BITTER: Instead of August 14, 2021 being observed as Remembrance Day of the Horrors of Partition, it should be a symbol of the horrors of the post-Godhra riots unleashed by Narendra Modi.

By Rajan Narayan

On the eve of the platinum jubilee of Independence Day, Narendra Modi declared that August 14 should be observed as Remembrance day of the Horrors of Partition. It would be more appropriate to remember February 27, as the remembrance day for all the horrors committed by the Narendra Modi government in the post-Godhra violence against the Muslim community. With the Taliban at our door step Modi should have more sense than to provoke Pakistan, as the horrors happened on both side of the border at the time of Independence.

ON the eve of Independence, August 14, 1947, India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru spoke eloquently about India’s “tryst with destiny.” In 2021, on the eve of India’s 75th Independence Day, India’s current, Narendra Modi, declared that August 14 should be Partition Horror Remembrance Day. Which confirmed for Modi what he referred to as “Amrit Anniversary of Independence” is a day for promoting the Hindutuva agenda.
The country that is now India has long since forgotten the horrors of Partition. Modi should not forget atrocities were committed on both sides of the border. If Hindus were killed in Pakistan so were Muslims in India. Modi’s knowledge of history is obviously very poor as he did not recall the indefinite hunger strike that Mahatma Gandhi launched to bring a halt the communal riots in Kolkata.
The Muslims who had been on a killing spree in Kolkata came and surrendered their arms to Mahatma Gandhi. Modi should also not forget that it was Gopal Godse, a member of the Hindu Maha Sabha, a close mentor to the RSS, who shot dead the “Father of the Nation” Mahatma Gandhi during a regular prayer meeting on January 30, 1948.
The Sikhs and the Punjabis and the Bengalis and the people of UP, who were the worst victims of the violence that preceded Partition, have long since forgotten the trauma they went through. How will observing August 14 as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day “remove the poison of social division, disharmony and further strengthen the spirit of awareness”?
Will naming February 27, 2002 remembrance of the horrors committed by Narendra Modi on the Muslims in Gujarat remove the poison that he had injected into the country? Not just in Gujarat but in other parts of country. For instance in Uttar Pradesh, the largest state in the country, where dozens of Muslims have been killed merely on the suspicion that they had eaten beef, or killed the holy cow, or some unknown meat stored in the fridge? It is not just the Muslim community that has been targeted by the Modi government.

DALIT HARASSMENT

THE poorest of the poor, the lowest classes in the country, the Dalits, have also been harassed by the Modi government. Several very highly respected social activists like Anand Teltumbde, professor at the Goa Institute of Management, have been arrested on the allegation that he was linked with the Elgar Parishad. An organisation of the Dalits, who gather everywhere to celebrate the victory of the British regiment their ancestors were part of against the Marathas led by Shivaji. When Arvind Kejriwal was on a visit to Goa, the Holy Shepard Church in Delhi was demolished by the Modi government.
Why does Narendra Modi want people to remember the horrors of Partition? Why does he believe that Partition pain can never be forgiven. Modi claims that millions of our sisters and brothers were displaced and many lost their lives due to mindless hate and violence. Very conveniently Modi forgets that there was as much mindless hate and violence in India where Hindus instigated by the RSS and other fundamental groups massacred Muslims. And forced them to abandon their homes and belongings to go to Pakistan. The trains coming from Pakistan and going to Pakistan on the eve of Partition were full of the dead bodies of Hindus and Muslims, respectively.
For the benefit of the younger generation, who mercifully did not experience or did not even read about the horror of Partition, Modi wants to fill them with hate. Particularly in the majority Hindu community and the minority Muslim community which accounts for only 14.2% of the population. Contrary to the BJP and RSS claims that Muslims are multiplying faster them Hindus, the truth is their population is declining and is only 14.2% of the total population.
And to the contrary, the UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, is offering incentives to Hindu couples to have more than two children. The Hindutuva slogan of Hum Panch, Hamara Panchpan in relation to the minority Muslim community in India is totally baseless. With development all communities have fewer children so that they can give their children have a better life and future. Education and jobs are the means to bringing down the rate of reproduction, not threats and intimidation.

PARTITION CONFRONT

TO come back to Partition, when the British finally decided to leave India, there was a confrontation between Jawaharlal Nehru and Mohammad Ali Jinnah who headed the Muslim League. Jinnah insisted that India should be partitioned into two countries. Pakistan for the Muslims and Hindustan for the Hindus. The British for their own reasons promoted the two nation theory. So when Independence came India was a divided sub-continent.
The states which had a majority Muslim population like Punjab and West Bengal were split to form Pakistan. In addition, Muslims in the rest of the country and in the concerned state of Bengal and Punjab, were given the choice of shifting to Pakistan. In practise, however, very few Muslim shifted to Pakistan.
And those who did regretted their decision because they were treated as second class citizens in Pakistan. The migrants were called Muhajir. The top post in Pakistan were occupied by the Punjabi Muslims. Indeed, the residents and leaders of West Pakistan refused to allow Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, to take over as Prime Minister of East Pakistan, where a large number of people continue to speak Bengali rather than Urdu.
On the contrary the Pakistani army led by generals from West Pakistan, harassed and tortured the residents of East Pakistan. This led to the huge influx of refugees from East Bengal to West Bengal and the North East states such as Assam. This was the provocation for the Bangladesh war in 1971 when the Indian army invaded East Pakistan. The Pakistan troops led by AAK Niazi, surrendered to the Indian army led by Lt General Jacob, who later served a term as one of Goa’s most popular governors. To Governor General Jacob goes the credit for having notified the Mhadei and Netravali wildlife sanctuaries.
The ill-adviced direction by Narendra Modi to designate August 14 as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day comes at a very delicate time for India. The Taliban, who originally created Pakistan and continue to be very close to them, have taken over Afghanistan. India has a major stake in Afghanistan and was part of the joint international force which was trying to liberate Afghanistan from the Taliban. The Taliban was created by the United States along with Pakistan to fight the Soviet Union which had captured a large part of Afghanistan.
Long after the Russians left the Taliban continued to occupy parts of Afghanistan. They remained under control as long as US troops remained in Afghanistan to protect the legally elected government. The withdrawal of US troops has created a vacuum taken advantage of by the Taliban.
Again, for the benefit for our young friends, the Taliban is a fanatical fundamentalist Islamic group which wants to send women back to the kitchen and wants to enforce feudal Shariyat laws such as stoning to death those who accused of adultery. The Taliban has already got the support of Saudi Arabia which still follows very harsh feudal Shariyat laws though under the present ruler King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud it is moving towards modernisation. The new king of Saudi Arabia has for the first time permitted women to own and drive cars and join the work force.
With the Taliban taking over Afghanistan in which India has invested billions to create infrastructure like airports and hospitals there is a major threat. The Taliban is very close to the Inter-Services Intelligence Wing of Pakistan which is behind terrorist groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET).
The statement by Narendra Modi that August 14, which is Pakistan’s Independence Day, should be observed as Remembrance of Partition Horrors Day will only provoke Pakistan. Pakistan with the support of the Taliban can attack any part of India. Let us not forget that a group of terrorists belonging to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET) hijacked a fishing boat, sailed to Mumbai and attacked the Taj Mahal Hotel at the Gateway of India in Mumbai and the Oberoi on November 26, 2008.
Independence Day should be a day for celebration. It should be a day to think of how to transform India into a global power. It is a time to inspire our young people to join the digital revolution. It is the time to reiterate the principles of our Constitution: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom of movement and above all the fact that India is a secular, democratic republic, where all communities Hindu, Muslim, Catholic, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, etc may live in harmony. Indeed, I am writing this on August 16 which is the Parsi New Year or Navroz and India’s Parsi community is grateful for a country like India.