Selfishness of a few pushed the nation towards the tragedy of partition. It was not a partition of a piece of land, but was a tragic decision to divide the two hearts of humanity which cost millions of lives on this day in 1947, said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday.
Addressing a tribute meeting organised at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan on the occasion of Partition Horrors Remembrance Day, the chief minister said, “No society can move forward by forgetting the history, that’s why it should be our resolution that personal interest, family, caste, opinion, religion, region and language can never be above nation.”
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that despite the partition of the country in 1947, infiltration from Pakistan and Bangladesh into India continued.
“If they loved Pakistan so much, then they should have focused on humanity and prosperity but they didn’t learn a lesson from history and the outcome is in front of everyone,” he remarked.
The chief minister said that India, with a population of 140 crore, was moving forward with the message of ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’, removing the distinction of caste, creed, religion, north, south, east, west and despite facing the horrors of partition.
“On the other hand, the plight of Pakistan is not hidden from anyone. At the time of partition, the most fertile land for agricultural production of Punjab went to Pakistan. For some time, its economy also was in good shape. However, its negative approach had its toll on the country and today its people are fighting for a sack of five kilograms of flour,” Chief Minister Yogi added.
Referring to the liberation of Bangladesh from the terror and barbarism of Pakistan, Chief Minister Yogi said, “The land of Bengal is known for art and literature. Today’s Bangladesh was once the textile hub of India.”
He pointed out that those who think that they will be safe on the basis of religion should know that East and West Pakistan were also of the same religion. “The atrocities committed by West Pakistan on East Pakistan are not hidden from anyone. It is not hidden from anyone that the Pakistani army behaved cruelly with the mothers and sisters of Bangladesh,” he said.
The chief minister pointed out that had India remained undivided after independence in 1947, it would not have taken long for it to become a superpower of the world today. “But those who had trouble with this power, they divided India,” he said.
“Some wanted position and some others wanted prestige,” Yogi said and remarked, “This date gives us new inspiration. It inspires us to draw some lessons from those sad moments in history,”
Giving the example of Japan, he said, “The country on which two atom bombs were dropped in 1945 has become a developed country on the principle of Nation First.”
Before the tribute meeting, the chief minister visited the memorials related to the partition at the Indira Gandhi Foundation. He also met and heard the families who suffered the tragedy of partition and also saw a short film based on the atrocities inflicted on people during the partition.
Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, Union Minister Kaushal Kishore, Lucknow Mayor Sushma Kharakwal, former minister and MLC Mahendra Singh, MLAs Neeraj Bora, Yogesh Shukla, Jaya Devi, Amresh Kumar, former state ministers Mohsin Raza, Ramchandra Pradhan, Mukesh Sharma were present on the occasion. Chief Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra, Principal Secretary (Tourism and Culture) Mukesh Meshram, Principal Secretary (Home) Sanjay Prasad and Chief Minister’s Advisor Awanish Awasthi were also present.