AN Appleton woman will be among the representatives heading to Parliament to make the case for an annual day to commemorate the Partition of India.

Millions made the trip across the nation after India was partitioned into India and Pakistan when British rule came to an end in 1947.

The terrifying ordeal cost the lives of up to two million Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs, while between 10 and 12 million were displaced along religious lines.

On Wednesday, MP Virendra Sharma, chair of the Indo-British all-party parliamentary group, will be hosting an event in the House of Commons to call for an annual day to commemorate the Partition of India.

It has been organised by Dr Binita Kane, from Appleton, who was one of the British Asians featured in the award-winning BBC One documentary, My Family, Partition and Me.

Presented by Anita Rani, the series was broadcast last year on the 70th anniversary of the partition.

And it generated a huge public response, with many viewers asking why the subject was not 'more widely commemorated'.

Mum-of-two Dr Kane, 40, said: "Partition of India was a cataclysmic event and the biggest mass migration of humans in history.

"I was ashamed that even with such a personal connection, I knew little about the history and I had learned nothing about it in school.

"The British public very much reacted in the same way, I felt compelled when I came back to raise the profile and we are now also campaigning to have partition history taught on the school curriculum.

"I am extremely grateful to Mr Sharma for his support."

Ms Rani, who won the 2018 Royal Television Society Award for her presentation of the series, added: "Making the series was a deeply personal and moving journey for me and the three other families that featured in it.

"We are hoping that the commemoration day will allow us to remember those that died and suffered, but also become a celebration of the great things South Asian immigrants have brought to this country – we are a truly multicultural society and partition was a huge part of that."

The event will bring together survivors, politicians, academics, curators, young people and those leading related projects both nationally and internationally.