In a move that has reignited one of India's most fraught historical debates, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has released new educational modules to mark Partition Horrors Remembrance Day. The modules, rolled out on August 14, 2025, have drawn sharp lines between political factions and sparked a war of words at the highest levels of Indian politics, according to reports from The Times of India, OneIndia, and other major outlets.
The controversy centers on the NCERT’s decision to directly name Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the Congress leadership, and then Viceroy Lord Mountbatten as the principal figures responsible for the Partition of India in 1947. The modules, which are supplementary resources for students in both Hindi and English, include a section bluntly titled "Culprits of the Partition," stating: "Jinnah, who demanded it; second, the Congress, which accepted it; and third, Mountbatten, who implemented it."
These materials are not official textbooks but are intended for classroom projects, debates, and discussions, targeting students from Classes 6 through 12. Both middle-stage (Classes 6-8) and secondary-stage (Classes 9-12) modules aim to provide what NCERT describes as an unvarnished account of the events, motivations, and consequences of Partition. But that unvarnished approach has led to fierce objections from opposition leaders, particularly within Congress, and equally passionate defenses from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2021 message, which established Partition Horrors Remembrance Day, is featured at the start of both modules. "Partition's pains can never be forgotten. Millions of our sisters and brothers were displaced, and many lost their lives due to mindless hate and violence. In memory of the struggles and sacrifices of our people, 14th August will be observed as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day," the module quotes Modi as saying.
The secondary-stage module delves into the roots of Partition, tracing them to the ideology of "political Islam" advanced by Jinnah and the Pakistan movement. It argues that after Mountbatten became Viceroy in March 1947, a surge in communal violence and Jinnah’s uncompromising stance forced Congress leaders Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel to agree to the division. The module asserts, "The Partition of India and the creation of Pakistan were by no means inevitable," and instead blames the process on three actors: "Jinnah, who demanded it; the Congress, which accepted it; and Mountbatten, who formalised and implemented it."
In a striking passage, the module describes Partition as "an unprecedented human tragedy, with no parallel in world history," documenting mass killings, the displacement of nearly 15 million people, large-scale sexual violence, and trains of refugees "filled only with corpses, having been slaughtered en route." It references key flashpoints such as the Muslim League’s Direct Action Day on August 16, 1946, which resulted in 6,000 deaths in Calcutta over just two or three days. The module also notes, "Some horrors began even before Partition was finalised... The horrific events in Noakhali and Calcutta (1946), and Rawalpindi, Thoha, and Beval (March 1947) stand as chilling examples."
Perhaps most controversially, the module links Partition’s legacy to ongoing challenges in India, including the Kashmir conflict, communal politics, terrorism, and persistent foreign policy dilemmas. "Pakistan has waged three wars to annexe Kashmir and, after losing them, adopted a policy of exporting jihadist terrorism... All this is a consequence of Partition," the text asserts. The modules conclude with a warning: "Shortsightedness in rulers can become a national catastrophe. Giving concessions to violence to gain peace results in whetting the appetite of violence-prone groups."
The BJP has seized on the new modules to demand what it calls "historical accountability" from Congress and its allies. BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla declared, "The two-nation theory was implemented by Congress and Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Students have the right to know the truth about Partition." He further accused Congress of continuing to "push a divisive approach," saying, "Congress still talks about Muslim first and the partition of India..."
BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia went further, linking contemporary Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to Jinnah’s ideology. "NCERT has made some changes in the textbooks, and the truth of partition has been added. The 'Rahul-Jinnah' party is very upset with the truth coming out. Rahul Gandhi and Mohammad Ali Jinnah have the same thinking. They have become synonymous with each other. India was partitioned on the basis of religion, and Jinnah's poisonous thinking of appeasement can be seen in Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party today," Bhatia said, as reported by OneIndia.
Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, another senior BJP leader, defended NCERT’s approach, questioning why Congress accepted Partition if it was so opposed to it. "The partition that happened, and the horror it ensued, was completely true. There is a lot of discussion about the way we got independence on the 15th (August), but not about the horror that happened during the partition... The British did the partition. But why did the Congress accept it?... Accepting the partition is like burning the country. Many people died, and many houses were destroyed," he told ANI.
Not to be outdone, Congress has fired back with equal vigor. Party spokesperson Pawan Khera accused the government of "distorting history" and charged that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was the "greatest villain" of Partition. "Set this book (module) on fire if it doesn't contain all of this. This is the reality. The Partition happened due to the collaboration between the Hindu Mahasabha and the Muslim League. If there is any greatest villain in history, it is the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)," Khera said in a press conference. He further alleged, "They spent 25 years of that time acting as informants. And in that espionage, they collaborated further--with the Muslim League, with Jinnah. (veteran BJP leader L K) Advani himself went to Jinnah's tomb, to bow down, to express gratitude."
Khera’s comments have only deepened the rift, with BJP leaders dismissing the accusations as attempts to "erase these pages of history" and insisting that "children have the right to know how terrible it was." Union Minister Sanjay Seth added, "Does the next generation not have a right to know the partition history?.. Tell him (Pawan Khera) to read history, who is responsible."
As the debate rages, the NCERT modules have become a flashpoint for larger questions about how history should be taught, who gets to decide the narrative, and what lessons future generations should draw from the nation’s past traumas. The modules, for now, remain in circulation, with both sides vowing not to back down.
In a country where history is never just about the past, the Partition modules have once again shown how the wounds of 1947 continue to shape India’s political present and, perhaps, its future.
