Partition is a painful chapter for both India and Pakistan. Citizens who chose to stay on one side could only pray some of the states would remain part of the country they would call their home for the rest of their lives. Bharatiya Janata Party patriarch Lal Krishna Advani seems to be one of those people who enjoyed the best of both countries in undivided India but lost a beloved part to another country. However, it would seem that resenting now will not help and it is too late to redraw maps anymore.
Born in 1927 in Karachi, the capital of Sindh province now in Pakistan, the 89-year-old moved to India after partition. He was one of the most influential leaders of his time. He was also a prominent member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh working with it from his younger years. But, at a recent function he commented that he can’t believe Karachi and Sindh are not part of India.
“At times I feel sad that Karachi and Sindh are not parts of India anymore. I was very active in RSS during my childhood days in Sindh. It is a matter of dismay. I believe that India appears incomplete without Sindh,” Advani said at the 48th ascension anniversary of spiritual leader Pitashri Brahma, the founder of Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya.
Advani’s praise for Mohammed Ali Jinnah while on a visit to Pakistan had triggered a massive controversy. However, on the matter of border lines, it would be fair to say that not just losing Sindh to Pakistan, the partition itself evokes a sense of loss which led to one of the largest migrations in the subcontinent. However, it is too late to redraw border lines and reconsider who gets what. Advani’s family migrated to Gujarat during partition from Karachi and they were one of the millions who had to start a new life during that testing period.
However, it’s almost seven decades since Partition. Both countries have gone to war thrice and remain on the edge of war that runs the risk of going nuclear. It seems almost impossible now to regain any lost part of what was undivided India. The main priority it seems right now is to keep whatever we have and not brood over the events that happened almost 70 years ago.
