Tag: India Independence Day

  • 75 years of tensions in India-Pakistan relations

    By AFP

    NEW DELHI: India and Pakistan, born 75 years ago out of the bloody division of the British Raj, are deeply troubled neighbours, at odds over the disputed territory of Kashmir.

    Here are key dates in the fraught relations of the nuclear-armed rivals:

    1947: Bloody partition

    Overnight on August 14-15, 1947, Lord Louis Mountbatten, the last viceroy of India, brings the curtain down on two centuries of British rule. The Indian sub-continent is divided into mainly Hindu India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.

    A poorly prepared partition throws life into disarray, displacing some 15 million and unleashing sectarian bloodshed that kills possibly more than a million people.

    1949: Kashmir divided

    Late in 1947, war breaks out between the two neighbours over Kashmir, a Muslim-majority region in the Himalayas.

    A UN-backed, 770-kilometre (478-mile) ceasefire line in January 1949 becomes a de facto frontier dividing the territory, now known as the Line of Control and heavily militarised on both sides.

    Some 37 per cent of the territory is administered by Pakistan and 63 per cent by India, with both claiming it in full.

    1965-72: Second war

    Pakistan launches a war in August-September 1965 against India for control of Kashmir. It ends inconclusively seven weeks later after a ceasefire brokered by the Soviet Union.

    1971: Bangladesh is born

    The neighbours fight a third war in 1971, over Islamabad’s rule in then East Pakistan, with New Delhi supporting Bengali nationalists seeking independence for what would in March 1971 become Bangladesh. Three million people die in the short war.

    1974: Marking nuclear territory

    India detonates its first atomic device in 1974, while Pakistan’s first public test will not come until May 1998. India carries out five tests that year and Pakistan six. Respectively the world’s sixth and seventh nuclear powers, they stoke global concern and sanctions.

    1989-90: Rebellion

    An uprising breaks out in Kashmir against New Delhi’s rule in 1989, and thousands of fighters and civilians are killed in the following years as battles between security forces and Kashmiri militants roil the region.

    Widespread human rights abuses are documented on both sides of the conflict as the insurgency takes hold.

    Thousands of Kashmiri Hindus flee to other parts of India from 1990 fearing reprisal attacks.

    1999-2003: Kargil conflict

    In 1999, Pakistan-backed militants cross the disputed Kashmir border, seizing Indian military posts in the icy heights of the Kargil mountains. Indian troops push the intruders back, ending the 10-week conflict, which costs 1,000 lives on both sides.

    The battle ends under pressure from the United States.

    A series of attacks in 2001 and 2002, which India blames on Pakistani militants, leads to a new mobilisation of troops on both sides.

    A ceasefire is declared along the frontier in 2003, but a peace process launched the following year ends inconclusively.

    2008-2016: Mumbai attacks

    In November 2008, Islamist gunmen attack the Indian city of Mumbai and kill 166 people. India blames Pakistan’s intelligence service for the assault and suspends peace talks.

    Contacts resume in 2011, but the situation is marred by sporadic fighting.

    Indian troops stage cross-border raids in Kashmir against separatist positions.

    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi makes a surprise visit in December 2015 to Pakistan.

    2019-22: Crackdown

    India vows retaliation after 41 paramilitary members are killed in a 2019 suicide attack in Kashmir claimed by a Pakistan-based militant group.

    Tit-for-tat air strikes between the two nations take them to the brink of war.

    Later that year, India suddenly revokes Kashmir’s limited autonomy under the constitution, detaining thousands of political opponents in the territory.

    Authorities impose what becomes the world’s longest internet shutdown and troops are sent to reinforce the estimated half a million security forces already stationed there.

    Tens of thousands of people, mainly civilians, have been killed since 1990 in the insurgency.

    NEW DELHI: India and Pakistan, born 75 years ago out of the bloody division of the British Raj, are deeply troubled neighbours, at odds over the disputed territory of Kashmir.

    Here are key dates in the fraught relations of the nuclear-armed rivals:

    1947: Bloody partition

    Overnight on August 14-15, 1947, Lord Louis Mountbatten, the last viceroy of India, brings the curtain down on two centuries of British rule. The Indian sub-continent is divided into mainly Hindu India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.

    A poorly prepared partition throws life into disarray, displacing some 15 million and unleashing sectarian bloodshed that kills possibly more than a million people.

    1949: Kashmir divided

    Late in 1947, war breaks out between the two neighbours over Kashmir, a Muslim-majority region in the Himalayas.

    A UN-backed, 770-kilometre (478-mile) ceasefire line in January 1949 becomes a de facto frontier dividing the territory, now known as the Line of Control and heavily militarised on both sides.

    Some 37 per cent of the territory is administered by Pakistan and 63 per cent by India, with both claiming it in full.

    1965-72: Second war

    Pakistan launches a war in August-September 1965 against India for control of Kashmir. It ends inconclusively seven weeks later after a ceasefire brokered by the Soviet Union.

    1971: Bangladesh is born

    The neighbours fight a third war in 1971, over Islamabad’s rule in then East Pakistan, with New Delhi supporting Bengali nationalists seeking independence for what would in March 1971 become Bangladesh. Three million people die in the short war.

    1974: Marking nuclear territory

    India detonates its first atomic device in 1974, while Pakistan’s first public test will not come until May 1998. India carries out five tests that year and Pakistan six. Respectively the world’s sixth and seventh nuclear powers, they stoke global concern and sanctions.

    1989-90: Rebellion

    An uprising breaks out in Kashmir against New Delhi’s rule in 1989, and thousands of fighters and civilians are killed in the following years as battles between security forces and Kashmiri militants roil the region.

    Widespread human rights abuses are documented on both sides of the conflict as the insurgency takes hold.

    Thousands of Kashmiri Hindus flee to other parts of India from 1990 fearing reprisal attacks.

    1999-2003: Kargil conflict

    In 1999, Pakistan-backed militants cross the disputed Kashmir border, seizing Indian military posts in the icy heights of the Kargil mountains. Indian troops push the intruders back, ending the 10-week conflict, which costs 1,000 lives on both sides.

    The battle ends under pressure from the United States.

    A series of attacks in 2001 and 2002, which India blames on Pakistani militants, leads to a new mobilisation of troops on both sides.

    A ceasefire is declared along the frontier in 2003, but a peace process launched the following year ends inconclusively.

    2008-2016: Mumbai attacks

    In November 2008, Islamist gunmen attack the Indian city of Mumbai and kill 166 people. India blames Pakistan’s intelligence service for the assault and suspends peace talks.

    Contacts resume in 2011, but the situation is marred by sporadic fighting.

    Indian troops stage cross-border raids in Kashmir against separatist positions.

    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi makes a surprise visit in December 2015 to Pakistan.

    2019-22: Crackdown

    India vows retaliation after 41 paramilitary members are killed in a 2019 suicide attack in Kashmir claimed by a Pakistan-based militant group.

    Tit-for-tat air strikes between the two nations take them to the brink of war.

    Later that year, India suddenly revokes Kashmir’s limited autonomy under the constitution, detaining thousands of political opponents in the territory.

    Authorities impose what becomes the world’s longest internet shutdown and troops are sent to reinforce the estimated half a million security forces already stationed there.

    Tens of thousands of people, mainly civilians, have been killed since 1990 in the insurgency.

  • Efforts made to kill communal amity, need to protect India’s integrity: Akhilesh Yadav

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Efforts have been made in the past a few years to kill the communal amity, said Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav here on Sunday while calling for protecting the country’s brotherhood and integrity.

    Addressing an Independence Day programme at the party office here, Akhilesh Yadav paid tributes to freedom fighters and said some people want to “divide society by raking up the past”.

    “The biggest identity of our country is that people of different castes and religion live together here. This cannot be found in other countries. However, in the past a few years, it is being seen that efforts are being made to kill our ‘Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb’,” he said.

    “Hence, the ‘samajwadis’ must pledge to protect India’s integrity and ensure there is brotherhood and love among people of the country,” he added.

    “Today, there are problems before farmers of the country and we have to identify those who have insulted our ‘annadatas’,” the SP chief said.

    The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said on one hand the “annadata” is being insulted, on the other, “ann mahotsava” is being held to confuse us.

    “During the COVID-19 pandemic, many lives were lost. There was a shortage of medicines and people were arranging (oxygen) cylinders to save their loved ones. Today, our country is young because of the number of youth. If they do not have jobs, then what will happen to the country’s future,” he asked.

    Referring to the UP Assembly polls next year, Akhilesh Yadav said, “We will fight and every youth must consider the 2022 UP polls as his own elections to save the country and the Constitution.”

    “Those in power have not fulfilled any of the poll promises. In 1931, a caste census was done and today the entire country wants a caste census and the samajwadis want it because these people who are sitting in the government instigate castiest violence,” he further said.

    Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, while addressing party workers, said “We hope that every year you will stand up for the country to defend it and safeguard its honour.”

    Meanwhile, in a series of tweets, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati said the dream of creating an egalitarian and progressive society, which was envisioned after the independence of the country through a humanitarian Constitution, is still incomplete.

    Mayawati said happiness, peace, prosperity, education, employment and justice are the basic values of the Constitution, towards which the Centre and the state government should work with full honesty and sincerity.

    “Millions of poor and oppressed people of the country have spent a very long time waiting for bright days. This is extremely worrying. Time has come for all government officials to devote themselves to the country and uplift the poor,” she said.

    The Tricolour was also unfurled at the UP BJP headquarters by state unit chief Swatantra Dev Singh.

    UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu unfurled the Tricolour at the party office.

  • 75-week celebrations of 75th year of Independence: Modi to flag off Yatra from Gandhi Ashram

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  To launch the 75-week long celebrations of India’s 75th year of Independence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off a “Padyatra” from Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad on Friday, which will be accompanied by the beginning of a series of other cultural activities across the country.

    A national implementation committee headed by the Union Minister for Home Affairs, Amit Shah, has been constituted to chalk out policies and planning of various events to commemorate “Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav”, with the government looking for a larger people’s participation. 

    The government on Thursday said that the “Padyatra”, which will be led by Union Minister Prahlad Singh Patel, will be undertaken by 81 marchers from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi in Navsari.

    The 241-mile journey will end on April 5, lasting 25 days.

    “The Padyatra will be joined by different groups of people on the way to Dandi,” said the government in a media statement on Thursday. Patel will lead the first lap of 75 kilometers of the “Padyatra”.

    The government has also lined up curtain-raiser activities, which include a film, website, songs, Aatmanirbhar Charkha and Aatmanirbhar incubator.

    “Besides, a cultural programme presenting the celebration of the indomitable spirit of the country will also be organised. It will include music, dance, recitation, reading of the Preamble (each line in a different language, representing the different regions of the country). Depicting the youth power, as the future of India, there will be 75 voices in the choir as well as 75 dancers in the event,” added the government in the statement.

    Also, the state governments and the Union Territories have planned a number of activities on Friday for the launch of the 75-week long celebrations, which will culminate with the Indepence Day in 2021.

    Independence Day mega celebrations live on DD

    The I&B ministry has drawn up coverage plans for the 75th Independence Day celebrations.

    Starting from Friday, these events will showcase achievements of 75 years and give a framework for resolutions for the next 25 years. DD will cover these events live.

  • 75th year of Independence must showcase India’s glory: PM Modi

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday spelt out five pillars to commemorate the 75th year of India’s Independence by stressing on ‘Freedom Struggle, Ideas at 75, Achievements at 75, Actions at 75 and Resolve at 75’. The Prime Minister led national committee to commemorate 75 years of Independence, Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav on Monday.

    It was also attended by Governors, Union Ministers, Chief Ministers, leaders, scientists, officials and others.

    “The country will celebrate the occasion of 75 years of Independence with grandeur and enthusiasm befitting the historic nature, glory and importance of the occasion. It should be one such festival in which the spirit of freedom struggle, tribute to the martyrs and their pledge to create India could be experienced,” said the Prime Minister. 

    Modi said the celebration should be based on public participation, must reflect the spirit of the country’s freedom movement and showcase its achievements to the world since 1947.

    “When we talk about public participation for preparations, it engulfs the aspirations, feelings, thoughts, suggestions and dreams of 130 crore Indians,” he added.

    The PM stated that the festival should reflect the light of the spirituality of the sages and the talent and strength of scientists.

    He said this event will also showcase achievements of these 75 years to the world and also give a framework for resolution (of pressing issues) to us for the next 25 years.  

    He also emphasised on the need to honour and take the stories of lesser known freedom fighters to people.