Congress' 'appeasement' policy among reasons behind Partition: Haryana board history book
Chandigarh, May 10: A history textbook for Class 9, which is being introduced by the Haryana Board of School Education (HBSE) from the current academic session, mentions Congress' "appeasement" policy as among one of the reasons for India's Partition in 1947.
Referring to the events before Partition, a section of the book, which has been uploaded on the board's website, said, "The Muslim League adopted policy to create obstacles in Congress' path. On the other hand, Congress wanted the support of Muslim League against British government."
"The Lucknow Pact of 1916, Khilafat Movement of 1919 and the Gandhi-Jinnah talks were examples of Congress' 'tushtikaran' (appeasement). It encouraged communalism. The result of repeated requests to Mohd Ali Jinnah led to giving him undue importance and he always started opposing the Congress. The situation of the country started getting bad. Communal riots were erupting, behind which there was Muslim League's hand," it said.
Congress then realised that to maintain peace and order, it is necessary to accept country's partition, said the chapter in the book uploaded in Hindi.
It also said among other prominent reason behind the country's Partition was the Congress leadership's weariness and greed for power.
"The Congress leadership's weariness....they were not ready for more struggle. Some Congress leaders wanted to immediately experience the taste of power after getting independence," it said.
A section in the book also poses that if Partition was necessary to ensure peace between the two countries, then why peace has not been established even till today.
HBSE chairperson Prof Jagbir Singh said the book tells the events in history as they unfolded. The book has been vetted by noted historians, he said.
Singh said the book will be taught from the current academic session.
Commenting on the section mentioning Congress' "appeasement", Haryana Congress leader and former state education minister Geeta Bhukkal said everyone is aware about the role of the party in the country's freedom struggle.
"Facts should be told as they are. But if these are twisted, children will not get to know the reality," she said.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
