Partition Horror Remembrance Day, Background and History with Pakistan
Important Day
4 min read
Every Year the government of India observes 14th August as 'Partition Horrors Remembrance Day’ to commemorate the sufferings and sacrifices of millions of Indians during the partition in 1947. It was on this day in 1947 ,India was divided into Pakistan and India.
Partition of India led to a mass migration of population across the border and massive riots which led to killing of Hindu, Sikhs and Muslims on both sides of the border .Upto 2 crore people were affected by the Partition and somewhere between 200,000 – 10 lakhs lost their lives during cross migration.
Pakistan celebrates its Independence day on 14 August while India celebrates on 15 August every year.
Background to the Day:
In 2021 the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi announced that August 14 will be remembered as ““Partition Horrors Remembrance Day” to remind the nation of the sufferings and sacrifices of millions of Indians and the need to remove the poison of social divisions, disharmony and strengthen the spirit of oneness, social harmony and human empowerment.
Demand for Pakistan and partition of India:
The demand for a separate nation for Muslims had been raised by various Muslim leaders. Sir Muhammad Iqbal, at a Muslim League conference at Allahabad in 1930 articulated the idea of a Muslim nation within India.
The term “PAKISTAN” was coined by Choudhry Rahmat Ali in the 1930s while he was studying at Cambridge University.
The Muslim League led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah called for a creation of a separate country for Muslims by passing a resolution at a meeting of the Muslim League in Lahore on 23 March 1940. This resolution is famously called the Lahore declaration.
The first Partition Scheme was outlined in April 1947. Jawaharlal Nehru was against the idea of Partition itself. The revised scheme was sent to London and came back with the approval of the British Cabinet.
On 4th June 1947, the scheme to Partition India was announced by Viceroy Lord Mountbatten and endorsed in speeches by Nehru and Jinnah on the All India Radio.
The Partition of India took effect on 14 August 1947.
Partition Museum In india:
The world's first museum and memorial on the partition has been set up in Amritsar,Punjab . It was opened to the public on 17 August 2017 .It has been set up by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Trust with the support of Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board, Government of Punjab.
On 17 August 1947 the Boundary Commission headed by British Jurist Cyrill RadCliffe announced the map of Punjab and Bengal ,to be divided into India and Pakistan.
