A new special module by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) on Partition Horrors Remembrance Day (August 14) identifies Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the Congress leadership, and then Viceroy Lord Mountbatten as key figures responsible for the Partition of India. The section, titled “Culprits of the Partition”, states: “Jinnah, who demanded it; second, the Congress, which accepted it; and third, Mountbatten, who implemented it.”
The module, prepared for Classes 6 to 8, also includes excerpts from Jawaharlal Nehru’s July 1947 speech: “We have come to a stage when we must either accept division or face continued conflict and chaos. Partition is bad. But whatever the price of unity, the price of civil war would be infinitely greater.”
NCERT has published two supplementary modules in English and Hindi, one for Classes 6–8 and another for Classes 9–12. These resources are not part of regular textbooks but are designed for debates, discussions, projects, and poster-making. Both begin with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2021 message marking Partition Horrors Remembrance Day, recalling the suffering caused by mass displacement and communal violence.
The middle-stage module emphasises that Partition “was not inevitable” and resulted from “wrong ideas.” While Mahatma Gandhi initially opposed it, Nehru and Sardar Patel agreed to Partition fearing civil war. Patel described it as “bitter medicine,” and Nehru called it “bad but unavoidable.”
The senior module traces Partition to Muslim leaders’ demand for a separate identity rooted in “political Islam,” with Jinnah leading the Pakistan movement. Mountbatten’s role in presenting the June 3, 1947 plan, accepted by both Congress and the Muslim League, is also highlighted.
Describing Partition as an event with “no parallel in world history,” NCERT underscores its consequences: mass killings, displacement, and economic devastation in Punjab and Bengal. The modules also link Partition to the Kashmir dispute, cross-border terrorism, wars with Pakistan, and India’s high defence costs. A section titled “Long-Term Losses — still ongoing” notes that internal communal suspicion and animosity between Hindus and Muslims persist, reflecting the enduring impact of Partition.