The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday blamed former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Communist leaders of India, for the country’s partition in 1947.
In a video shared by the BJP on its official Twitter handle, the party claimed that Nehru and the Congress party bowed down to the demands of All-India Muslim League leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah for creating Pakistan.
The video has been released as part of a campaign on the Partition Horrors Remembrance Day, as August 14 was declared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year.
The video states that the British had partitioned Bengal in 1905, but were forced to reunite the province in 1911 due to widespread nationalist protests.
The voiceover in the video then goes on to say: “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)]”
“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,” the BJP tweeted along with the video.
Congress MP Jairam Ramesh objected to the video, saying the real intent of Modi declaring August 14 as the Partition Horrors Remembrance Day was to “use the most traumatic historical events as fodder for his current political battles”.
“Lakhs upon lakhs were dislocated and lost their lives,” he wrote in a series of tweets. “Their sacrifices must not be forgotten or disrespected.”
Ramesh claimed that it was Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar who floated the idea of the two-nation theory and Jinnah perfected it.
“The modern day Savarkars and Jinnahs are continuing their efforts to divide the nation,” the Congress MP added. “The Indian National Congress will uphold the legacy of [Mohandas] Gandhi, Nehru, [Vallabhbhai] Patel and many others who were untiring in their efforts to unite the nation. The politics of hate will be defeated.”
Nehru photo missing from Karnataka government’s I-Day ad
The Congress on Sunday also accused the BJP government in Karnataka of pettiness for not including Nehru’s photo in a newspaper advertisement released as tribute to the freedom fighters, the Hindustan Times reported.
Nehru’s photo was not included among the mugshots of 12 freedom fighters whose contributions towards India’s independence were mentioned in the advertisement. However, a collage sketch of freedom fighters which was also a part of the advertisement, featured the first prime minister of the country.
Congress leader BM Sandeep described Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai as a “puppet” holding the post, adding that Nehru was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century.
“Nehru will survive such pettiness,” Ramesh wrote in a tweet, sharing a copy of the advertisement. “CM Karnataka desperate to save his job knows what he has done is an insult to his father SR Bommai and his father’s 1st political guru MN Roy both great Nehru admirers, the latter being a friend as well. Pathetic this is.”
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