The Partition was a violent and unforgettable time, and gender violence was a significant part of it. Women were left homeless, stateless, and without an identity. They were silenced and marginalized, and often subjected to sexual violence and harassment. Hindu-Muslim ideologies were used to justify their victimization.

Women’s sense of belonging and identity were major factors during the Partition, and they often found themselves in a dilemma as to their role in the changing political landscape. Rubina Saigol’s concept of “Mohajir” captures the sense of displacement and longing that women experienced during the Partition.

Partition stories are categorized into three groups: vengeance and violence, survival and suffering, and harmony and humanity. The selected story, “The Final Solution,” focuses on a family that is forced to migrate and becomes destitute and homeless. The protagonist, Mallika, fights to hold on to her sense of self amidst the chaos and violence.

Women were often the victims of masculine supremacy during the Partition, and incidents of molestation, rape, and gender violence were common. It is important to give voice to these experiences and to recognize the ways in which women were depoliticized and dehistoricized.

In the short story “The Final Solution,” Mallika becomes the breadwinner when her husband Bhushan fails to fulfill his traditional role. Her violation is symbolic of how women were scapegoated and made responsible for the nation’s honor during the Partition. However, Mallika defies this by taking what is rightfully hers and writing her own story of self-acknowledged truth.

Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of “chronotope” sheds light on how the voices of the oppressed are often silenced and manipulated in history. Mallika, as a subaltern, is pressured to conform to societal norms and remain passive. The partition period privileged women’s bodies as sites for political programs to be brutally inscribed.

Gender atrocities against women during the Partition reveal the failure of masculine nationalism. Cynthia Enloe argues that nationalism often arises from masculinized memory, humiliation, and hope. Mallika’s portrayal as a strong and independent woman challenges traditional gender roles and constructs.

Gayatri Spivak’s concept of the subaltern highlights the voiceless population between the oppressor and oppressed. Women were often the “significant other” who were stamped to boundary the common mass of a nation or state.

Subaltern historiography struggles to find autonomous accounts of subaltern existence since their voices are often silenced and objectified. Gayatri Spivak’s essay highlights the exploitation of women in nationalist history, as they are stripped of their agency and essence. She uses the term “subaltern” to describe this marginalized community. However, the lack of subjective voices among the subalterns means that their history is not accurately portrayed.

Spivak offers two concepts to illustrate the representation of the subaltern by intellectual theorists: “speaking for” and “re-presentation.” Pramatha’s attempt to force Mallika into prostitution violates her sacred space and shows how women were victimized during the Partition. Mallika is an in-between migrant who was not given rehabilitation or financial assistance, as the government believed she was motivated solely by money.

In “The Final Solution,” Mallika’s subaltern status is challenged as she fights against patriarchal violence during Partition. Simone de Beauvoir notes that women are degraded by men who portray them as inferior. Mallika, like many women during Partition, is both victimized and a survivor. Her entrance into prostitution is a negotiation of identity involving accommodation, assimilation, rejection, interrogation, and resistance. However, Mallika eventually reclaims authority over her body and breaks free from male supremacy, fighting for her sexual freedom and emancipation. Women who challenge traditional roles are often restricted by patriarchal authority, leaving them subservient. “The Final Solution” serves to broaden the view of Partition by archiving non-bhadrolok experiences.

Mallika, the protagonist of the story, challenges the norms of gender roles during partition. Women are often forced to fit into traditional roles and become victims of violence. Mallika defies this, becoming the breadwinner for her family and resisting the pressure to become a prostitute. Her body becomes a site of resistance against society’s expectations. She reclaims her agency and uses her body as a tool for survival, breaking free from the category of an economically dependent “unattached woman”. Mallika’s story sheds light on the oppressive gender politics at play during partition and challenges the idealization and objectification of women’s bodies.