PM Modi reasserted that August 14 would be observed as "Partition Horrors Remembrance Day".
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today named Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and other iconic leaders as he paid tribute to the icons of the freedom struggle on India's 75th Independence Day.
"Be it (Jawahar Lal) Nehru-ji, the first Prime Minister of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who united the nation or Babasaheb Ambedkar, who showed India the way to the future, the country is indebted to all of them," PM Modi said, addressing the nation from Red Fort.
He also paid tribute to Rani Lakshmibai, Subhas Chandra Bose and other freedom fighters for their role in the long and hard fight for independence.
The Prime Minister also reasserted that August 14 would be observed as "Vibhajan Vibhishika Smriti Diwas" or "Partition Horrors Remembrance Day".
"We celebrate our freedom but the pain of Partition still hurts us. It is one of the greatest tragedies of the last century. People went through the most inhuman suffering," PM Modi said, referring to the 1947 Partition of the country into India and Pakistan, when many were killed in religious clashes and millions were displaced and forced to leave their homes.
The ruling BJP has often targeted Jawaharlal Nehru and the Congress over Partition.
Yesterday, Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said "the people behind the partition of India" will never be able to feel the pain of the horrors of partition.
"The people behind partition will never be able to feel the pain of the horrors of partition. On one side, there were people who were suffering from this, on the other, there were people who were rewarded by this partition. I do not need to name which party was rewarded with partition," Mr Naqvi was quoted by news agency ANI as saying.