Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday issued a strong condemnation of Governor Rajendra Arlekar's circular directing universities in Kerala to observe "Partition Horror Day" on August 14. 

"The Raj Bhavan's tendency to issue directives that adhere to the divisive agenda of the Sangh Parivar is unconstitutional. The Governor's decision to direct vice chancellors to observe August 14 as "partition Horror Day" is objectionable," the CM said, and added: "We cannot surrender our universities to the Sangh Parivar's political agenda of dividing people."

In a circular to VCs of universities in Kerala, the Governor said that they should organise seminars to commemorate the occasion. "They can prepare dramas on this, which can be done by going to the people and showing how terrible the partition was," the circular said. The Raj Bhavan also wanted the VCs to come up with an action plan to observe the "Horror Day".

"It is ironic that those who are now speaking of the fear of partition are the very same people who had once turned their back on the country's freedom struggle, jointly fought by people of all religions. These former British stooges seem to have forgotten that Britain's wicked divide and rule ploy was one of the causes of partition and the bloody post-partition riots. The Sangh Parivar had even insulted Mahatma Gandhi, who had tried to calm the rioters," the CM said. 

Pinarayi said that the move was an attempt to undermine Independence Day. "The people who want to undermine Independence Day are those who had no role in the freedom struggle and had been at the feet of the British. Instead of fighting foreigners, these people had invested their energy in fighting internal enemies," he said. 

It was in 2021 that Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared August 14 as 'Partition Horrors Remembrance Day'. He took to X (then Twitter) to tell why. "Partition’s pains can never be forgotten. Millions of our sisters and brothers were displaced and many lost their lives due to mindless hate and violence. In memory of the struggles and sacrifices of our people, 14th August will be observed as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day."