The Departments of History, Multimedia and Mass Communication and English were honoured to host the screening of the popular animated film ‘Lost Partitions’ based on the aftermath of the infamous events of 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent on 18th January 2023. Produced by Project Dastaan, a student-led organisation that finds its roots in Oxford University, the series has three animated episodes namely ‘Rest in Paper’, ‘Seabirds’ and ‘Sultana’s Dream’ that explores the consequences of the partition via the subjected effects on different communities.

The event began with a warm welcome of the panellists Sparsh Ahuja - Founder, Project Dastaan, Sumallya Mokhopadhyay and Alisah Ali - Assistant Curators, Partition Museums, Debjani Sengupta and Vinita Sinha - Associate Professors of Dept. of English, Gagan Gera - Asst. Professor, Dept. of MMMC and led by Prof. Rekha Sethi, Principal (Acting), Indraprastha College for Women. The afternoon further progressed with a brief introduction to the bloodbath and unfortunate consequences to the 1947 partition under the colonial suppression by the British Empire.

The address was followed by the screening of all three episodes focussing on different communities that have been excluded from South Asian historiography and their arc of evolution: women, the Chettiar diaspora and the stateless who have to deal with the paper-thick bureaucracy. The event was subsequently opened to the distinguished panel for further discussions exploring the theme of the series and the crucial facts unravelled through the scriptwriting for all three episodes.

The panellists briefly shed light on the politics of colonialism, partition and subcontinent’s socio-political scenario pre and post partition. The floor was further opened to the audience for follow-up questions that explored the themes of communalism, the politics of religions, and the deliberate approach towards filmmaking dealing with such sensitive stories. The film screening and the panel discussion was eventually wrapped with the concluding highlights of the events of the 1947 Partition and the evolving dynamics of the nations affected from the same.