Passages to India
How are identities and loyalties shaped by conflicts which has been passed down through three generations? How does the conflict between Pakistan and India influence patterns of migration? What happens when "old enemies" meet as work immigrants in Norway?
Photo: Evy Andersen
In August 1947, the last viceroy of British India and first governor general of Independent India, Lord Mountbatten called for the partitioning of an independent India and Pakistan which resulted in the dissolution of the British Indian Empire.
In the aftermath would follow the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 and many other wars and conflicts between India and Pakistan. The new border ignited already existing tensions between Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus in the area and resulted in massacres throughout India. Refugees came in millions from both sides of the new borders often resulting in bloodbaths and ethnic genocides.
How the conflicts which happened in the late Summer of 1947 - where over 1.5 million people were killed - has influenced the lives of three generations Indians and Pakistanis living in India, Pakistan and Norway sets the framework for Lavleen Kaurs research project.
The Others
Lavleen Kaur, though born and raised in Norway, is of Indian decent. She has studied classical indian dance at Sangit Samiti Vidhiyalaya, and has for many years worked as a dancer, choreographer and actress.
In 2006 Kaur was presented in Norwegian media as Ibsens first lady. 2006 was the Ibsen year in Norway, commemorating that it had been 100 years since Ibsens death, and Kaur played the leading roles of Nora (in A Doll's House), Hedda (in Hedda Gabler) and Ellida ( in The Lady of the Sea) at respectively the Central Theatre, Riksteateret and the National Theatre.
Kaur is currently a PhD fellow at the Department and working on a research project entitled ”THE OTHERS”: Identity and loyalty in the wake of political conflicts spanning three generations. 
- Why is to study this conflict relevant to criminological research?
The Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law in Oslo has a long tradition for studying how bridging distance between people may deconstruct images of "the other". Furthermore, war crimes and its consequences on later generations are topics many criminologists have studied earlier.
My research is also relevant considering the discussion concerning integration of minorities in Norway. One all too often make the mistake of presenting "the majority" and "the minority" as two distinct homogenous groups - and often forget there exist conflicts within "the minority group" Even though punjabis from India and Pakistan come from the same ethnic group, the experiences from what happened in 1947 often make it difficult for people to co-exist - for instance at the workplace.
Bringing Criminology to the Theatre
Kaur has in her work also been pre-occupied in finding new ways to communicate criminological research to a wider audience. This Spring she played the lead in Jalwa - Reflection of Punjab, at the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet. The play that consisted of actors both from Norway and India - was based on Kaurs research on the dilemmas facing many Punjabis living outside Punjab in a transcultural climate. This was put into context by the surroundings of a third generation Punjab woman's wedding plans.