As Pakistan celebrated its 75th Independence Day, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter and made controversial statements degrading the sacrifices of the many people during the time of partition of the subcontinent.
Pakistan responded to Modi’s “shameful” tweets, saying that “distorting history and stoking communalism is the forte of the RSS-BJP regime”.
Modi took to Twitter and said, “In memory of the struggles and sacrifices of our people, August 14 will be observed as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day.”
“May [this day] keep reminding us of the need to remove the poison of social divisions, disharmony and further strengthen the spirit of oneness, social harmony, and human empowerment,” Modi added.
In a statement, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri dubbed Modi’s move “a political and publicity stunt”, and said that “no modern state is so much in contradiction with itself as the Indian state — the so-called ‘largest democracy’.”
“It is shameful that the practitioners of ‘Hindutva’ ideology, and purveyors of hate and violence, would so hypocritically and one-sidedly invoke the tragic events and mass migration that occurred in the wake of Independence in 1947,” said the statement.
The Foreign Office further added, “Distorting history and stoking communalism is the forte of RSS-BJP regime. Far from healing old wounds, they would go to any extent to sow further dissensions for electoral gains. We are sure that people of goodwill in India would completely reject this political stunt.”
