The Politics of Naming: Silence, Erasure, and the Making of 1971 South Asian History

Abstract South Asian historiography, long dominated by nationalist narratives, has often excluded communities framed as politically inconvenient or non-belonging. By foregrounding the lived experience of the Urdu speaking community in 1971 East Pakistan, this article interprets their marginalization, internment, and historical erasure as manifestations of structural and epistemic violence. Methodologically grounded in oral history and epistemic justice, it proposes “practiced listening” as a counter method for unsilencing, one that engages with what is erased, trivialized, or inaudible in state archives. Reclaiming subaltern memory as a locus of resistance and counter-history, the article redefines the boundaries of critical historical studies to encompass the violence of postcolonial partitions, the condition of statelessness, and the afterlives of displacement. It contributes to interdisciplinary discourses in South Asian studies, memory studies, and postcolonial historiography by advocating for ethically inclusive approaches to remembrance and historical narration.