Two day film festival to commemorate ‘Partition Horrors Remembrance Day” inaugurated by Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State for Culture,

Partition Horrors Remembrance Day” give apt message to the separatist powers and to be unified as a nation these remains to be marked in our memory- Arjun Ram Meghwal

New Delhi, August 12. The Union Ministry of culture and Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts today started a two day film screening to commemorate ‘Partition Horrors Remembrance Day”. At the inaugural session of the event Shri. Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State for Culture, Shri. Sachidanand Joshi, Member Secretary, IGNCA, Dr. Priyanka Mishra, Director, Administration IGNCA, and Shri. Anurag Punetha , Media Controller, IGNCA were present.

Union Minister of State for Culture and Parliamentary Affairs, Shri. Arjun Ram Meghwal has called for proper research about the people affected by the ‘Partition of India’. The minister speaking at the event said that the partition did not come into being in 1947 but started way back in 1940. We know that with independence in 1947, two countries were formed and the brunt of which is faced by people even today.

Shri . Arjun Ram Meghwal further added that then a large number of people lost their lives, many had to lose their fixed assets and livelihoods and women had to fend for their own modesty. Their generations are still suffering the pain of that division. People affected by the ‘partition’ registered their resentment to the then Prime Minister for calling them ‘sarnarthi’ (refugees) and instead considered them as ‘purusharthi’ (courageous). Such people have also proved what they said through their hard work. He raised a pertinent question in the context and asked why we feel the need to commemorate “Partition Horrors Remembrance Day” after 70 years of independence. He answered it himself and said that it is in order to give apt message to the separatist powers and to be unified as a nation these remains to be marked in our memory.

In the beginning, Dr. Sachchidanand Joshi, Member Secretary, Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts, while introducing the event to the audience said that , ‘partition’ was one of the greatest migration of its times. The violence and hardship of the times were unprecedented and the fact of the ‘partition’ needs to be brought to the fore. Dr. Joshi expressed satisfaction over the fact that the younger generation wants to know about ‘partition’. Speaking at the event , he cited the films shall serve as education for people and generations to come and shall make people more sensitive towards ‘partition. Expressing gratitude, Anurag Punetha, Media Controller, IGNCA, said that all the tragedies of the world have been documented but not the partition of 1947. This film screening on the theme of “partition” is an attempt in the said direction. The documentary movies screened at the inaugural session were, “Vibhajan Vibhishika”, “Dere Tun Dilli, From Dera to Delhi”, “Asamarth” and “Faded Memories” .