April 28, 2025
NEW DELHI – Former Union Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar has linked the recent Pahalgam terror attack to the unresolved issues stemming from the Partition of India and the 1971 Indo-Pak war. He questioned whether the massacre on April 22 was a consequence of “unresolved questions of Partition.”
“Till today, we are living with the consequences of Partition. Are the unresolved questions of Partition reflected in the terrible tragedy that occurred in Pahalgam on April 22?” the veteran Congress leader said while speaking at a book release event at the India International Centre here.
Connecting the “differences in value systems and assessments of the nature of India’s nationhood and its civilisational inheritance” between leaders like Gandhi, Nehru, Jinnah, and others during the Partition, Aiyar said, “I think many people almost prevented the Partition.”
“But the Partition happened because there were differences in value systems and assessments of India’s nationhood and its civilisational inheritance between leaders like Gandhi, Pandit Nehru, Jinnah, and many other Muslims who did not agree with Mr Jinnah.”
He added, “The fact is that Partition happened, and till today we are living with its consequences. Is this how we should be living? Are the unresolved questions of Partition not reflected in the terrible tragedy enacted near Pahalgam on April 22?”
Speaking about present-day India, Aiyar said, “Do we accept Jinnah’s view and say ‘they are a separate nation living among us as saboteurs or potential saboteurs,’ or do we look at them and say ‘they are part and parcel of us’?”
He continued, “But in today’s India, does a Muslim feel accepted? Does a Muslim feel cherished? Does a Muslim feel celebrated? Why should I answer my own questions? Ask any Muslim and you will get the answers.”