The Crossbill News Desk
A special module released by the NCERT to mark “Partition Horrors Remembrance Day” has triggered a political row after it attributed responsibility for India’s Partition to Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the Congress, and then Viceroy Lord Mountbatten.
The Congress has strongly objected, accusing the material of ignoring the “jugalbandi” or collaboration between the Hindu Mahasabha and the Muslim League in paving the way for Partition.
The supplementary modules, prepared separately for Classes 6 to 8 and Classes 9 to 12 in both English and Hindi, are not part of the regular curriculum but intended for use through debates, posters, and projects.
Both open with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2021 message announcing August 14 as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day, recalling the displacement and violence that accompanied Independence.
The module argues that Partition “was not inevitable” and stemmed from “wrong ideas.” Citing the Lahore Resolution of 1940, it highlights Jinnah’s assertion that Hindus and Muslims represented distinct philosophies, customs and literatures.
“India's Partition happened due to wrong ideas. The party of Indian Muslims, the Muslim League, held a conference in Lahore in 1940. Its leader, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, said that Hindus and Muslims belong to two different religious philosophies, social customs, and literature,” the module states.
In a section titled “Culprits of Partition,” it 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.”
The text goes on to criticise Mountbatten for advancing the date of transfer of power from June 1948 to August 1947, arguing that the hasty boundary demarcation by Sir Cyril Radcliffe, completed in just five weeks, left millions of people in Punjab uncertain even after Independence about whether they were in India or Pakistan.
The module also notes that Kashmir became a new problem after Partition and alleges that foreign countries have continued to exploit the issue by providing aid to Pakistan and pressuring India.
It quotes Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel as saying Partition was preferable to civil war and describes Mahatma Gandhi’s position as opposing Partition but refusing to resist the Congress’s decision through violence. While Patel called Partition “bitter medicine” and Nehru described it as “bad but unavoidable,” the secondary-stage material traces the demand for Pakistan to “political Islam” and Jinnah’s leadership of the movement.
The Congress, however, has accused NCERT of whitewashing the role of the Hindu Mahasabha.
At a press meet, party leader Pawan Khera pointed to significant omissions. He cited the Hindu Mahasabha’s 1938 conference in Gujarat, where it declared that Hindus and Muslims could not live together, and argued that Jinnah merely echoed the line at the Muslim League’s Lahore session in 1940. He also recalled alliances formed between the Hindu Mahasabha and the Muslim League in provincial governments in 1942 after Congress leaders resigned to join the Quit India movement.
“Is any of this written in the NCERT module?” Khera asked, alleging that the Partition was the outcome of this collaboration.
“If it is not mentioned, then set fire to the book. This is the reality. Partition happened due to the jugalbandi of the Hindu Mahasabha and Muslim League. If there is a villain in this history, it is the RSS. Generations will not forgive them,” he said.
AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi also criticised the module, saying it was wrong to pin Partition on Muslims as a whole. In an interview with ANI, he urged NCERT to include Shamsul Islam’s book Muslims Against Partition.
“At that time, not even 2–3 per cent of Muslims had the right to vote, and today people blame us for the Partition. How were we responsible? Those who fled, fled. Those who were loyal, they stayed,” he said.
The controversy underscores the continuing political contest over interpretations of Partition, with the NCERT’s module drawing sharp reactions for its framing of responsibility and omissions in historical context.
The Congress has strongly objected, accusing the material of ignoring the “jugalbandi” or collaboration between the Hindu Mahasabha and the Muslim League in paving the way for Partition.
The supplementary modules, prepared separately for Classes 6 to 8 and Classes 9 to 12 in both English and Hindi, are not part of the regular curriculum but intended for use through debates, posters, and projects.
Both open with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2021 message announcing August 14 as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day, recalling the displacement and violence that accompanied Independence.
The module argues that Partition “was not inevitable” and stemmed from “wrong ideas.” Citing the Lahore Resolution of 1940, it highlights Jinnah’s assertion that Hindus and Muslims represented distinct philosophies, customs and literatures.
“India's Partition happened due to wrong ideas. The party of Indian Muslims, the Muslim League, held a conference in Lahore in 1940. Its leader, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, said that Hindus and Muslims belong to two different religious philosophies, social customs, and literature,” the module states.
In a section titled “Culprits of Partition,” it 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.”
The text goes on to criticise Mountbatten for advancing the date of transfer of power from June 1948 to August 1947, arguing that the hasty boundary demarcation by Sir Cyril Radcliffe, completed in just five weeks, left millions of people in Punjab uncertain even after Independence about whether they were in India or Pakistan.
The module also notes that Kashmir became a new problem after Partition and alleges that foreign countries have continued to exploit the issue by providing aid to Pakistan and pressuring India.
It quotes Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel as saying Partition was preferable to civil war and describes Mahatma Gandhi’s position as opposing Partition but refusing to resist the Congress’s decision through violence. While Patel called Partition “bitter medicine” and Nehru described it as “bad but unavoidable,” the secondary-stage material traces the demand for Pakistan to “political Islam” and Jinnah’s leadership of the movement.
The Congress, however, has accused NCERT of whitewashing the role of the Hindu Mahasabha.
At a press meet, party leader Pawan Khera pointed to significant omissions. He cited the Hindu Mahasabha’s 1938 conference in Gujarat, where it declared that Hindus and Muslims could not live together, and argued that Jinnah merely echoed the line at the Muslim League’s Lahore session in 1940. He also recalled alliances formed between the Hindu Mahasabha and the Muslim League in provincial governments in 1942 after Congress leaders resigned to join the Quit India movement.
“Is any of this written in the NCERT module?” Khera asked, alleging that the Partition was the outcome of this collaboration.
“If it is not mentioned, then set fire to the book. This is the reality. Partition happened due to the jugalbandi of the Hindu Mahasabha and Muslim League. If there is a villain in this history, it is the RSS. Generations will not forgive them,” he said.
AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi also criticised the module, saying it was wrong to pin Partition on Muslims as a whole. In an interview with ANI, he urged NCERT to include Shamsul Islam’s book Muslims Against Partition.
“At that time, not even 2–3 per cent of Muslims had the right to vote, and today people blame us for the Partition. How were we responsible? Those who fled, fled. Those who were loyal, they stayed,” he said.
The controversy underscores the continuing political contest over interpretations of Partition, with the NCERT’s module drawing sharp reactions for its framing of responsibility and omissions in historical context.
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