Billboards in J-K's Srinagar ahead of two-day national symposium focusing on 'memories of 22 October 1947'

Billboards have been put at several locations in Srinagar, ahead of the two days 'National Symposium' being organised by National Museum Institute of History of Art, Conservation and Museology in collaboration with the Union Territory Government of Jammu and Kashmir on October 22 and October 23, 2020.

Billboards have been put at several locations in Srinagar, ahead of the two days 'National Symposium' being orgsed by National Museum Institute of History of Art, Conservation and Museology in collaboration with the Union Territory Government of Jammu and Kashmir on October 22 and October 23, 2020.

The two days 'National Symposium' will be focusing on "memories of 22 October 1947 (Black Day)."

"A two-day symposium on 'Memories of 22 October 1947' proposed to be orgsed in Kashmir by the National Museum Institute will bring forth the historical narrative of 22 October 1947. The symposium proposes to outline shapes and contours of a future exhibition/museum on the proposed theme," said an official statement of the orgsers of the symposium.

Museums and exhibitions all over the world are being acknowledged as sites to showcase such historic narratives, the statement said.

"A museum or an exhibition will become one of the platforms to document, reconstruct and to bring alive the historic narrative of October 22, 1947. Remembering the violence and atrocity of the invaders and the valour displayed in overcoming this challenge will be a tribute to the people who laid down their lives in the first battle of independent India. The said exhibition or memorial will be the first of its kind in this direction," it said.

The statement said that at its birth as a young independent nation in 1947, India faced multiple challenges, one of the prominent amongst which was the choice given to the erstwhile Maharajas of India to be an independent country, or to be a part of India or to be a part of Pakistan.

"On October 22, 1947, Pakistan invaded Kashmir and brought in its wake horrifying stories of mass plunder and vandalism. Thousands of men, women and children were mercilessly killed. On October 26, 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession merging his state with India. Following the accession of the state to India, Indian troops were airlifted to Srinagar, the state capital to repel the tribal invasion," the statement said.

"October 22, 1947, in fact, marks the beginning of the first Indo-Pak war. The consequences of this water-shed event are still affecting the country," it added.

The statement further said that it is necessary to portray such a historic narrative in order to create a dialogue among the people.

"The aim of such an initiative would be to bring about awareness among the people about this phase of our history. It will help in remembering how the country fought in the very first conflict faced by India," it said.

( With inputs from ANI )