Taking aim at the Congress as India marks its second “Partition Horrors Remembrance Day”, the Bharatiya Janata Party today released a video narrating its version of events that led to the partition of India in 1947.
Using archival footage and dramatised visuals of the partition set to evocative music and slick editing, the seven-minute video tangentially blames Jawaharlal Nehru for bowing to the demands of Muhammad Ali Jinnah-led Muslim League for the creation of Pakistan.
Congress has hit back, with MP Jairam Ramesh saying the “real intent” of the PM marking this day is to “use the most traumatic historical events as fodder for his current political battles”.
On 14 August last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that the 14 of August annually will be remembered as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day to remind the nation of the sufferings and sacrifices of Indians during the partition in 1947. The PM earlier this morning tweeted to mark the day.
The BJP video featured Cyril John Radcliffe, whose partition map split Punjab and Bengal almost in half, and questioned how a person who had no knowledge of Indian cultural heritage was allowed to divide India in merely weeks. Visuals of Mr Nehru appeared throughout the video while the narration recounted the horrors of partition.
“Those who had no knowledge of India’s cultural heritage, civilization, values, pilgrimages, in just three weeks, they drew the border between people living together for centuries.
Where were those people at that time who had the responsibility of fighting against these divisive forces?” BJP tweeted along with the video.
Jairam Ramesh, in what can be seen as a response to the video, said the tragedy of partition cannot be “misused” to fuel hate and prejudice. He also offered a counter to the BJP’s version of events that led to the partition.
The BJP video also blames Indian communists for the partition, claiming their leaders backed the Muslim League and justified the demand for a separate Muslim country. Most of the video, though, is filled with visuals of Nehru and Jinnah.
