“A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance.”
This statement made by the first prime minister of India, Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru was making a “Tryst with Destiny”, which was a clarion call for a new future awaiting India.
August 15, 1947 was a marked celebratory day for gaining independence after more than 200 years. The ‘Great Divide’ entailed a horrific time in the subcontinent’s history and if I would have been present during this partition, I would definitely try to contribute a change to prevent this lifetime of a scar.
The halcyon days of Indian subcontinent were over with the advent of colonial rule and how a hastily drawn Radcliffe line divided one people into two. Being the most traumatic event of the 20th century, the countries (India, West Pakistan and Bangladesh) were soaked with a stench of death and hearts burning on either sides of the border. The ongoing political propaganda had the gravest ramifications- radicalized militias and local groups massacred migrants, 100,000 women bore the brunt of it by suffering rape and mutilation and trains slid into the with butchered bodies.
As a flag-bearer of humanitarian principles and solidarity across borders, time travelling to such a historical period would render me the opportunity to perhaps help create a peaceful history and eventually, future for the Asian subcontinent. This geopolitical conflict undoubtedly prompted the displacement of more than 14 million lives with its cicatrix still looming over the people today and will continue to for posterity.
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