The “chief sufferers” of Partition, according to Mohandas Gandhi, were women. As the subcontinent descended into chaos, women of all three religious communities become prime targets in the war for honor and land. Across the Punjab, tens of thousands of women and girls were assaulted, abducted and trafficked across the border. In response, the governments of India and ­Pakistan worked together to recover them – with mixed, and tragic, results.

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