New Delhi: Karan Thapar column in Asian Age has been put on hold after the senior journalist highlighted the violence against Jammu Muslims in 1947.
Speaking to the Wire, Thapar said that the decision was informed by the national daily’s managing editor Kaushik Mitter. Mitter said that the decision was taken by owners of the daily fearing backlash due to the last three paragraphs of the column ‘Horrors of 1947 Partition: A selective remembrance?’ as it highlighted the violence against Jammu Muslims in 1947.
In the column, he also claimed that the celebration of August 14 as ‘Partition Horrors Remembrance Day’ was aimed to increase anti-Muslim sentiment in India.
Quoting Armistice Day in Britain, Holocaust Day in Israel, Anzac Day in Australia and New Zealand, and even Thanksgiving Day in America, he alleged that these days are intended to unite people whereas the aim of the partition day was to polarize Indians on religious lines.
Highlighting the violence against Jammu Muslims in 1947, he wrote, the riots changed Jammu from Muslim-majority to a Hindu-majority city. To support his claims, he has cited many sources in the column.
After writing this column, the owners of the Asian Age took the decision to put his column on hold. Citing the reason for the decision, the daily said that the column rakes up the Hindu-Muslim issue.
However, Thapar alleged that the real reason for the decision is that the owners are scared of government pressure.