Much of Partition scholarship has long focused on key political moments such as the drawing of the Radcliffe line and its announcement on 17 August 1947. Urvashi Butalia’s The Other Side of Silence asks us to pause and look beyond these statistics, urging us to listen to voices excluded from mainstream Partition narratives. It involves reimagining Partition through the act of listening: to memories, silences, and longing among those who continued to live through Partition for decades after.

The event contributed to our long-term ambition of creating a memorial space that demonstrates a connection to communities in London, within the public realm.