacement of 10-20 million others.

Nisid Hajari follows several political players including Mahatmas Gandhi, former Indian Prime Minister Jawahalal Nehru, and Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Other key political players that make their appearance from the book include Louis Mountbatten-- who served as the Viceroy while India was being partitioned. The names of people, places, and organizations can be overwhelming for those who are just learning about India's partition. Thankfully, Hajari and his publishers had the insight to create an index that features the names and places and where you can find them in the book. The sources are also extensive...

What I like about this book is that Hajari doesn't point fingers at any one particular group of people for causing the conflict. Rather, he breaks down the narratives and the information and provides context for what occurred so the audience can see the bigger picture. The author also notes that the legacy of India's Partition has spilled over into the foreign affairs to this day-- especially with regards to extremist activities happening in both India and Pakistan.

My favorite quote from this book goes:

What truly continues to haunt today's world are the furies that were unloosed in 1947-- the fears and suspicions and hatreds forged in Partition's searing crucible.

One of the things that I found moving about this piece is that Hajari does not hesitate to explore how political policies impacted those on the interpersonal level. In the span of months communities of Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Jains, etc. who lived together for generations and protested against the occupation of British rule quickly turned to ire. The extremist worldviews of several grassroots leaders quickly turned the tide of discourse and the political figures of India and Pakistan often found themselves wrestling against the oncoming surges. It is a devastation that will be felt not only by the every day people of India and Pakistan but also their leaders.

By gaining keen insight into this deadly era in India history, we can get a sense of what is going on in today's political arena regarding India, Pakistan, and the legacy of colonialism. We can also get a sense of some critical understanding for why there are so many people of the South Asian diaspora around the globe. While sometimes this book can be a bit daunting and confusing, the indexes do help tremendously in keeping names, dates, and locations clear and concise.