Abstract
This chapter focuses on involuntary migrations of the people living in the border belt of Indian Punjab since partition of the subcontinent in 1947. These people not only became structural victims of the partition but also the machinations of both neighbours. Although more than 70 years have passed since the division of Indian subcontinent and India and Pakistan becoming independent entities, the baggage of the past weighs heavy on both states. The post-partition bitterness between India and Pakistan, wars at regular intervals and warlike situation on the border and criminal neglect of the development process in the border belt by the successive governments at the centre and state forced the citizens to continuously move out of their native places not only for the safety and security of their family members but also for their very survival. Boundary clashes, terrorist activities, smuggling, etc. are some of the other sources of conflict in the border area creating continuous insecurity and uncertainty that is detrimental to their normal survival. Time and again the state and national governments ordered its residents living on the international borders to vacate their villages. Sometimes these orders come as a bolt from the blue for the border residents (who are mainly marginal and small and middle peasants) in peak season of paddy or wheat harvesting. It not only creates panic in the area but forces lakhs of residents to move to the safer places leaving behind their houses. In addition to these, the floods in Ravi and Sutlej rivers which criss-cross border villages also bring untold miseries to the people and force them to migrate from their homes at regular intervals. Involuntary migrations have become part and parcel of their lives.
The chapter is divided into four sections. Section I introduces the theoretical explanations of involuntary migration and its history. Section II provides a brief overview of the border belt in Punjab and discusses the history of involuntary migration in the border area. Section III examines the impact of migration on the lives of the affected people, and Section IV sums up the study.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Bibliography
Aggarwal, S. C., & Kumar, P. (2002). Migration in the north eastern region during 1901–1991 and emerging environmental distress: A case study of deforestation in Assam. Noida: V.V. Giri National Labour Institute.
Bailey, R. (2010). Immigration and migration. New Delhi: Viva Books Private Limited.
Barik, B. C. (1994). Rural migrants in an urban setting: A case study. New Delhi: Classical Publishing Company.
Bharadwaj et al. (2008, August 30), The big march: Migratory flows after the partition of India. Economic and Political Weekly, XLIII(35)
Census of India. (2001). Accessed from: http://censusindia.gov.in/Census_And_You/migrations.aspx. Accessed on 14 April, 2018.
Chaurasia, A. R., & Gulati, S. C. (2008). India-the state of population 2007. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Cherunilam, F. (1987). Migration – Causes, correlates, consequences, trends & policies. Bombay: Himalaya Publishing House.
Darling, M. (1949). At freedom’s door. London: Oxford University Press.
Dasgupta, B. (1976). Migration and urbanization- issues relating to West Bengal. In B. Dasgupta et al. (Eds.), Migration from rural areas-the evidence from village studies. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Datta, V. N. (2002). Lord Mountbatten and the Punjab boundary commission award. In S. Settar & I. B. Gupta (Eds.), Pangs of partition. New Delhi: Manohar Publishers.
Deshingkar, P., & Akter, S. (2009, April). Migration and human development in India. Human Development Research Paper 2009/13, UNDP.
Dubey, R. M. (1981). Population dynamics in India with reference to UP (Allahabad: Chaugh Publishers). Encyclopedia britannica, “human migration”. Accessed from: https://www.britannica.com/topic/human-migration#ref154099.
Ficsher. (1997). Should I stay or should I go? In T. Hummar, G. Brochmann, K. Thomas, T. Faist, & G. Malmberg (Eds.), International migration, immobility & development – Multidisciplinary perspectives. New York: Oxford/Berg.
Friedland, W. H. (1999). Migrant workers. In Grolier (Ed.), Encyclopaedia Americana international (Vol. 19). Danbury: Grolier Incorporated.
Gorlier. (1999). Migration, human. In Grolier (Ed.), Encyclopaedia Americana international (Vol. 19). Danbury: Grolier Incorporated.
Gosh, P. S. (2004). Unwanted & uprooted – A political study of migrants, refugees, stateless & displaced of south Asia. New Delhi: Samskriti.
Government of Punjab, Population Statistics of Punjab. (1971–2011). Publication No. 947. Accessed from: http://www.esopb.gov.in/static/PDF/Publications/PopulationStat/PopulationStatistics-1971-2011.pdf. Accessed on 26 April 2018.
Harris, N. (2005, October 22), Migration and development. Economic and Political Weekly, 40(43)
Hassan, M. I. (2005). Population geography. Jaipur: Rawat Publications.
IOM: United Nations. (2000). World migration report 2000. Geneva: International Organization for Migration United Nations.
Ishtaq, A. (1997). Exit, voice and citizen. In T. Hummar, G. Brochmann, K. Thomas, T. Faist, & G. Malmberg (Eds.), International migration, immobility & development – Multidisciplinary perspectives. New York: Oxford/Berg.
Kaur, H. (2010a). Baptism by fire, survival by grit: Life in the border belt of Punjab. Working Paper Series No. 3, Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy. Amritsar: GNDU Press.
Kaur, H. (2010b). Study of exclusion in the border belt of Punjab. Research Report-2, Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy. Amritsar: GNDU Press.
Majumdar, P. K. (2010). Fundamentals of demography. Jaipur: Rawat Publications.
Mitra, H. N. (Ed.). (1947). Indian annual register (Vol. I). Calcutta: The Annual Register Office.
Narang, S. (2010, December 11). Understanding the status of climate change and refugees. Mainstream, XLVIII(51)
Parveen, S. (2005). Changing face and challenges of urbanization – A case study of UP. New Delhi: Concept Publishing House.
Puri, H. K., et al. (1999). Terrorism in Punjab: Understanding grassroots reality. New Delhi: HAR-ANAND Publications Pvt. Ltd.
Rai, M. S. A. (Ed.). (1986). Studies in migration: Internal and international migration in India. New Delhi: Manohar Publishers.
Raj, H. (1993). Population studies (fundamentals of demography). Delhi: Surjeet Publications.
Sanez, R., & Ayala, M. I. (2008). Migration. In W. A. Darity Jr. (Ed.), International encyclopaedia of social sciences (Vol. 5, 2nd ed.). New York: Thomas Gale.
Sekhon, J. S. (1999). Migration due to terrorist violence in Punjab: A case study of a village. Punjab Journal of Politics, XXIII(2), 89–102.
Sekhon, J. S. (2009). Personal interview with Rattan Singh Randhawa.
Sekhon, J. S. (2011). Problems of border area farmers in Punjab: An empirical study. Unpublished ICSSR Project Report. Department of Political Science, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.
Sekhon, J. S. (2013, September). The cutting edge: Experience of living in border areas. Man and Development, XXXV(3), 57–70.
Sekhon, J. S. (2014). Farmers at the border belt of Punjab: Fencing and forced deprivation. In P. S. Judge (Ed.), Mapping social exclusion in India: Caste, religion and borderlands. Delhi: Cambridge University Press.
Smith, A. (1904). An inquiry into the nature and causes of wealth of nations, edited with an introduction, notes, marginal summary and an enlarged index by Edwin Cannan (Vol. 1). London: Methuen.
Smith, A. O. (2006). Disasters and forced migration in the 21st century, June 11, 2006. Accessed from: http://understandingkatrina.ssrc.org/Oliver-Smith/. Accessed on 12 March 2018.
Srivastava, R. S. (2008). India: Internal migration links with poverty and development. In B. Mckinley (Ed.), Migration, development & poverty reduction in Asia. New Delhi: Academic Foundation.
UNESCO. (2018). “Migrant/migration”, learning to live together. http://www.unesco.org/most/migration/glossary_migrants.htm. Accessed on 11 March, 2018.
UNHCR. (2017). Global trends: Forced displacement in 2016. Geneva: The UN Refugee Agency.
United Nations. (2006). International migration report 2002. In A. M. Messina & G. Lahav (Eds.), The migration reader- exploring politics and policies. New Delhi: Viva Books Private Limited.
United Nations. (2017, December). Population facts”, No. 2017/5, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division.
Varma, S. N. (1999). Foreign policy dynamics, Moscow and India’s international conflict. New Delhi: Deep and Deep Publication.
Vombatkere, S. G. (2009, November 14). Managing disasters and displacements. Mainstream, XLVII(48).
Weiner, M. (2003). Migration. In V. Das (Ed.), The Oxford India companion to sociology and social anthropology. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
White, P., & Woods, R. (1980). The geographical impact of migration. London: Longman Group Limited.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sekhon, J.S., Sharma, S. (2019). Involuntary Migration in the Border Belt of Indian Punjab. In: Uddin, N., Chowdhory, N. (eds) Deterritorialised Identity and Transborder Movement in South Asia. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2778-0_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2778-0_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-13-2777-3
Online ISBN: 978-981-13-2778-0
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)