This paper examines Amrita Pritam's Pinjar as an unrefined critique of violence and trauma inflicted on women during the Partition of India. The term ‘Pinjar’ translates to both “skeleton” and “cage”, and serves as a symbol of the emotional void and societal entrapment women experienced. Through the characters of Pooro, Lajo, and the Sakkar madwoman, the novel uncovers the trauma of abduction and lost identities. Honour, shame, and silence intertwined, exacerbate and weaponise women, casting them as the targets of communal retribution, and uprooting them both physically and psychologically. Pooro's new, imposed identity as Hamida erases her previous self, yet she still manages to find agency. Rashid, at the core of the story, is not a black-and-white character; he is part of that which he condemns, torn between conflicting loyalties and the pull of tradition. From an ecofeminist standpoint, we see how violence against women and nature comes from the same place: male pride, revenge, and self-interest. If Pooro being abducted by Rashid to take revenge for their previous family conflicts is unacceptable, Pooro’s brother, Trilok, setting Rashid’s crops on fire to take revenge for his sister’s abduction is equally wrong. Both women and nature are being objectified here as mere weapons to settle scores and satisfy the male ego. In the end, Pinjar presents to us how patriarchy and communalism reinforce each other, which in turn marks women as the primary victims -- yet it does not totally break their spirit or report their small yet real acts of resistance.
Debanjana Banerjee (Mon,) studied this question.