Contextualizing Kamla Patel's Torn from the Roots: A Historical Examination of Personal Narrative

This paper analyses Kamla Patel’s memoir Torn from the Roots by placing it in the context of the history of Partition violence. It looks at the ideological underpinning of the Recovery Operation that did not allow women to choose if they wanted to be ‘recovered’ and relocated once again. The memoir is seen to reflect many of the contentious debates surrounding women’s agency. Kamla Patel’s intervention concerning separating mothers from their children is seen as particularly significant. Her memoir written 27 years after her experiences as the government representative in Lahore helping to locate and recover abducted women acts as a powerful text that seeks to expand the archive for feminist historiography of India’s partition.