Congress slams NCERT’s Partition module, alleges distortion of history; BJP hits back

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) released a special module to mark Partition Horrors Remembrance Day, observed on August 14. The day commemorates the victims and sufferings of people during the 1947 partition of India. The module content holds Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the Congress, and then Viceroy Lord Mountbatten responsible for India’s division and has triggered a backlash. Congress leader Pawan Khera on Saturday launched a sharp attack on the NCERT’s module and alleged that it omits crucial facts and is a distortion of history.

The module says that the Partition of India in 1947 was not the decision of one person alone but of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who pushed for Partition; the Congress, which agreed to it; and Lord Mountbatten, who was sent to implement it. Separate versions have been prepared for Classes 6-8 and Classes 9-12.

Partition created a long-term security problem for India

The NCERT module further says that Partition created a long-term security problem for India, particularly in Kashmir, and that “one of our neighbouring countries has since used this issue to put pressure on India in different ways.”

The module refers to the 1940 Lahore Resolution, where Jinnah argued that Hindus and Muslims represented “two different villages, philosophies, social customs, and literatures.”

It further claims that when the British initially offered dominion status to keep India united, the Congress rejected the proposal.

It adds that Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel believed Partition was necessary to avoid civil war.

The NCERT module further quotes Mahatma Gandhi: “I cannot be a party to Partition, but I will not stop Congress from accepting it with violence.”

Eventually, Nehru and Patel accepted Partition, and on June 14, 1947, Gandhi convinced the Congress Working Committee to agree to the division.

NCERT criticises Mountbatten for advancing the date

The module strongly criticises Lord Mountbatten for advancing the date of independence. The transfer of power was initially set for June 1948, but was moved up to August 1947. The hurried demarcation of boundaries caused massive confusion.

Congress party spokesperson Pawan Khera said in a press briefing, “Burn this document, as it doesn’t tell the truth. Partition happened due to the nexus between Hindu Mahasabha and Muslim League.”

Khera accused the RSS of being a threat to the country and claimed that the idea of Partition was first raised by Hindu Mahasabha in 1938 and later repeated by Jinnah in 1940.

“Is 1938 mentioned or not?” Khera asked, stressing that it was the year when the Hindu Mahasabha’s national conference in Gujarat declared that Hindus and Muslims could not live in one country.

“Let us move forward to 1940. Is it there in the module?” he said, pointing out that Jinnah repeated the same idea at the Muslim League’s Lahore session.

Khera added that in 1942, when Congress leaders resigned from provincial assemblies to join the Quit India movement, “Hindu Mahasabha and Muslim League made alliance regimes in provinces including NWFP, Bengal, Sindh. In the Sindh Assembly, the partition proposal was tabled by Hindu Mahasabha and Muslim League. Is it written in the NCERT module?”

“Set fire to the book if all this is not mentioned in it,” Khera said. “Partition happened due to the jugalbandi of Hindu Mahasabha and Muslim League. If there is a villain in this history, then it is the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Generations will not forgive them.”

‘Culprits of Partition’

In a section titled “Culprits of Partition,” the NCERT module states, “Ultimately, on August 15, 1947, India was divided. But this was not the doing of any one person. There were three elements responsible for the Partition of India: Jinnah, who demanded it; second, the Congress, which accepted it; and third, Mountbatten, who implemented it. But Mountbatten proved to be guilty of a major blunder.”

It says, “In Punjab, even two days after 15 August 1947, millions of people did not know whether they were in India or in Pakistan.”

The module begins with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2021 message announcing Partition Horrors Remembrance Day, and quotes his post on X: “Partition’s pains can never be forgotten. Millions of our sisters and brothers were displaced, and many lost their lives due to mindless hate and violence.”

'Set this book on fire': Congress slams NCERT Partition module; BJP hits back

‘Cong runs away from history when it is not convenient’

BJP hit back at the Congress and accused it of “running away from history when it is not convenient.”

“We have come to know about a special module of NCERT on Partition, but we cannot run away from facts. The fact is, who was at the helm at the time of Partition? They were the Muslim League, Congress led by Nehru, Mountbatten. And who could stop the Partition? Either the Muslim League or Congress. There are statements of Nehru in favour of Partition. At that point in time, the wrong steps that were taken in greed of power and appeasement politics are still making us suffer. Lakhs of people died, crores got displaced, and thousands were raped,” said BJP's Shehzad Poonawalla.

"They want to run away from history when it is not convenient; otherwise, they live in history. Congress is repeating the historic mistake of appeasement politics and greed for power. They don't want to face the truth. They should apologise for the way they divided people," he added.

The module also mentions mass killings, the displacement of nearly 1.5 crore people, large-scale sexual violence, and trains of refugees arriving "filled only with corpses, having been slaughtered en route."

One section notes, "Some horrors began even before Partition was finalised... The horrific events in Noakhali and Calcutta (1946), and Rawalpindi, Thoha, and Beval (March 1947) stand as chilling examples."

The content highlights that the Muslim League's Direct Action Day in August 1946, accompanied by violence, was a turning point.