Archivo

“The Perils of Partition”

Hitchens’ discussion of the failure of partition that replaced overt colonialism as the British Empire and colonialism in general receded. The list of examples is long: Palestine, Iraq, India, Pakistan, Gibraltar, Cyprus…not to mention Viet Nam. The result “…has been continuous strife, often spreading to neighboring countries, of the sort that partition was supposedly designed to prevent or solve.”

It’s also fair to say that much of the partition was to keep the former colonies in check, “The element of tragedy here is arguably implicit in the whole imperial project. Even since Rome conquered and partitioned Gaul, the best-known colonial precept has been divide et impera  ‘divide and rule.’”

In any case, Hitchens argues convincingly that the entire concept of partition imparted by a former colonial ruler is at best arbitrary (Pakistan – Afghanistan) and at worst a crime (Cypress)

New Learning: “The congested, hypertense crossing point of the River Jordan, between Jordan ‘proper’ and the Israeli-held West Bank, is to this day known as the Allenby Bridge, after T. E. Lawrence’s commander.”

…I like how he puts “”proper” in quotation marks.

New Word: febrile = showing symptoms of a fever

Partition

Unbiased at least he was when he arrived on his mission,
Having never set eyes on the land he was called to partition
Between two peoples fanatically at odds,
With their different diets and incompatible gods.
"Time," they had briefed him in London, "is short. It's too late
For mutual reconciliation or rational debate:
The only solution now lies in separation.
The Viceroy thinks, as you will see from his letter,
That the less you are seen in his company the better,
So we've arranged to provide you with other accommodation.
We can give you four judges, two Moslem and two Hindu,
To consult with, but the final decision must rest with you."

Shut up in a lonely mansion, with police night and day
Patrolling the gardens to keep the assassins away,
He got down to work, to the task of settling the fate
Of millions. The maps at his disposal were out of date
And the Census Returns almost certainly incorrect,
But there was no time to check them, no time to inspect
Contested areas. The weather was frightfully hot,
And a bout of dysentery kept him constantly on the trot,
But in seven weeks it was done, the frontiers decided,
A continent for better or worse divided.

The next day he sailed for England, where he could quickly forget
The case, as a good lawyer must. Return he would not,
Afraid, as he told his Club, that he might get shot. 

W.H. Auden