Capt Amarinder Singh inaugurates Partition museum in Amritsar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 17

Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday inaugurated the world’s first Partition Museum as a tribute to the sacrifices of the millions of people who lost their lives and homes in the partition of the country in 1947, with a call for learning lessons from history to ensure that such a sad event is never repeated in any part of the world.

It was a sombre moment as Amarinder unveiled the plaque of the museum–an initiative of The Arts and Cultural Heritage Trust or TAACHT, at a special commemoration ceremony which scripted the observation of August 17 as the Partition Remembrance Day.

A minute of silence was observed after the ringing of a bell at the historic Town Hall, where the Museum has been built. The Chief Minister dedicated the Museum, developed in collaboration with the state government, to the nation on the occasion.

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Amarinder, in his speech filled with memories and emotions of the sad chapter of Indian history, lauded the efforts of Lord Meghnad Desai in giving shape to the first-of-its-kind museum, which had “recreated a very sad chapter of our history.”

The museum, along with the Azadi Memorial in Jalandhar and similar initiatives, would serve to help the younger generations know and understand their past and learn from it, said the Chief Minister, adding that no nation could do well without learning their lessons from history.

The Chief Minister said while for the younger generation, those days of Partition had been reduced to statistics, those who went through it had many sad and grim memories of those times. The museum, he said, would help the youngsters actually see and experience one of the greatest migrations in history.

He recalled his own memories of Partition, when, as a young boy, he was coming back home from his boarding school in Shimla in a train and had pushed the curtain aside to see bodies lying at one of the stations. It was a memory still etched in his mind, he added.

The Punjab Government, which has supported the construction of the Museum, has already declared August 17 as Partition Remembrance Day.

Earlier, addressing the gathering, Minister of Local Government, Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Archives and Museums, Navjot Singh Sidhu described the Museum as the story of human resolve and resilience, as well as the indomitable human spirit. The Museum had revived history which was getting lost in the sands of time, he said, adding that Amarinder had created history by opening the museum.

The event, which was marked by a poetry recital by Gulzar, who launched his newly translated book, ‘Footprints on Zero Line: Writings on the Partition’, on the occasion, was marked by a series of events, including panel discussions with eminent experts such as Urvashi Butalia and the poet Surjit Patar, a short play on Partition by Kahaniwala, and Sufi music recital by the Hashmat Sultana sisters.