BJP & Congress cross swords on horrors of Partition, genesis of 1947 tragedy | India News
[ad_1]
NEW DELHI: BJP and Congress tussled over the saffron party’s initiative to recall the trauma that accompanied Partition in 1947, with the latter taking exception to a video released by the party in office that held Nehru-led Congress responsible for not stopping Pakistan’s creation 75 years ago.
Union HRD minister Dharmendra Pradhan retaliated against Congress’s attack on the effort to remember Partition by saying those who did not care about the lives and honour of millions when they agreed to divide the country have trouble paying tributes to those who lost everything during the tragedy.
“The brunt of Partition, which ruined the lives of crores of people, was forgotten for decades… Partition Horror Remembrance Day is an attempt to remind the country of that era and not to break it again, but Congress did not like ‘Akhand Bharat’ then and is not liking it now,” Pradhan tweeted. He also said Congress’s criticism of the move signalled a slave mentality that led the party to put the interests of “one family” above the country and people.
Congress’s attack came from communications chief Jairam Ramesh, who said that “Partition Horror Remeberance Day” had been conceptualised with partisan intent and was aimed at using the most traumatic events in history as “fodder” for the PM’s “current political battles”.
“The truth is Savarkar originated two-nation theory and Jinnah perfected it. Sardar Patel wrote, ‘I felt that if we did not accept Partition, India would be split into many bits and would be completely ruined’,” Ramesh said.
On its social media handles, BJP posted two videos with images of killings and the plight of those who fled to Pakistan with a commentary on the rapes and ordeal that women and children faced during Partition. The commentary also lamented that the Congress leadership acquiesced to Muslim League’s demand to Partition the country, while the British had been forced to reverse their plan to Partition Bengal earlier because they faced resistance.
“Those who had no knowledge of India’s cultural heritage, civilisation, values, and pilgrimages, drew the border between people living together for centuries in just three weeks. Where were those people at that time who had the responsibility of fighting against these divisive forces?,” the BJP questioned.
Ramesh said, “Will the PM also recall today Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the founder of Jan Sangh, who championed the Partition of Bengal against the wishes of Sarat Chandra Bose, and who sat in free India’s first cabinet while the tragic consequences of Partition were becoming evident?”
A defiant BJP, however, stood by its attack on Congress. Amit Malviya, head of the party’s IT cell rebutted Ramesh on Savarkar saying that the two-nation theory was first propounded by Sir Syed Ahmed Khanthe founder of Aligarh Muslim University, before Savarkar was even born (1883). “Savarkar and the Hindu Mahasabha were in fact opposed to the idea of Partition, till the very end,” he added.
Malviya said Savarkar even opposed the Bengal Partition in 1905. “He had been warning Congress against capitulating to the Muslim League demand of Partition right from 1937.”
He also recalled the opposition of Syama Prasad Mookerjee to the Partition of Bengal in the then provincial assembly and said that while the founder of Jan Sangh (as BJP was known in its earlier incarnation) could not succeed because of Muslim League’s numbers, but for him even Hindu-majority districts would have been given away to Pakistan.
The opposition from saffronites to Partition, he argued, contrasted with Congress’s acceptance of Muslim League’s Partition demand through a party resolution in 1942 itself as Jawaharlal Nehru was given a lucrative offer to join the Viceroy’s war cabinet as defence minister. “Ignoring our past, however uncomfortable, is a disservice to those who suffered. Partition Horrors Remembrance Day is a day to stand in solidarity,” Malviya said.
Saying that Congress readily accepted the Partition demands proposed by Sir Stafford Cripps in 1942, Malviya said as early as April 1942 CWC resolution in Delhi conceded the division of India. “Rajagopalachari even got the Madras legislature to pass a resolution favouring Pakistan even before Jinnah had made a formal demand. Congress and its top leadership is the true parent of Pakistan,” Malviya said.
Union HRD minister Dharmendra Pradhan retaliated against Congress’s attack on the effort to remember Partition by saying those who did not care about the lives and honour of millions when they agreed to divide the country have trouble paying tributes to those who lost everything during the tragedy.
“The brunt of Partition, which ruined the lives of crores of people, was forgotten for decades… Partition Horror Remembrance Day is an attempt to remind the country of that era and not to break it again, but Congress did not like ‘Akhand Bharat’ then and is not liking it now,” Pradhan tweeted. He also said Congress’s criticism of the move signalled a slave mentality that led the party to put the interests of “one family” above the country and people.
Congress’s attack came from communications chief Jairam Ramesh, who said that “Partition Horror Remeberance Day” had been conceptualised with partisan intent and was aimed at using the most traumatic events in history as “fodder” for the PM’s “current political battles”.
“The truth is Savarkar originated two-nation theory and Jinnah perfected it. Sardar Patel wrote, ‘I felt that if we did not accept Partition, India would be split into many bits and would be completely ruined’,” Ramesh said.
On its social media handles, BJP posted two videos with images of killings and the plight of those who fled to Pakistan with a commentary on the rapes and ordeal that women and children faced during Partition. The commentary also lamented that the Congress leadership acquiesced to Muslim League’s demand to Partition the country, while the British had been forced to reverse their plan to Partition Bengal earlier because they faced resistance.
“Those who had no knowledge of India’s cultural heritage, civilisation, values, and pilgrimages, drew the border between people living together for centuries in just three weeks. Where were those people at that time who had the responsibility of fighting against these divisive forces?,” the BJP questioned.
Ramesh said, “Will the PM also recall today Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the founder of Jan Sangh, who championed the Partition of Bengal against the wishes of Sarat Chandra Bose, and who sat in free India’s first cabinet while the tragic consequences of Partition were becoming evident?”
A defiant BJP, however, stood by its attack on Congress. Amit Malviya, head of the party’s IT cell rebutted Ramesh on Savarkar saying that the two-nation theory was first propounded by Sir Syed Ahmed Khanthe founder of Aligarh Muslim University, before Savarkar was even born (1883). “Savarkar and the Hindu Mahasabha were in fact opposed to the idea of Partition, till the very end,” he added.
Malviya said Savarkar even opposed the Bengal Partition in 1905. “He had been warning Congress against capitulating to the Muslim League demand of Partition right from 1937.”
He also recalled the opposition of Syama Prasad Mookerjee to the Partition of Bengal in the then provincial assembly and said that while the founder of Jan Sangh (as BJP was known in its earlier incarnation) could not succeed because of Muslim League’s numbers, but for him even Hindu-majority districts would have been given away to Pakistan.
The opposition from saffronites to Partition, he argued, contrasted with Congress’s acceptance of Muslim League’s Partition demand through a party resolution in 1942 itself as Jawaharlal Nehru was given a lucrative offer to join the Viceroy’s war cabinet as defence minister. “Ignoring our past, however uncomfortable, is a disservice to those who suffered. Partition Horrors Remembrance Day is a day to stand in solidarity,” Malviya said.
Saying that Congress readily accepted the Partition demands proposed by Sir Stafford Cripps in 1942, Malviya said as early as April 1942 CWC resolution in Delhi conceded the division of India. “Rajagopalachari even got the Madras legislature to pass a resolution favouring Pakistan even before Jinnah had made a formal demand. Congress and its top leadership is the true parent of Pakistan,” Malviya said.
[ad_2]
Source link
