Ranchi: More than 400 school and college students participated in a padyatra on Friday to commemorate the suffering, displacement and loss of life caused by the Partition in 1947.The programme, organised by the Ranchi regional centre of Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in collaboration with Ranchi University (RU), marked Partition Horrors Remembrance Day. It included an exhibition, lectures and a poetry session focusing on displacement, memory and resilience.RU vice-chancellor Saroj Sharma urged students to remember and reflect on the tragedy. She asked them to remain connected to their cultural roots and uphold their ‘Chhatra Dharma’ through discipline and dedication to the nation.Padma Shri awardee and senior journalist Balbir Dutt delivered a lecture on the horrors of Partition, drawing upon historical accounts and personal experiences. He said societies that forget past mistakes risk repeating them, stressing that preserving such memories among young people was vital to strengthening unity and national solidarity.Swami Bhaveshananda, secretary of Ramakrishna Mission Ashram, Ranchi, invoked the ideal of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ and emphasised peace, compassion and harmony.A tribal and regional language session featured poetry in Nagpuri, Kurmali, Panchpargania, Khortha and other regional languages. The exhibition presented documentary material illustrating the scale of the tragedy.
