Editing Radcliffe Line (section)

==Legacy==

===Legacy and historiography===

As a part of a series on borders, the explanatory news site [[Vox (website)|Vox]] featured an episode looking at "the ways that the Radcliffe line changed Punjab, and its everlasting effects" including disrupting "a centuries-old Sikh pilgrimage" and separating "Punjabi people of all faiths from each other."<ref>{{cite web |author1=Johnny Harris and Christina Thornell |title=How a border transformed a subcontinent: This line divided India and Pakistan. |url=https://www.vox.com/videos/2019/6/26/18759915/india-pakistan-border |access-date=26 July 2019 |date=26 June 2019 |quote=A brief history of how the region was split in two.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Ranjani Chakraborty, Danush Parvaneh, and Christina Thornell |title=How the British failed India and Pakistan: The history of two neighbors born at war — and the British strategy behind it. |url=https://www.vox.com/2019/3/22/18277409/british-failed-india-pakistan |website=Vox |date=22 March 2019 |quote=The two nations were born at war – which can be traced back to this British strategy.}}</ref>

===Air Defence===

In the decades following Partition, the Radcliffe Line gained additional importance beyond its geopolitical function. During the Cold War period and subsequent Indo-Pakistani conflicts, the Indian and Pakistan Air Force established radar stations along key stretches of the border to provide early warning of aerial incursions. These radar units became a vital part of air defence grid, particularly in the Punjab and Jammu sectors during the 1965 and 1971 wars.<ref>{{cite web |last=Gupta |first=Anchit |title=Radar Resilience: Tales of the Scanners on the Radcliffe Line |url=https://iafhistory.in/2023/09/03/radar-resilience-tales-of-the-scanners-on-the-radcliffe-line/ |website=IAFHistory |date=3 September 2023 |access-date=5 May 2025}}</ref>

===Artistic depictions===

One notable depiction is ''[[Drawing the Line (play)|Drawing the Line]]'', written by British playwright [[Howard Brenton]]. On his motivation for writing the play, Brenton said he first became interested in the story of the Radcliffe Line while holidaying in India and hearing stories from people whose families had fled across the new line.<ref name="Web Chat with Howard Brenton">{{cite web|title=Web Chat with Howard Brenton|website=[[TheGuardian.com]]|date=14 January 2014|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/jan/07/live-stream-howard-brenton-drawing-the-line|access-date=14 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701061144/http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/jan/07/live-stream-howard-brenton-drawing-the-line|archive-date=1 July 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>
Defending his portrayal of Cyril Radcliffe as a man who struggled with his conscience, Brenton said, "There were clues that Radcliffe had a dark night of the soul in the bungalow: he refused to accept his fee, he did collect all the papers and draft maps, took them home to England and burnt them. And he refused to say a word, even to his family, about what happened. My playwright's brain went into overdrive when I discovered these details."<ref name="Web Chat with Howard Brenton"/>

Indian filmmaker [[Ram Madhvani]] created a nine-minute short film where he explored the plausible scenario of Radcliffe regretting the line he drew. The film was inspired by [[W. H. Auden]]'s poem on the Partition.<ref>{{cite web |date=18 March 2017 |title=This Bloody Line |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIvQ2AyCCu4 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180730140643/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIvQ2AyCCu4 |archive-date=30 July 2018 |website=[[YouTube]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Watch: This Bloody Line, Ram Madhvani's short film on India-Pak divide|date=18 March 2017 |url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/video/watch-this-bloody-line-ram-madhvanis-short-film-on-india-pak-divide/1/907194.html|access-date=16 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803215826/http://indiatoday.intoday.in/video/watch-this-bloody-line-ram-madhvanis-short-film-on-india-pak-divide/1/907194.html|archive-date=3 August 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

Visual artists [[Zarina Hashmi]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Zehra Jumabhoy on the art of Zarina |url=https://www.artforum.com/print/201907/zehra-jumabhoy-on-the-art-of-zarina-80522 |access-date=2022-06-15 |website=www.artforum.com |date=September 2019 |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Salima Hashmi]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Zones of Dreams {{!}} Art UK |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/zones-of-dreams-23897 |access-date=2022-06-15 |website=artuk.org |language=en}}</ref> [[Nalini Malani|Nalini Malini]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-07-31 |title=Omar Kholeif on curating for Abu Dhabi Art |url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/art/omar-kholeif-on-curating-for-abu-dhabi-art-1.615623 |access-date=2022-06-15 |website=The National |language=en}}</ref> [[Reena Saini Kallat]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Anzi |first=Achia |date=2021-06-01 |title=The ambivalence of borders: Map art through the lens of North-East Indian artists |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s41020-021-00142-9 |journal=Jindal Global Law Review |language=en |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=117–137 |doi=10.1007/s41020-021-00142-9 |s2cid=237916446 |issn=2364-4869|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and [[Pritika Chowdhry]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=75 Years Post-Partition: Artist Pritika Chowdhry on her Partition Anti-Memorial Project {{!}} COSAS |url=https://southernasia.uchicago.edu/calendar_event/75-years-post-partition-artist-pritika-chowdhry-on-her-partition-memorial-project/ |access-date=2022-06-15 |website=southernasia.uchicago.edu}}</ref> have created drawings, prints and sculptures depicting the Radcliffe Line.