Role-play – Partition Identity, belonging, diversity, memory, and human experience

Partition Interview Role-Play

For this activity, one student will play the role of a journalist, and the other student will play the role of a historical figure or a person affected by Partition.

Possible Roles

Political Leaders

• Mahatma Gandhi
• Jawaharlal Nehru
• Muhammad Ali Jinnah
• Lord Mountbatten

Ordinary People

• A Hindu refugee from Lahore
• A Muslim refugee from Delhi
• A Sikh family member from Punjab
• A journalist covering Partition
• A woman separated from her family during migration

Instructions

1. Choose one role from the list above.
2. Research your character and create your own interview questions. You may use AI, books, articles, class readings, or other reliable sources to help you develop thoughtful questions.
3. Save your questions in the shared Google Drive folder.
4. During the role-play, you may look only at your list of questions.
5. You may not use notes, scripts, AI tools, books, or any other materials while answering.
6. Answer all questions from memory and from your understanding of the character and historical context.
7. After completing the first interview, switch roles. The journalist will become a historical figure (or ordinary person), and the interviewee will become the journalist.
8. Both students must perform both roles. (2 min. each role-play)
9. If your assigned partner is absent, you may work with another classmate who can take on the journalist role and ask your questions.

Expectations

• Ask open-ended and thought-provoking questions.
• Stay in character throughout the interview.
• Use advanced Hindi and complete sentences.
• Demonstrate knowledge of Partition, its causes, consequences, and human impact.
• Focus not only on historical facts but also on emotions, memories, decisions, and perspectives.

Your goal is not to memorize a script but to demonstrate historical understanding, critical thinking, and the ability to communicate spontaneously in Hindi.