India, Aug. 18 -- India's Independence is the story of sacrifice and hard-won freedom from colonial rule-a story worth celebrating. But the birth of a nation 79 years ago also witnessed the monumental tragedy of Partition which saw one of the world's largest displacements of 12 million people.

The gendered impact of this displacement is rarely discussed. One of India's most eminent feminists, Urvashi Butalia author of The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India talks about seeing the Partition story through the eyes of women and how some themes, particenceularly those relating to honour continue to play out nearly eight decades later.

Both my parents were Partition refugees. Despite the fact that they had lived through...