Today 14 August is #PartitionHorrorsRemembranceDay
A day to remember, a day to resolve 'Never Again'.
The horrors that we Bengali Hindu refugees suffered are unimaginable.
Nehru treated us with contempt; for him we were untermenschen. His 'Idea of India' had no space for us.
n1
The horrors faced by we Bengali Hindus of East Bengal (East Pakistan) began with the Noakhali genocide of Hindus.
Tragedy struck us twice.
We fled from Muslim League marauders to West Bengal, seeking refuge in #India
Nehru showed no compassion.
n2
#PartitionHorrorsRemembranceDay
We Bengali Hindus had to sign affidavits declaring ourselves 'refugees' in #India
Nehru refused to accord us the status of 'refugees' as it would entitle us to stay on. He called us 'migrants' and 'displaced persons'. He demanded we go back.
n3
#PartitionHorrorsRemembranceDay
Worse, Nehru labelled us 'Permanent Liability', put us in filthy PL Camps, and when these shanties were full, crammed hundreds of us in damp, dark jute godowns with no ventillation.
This was his version of Dachau. We were the 'New Yehudis'.
n4
#PartitionHorrorsRemembranceDay
Nehru believed we Bengali Hindu refugees were crossing over to #India not to flee rapacious killers of Muslim League, but to feast on his free ration (few kilos of inedible rice). So he ordered a cut; decreed men were not entitled to it.
n5
#PartitionHorrorsRemembranceDay
To discourage West Bengal Govt from helping us Bengali Hindu refugees, Nehru drastically reduced Central funds for the State.
'Send them back,' he told BC Roy.
You see, we Bengali Hindus fleeing death had no place in Nehru's 'Idea of India'.
n6
#PartitionHorrorsRemembranceDay
Nehru signed the shameful Nehru-Liaquat Pact to trick us Hindu Bengali refugees into going back.
But we clung on to the soil of this land.
While Nehru supped and sipped on the finest food and booze, we saw our children starve, our old perish.
n7
#PartitionHorrorsRemembranceDay
A livid Nehru ordered Bengali Hindu refugees to be packed off to uninhabited, inhospitable lands. Among them, Dandakaranya.
We were transported to 'Work Camps', much like Hitler transported Jews to 'Labour Camps'.
Many perished, others survived.
n8
#PartitionHorrorsRemembranceDay
For many Bengali Hindu refugees Nehru decreed 'Kala Pani': They were sent off to Andamans.
Those who had some money, wanted to collectively rent land and build homes on the southern fringes of Calcutta. Owners were told not to rent us land.
n9
#PartitionHorrorsRemembranceDay
But we Bengali Hindu refugees fought to survive; we seized the land and built refugee colonies like Bijoygarh.
This was our country now.
We rebuilt our lives. We helped build this great nation🇮🇳
Unlike Nehru's clan, we were never a liability.
n10
#PartitionHorrorsRemembranceDay

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More from @KanchanGupta

Aug 13
On 5 October 1988 India became the first country to 'ban' The Satanic Verses written by Salman Rushdie.
Ban was instigated by Rafiq Zakaria, daddy of @FareedZakaria, and Khushwant Singh of @PenguinIndia
Then PM Rajiv Gandhi was glad to oblige. @INCIndia celebrated the ban.
n1
Trivia:
India's ban on The Satanic Verses written by Salman Rushdie was issued by the Finance Ministry.
Technically, the ban was restricted to its import under Customs Act.
Possessing or reading the book were not banned. Hence, it is not proscribed literature.
n2
All copies of The Satanic Verses imported for sale in India were sold within a couple of days. By the time this book came Rushdie had become hugely popular (among the chattering classes) for his Midnight's Children.
I am presuming those copies (possibly unread) still exist.
n3
Read 4 tweets
Aug 12
Bengali Hindu refugees from East Bengal (later East Pakistan) sought shelter in #India after Partition 75 years ago.
The horrors of partition did not end; they continued as Nehru and his minions stripped us of our dignity and dehumanised us.
#PartitionHorrorsRemembranceDay
n1
Millions of Bengali-speaking 'nowhere Hindus', uprooted from their land, reduced to penury, begging for food, were treated with spiteful contempt by Nehru and his minions. They hated Bengali Hindu refugees, and made their miserable lives worse.
n2
#PartitionHorrorsRemembranceDay
Nehru and his minions put Bengali Hindu refugees in squalid 'Permanent Liability Camps'. They were given a few kilos of inedible rotten grains.
Later, like 'Labour Camps' in Hitler's Germany, these PL camps were renamed 'Work Camps'.
n3
#PartitionHorrorsRemembranceDay
Read 5 tweets
Aug 12
Calling out #FakeClaim of @ArvindKejriwal on MGNREGA funds cut by Central Government:
Kejriwal is a compulsive broadcaster of malicious disinformation.
Kejriwal is a disingenuous populist and reckless rabble-rouser.
Here are the facts on #MGNREGA /#MGNREGS funds:
n1
Tub-thumping disinfo publicist @ArvindKejriwal is ignorant of Central Budget.
•Modi Government has been flexible and raised allocation for #MGNREGS as and when needed.
•UPA consistently spent lower on MGNREGA than it Budgeted; Modi Government has done the opposite.
n2
Modi Government spending on #MGNREGS has always been higher than budgeted.
•MGNREGA allocation was Rs 61,500 crore in Budget 2020-21.
•During pandemic Modi Govt increased MGNREGS allocation to an unprecedented Rs 1,11,500 crore, of which Rs 1,11,169 crore was actually spent.
n3
Read 10 tweets
Aug 11
Thread on my last column for @mid_day lampooning Aamir Khan for his statement savaging #India 🇮🇳.
MidDay's editor wrote to me saying she had decided to drop me as a columnist. I wrote back, saying, Thank you.
Either she or MidDay or both were petrified of the Bwood Gang.
n1
A young Cossack toiled hard, saved money, and bought a magnificent stallion at the Sunday horse bazar. He rode straight to the village square, where his fellow Cossacks would gather every Sunday evening for raucous drunken revelry, to show off his new horse.
n2
A collective gasp was heard as the Cossacks gathered around: None had seen a more handsome stallion than this. Women clasped their hands and giggled; many eyed the young Cossack as a potential son-in-law or husband. A horse like that had made our man more than dashing.
n3
Read 6 tweets
Jul 18
Rabindranath Tagore's 'Jana Gana Mana' had 5 stanzas. Only first stanza was adopted as National Anthem of #India 🇮🇳
Reason: Short, crisp, marching version.
Truth: India's Etonian elite feared their jaws would drop off if made to sing all 5 stanzas.
Listen:
Just as Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's 'Vande Mataram' was reduced to its first stanza as our National Song by our Etonian elite because they could not tolerate the idea of worshipping the nation of #India 🇮🇳 ... and were scared their jaws would drop off.
Here is the story of the National Anthem of #India 🇮🇳
How 'Jana Gana Mana' (then known as the 'Morning Song of India') journeyed from its birth as a Brahmo Sangeet sung during morning prayer service, to its truncated adoption as our National Anthem.
dailypioneer.com/2016/columnist…
Read 4 tweets
Jul 17
Prime Minister @narendramodi announced on Independence Day 2019 that every rural household in #India would be provided with potable water on tap. What Congress failed to do in the decades it was in power, would be done by Modi Government.
1.
#JalJeevanMission
#SilentRevolution
PM @narendramodi ’s Jal Jeevan Mission is being implemented in partnership with States/UTs for ensuring potable water on tap to every rural household in adequate quantity of prescribed quality on regular and long-term basis.
2.
#JalJeevanMission
#SilentRevolution
On 15 August 2019, of the 18.93 crore rural households, only 3.23 crore (17%) households had access to tap water. The remaining 15.70 crore household were dependant on river, well, pond water, fetched by women and girls.
3.
#JalJeevanMission
#SilentRevolution
Read 4 tweets

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