Partition, Migration and the Process of Urbanisation in West Bengal, 1947-1971.

Introduction

Urbanization might be regarded as the process by which large numbers of people become permanently concentrated in relatively small areas, forming cities. The definition of what constitutes a city changes from time to time and place to place, but it is most usual to explain the term as a matter of demographics. There are so many contributory factors in the process of urbanization of which migration is one of the most crucial factors. The second partition of Bengal in 1947 led to a massive influx of refugees from East Pakistan to the newly created state of West Bengal. Millions of refugees poured into West Bengal which resulted in a sudden spurt in the process of urbanization in the state[i]. The present paper is an attempt to understand the contribution of the refugees in the growth of urbanization in West Bengal during the period between 1947 and 1971. The research of this paper is primarily based on the three successive reports of the Census of India from 1941 to 1971[ii].

Partition and the Influx of the Refugees

The partition of the province according to the Radcliff Award was followed by a massive influx of refugees from East Pakistan. The migration actually started from 1946 after the Noakhali riot. Thereafter, millions of refugees came to West Bengal in different waves. In the 1951 Census identified 2104241 ‘displaced persons’ (from East Pakistan) in West Bengal and Chandanagar. In the next census (1961) the number escalated to 3068750 and in 1971(up to March) the Refugee Rehabilitation Directorate (Govt. of W.B) counted 4293000 East Pakistan Refugees in West Bengal. (See Table-1)

Table-1: Share of Refugee Population in Total Population of W.B, 1951-71.

Year	Total Population	Refugees From E.P	% of Refugees to Total Population
1951	26299980	2104241	8%
1961	34926279	3068750	8.78%
1971	44312011	4293000*	9.68%

Source: Census of India and *Refugee Rehabilitation Directorate, Govt. of W.B.

Settlement Pattern of the Refugees

The East Pakistan refugees settled in almost all the districts of West Bengal. However, they seemed to have shown a preference for eight districts viz. 24 Parganas, Calcutta, Nadia, Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, WestDinajpur, Burdwan and Hooghly. Maximum number of refugees settled in those districts. (See Table-2).According to the 1951 Census out of a total 2104241 displaced persons from East Pakistan 49% migrated to the rural areas of West Bengal and the rest 51.1% to the urban areas. The 1961 Census revealed the same tendency. Out of 3068750 refugees from East Pakistan 1561530 migrated to the urban areas of West Bengal (50.88%). In December 1973, according to a report of the Refugee Relief and Rehabilitation Department, there were 5999475 refugees in West Bengal of them 2724936 (45.4%) settled in the urban areas. Some of them were rehabilitated in Government camps and colonies, but the overwhelming majority settled in squatter’ colonies along the eastern fringes of the city: from Kalyani and barrackpore in the north through Dumdum, Jadavpur, Tollygunge and Behala down to Sonarpur in the south, and then in the 1960s on the west bank of the Hooghly as well, from Magra in the north to Uluberia in the south. As a result, what was previously a rural hinterland of Kolkata was transformed within two decades into an urban sprawl integrally linked to the core of the city[iii]. The refugee colonies, thus, drastically changed the urban scenario of West Bengal.

Table-2: EP Refugees in different districts of West Bengal.

	Total	Rural	Urban
West Bengal	3068750	1507220	1561530
24-Parganas	786661	297164	489497
Calcutta	528205		528205
Nadia	502645	381009	121638
Cooch Behar	252753	227628	25125
Jalpaiguri	218341	171617	46724
West Dinajpur	172237	125155	47082
Burdwan	144704	81841	62863
Hoogly	130951	38663	92288

Source: Census of India, 1961

Growth of Urban Population

Roughly half of the refugees preferred to settle in the urban areas of West Bengal for urban facilities and higher occupational opportunities. It directly contributed to the growth of urban population in West Bengal. Kolkata being the nerve centre of West Bengal and a metropolis that attracted quite a large number of refugees in its urban fringes. According to 1971 Census about 287000 refugees inhabited the Kolkata district and this entire population was urban by nature. In the adjoining districts of Kolkata, viz., 24 Parganas, Howrah and Hoogly, the concentration of refugees was higher in the urban areas (54.3%, 70% and 65.6% respectively). The refugees from East Pakistan had certainly played a significant role in the urban growth of Santipur, Ranaghat, Chakda, in Nadia. The population of those towns grew unusually faster due to large scale influx and settlement of the displaced persons. The decadal growth rate of Ranaghat, for example, was 70.21% in 1941-1951 periods whereas in the previous decade (1931-41) it was 44.70%. Their role was most decisive in the growth of the smaller urban settlements like Fulia, Taherpur, Katagang-Gokulpur and Gayespur which were in fact, set up as resettlement colonies mostly on Government initiative. Asokenagar-Habra, Basirhat, Bongaon were also developed during the fifties due to large scale settlement of the refugees from East Pakistan. The urban refugee population formed 18.74 %( 1951) to 24.84 %( 1971) of the total urban population of West Bengal. (See Table-3)

Table-3: Share of Urban Refugee Population to the Total Urban Population of W.B,

1951-1971

Year	Total Urban Population,W.B	Urban refugee Population	% of Urban Refugee Population to Total Urban Population, W.B
1951	6281642	1052121	16.74%
1961	8540842	1561530	18.28%
1971	10967033	2724936	24.84%

Source: Census of India.

Rise of New Towns

Along with the growth of the existing towns and metropolis a number of new towns emerged in different parts of West Bengal during the period under study. The 1961 Census defined town in the following manner – (a) a population not less than 5000 and (b) a density not less than 1000 persons per sq. mile, and (c) some importance as a centre of trade or distribution or administration, and (d) at least three quarters of its adult male population employed in pursuit other than agriculture. The criterion remained unchanged in 1971 Census. The 1961 Census identified 69 new towns in West Bengal. Similarly the 1971 Census identified 43 new towns and it is interesting to note that out of 43 new towns, 21 belonged to 24 Parganas where the largest number of refugees migrated and settled. (See Table -4)

Table-4: Growth of towns and urban population, 1941-1971.

Year	No. of Towns	Urban Population	% of Urban to Total population
1941	102	4740222	20.41
1951	115	6281642	23.88
1961	184	8540842	24.45
1971	223	10967033	24.75

Source: Census of India, 1971.

A New Urban Culture

Urbanisation cannot be understood simply by statistics of urban growth. It is, after all, a way of life, as classically analyzed by the German sociologist Georg Simmel and the American sociologist Louis Wirth. The underdeveloped nations, in general, experience urbanization in a peculiar way. It repeats some of the more distressing features of its Western counterpart—overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, and unemployment—the compensation and eventual remedy of economic growth has been largely lacking. With some partial exceptions, such as Brazil, Mexico, and Singapore, the underdeveloped world has known urbanization without industrialization. The result has been the rapid growth of shantytowns on the edges of the big cities and towns. The urban scenario of West Bengal was no exception. Refugee camps, colonies sprang quite haphazardly in the cities and towns of the state. Kolkata became an extremely overcrowded city and failed to provide the basic urban amenities to its inhabitants. However the construction of their squatters’ colonies showed creative planning and foresight.

The slummy condition of living increasingly endangered slumminess of mind[iv]. Some sociologists have called it a “culture of poverty”[v]. A steady erosion of values and moral standard is quite a normal outcome of that situation. The urban refugee boys deprived of parental love and care and education took to various jobs to support their families[vi]. They became an easy recruit of the Kolkata underworld[vii]. Prostitution, crime became a common feature of colony life[viii]. An opposite picture can also to be found. The refugees showed tremendous enthusiasm and creativity in re-estabilising their lives though provided with scanty opportunity. The urban Bengali refugee women’s struggle for survival and resettlement deserves special attention[ix]. The mainstream middle class Bengali families were no longer willing to allow their women folk to take up jobs even if they were in distress. The refugee women broke the taboo and their growing presence in the job market influenced the other sectors of the Bengali society. So there emerged a new class in Bengali society i.e. the urban working women who were composed of both refugee and non-refugee women. They emerged as a subject of representation in fictions and cinemas. Satyajit Ray’s “Mahanagar”, based on a short story of Narendranath Mitra may be cited as an example[x].

It is obvious that the refugees from East Pakistan were largely different from other migrants in respect of educational and social status[xi]. So their presence was felt more than the other migrant communities in West Bengal. They were more vocal and thus a potential force of radical politics in West Bengal during the fifties and the sixties and the frustrated refugee urban youth played a significant role in it,[xii]-the Tram Fair Enhancement Resistance Movement as well as in the Food Movement. “A whole generation of urban youth, a large part brought up in the squalor and deprivation of the refugee colonies, was facing a future that held no promise. The food movement of 1965 brought thousands of them into active politics, principally within the Communist Party of India (Marxist)” [xiii]. It was also urban in origin and it had changed the political culture of West Bengal as a whole. Urban radicalism was not only confined in political activism, but also was felt in the intellectual activities of the urban middle class. Partha Chatterjee has rightly observed that a new tone of social criticism, coupled with a radical activism, became the most prominent rhetorical device in the language of the Calcutta middle class from the mid-1960s.

Conclusions

The Partition and the consequent influx of the East Pakistan refugees had a tremendous impact on the process of urbanization and urban culture of West Bengal. It directly contributed to the growth of urban population in West Bengal as well as the growth of new urban centres. The refugees formed nearly ¼ of the total urban population of West Bengal. Their presence was felt in almost every aspects of urban life in West Bengal more particularly in the arena of politics. From the mid-fifties, with the formation of United Central Refugee Council (UCRC) the refugees triggered off a new kind of politics, ‘the politics of agitation’[xiv] which thoroughly transformed the political culture of West Bengal.

---

[i] In all India level, during the decade of 1941-1951, more than nine million people migrated to urban areas. Of this 6.6 million were refugees from Pakistan. Rao,M.S.A, Bhat,C, Kadekar, L.N (Ed.), A Reader in Urban Sociology,Delhi,Orient Longman,1991, pp 77.

[ii] For numerical research, I am thankful to Mr. Sudip Chakraborty, Research Scholar, Jadavpur University.

[iii] Chatterjee, Partha, The Present History of West Bengal, Delhi, O.U.P, 1997, pp.186.

[iv] Mitra, Ashok, Calcutta Diary, Calcutta, Rupa & Co., 1971, pp 16-24. (“ The song of Mother Courage”)

[v] Lewis, Oscar, La Vida, Random House, New York, 1966.

[vi] Kundu, Tridib santapa, “Chhinnamul Chhelebela: Bangalay deshbhagjanita paristhitir ekti dik”in Chattopadhyay, Goutam(ed.), Itihas Anusandhan,Vol.14,Kolkata, Firma KLM.Ltd,2000,pp293-296.

[vii] Das, Suranjan and Roy, Jayanta Kr., The Goondas: Toward a Reconstruction of Calcutta Underworld, Calcutta, Farma,1996

[viii] Sen,K.N&Sen,L, “Sex Life of the refugees in a Transit Camp: Some case Studies” Man in India, vol.33,no. 1(1953) pp 55-56.

[ix] Kundu, Tridib santapa, “Bangali nari jibane deshbhager prabhab” in Chattopadhyay, Goutam(ed.), Itihas Anusandhan,Vol.14,Kolkata, Firma KLM.Ltd,1999,pp589-599.

[x] Kundu, Tridib santapa, “Partition(1947) and the Empowerment of Bengali Women”, paper presented at a UGC sponsored national level seminar, Empowerment of Women—problems and prospects organized by the Department of Political Science, Asansol Girl’s college on 4-5 February,2005.

[xi] “The average educational standard of these displaced migrants is definitely higher than that of even residents of the city, to say nothing of other migrants” Sen, S.N, The City of Calcutta, Calcutta, Bookland,1960, pp 224.

[xii] Chakraborty, Prafulla K., The Marginal Men, Kalyani, Lumiere , 1990, pp 343-346.

[xiii] Chatterjee, Partha, The Present History of West Bengal, Delhi, O.U.P, 1997, pp.190.

[xiv] The politics of agitation meant active resistance through dharna, procession, picketing, gartal, gherao and mass mobilization.

Partition (1947) and the Empowerment of Bengali women

The second partition of Bengal in 1947 had a tremendous impact on the Bengali women. They were certainly the worst sufferer of the event of partition. They were raped, abducted, forcibly married in a large scale. However, the partition brought about some positive impacts on their lives and attitudes as well. Forced by the circumstances, Bengali women, mainly those from refugee background, had to take up various jobs to support their families. This exposure to the outer world brought about some fundamental changes in the attitudes of the Bengali women. Economic independence made them self-conscious and confident enough to fight against patriarchy. The patriarchal control over women’s education and employment was relaxed to a great extent and the process of women’s empowerment got a momentum in the post-Independence/partition Bengali society. The refugee women acted as a catalyst in this process. However, it was not confined within them. The non-refugee Bengali women were also influenced by this process of change as a whole and became a part of this process.

The refugee women had to bear the main burden of displacement in their day to day life. Driven by the circumstances the refugee women had to take up some vocations to support their families economically. Those who had no formal education capitalized their household training for commercial purpose in preparing verities of pickles, papad, badi, and other culinary articles. Some engaged in making paper packets and rolling bidi in their off-times along with their other normal household duties.

Those who had some formal education set out in search for jobs in educational institutions, govt. and semi-govt. offices and private firms. Yong refugee girls took up varities of jobs whatever they could manage-jobs of telephone operators(vide Narandranath Mitra’s story Durabhashini), sales girls(vide Mitra’s story Abataranika which was later rendered into a film by Satyajit Ray), venders on trains(Samaresh Basu’s Pasarini) etc. Some even joined massage clinics, which was not always a very respectable jobs. Recall that powerful urge of Neeta of Megha Dhaka Tara to live—her pathetic shout-‘ami bancha chai’. A large number of refugee girls obviously took to prostitution to earn their living. Some of them tried their lack in the male-dominated Bengal film industry. A few among them succeeded such as Sabitri Chattopadhyay and Madhabi Mukhapadhyay. However others had to waste their careers as ‘extras’. They were ill-paid and ill-treated in the film industry as a whole.

In this situation Bengali women felt the need for education in their struggle for existence. Same thing happened in the case of the Punjabi women. Certainly that consciousness was to be found initially among the refugee women and was gradually transmitted among their host counterparts. Professor A.N. Bose showed that the tendency had been reflected in the examinations of the University of Calcutta. He observed, “It is one of the signs of the times that women’s education advanced at a faster rate than men’s”(Hundred Years of the University of Calcuta). Simultaneously refugee women showed tremendous enthusiasm in educating their children which has been reflected in a short story of Narendranath Mirta named ‘Mulya’(value). Nirmala, a refugee mother failed to pay the tuition fees of her children’s tutor. She tried to compensate it by any means even by washing the dishes in the tutor’s house. Refugee women’s urge for education and employment certainly encouraged others.

The mainstream middle class Bengali families were no longer willing to allow their women folk to take up jobs even if they were in distress. The refugee women broke the taboo and their growing presence in the job market influenced the other sectors of the Bengali society. So there emerged a new class in Bengali society i.e. the working women who was composed of both refugee and non-refugee women. The Bengali women came out of their private domain of domesticity and child-rearing and took up various public duties, driven mainly by the economic motive. Whatever the motive was, it meant more freedom from domestic chores and some command over money which they could now claim as their own. Women were caught between private and public world and underwent through tremendous role-conflict. Anyway, the patriarchal control was relaxed to some extent. At least the traditional association between women’s confinement to home with the idea of their respectability was now challenged. The working women emerged as a subject of representation in fictions and cinemas. Satyajit Ray’s “Mahanagar”, based on a short story of Narendranath Mitra may be cited as an example.

As Bengali women became more and more economically independent, the process of their empowerment within family and outside became a feasible phenomenon. It was reflected in their active participation in the decision making process within their respective families as well as public affairs. The refugee women largely participated in active politics particularly in the UCRC movement. Bengali women waking through a michil along with their men folk was initially shocking to the mainstream Bengali society. However, it became a common feature in the new political culture of West Bengal that emerged after partition. The partition created immense suffering as well as some opportunities which produced some positive results in regards to the life and attitude of the Bengali women in the post-Independence period that ultimately strengthened the process of their empowerment. It is needless to say that the process is still going on and yet to be completed.