Bengaluru (TIP)-  The Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) on Sunday, August 14,  shared a seven-minute video blaming the first Indian Prime Minister, Jawahar Lal Nehru, and the Communist party for the Partition of India in 1947. The Congress hit back saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi was using “the most traumatic historical events as fodder for his current political battles”. The seven-minute video, uploaded on the BJP’s official handle, describes how the British tried to divide Bengal in 1905 and failed. “The factors that distinguish India in 1947 from Bengal in 1905 are the Congress party [with a close-up shot of Nehru], the Muslim League [showing a photo of Jinnah] and Indian Communists [with a group photo of founding members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)],” the narrator states. “In a span of just three weeks, those having no knowledge of India’s cultural heritage, civilisation, values, [and] pilgrimage centres, drew the border between people living together for centuries,” he adds.

The party directly launched an attack on the “leaders of the country at the time” for “failing the people of India” that led to nearly a million deaths and even more displacements.

In 2021, Prime Minister Modi had declared August 14 as ‘Partition Horrors Rememberance Day’.

Congress’ media chief, Jairam Ramesh, criticised the BJP for indulging in politics over a tragic historic event. In a series of tweets, he said: “The real intent of PM to mark Aug 14 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 that the “the tragedy of partition, cannot be misused to fuel hate & prejudice. The truth is Savarkar originated 2 nation theory and Jinnah perfected it. Sardar Patel wrote, ’I felt that if we did not accept partition, India would be split into many bits and would be completely ruined’,” he added.

Ramesh said that the modern day “Savarkars and Jinnahs” were continuing their efforts to “divide the nation”. “The Indian National Congress will uphold the legacy of Gandhi, Nehru, Patel and many others who were untiring in their efforts to unite the nation. The politics of hate will be defeated,” he added. Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel also hit out at the party saying Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideologue V D Savarkar had sown the seed of Partition in 1925. The RSS?is the ideological mentor of the BJP.

He also questioned the BJP’s role in the freedom struggle.

“Savarkar had sowed the seed of Partition in 1925. It was Savarkar who gave the two-nation theory, which was supported by Mohammad Ali Jinnah in 1937,” Baghel said. Source: HT