By Asghar Ali Mubarak
ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office (FO) on Wednesday condemned the Indian government’s “mischievous move” of observing “Partition Horrors Remembrance Day” on August 14 — Pakistan’s day of independence.
According to Indian media, the decision to observe August 14 as a remembrance day was taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to remember the “struggles and sacrifices of our people”.
This year, the newspaper said, the event will be commemorated with silent marches centered on 75 refugee colonies and exhibitions will also be set up at more than 5,000 locations, including universities and colleges.
In a statement issued Wednesday, the Foreign Office said that the Indian government, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was attempting to play with the sentiments of the people through the distorted interpretation of history to “hypocritically and one-sidedly invoke the tragic events and mass migration that occurred in the wake of Independence in 1947”.
“If the Indian leaders genuinely care about agony, suffering, and pain, they must work to improve the conditions of the Muslims and other minorities in India,” it said.
The FO continued that the last seven decades had been replete with undeniable proof that India’s “espousal of secularism was a sham”.
The fact was that today’s India was an undeclared ‘Hindu Rashtra’ that had no place or tolerance for other religious minorities, especially Muslims who were faced with discrimination, persecution, and political and socio-economic exclusion,“ it went on to say.
The FO further advised the Indian government to desist from politicizing the events related to Independence and instead sincerely honor the memories of all those who sacrificed for a better future for all.
Backchannel contacts between Pakistan and India met a dead end as both sides have struggled to agree on the moves that may pave the way for slow but gradual improvement in the relationship.
“Talks have been going on but have reached a point where things aren’t moving anywhere,” a source familiar with the development said.
There has been a desire from both sides to break the impasse but the issue is how to move forward from this point onwards, the source explained. What slowed down the process was the political uncertainty in Pakistan.
