AMRITSAR: A first-of-its-kind ‘Partition Museum’ bringing alive memories of the Independence era in the form of photos, artefacts and documents has been inaugurated Amritsar – the transit point of the massive migration on both sides of the border in 1947.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh inaugurated the museum and paid tribute to the sacrifices of thousands of people who lost their lives and homes in the partition, with a call for learning lessons from history to ensure that such an event is never repeated in any part of the world, reports PTI.
“And without their past and knowing that past and understanding their past and learning from the past, no nation can move ahead,” he said on the occasion.
Amarinder unveiled the plaque of the museum at a special commemoration ceremony which scripted the observation of August 17 as the ‘Partition Remembrance Day’.
The Arts and Cultural Heritage Trust (TAACHT), an NGO, whose chairperson is author, columnist Kishwar Desai, is behind setting up of the museum. A minute’s silence was observed after the ringing of a bell at the historic Town Hall, where the museum has been built. The Chief Minister dedicated the museum, developed in collaboration with the state government, to the nation. Amarinder lauded the efforts of Lord Meghnad Desai, who is on the board of patrons of the museum, in giving shape to the museum, which “recreated a very sad chapter of our history.”
The Chief Minister said while for the younger generation, those days of the partition had been reduced to statistics, those who went through it had many grim memories of those times. The museum, he said, would help the youngsters actually see and experience one of the greatest migrations in history. He recalled his own memories of the partition, when, as a young boy of five years, he was coming home from his boarding school in Shimla in a train and had pushed the curtain aside to see bodies lying at one of the stations. “It is a memory still etched in my mind,” he added.
