Refugees and Nation-Building: A Historical Study of Rehabilitation Policies in Post-Partition India (1947–1965)

Abstract

The partitioning of India in 1947 instigated one of the biggest forced migrations in the contemporary history and the newly independent Indian state had to face an unheard of humanitarian, administrative and economic issue. The paper looks at how the policy of rehabilitation of refugees contributed to the wider nation-building process of 1947 to 1965. It examines the manner in which the state planned institutional processes, law-making policies and development initiatives to re-settle and economically incorporate displaced people in various parts especially in the north-western and eastern parts of India. The analysis of the history and analysis approach relies on the government reports, census data, first-hand accounts, and secondary research, with the study indicating substantial regional differences in the application of the rehabilitation measures and their results. Although land redistribution, urban dwelling plans, compensation plans, and aiding small-scale industries, led to the rapid socio-economic movement, as well as agricultural and commercial change in north India, the eastern India experience was characterised by Holup postponements, scarcity of resources, and marginalisation over the long term. The paper maintains that refugee rehabilitation was not only a relief programme, but it was a very important tool of state building, economic restructuring, and political incorporation in the post-colonial India. Making refugee resettlement as part of nation-building, the research shows how the displaced peoples became effective participants in the creation of new urban locations, agricultural relations, and middle-class identities. The historiography of Partition is added to by the analysis as it connects the rehabilitation policies to the developmental goals of the early Indian state.