Kerala Governor Rajendra Arlekar asking universities in the state to observe August 14 as the Partition Horrors Remembrance Day has triggered a row.
Objecting to the governor’s circular to vice chancellors of universities in Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday said that the directive was “unconstitutional and unacceptable”.
“Kerala will never allow its campuses to be turned into stages for the Sangh Parivar divisive agenda,” the Left front leader said.
Referring to August 15, the chief minister added that the Sangh Parivar, or the group of Hindutva organisations led by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, “which had no role in the freedom movement and served the British Raj, now seeks to undermine Independence Day by promoting divisive agendas”.
The RSS is the parent organisation of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan also criticised the governor’s decision, saying that it was unconstitutional, Mathrubhumi reported.
“By doing this, [Arlekar], holding a constitutional post, is openly telling Kerala that he still represents the divisive politics of the RSS,” Satheesan was quoted as saying.
The governor’s circular issued to the vice chancellor said that August 14, a day before Independence Day, has been declared as the Partition Horrors Remembrance Day and that the educational institutes “can organise seminars to commemorate the occasion”, The Indian Express reported.
The governor is the ex-officio chancellor of all universities in Kerala.
“They can prepare dramas on this which can be done by going to the people and showing how terrible the Partition was,” read the circular.
The circular was in line with a 2022 directive of the University Grants Commission to colleges and universities to hold an exhibition around August 14, The Indian Express reported.
The institutes were asked to hold the exhibition at public places to ensure maximum participation from the public. The displays were to highlight the suffering people faced during the Partition.
The 2022 directive had come after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in 2021 that August 14 would be observed as the Partition Horrors Remembrance Day.
In 1947, when British-ruled India was divided into two independent countries – India and Pakistan – lakhs of people were forced to leave their homes. Large-scale communal violence broke out, women were abducted and sexually assaulted. At least 10 lakh people are believed to have died during that period.
You’ve read Scroll.
Now help sustain it
Scroll is funded by readers, not corporate owners. If you believe our work matters, support our newsroom. Become a member today!
We’re not driven by clicks or corporate interests – just honest, independent reporting. Keep us going. Support Scroll today!