Imagine … a collapsing superpower overwhelmed by its responsibilities in a new age. A scramble to be rid of the baggage of empire. Bureaucrats called upon to settle long-standing disputes with the stroke of a pen, and a line on a map.
Such was the background to the partition of imperial British India into the states of India, West Pakistan and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), and it all happened seventy years ago tonight, heralded with the blowing of a conch shell.
West Yorkshire journalist and writer Nick Ahad has been commissioned by BBC Radio Leeds to create a play to mark the anniversary. It will be broadcast on a number of BBC local radio stations serving significant South Asian communities at midnight tonight, commemorating the exact moment of partition (Monday 14 into Tuesday 15 August).
The work has generated so much interest it’s also led to a collaboration with the West Yorkshire Playhouse, which will be staging three performances with the same four actors in front of live audiences on 8 and 9 September.
Partition will open the Playhouse’s autumn/winter 17 season which will feature a collection of diverse stories from across the world, retold by theatre makers.
Writing from the viewpoint of modern day couple Saima and Ranjit, the show tells the tale of how, seventy years after it was divided, the history of the Indian sub-continent continues to tear families apart. Saima and Ranjit’s wedding should be the happiest day of their lives but Saima’s Muslim and Ranjit’s Sikh parents are not by their side, and hate, not love hangs over this couple’s union.
West Yorkshire Playhouse Artistic Director, James Brining, is thrilled to be working with BBC Radio Leeds on the project.
“It’s fantastic for two leading West Yorkshire organisations to collaborate by staging this production marking such an important chapter in the political and social history of the lives of many of the region’s citizens.
“This partnership offers us the unprecedented opportunity to combine both our knowledge and skills. To be able to share this story with the community, engaging those we may not otherwise reach, is certainly something to be celebrated.”
BBC Radio Leeds Editor, Sanjiv Buttoo, believes the memories of seventy years ago are still fresh for the current generation of British Indian and British Pakistani families living in West Yorkshire.
“Historically this world event saw the largest ever movement of mankind, so we commissioned this play to give an insight of how it still affects our lives in a profound way.”
The radio version was recorded at the BBC’s state-of-the-art drama studios in MediaCity in Salford earlier this month.
Talking with The Culture Vulture’s Richard Horsman, Nick says the echoes of the events of 1947 are still affecting family and community life in our part of the world:
You can hear Nick Ahad’s play Partition on BBC Radio Leeds tonight at midnight (Monday 14 into Tuesday 15 August) on 92.4FM, DAB and Freeview – more information on how to listen online at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radioleeds
The live performances in the West Yorkshire Playhouse Courtyard Theatre are at 7.45pm on Friday 8 September and at 2.30 and 7.45pm on Saturday 9 September. Tickets are free but must be reserved.
Portrait and Rehearsal photography by Jacob Tomlinson