KARACHI: The partition generation was scarred by a narrative of hatred as they had the facticity of the mayhem originating out of the great divide. At the same time, however, the generation shared long-held ties with people from the other side religion and nation which made it possible to reach out and see reason.

Seventy years on, the rabid hatred may have lessened but there is a mindless disgust among the young generation because in the absence of relieving narratives, religious bigotry has assumed an organised form pervading across India and Pakistan.

The partition sentiment It was a tippy day in August 1947 in Mandi Bahauddin, a town bordered by the Jhelum and Chenab rivers in Pakistan`s Punjab, when 84-year-old Santosh was last in her native town.

About 68 years on, glimpses of the faded past often made way into her dreams and with each passing day, Santosh grew restless to visit her birthplace.

On hearing news of Pakistan, she would challenge her grandchildren in Delhi that she could still find her house if only they would take her back to the Mandi Bahauddin railway station.One chilly afternoon in November 2015, Santosh walked to her house from the same platform where she had once spent an entire night, waiting for a train that would rescue her family.

`We have grown up listening to stories of Naniji`s (grandmother) childhood spent there but could not relate to her experiences,` Santosh`s grandchild, Gaurav Uppal, says. `Our family and friends tried all possible ways to stop us from taking this trip. Visiting Pakistan is another thing; just talking about Pakistan evokes apprehension in India,` he adds.

Upon realising the contrast in opinions across generations, 35-year-old Uppal took the `risl(` of travelling between borders with his Naniji.

`Growing up in India, I have only learned to equate Pakistan with negativity,` Uppal confesses as he identifies how internalisation consumes post-partition generations.

`Countries progress with time, but sentiments remain. For the first time in my life, I witnessed what Pakistan meant for my own family,` he says in disbelief, adding that he could have never experienced such sentiments about Pakistan if he hadn`t visited the country.

`Ab toh yahan bethay baat karo toh Pakistan baat pohanch jati hai...iss zamanay mein bhi donon deshoon mein itni ghalat fehmipan hain? (If you speak here[Indial then they know of it in Pakistan. Even in this age, how are there misunderstandings between the two countries?` Santosh ponders as she holds a photograph of herself outside the house in Mandi Bahauddin close to her heart.

The price of xenophobia Back in February 2016, a series of protests in north India introduced an unusual disparity between identical but invisible divinities. In a movement dubbed as the Jat reservation agitation, the politically influential Jat community in Haryana sought inclusion of their caste in the Other Backward Classes category, which would make them eligible for affirmative action benefits.

What initially started as a number of `peaceful` demonstrations eventually transformed into several incidents of inter-caste violence in the city ofRohtak as clashes emerged between Jat and non-Jat protesters.

`The classification of Jats and non-Jats divided Haryana a state which is home to 36 different castes. The same people who had lived together for years were now blaming each other for inciting violence,` 19-year-old Muskan regrets, while averring how communal riots leave no room for neutrality as people are entirely motivated into proving the `other` wrong.

Witnessing the state succumb to communal disparity at the hands of political narratives, Muskan travelled back in time to 1947. `Do we hear of Pakistan-related incidents as they happen, or have we heard of them as they are told?` she wonders.

Muskan feels that India`s national attitude feeds onto a nurtured perception of Muslims as partition wrought permanent psychological modifications inRohtak as clashes emerged between Jat and non-Jat protesters.

`The classification of Jats and non-Jats divided Haryana a state which is home to 36 different castes. The same people who had lived together for years were now blaming each other for inciting violence,` 19-year-old Muskan regrets, while averring how communal riots leave no room for neutrality as people are entirely motivated into proving the `other` wrong.

Witnessing the state succumb to communal disparity at the hands of political narratives, Muskan travelled back in time to 1947. `Do we hear of Pakistan-related incidents as they happen, or have we heard of them as they are told?` she wonders.

Muskan feels that India`s national attitude feeds onto a nurtured perception of Muslims as partition wrought permanent psychological modifications inthe region. `My father`s clinic is in a Muslim-dominated area but he is still guarded in his treatment of Muslims we may befriend them, but we can never be at peace with each other,` the puzzled teenager remarks.

When terrorism inflicts pain abroad, the Indian narrative is that terrorism has no religion.

But when terror strikes within the country, it is given a religious and a nationalist context, she points out.

In her view, the BJP politics follows the same suit as it is not wholly pro-Hindu but rather more anti-Muslim in ideology.

`The BJP policies make it a point to single out Muslims. It is not the beef that should be the target of debate but the ban that should be questioned,` maintains Muskan. `India is yet to seek independence...from xenophobia,` she asserts.

`We, as the post-Gulf war and 9/11 generation, have become dangerously accustomed to theconcept of terrorism. Till 10th grade, one might take a few minutes to name the chief minister of his state but will speak of Ajmal Kasab without giving a second thought,` Muskan observes of her generation.

Role of collaborative projects, social media In contrast to the post-partition era, information access has emerged to be a norm over privilege in 70 years. But to what extent do social media influence political psychology in India and Pakistan? Editor of Aman ki Asha (hope for peace) a joint media campaign for Indo-Pak peace Beena Sarwar observes: `On both sides there have been concerted efforts to create a rightwing narrative that incorporates bigotry and hatred for `the other`. This gives the impression that the lobby against peace is far greater and more powerful than it actually is.

In her experience of drawing youth from both countries to converse on a common medium, she identifies that the younger generation, including those who share no family partition history, are more curious about each other.

Anam Zakaria, author of Footprints of Partition, draws a parallel between Indian and Pakistani partition narrative: `I think thatoverthe past70years, the further we have moved away from 1947 the more the narra-tives of partition have been hijacked and appropriated for political use on both sides of the border.

In her assessment, Pakistan views partition as the biggest victory to date while India views it as a loss, even a treachery by Muslims, invaliding the struggles of the people to quite an extent.

`The historical truths [of coexistence] are hard for the youngergenerationstoevencontemplate 70 years later. I have even come across families in which the grandparent speaks fondly of Hindu friends while the grandchild refuses to even speak to a Hindu student across the border.

Influenced by a similar ideology, Mallika Ahluwalia set up the world`s first Partition Museum in Amritsar. `Even 70 years after history`s largest migration there was no museum or memorial anywhere in the world to an event that shaped the lives of millions and continues to do so,` she shares.

Given the dearth of history projects in the region, is the youth willing to explore their roots? `The youth are extremely interested in partition because they want to know their own history. At our first event back in 2015, which we had only posted online, some 1,500 people showed up into a venue meant for 300,` Ahluwalia reveals.

A longer version of this article can be read on Dawn.com