Perhaps, the presiding God of History is fierce and ruthless. Otherwise, it is not possible for human beings to do injustice with people around them. Only human beings can create an atmosphere of fear in the society with a carefree, ruthless and indifferent attitude. No matter how many times terrible things have happened, people have failed to learn a lesson from them. They just rush forward toward certain destruction with uncontrollable frenzy. The Indian history of the last 100 years depicts this fact.

India is celebrating its 77th Independence Day on August 15, 2023. Unfortunately, the majority of Indians have forgotten the blood-soaked heartbreak of 76 years ago. For them, Independence Day is a festival, and not a day of mourning. The fact is that the Indian Subcontinent experienced Partition seven decades ago, as the colonial British rulers divided India into three parts before leaving the South Asian nation on August 15, 1947.

In 2022, a historian reminded the Indians that Partition was a matter of mourning, and not celebration. He seemingly thought that well-educated and politically-conscious citizens of India could only be deeply saddened on this day, as their beloved nation was divided into three parts and thousands of people became migrants in their own country. However, the historian realised that the reality changed in the last 76 years. People, who witnessed the tragedy of Partition in 1947, are no more. And to those who live today, the Himalayan tragedy of 1947 is a remote, as well as distant, matter. There exists no image of human depravity in the mind of Indian citizens. Perhaps, the memory of Partition shall completely disappear in the near future.

In this context, the fact that should be conveyed to the current Indian citizens is: One of the largest displacements and refugee crises in human history took place in the Indian Subcontinent during the Partition of 1947. Officially, at least two million people lost their lives, and nearly 0.1 million women were physically abused and raped. Urvashi Butalia (b. 1952) and other researchers have shown how the female bodies became the main target of Partition-related horror. The mark of the conqueror was painted on their bodies. Such a large number of women have never been taken away and tortured in the history of the Subcontinent.

The horror of the extermination of Jews in Nazi Germany still shocks the global community. One can compare the horror of the Partition of the Indian Subcontinent to that of the holocaust, as the number of victims was many times greater in the Subcontinent. Unfortunately, the majority of the Indians (and the global community) have forgotten the event.

In fact, the Indian State has not yet decided how to remember the Partition. As a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic, India is quite aware of the danger of highlighting the grief and horror of Partition. Discussions on Partition can evoke communal feelings in different parts of the South Asian nation. Neighbouring Pakistan does not have to face this problem, as it was born on the basis of communal spirit, and Islamabad still wants to move forward with that spirit.

Efforts to cover up horrors of Partition in Indian society have had mixed results. While the oblivion of history has created an ahistorical indifference somewhere, elsewhere history has been distorted and given communal form. The current rulers of India consider Partition a blessing, and they are against the Hindu-Muslim coexistence even in the Independent and Democratic country. Hence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is trying to glorify the history of Partition with their favourite Hindutva ideology. For the past one year, the rulers have been celebrating Amrit Mahotsav or Glorious Festival to mark the 75th year of Indian Independence (as well as the Partition). Instead of remembering the horror of Partition after 76 years of Independence, Indians mark their 77th Independence Day by organising various events in 2023.

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Facebook

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Twitter

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Linkedin

Contact: kousdas@gmail.com

Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das