Project Dastaan (داستان‎/दास्तान: “Story”) is a peace-building initiative which examines the human impact of global migration through the lens of the largest forced migration in recorded history, the 1947 Partition of India and Pakistan.

Turning closed borders into open virtual frontiers

The 1947 Partition of India and Pakistan was the largest forced migration in human history. Over 14 million migrated and over one million perished. After 72 years, Partition continues to be a lived experience for many across the subcontinent. The political relations between India and Pakistan are hostile, plagued by the legacy of Partition and the four wars that followed it. Even today, most refugees have not been able to return home.

When Partition violence was at its height, Gandhi had said that no peace would be possible until the refugees displaced were able to return to their homelands.

Project Dastaan makes that return possible.

The Project is generously supported by the CatchLight Foundation, Digital Catapult and Arts Council England’s CreativeXR Program, and a National Geographic Society Exploration Grant.