Psychological impact of Partition, migration, and the resettlement of Muslim refugees in Pakistan 1947 – 1961
Keywords:
Gilgit-Baltistan, external linkages, socioeconomic development, Khaplu.Abstract
The newly established region of Pakistan experienced suffering from migration and displacement, violence and upheaval; this research paper examines the psychological aftermath of the emergent society through the lens of social violence. When communities that are ethnically, culturally, and religiously discordant become refugees, they encounter numerous challenges within their broader sociological context of resettlement. During that period, evacuees dispersed in small groups were deliberately required to establish themselves utilising substantial resources along with their private homes and significant financial assets, such as investments, pensions, and savings. This resulted in broader social and economic consequences. This research focuses on the reactions to the mental health of incoming exiles and the enduring psychological wounds that influence our present as remnants of the past. It will also investigate the disintegration of civic life into a fluid society. The conflict between the central government and Punjab regarding resource scarcity, intricate responsibilities, and ambiguity over asset allocation led to the mental health issues and psychological turmoil of immigrants. The local authorities bore the principal responsibility for resettling the refugees; thus they inflated the regulations, fabricated records, intertwined personal relationships, leading to an "unofficial" distribution of resources that ultimately altered the sociocultural identities. The principal elements in the narrative of conflict, socioeconomic standards, ineffective aid initiatives, and the challenges of expanding cultural divides have been scrutinized.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 By submitting an article to the editor, the author (s) will automatically grant editors the rights to edit and post the content of the articles on the official website of the Sadiq Journal of Pakistan Studies (SJPS) if accepted. Author (s) retain the copyrights and will grant SJPS the non-exclusive rights of first publication of manuscript electronically and in print form and to identify SJPS as the original publisher under creative commons License. It will allow others to share the content with explicit indication of the authorship and its initial publication in SJPS. Under these licensing terms, the author (s) confirm that all the content of the published manuscript will be distributed in the public domain and other researchers may use it exclusively for the non-profit scientific purpose (s) with the obligatory acknowledgement of authorship. Author (s) reserves unconditional rights to copy and reproduce the published work for teaching, use it in other research and redistribute, share or place the copy of the article to any other medium or format, even commercially only if SJPS is explicitly acknowledged as the original publisher. However, author (s) cannot apply any legal or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything that is already permitted under the license terms.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
All the articles editorially accepted for publication by the Sadiq Journal of Pakistan Studies (SJPS) are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Submitting a manuscript to SJPS, the author has to certify that he/ she is authorized by other contributors (s) and co-author (s) to enter the publication process.
He/ She shall assure on behalf of all author (s) that:
- The manuscript is original, it has not been published in any other journal before, is not under consideration for any other journal and does not violate any existing copyrights or any other rights of a third party.
- I/we have full authority to enter into this agreement for granting the rights to SJPS as sole author (s) of the article without breaching any other obligation.
- The manuscript does not contain any unlawful and libelous content or anything that would breach the agreement (s) of confidence, commitment, and secrecy.
- I/we certify that due care has been taken to ensure the reliability of the article. All purported statements and information are facts to the best of my/our knowledge and the currently accepted standards of scientific knowledge. Therefore, any of the proposed methods or instructions will not, if followed accurately, cause any damage or loss to the user (s).
