Urban Un/Belonging: Translating Pre-Partition Spaces in Old Rawalpindi, Pakistan

Shehr Bano Zaidi

doi:10.18778/2083-2931.15.04

Authors

Shehr Bano Zaidi National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9886-3573

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/2083-2931.15.04

Crossmark check for up

Keywords:

city translation, 1947-partition, Rawalpindi, Imperial India, the Indo-Pakistan sub-continent, digital media

Abstract

In this article, I propose a transgressive re/inscription of the city spaces of Old Rawalpindi through the lens of Sherry Simon’s integrated translational city theory. In the wake of the 1947 partition of the Indian sub-continent into the Muslim-majority Pakistan and the Hindu-majority India, a large number of Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains living in Rawalpindi migrated to India. The numerous houses and other buildings that they left behind have been variously re/purposed, abandoned, and re/occupied by the Muslims arriving from India. The data for this study consists of documentation of these buildings, official websites and studies, interviews with the im/migrants and locals, and the researcher’s observations. The in/consistencies between the official versions and those of the current and past residents, crucially highlighted by the digital media, suggest multiple identities and a semiotic un/belonging.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Shehr Bano Zaidi, National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad

Shehr Bano Zaidi, PhD, is Assistant Professor at the National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad, Pakistan. She teaches translation studies at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Born in Rawalpindi, she currently lives in a city nearby and takes occasional walks through its old sections to relive its rich past. Both her dissertations (MPhil, PhD) draw on translation, an integral part of everyday life in Pakistan, which is home to 74 languages. Her two recently published articles on the subject are “Cutting Together-Apart of English as a Second Language in Pakistan: Insights from a Translation Studies Classroom” and “Intralingual Translation as Textual Erasure: Beyond Linguistic Neo-Imperialism.” Both are published in Changing English: Studies in Culture and Education.

References

“About Rawalpindi.” Rawalpindi Development Authority, https://rda.gop.pk/rawalpindi/ accessed 24 July 2025.
Google Scholar

Ashraf, Muhammad I., Muhammad Saleem Akhter, and Iqra Jathol. “Peace Building through Religious Tourism in Pakistan: A Case Study of Kartarpur Corridor.” Pakistan Social Sciences Review, vol. 3, no. 2, 2019, pp. 204–12. https://doi.org/10.35484/pssr.2019(3-II)16
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.35484/pssr.2019(3-II)16

Bennett, Susan. Performing Nostalgia: Shifting Shakespeare and the Contemporary Past. Routledge, 2013. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315003085
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315003085

Bharadwaj, Prashant, Asim I. Khwaja, and Atif R. Mian. “The Partition of India: Demographic Consequences.” SSRN, 5 Nov. 2008, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1294846 accessed 24 July 2025. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1294846
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1294846

Bourhis, Richard, Y. “The English-Speaking Communities of Quebec: Vitality, Multiple Identities and Linguicism.” The Vitality of the English-Speaking Communities of Quebec: From Community Decline to Revival, edited by Richard Y. Bourhis, CEETUM (Université de Montréal), 2008, pp. 127–64.
Google Scholar

Chawla, Muhammad I., Muhammad Hameed, and Syeda Mahnaz Hassan. “The Jain History, Art and Architecture in Pakistan: A Fresh Light.” Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan, vol. 56, no. 1, 2019, pp. 217–27.
Google Scholar

D’Agostino, Glauco. “Pakistan: Blend of Traditions, Faiths and Architectures.” Geopolitica. Revistă de Geografie Politică, Geopolitică şi Geostrategie, vol. XVII, no. 80, 2019, pp. 1–20.
Google Scholar

Deumert, Ana, and Sinfree Makoni. “Decolonial Praxis and Pedagogy in Sociolinguistics: Concluding Reflections.” From Southern Theory to Decolonizing Sociolinguistics: Voices, Questions and Alternatives, edited by Ana Deumert and Sinfree Makoni, Multilingual Matters, 2023, pp. 239–53. https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.22679664.17
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.22679664.17

Dhaliwal, Ravi. “Platform for Kartarpur Shrine View Is History.” The Tribune, 8 May 2019, https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/punjab/platform-for-kartarpur-shrine-view-is-history-769633/ accessed 24 July 2025.
Google Scholar

“District Rawalpindi.” Rawalpindi Development Authority, https://rawalpindi.punjab.gov.pk/overview accessed 24 July 2025.
Google Scholar

Farooqi, Mariam S., and Rida Arif. “The Lost Art of Rawalpindi.” Thaap: Culture, Art & Architecture of the Marginalized & the Poor, 2015, pp. 31–44.
Google Scholar

Fritzsche, Peter. Reading Berlin 1900. Harvard UP, 1998.
Google Scholar

Gatti, Flora, and Fortuna Procentese. “Experiencing Urban Spaces and Social Meanings through Social Media: Unravelling the Relationships between Instagram City-related Use, Sense of Place, and Sense of Community.” Journal of Environmental Psychology, vol. 78, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2021.101691
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2021.101691

Gergen, Kenneth J. “The Challenge of Absent Presence.” Perpetual Contact: Mobile Communication, Private Talk, Public Performance, edited by James E. Katz and Mark A. Aakhus, Cambridge UP, 2002, pp. 227–41.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511489471.018

Gita. X direct message to the author. 29–31 Aug. 2024.
Google Scholar

Gozzi, Raymond, Jr. “Absent Presence.” A Review of General Semantics, vol. 63, no. 1, 2006, pp. 82–85.
Google Scholar

Haider, Sajjad. WhatsApp correspondence with the author. Jan.–Oct. 2024.
Google Scholar

Hameed, Abdul, et al. “Sikh Bazar at Garhi Habibullah, Mansehra (Pakistan): History Architecture and Tourism Potential.” Pakistan Heritage, vol. 13, 2022, pp. 83–96.
Google Scholar

Hammersley, Martyn, and Roger Gomm. Introduction. Case Study Method: Key Issues, Key Texts, edited by Roger Gomm, Martyn Hammersley, and Peter Foster, SAGE, 2000.
Google Scholar

Hassan, Shiraz. “Birthplace of Reformist Movement a Picture of Neglect.” Dawn, 14 Sept. 2014, https://www.dawn.com/news/1131886 accessed 24 July 2025.
Google Scholar

Jakobson, Roman. “On Linguistic Aspects of Translation.” On Translation, edited by Reuben Arthur Brower, Harvard UP, 1959, pp. 232–39. https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674731615.c18
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674731615.c18

Jatt, Zahida R. “Exploring Tourism Opportunities: Documentation of the Use of Spaces of the Pre- Partitioned Temples and Gurudwaras in Punjab, Pakistan.” Chitrolekha International Magazine on Art and Design, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, pp. 59–73.
Google Scholar

Jehangir, Javaid. “Audit Report on the Accounts of City District Government Rawalpindi, Audit Year 2017–18.” Auditor General of Pakistan, https://agp.gov.pk/SiteImage/Policy/16.%20Rawalpindi%20A.c-4%20AY%202017-18%20(03.02.18).pdf accessed 24 July 2025.
Google Scholar

Kermani, Secunder. “Kartarpur Corridor: A Road to Peace between India and Pakistan?” BBC, 29 Nov. 2018, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-46382657 accessed 24 July 2025.
Google Scholar

Lee, Tong King. “Introduction: Thinking Cities through Translation.” The Routledge Handbook of Translation and the City, edited by Tong King Lee, Routledge, 2021, pp. 1–11. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429436468-1
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429436468-1

Lookingbill, Andrew, and Ethan Russell. “Google Maps 101: How We Map the World.” The Keyword, 22 July 2019, https://blog.google/products/maps/google-maps-101-how-we-map-world/ accessed 24 July 2025.
Google Scholar

Mahmood, Asif. “Renaming of Areas Perplexes Locals.” The Tribune, 20 May 2024, https://tribune.com.pk/story/2467489/renaming-of-areas-perplexes-locals accessed 24 July 2025.
Google Scholar

Noor, Aliza. “Displaced by Partition, She Visited Pakistan Home after 75 Years.” Al-Jazeera, 2022, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/13/displaced-by-partition-she-visited-pakistan-home-after-75-years accessed 24 July 2025.
Google Scholar

“Om.” Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sanskrit-language accessed 24 July 2025.
Google Scholar

Otsuji, Emi, and Alastair Pennycook. “Interartefactual Translation: Metrolingualism and Resemiotization.” The Routledge Handbook of Translation and the City, edited by Tong King Lee, Routledge, 2021, pp. 59–76. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429436468-6
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429436468-6

Pennycook, Alastair. Language Assemblages. Cambridge UP, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009348638
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009348638

Razvi, Abbas. X direct message to the author. 29 Aug. 2024.
Google Scholar

“Reena Verma from India Visits Her Ancestral Home in Pakistan after 75 Years.” YouTube, uploaded by BBC News, 21 July 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gij3U4-mF_E accessed 24 July 2025.
Google Scholar

“Reinscription.” Oxford Reference, https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100412315 accessed 24 July 2025.
Google Scholar

Remm, Tiit. “Textualities of the City—From the Legibility of Urban Space towards Social and Natural Others in Planning.” Sign Systems Studies, vol. 44, no. 1–2, 2016, pp. 34–52. https://doi.org/10.12697/SSS.2016.44.1-2.03
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.12697/SSS.2016.44.1-2.03

Schaflechner, Jürgen. Hinglaj Devi: Identity, Change, and Solidification at a Hindu Temple in Pakistan. Oxford UP, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190850524.001.0001
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190850524.001.0001

Shohamy, Elana, Eliezer Ben-Rafael, and Monica Barni. “Introduction: An Approach to an ‘Ordered Disorder.’” Linguistic Landscape in the City, edited by Elana Shohamy, Eliezer Ben-Rafael, and Monica Barni, Multilingual Matters, 2010, pp. xi–xxviii. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847692993
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847692993

Simon Sherry. “The Translational City.” The Routledge Handbook of Translation and the City edited by Tong King Lee, Routledge, 2021, pp. 15–25. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429436468-3
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429436468-3

Simon, Sherry. “The Translational Life of Cities.” The Massachusetts Review, vol. 56, no. 3, 2015, pp. 404–15.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/mar.2015.0064

Spilioti, Tereza, and Korina Giaxoglou. “Translation and Trans-scripting: Languaging Practices in the City of Aθens.” The Routledge Handbook of Translation and the City, edited by Tong King Lee, Routledge, 2021, pp. 278–93. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429436468-21
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429436468-21

Sywenky, Irene. “Imperial Translational Spaces and the Politics of Languages in Austria-Hungary: The Case of Lemberg/Lwów/Lviv.” The Routledge Handbook of Translation and the City, edited by Tong King Lee, Routledge, 2021, pp. 176–89. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429436468-14
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429436468-14

Waksman, Shoshi, and Elana Shohamy. “Decorating the City of Tel Aviv-Jaffa for Its Centennial: Complementary Narratives via Linguistic Landscape.” Linguistic Landscape in the City, edited by Elana Shohamy, Eliezer Ben-Rafael, and Monica Barni, Multilingual Matters, 2010, pp. 57–73. https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.29308476.8
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.29308476.8

Yasin, Aamir. “Nirankari Gurdwara—Centre of Learning for over 50 Years.” Dawn, 30 Dec. 2024, https://www.dawn.com/news/1881845 accessed 24 July 2025.
Google Scholar