New Delhi: A special NCERT module released to mark “Partition Horrors Remembrance Day” has held Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the Congress, and then-Viceroy Lord Mountbatten responsible for India’s Partition. The module also notes that Kashmir became a new challenge for India’s foreign policy after Partition.
It highlights that certain countries continue to provide aid to Pakistan and exert pressure on India in connection with the Kashmir issue.
“India’s Partition happened due to flawed ideas. In 1940, the Muslim League held a conference in Lahore, where its leader, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, asserted that Hindus and Muslims belonged to entirely different religious philosophies, social customs, and literatures,” the module states.
In a section titled “Culprits of Partition,” the NCERT notes: “On August 15, 1947, India was divided. This was not the result of any one individual. Three elements were responsible: Jinnah, who demanded Partition; the Congress, which accepted it; and Mountbatten, who implemented it. Mountbatten, however, committed a major blunder by advancing the transfer of power from June 1948 to August 1947. This rushed timeline left preparations incomplete, and the demarcation of boundaries—handled by Sir Cyril Radcliffe—was done hastily, giving him only five weeks. In Punjab, even two days after August 15, millions were uncertain whether they were in India or Pakistan. Such haste was a serious act of negligence.”
The module also cites Jinnah admitting he had not anticipated Partition: “I never thought it would happen. I never expected to see Pakistan in my lifetime,” he told an aide.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is quoted as saying the situation in India had become explosive, and Partition was preferable to civil war. Mahatma Gandhi’s position is also mentioned: he opposed Partition but would not use violence to stop Congress from accepting it.
NCERT has published two separate modules: one for Classes 6–8 and another for Classes 9–12. These supplementary resources, available in English and Hindi, are intended for use in projects, posters, discussions, and debates rather than as regular textbooks. Both modules open with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2021 message on Partition Horrors Remembrance Day. Quoting his post on X (formerly Twitter), the module states: “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. In memory of their struggles and sacrifices, 14th August will be observed as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day.”
The middle-stage module emphasizes that Partition “was not inevitable” and resulted from “wrong ideas.” Patel called it “bitter medicine,” while Nehru described it as “bad” but “unavoidable.” The secondary-stage module traces Partition to the Muslim leadership’s belief in a separate identity based on “political Islam,” which it says “rejects any permanent equality with non-Muslims.” This ideology, the module states, drove the Pakistan movement, with Jinnah as its “able lawyer-leader.”
