New Delhi: Vice-President C P Radhakrishnan on Friday said “no caste, language or region is more important than the nation” and urged Indians to place their national identity above “narrower identities”.Radhakrishnan was addressing a Partition Horrors Remembrance Day event organised by Delhi University’s Centre for Independence and Partition Studies and Indian Council of Historical Research. He said “the purpose of remembering Partition was not to reopen old wounds with bitterness, but to move towards greater unity and harmony”.Calling Partition one of the most tragic chapters in India, Radhakrishnan said it was “one of the largest mass migrations in human history”. Independence brought freedom from colonial rule but was accompanied by an unprecedented human tragedy, he added.“Freedom is precious, unity is essential and peace can never be taken for granted,” he said, emphasising the need to remember the suffering and sacrifices of those who lived through Partition.Radhakrishnan said Partition was more than a redrawing of political boundaries as it divided a civilisational heritage built over thousands of years. He referred to the disruption of access to several sites, including Kartarpur Sahib, Nankana Sahib, ancient Shaktipeeths, Harappa, Mohenjodaro and Takshashila.“Our children deserve to know the truth of Partition,” he said, adding that a catastrophe of such magnitude could not be reduced to a few lines in a textbook.He also said the “hurried redrawing of borders had created disputes whose implications continue to be felt even today, including in India’s defence policy, national security and relations with neighbouring countries”.Radhakrishnan urged the younger generation to remember the lessons of Partition and contribute to building a stronger and more united India.He also felicitated 15 Partition survivors in recognition of their courage, resilience and contribution to preserving the memories and lived experiences of 1947.
