Swadesh darshan: Memorial sought at Attari for 1947 divide

Local NGO Amritsar Vikas Manch (AVM) has urged the Punjab Government and the Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs to construct a unique and permanent memorial at the Attari-Wagah border to commemorate the nearly one million men, women and children who lost their lives during the Partition of 1947. The demand has been formally placed before Sanjeev Tiwari, Director of Punjab Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Chandigarh.

In a memorandum addressed to the department, Principal Kulwant Singh Ankhi, patron; Surinder Jit Singh, president; Yogesh Kamra, general secretary; and Kawaljit Singh Bhatia, secretary of Amritsar Vikas Manch; have stressed that under the Central Government's 'Swadesh Darshan' project, currently underway at the Attari-Wagah border in Amritsar district, a memorial must be constructed in memory of the "nameless Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims" who were brutally killed during Partition.

The representation highlights that the Partition of 1947 not only displaced more than 10 million people across both sides of Punjab but also led to one of the most horrific massacres in human history.

The AVM observed that despite being the largest displacement in world history, no government or institution has yet built a memorial in Indian or Pakistani Punjab to pay homage to these victims.

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