CBSE Circular To Schools On Partition Horrors: Sharad Pawar Raises Concern

Pune: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) recently issued a circular directing schools to observe August 14 as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day and organise exhibitions on the subject for students.

Taking objection, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said that it would be incorrect to pass on the thoughts of strife that erupted during Partition to the younger generation.

“The history of Partition is the history of the country’s division amid bloodshed. Thousands of people were displaced. Many from the Sindhi community had to migrate to India. It was a similar situation in Punjab. Many Muslims left for Pakistan,” Pawar said at the inauguration of a school in the presence of senior Congress leader Sushil Kumar Shinde and state minister and BJP leader Chandrakant Patil.

The four-time Maharashtra CM and Union minister said the Maharashtra government must express its reservation on the circular.

“With respect to national and social unity it is incorrect to imbibe such thoughts (Partition violence) on the young generation. The state government must ensure no subject creates conflict in society,” Pawar said.

The BJP-led Union government in 2021 declared August 14, the day Pakistan gained Independence, as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day, or ‘Vibhajan Vibhishikha Smriti Diwas’, as a tribute to those who lost their lives due to Partition and were displaced from their roots.