Let us draw the right lessons from history  on ‘Partition Horrors Remembrance Day’

We are into the 75th year of Independence, having gained freedom in 1947 but paying a huge price for it. It was also the year when the Partition of India took place and a civil war broke out. It was a tragedy on a colossal scale. Millions lost their homes and at least one million people their lives in the communal violence that took place just before Independence; a tragedy comparable to the Holocaust before World War II. Tragedies of this magnitude never die; they remain buried waiting for a trigger to manifest. We have seen numerous riots after Independence which is nothing but deep-rooted communal hatred, fanned by vested interests. Now that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that August 14 would be observed as ‘Partition Horrors Remembrance Day’, it is likely to be an annual event. In his subsequent tweet, he mentioned that hatred and bigotry led to the loss of millions of human lives and this day would remind us never to let that happen again.

Though the Prime Minister didn’t mention how the day would be observed, one would indeed wish it to be a solemn occasion and a day of prayers for those who died. Certainly not a day for fiery hate speeches challenging Pakistan or casting slurs on a community. By the way, Pakistan celebrates its independence day on August 14, so it might have been a better idea to choose another date. Of course, the Partition was unfortunate but even more unfortunate is that we still harbour hatred for each other. We have fought three wars and spent millions on the defence budget but the fact is neither of us can relocate; so why not make peace than live in a perpetual state of distrust? Let the Partition memorial day remind us that no one wins in a tragedy. Incidentally, no other country in the world observes such a day. Germany celebrates its unification day rather than division day. Some countries like Israel and the Netherlands have memorial days for their fallen soldiers. Having said that, it does not mean that such a day cannot be observed. A lot would depend upon how it is observed: A day to mark a human tragedy that claimed precious lives regardless of their religion and a day to correct the history, or a day used for rabble-rousing and spreading hatred!