Abstract
Drawing upon the cinematic narrative of the internationally acclaimed film Khamosh Pani, I relocate the issues it raises within a wider discussion about the gendered nature of conflict between religious communities during the chaos of the 1947 Partition of British India into India and Pakistan. I explore the ways in which state-sponsored Islam in Pakistan impacts the protagonist Ayesha and her son Salim. Further, I explore how the violence of Partition as well as continued violence between Hindus and Muslims is remembered cinematically by Bombay cinema, the dominant cultural institution in the region. Finally, I interrogate Khamosh Pani's reception in India and speculate how it might influence the social constructions of Muslims in South Asia and elsewhere.
