Jaswant Singh, a senior BJP leader, tried to achieve two objectives form his book, “Jinnah”. The first was to put the record straight; Mohammad Ali Jinnah was not the only one responsible for the partition of India. But the second objective is far more potent, i.e. to destroy the reputation of Congress Party’s leadership. Of course Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel were as much responsible as Mohammad Ali Jinnah but so was Mahatma Gandhi. The partition was in the making since 1857 or even before. Jinnah was probably the last poster-child of that dreadful idea. It is good that this topic has come out in the open since 1947 but trying to score political points would certainly backfire. Nobody should absolve Nehru, Gandhi or Patel of the monumental blunder of Partition, at the same time Jinnah, Liaquat Ali and Iqbal should also be held responsible for the greatest tragedy of the subcontinent.
Mohammad Ali Jinnah personally might not have believed that the partition of India would actually materialize, but his colleagues in the Muslim League were very much looking forward to the creation of a Muslim Pakistan. Jinnah kept on talking about a secular nation but his partners were in no mood for such accommodation. Sikandar Hayat Khan, the Chief Minister of Punjab, Abul Kashem Fazlul Haq, the Chief Minister of undivided Bengal and Choudhary Khaliquzzaman, all of them were itching to create their own little fiefdoms. There were as many on the other side who were not willing to share any power with the Muslims in an independent India. So there is plenty of blame to go around for the eventual breakup of the country. The point that cannot be disputed is that neither side was prepared to actually govern the country without the British supervision. The people of India had to pay a heavy price for that!
Filed under: Indian Politics, Indo-Pak relations Tagged: | Abul Kashem Fazlul Haq, British supervision, Chief Minister of Punjab, Chief Minister of undivided Bengal, Choudhary Khaliquzzaman, Congress Party, Indian subcontinent, Jaswant Singh, Jawaharlal Nehru, Jinnah, Mahatma Gandhi, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Muslim League, Muslim Pakistan, Muslims, Partition of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, senior BJP leader, Sikandar Hayat Khan
