My Anger And Heartbreak...

Anita Rani on tracing her family’s harrowing experiences during the bloody and tragic Partition of India

- Caren Clark

Appearing in Who Do You Think You Are? can be emotional, but when Anita Rani took part in 2015, it was even more profound. ‘It was moving and life changing,’ says the Countryfile host.

The episode examined the 1947 Partition of India after independence from Britain, which split the country along religious lines. Muslims were given homelands in newly created West Pakistan (now Pakistan) and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), but the rest of India was left largely for Hindus and Sikhs.

The division caused widespread religious tension and violence. And Anita learned that Pritam, her Sikh maternal grandfather Sant Singh’s first wife, perished along with two of their children and Sant’s father during conflict with Muslims when their Punjabi village became part of West Pakistan after Partition.

The story has haunted Anita 70th anniversary, in My Family, Partition and Me, she and her mum, Lakhbir, become the first members of the family to travel to Pakistan to learn more and investigate the devastating effects of Partition. Here, Anita tells us more…

How would you sum up the impact of Partition?