Speaking at a book launch in Delhi, Aiyar reflects on the lasting legacy of partition and its echoes in modern tragedies.
New Delhi [India], April 27:
Veteran Congress leader and former Union Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar has suggested that the recent terror attack in Pahalgam may be a tragic consequence of the “unresolved questions of partition.”
Speaking at a book launch event at the India International Centre in New Delhi on Saturday, Aiyar reflected on how the divisions that led to the partition of India continue to haunt the subcontinent today.
“I think many people almost prevented the partition. But the partition happened…because there were differences in value systems and assessments of the nature of India’s nationhood and its civilizational inheritance between people like Gandhi and Nehru on one side, and Jinnah and many other Muslims who disagreed with Mr. Jinnah,” Aiyar explained.
He further questioned, “Is this how we should be living? Is not the unresolved questions of partition reflected in the terrible tragedy that was enacted near Pahalgam on April 22?”
The attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, saw terrorists ambush tourists at the Baisaran meadow, killing 25 Indian nationals and one Nepali citizen, and injuring several others. It marks one of the deadliest terror incidents in the region since the 2019 Pulwama attack.
In response, India has taken strong diplomatic and security measures against Pakistan, holding it responsible for supporting cross-border terrorism. Authorities have vowed to bring the perpetrators and conspirators of the Pahalgam attack to justice.