Date: August 13, 2025
Venue: IGNCA, Regional Centre Puducherry, Art and Craft Village, Puducherry
The Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi has designated the 14th of August as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day to honor the memory of those who endured immense suffering and made profound sacrifices during the partition of India in 1947. In observance of this solemn occasion the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts Regional Centre Puducherry (IGNCA, RCP) organised a digital exhibition, film screening
and an intellectual discourse around the subject on 13 August 2025 at 11:00 AM at Franco-Tamil Villa Meeting Room adjacent to the Art and Craft Village, Puducherry.
Dr. Beloo Mehra, Director, BhāratShakti, Sri Aurobindo Society was invited to grace this solemn event as a speaker. She began her talk by saying that religion as the basis for national identity – this falsehood became the basis for the bloody Partition in 1947 which left millions dead and many more displaced. As a nation and society, India has yet to honestly deal with the psychological and sociological trauma of this horror. Failure to do so has led to serious schisms between different sections of the society. Dr. Mehra then shared a few more historical and personal perspectives — focusing on the Partition of Punjab, narrating some accounts of memories she had heard growing up as a daughter and granddaughter of refugees from what is now Pakistan.
She added that as she wove the personal accounts that she had heard from her parents and grandparents over the decades, she realises that it is all an incomplete and fragmented web of constructed memories from her listening and re-listening of, her remembering and forgetting Partition Stories. Dr. Mehra also spoke briefly of the literature that came up around the accounts of this horrific event, and narrated two poems by W.H. Auden and Amrita Pritam.
Recounting a few lines of the poem by Amrita Pritam, Dr. Mehra concluded her talk by saying that these lines remind us of the power of love, but are we listening? The horrors of partition are not over. The poison has spread its wings in many ways. The same argument which was applied to justify Partition led to the problem of separatism and terrorism in Kashmir valley — the idea that religion must be the basis of nationhood.
Dr. Mehra said that Indian polity can no longer afford to shy away from dealing with such difficult chapters of our modern history. The programme was organised with an intent to not only reflect on the trauma and legacy of India’s Partition but also promote a spirit of empathy and unity. More than 100 students from Rashtriya Raksha University and Pondicherry University participated, engaging in meaningful discussions.
The other speakers at the programme included Mr. Jayanta Kumar Ray, Secretary to the Government of Puducherry, Health and Family Welfare, who spoke on the Bengal Partition. Dr. V. Ananda Reddy, Director, Sri Aurobindo Centre for Advanced Research highlighted Sri Aurobindo’s message given on 14th August 1947 in which he emphasised on the necessity for undoing the Partition if India has to live upto her true destiny.
The programme also included screening of a film titled ‘A New Postbox: Tales from the Partition’, directed by Dr. Sachchidanand Joshi, Member Secretary, IGNCA.