'Tragedy of Partition Cannot Be Misused': Cong on BJP Targeting Nehru in Video

"The modern day Savarkars and Jinnahs are continuing their efforts to divide the nation," Jairam Ramesh said.

Jawaharlal Nehru.

(Photo: The Quint)

PAs India marks its second "Partition Horrors Remembrance Day," the Congress on Sunday, 14 August, slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for releasing a video which tangentially blames Jawaharlal Nehru for bowing to the demands of Muslim League, leading to the Partition.

The BJP on Sunday released a dramatised video on the Partition, featuring Cyril John Radcliffe, whose map split Punjab and Bengal almost in half.

The seven-minute-long video blamed Pandit Nehru, the Muslim league, and Indian communists for the Partition. However, most of the video is filled with visuals of Nehru and Jinnah.

"Where were those people at that time who had the responsibility of fighting against these divisive forces?" BJP tweeted.

In response, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh attacked BJP by saying the "real intent" of PM Modi to mark 14 August as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day is to "use the most traumatic historical events as fodder for his current political battles."

"Lakhs upon lakhs were dislocated and lost their lives. Their sacrifices must not be forgotten or disrespected," he added.

"The tragedy of Partition, cannot be misused to fuel hate and prejudice. The truth is Savarkar originated 2 nation theory and Jinnah perfected it," Ramesh said. He further quoted Sardar Patel saying that “I felt that if we did not accept partition, India would be split into many bits and would be completely ruined”.

"The modern day Savarkars and Jinnahs are continuing their efforts to divide the nation," he added.

Government Ad Omits Nehru From Freedom Fighters in Karnataka

The Congress also slammed Karnataka government's decision to omit Pandit Nehru from the list of freedom fighters in a government advertisement published on Sunday.

In a series of tweets, Congress leader Siddaramaiah attacked Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, calling him a 'slave of RSS'. "Not including Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in the list of freedom fighters in today's government advertisement shows how low a CM can go to save his chair," he said.

The advertisement was published by the state government to highlight the contribution of some prominent freedom fighters.

Siddaramaiah also said that by omitting Nehru from the list, the CM had humiliated the entire nation in front of the world.

He also noted that VD Savarkar has been made a part of the list. "Savarkar, who pleaded British officers to get himself released from the jail, gets position in the front row. But, Baba Saheb, who fought for freedom by being the voice of marginalized sections, gets placed in last row." he added.

(With inputs from NDTV and PTI.)