18/08/2009
New Delhi: Apparently reflecting their discomfort, no BJP leader showed up at a function today in which Jaswant Singh's book on Jinnah was released and where his view that Nehru was responsible for the Partition was contested.
Senior party leader LK Advani was in Chandigarh whereas leaders who were in Delhi were conspicuous by their absence while George Fernandes was prominent among those present.
After the book release, when reporters asked Jaswant about the absence of BJP leaders, he said "invitations were extended to all".
BJP leaders were said to be wary of Jaswant Singh's views in praise of Jinnah against the backdrop of the convulsions in the party in 2005 after LK Advani's praise of Jinnah drew criticism from within the BJP and the Sangh Parivar, including the RSS.
When asked if the RSS agreed with Singh's view that Jinnah has been "demonised" in India, RSS leader Ram Madhav said, "I have only read excerpts of the book. But I am constrained to say that it is far from the truth to state that Jinnah was not responsible for partition."
BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar refused to make any direct comment on Singh's book but made it clear that the party does not agree with the contention that Jinnah was not responsible for partition and said the party stands by its June 2005 resolution on Jinnah, which holds him as one of the most important politicians responsible for the partition of India.
In the panel discussion that followed the release of the book "Jinnah - India, Partition, Independence", noted journalist MJ Akbar did not agree with Singh's apportioning blame on Nehru for the Partition.
"It was the Congress Working Committee which accepted the Cabinet (Mission) Plan...Nehru was not the dictator of Congress," he said, adding "while Gandhi wanted a secular nation with a Hindu majority, Jinnah wanted a secular nation with a Muslim majority."
Referring to causes of Partition, senior journalist Mark Tully said there were "no saints and all are, in a sense, sinners...everyone made mistakes." He said this included both Nehru and Jinnah as well as the British.
CEO of Pakistan's The Dawn newspaper Hameed Haroon said Jinnah's image remains wrongly portrayed and unexplored in that country.
He said Jinnah's pictures wearing Western dresses and smoking cigarettes were suppressed in Pakistan "...and he became a two dimensional cardboard of (General) Zia's ideals."
According to Haroon, Jinnah's speech on religious freedom was "censored by the information hierarchy of Pakistan before even the state came into being." Critic Namvar Singh said Singh has tried to break "what according to him is a myth that Jinnah was a villain".
#1
18 August 2009 03:43:25
It is most shocking that such a book has been released to create confusion amongst our people. We are already under so many health problems leading to swine flu, AIDS, Cancer etc added to this we get a masala news from Jaswant Singh Claiming to know what was inside the mind of Jinnah or Nehru. It is now more than 62 years since our country has god divided...May be good may be bad..We cannot make judgment at this juncture. It is to create such controversy seems to be the order of some of our politicians and Mr Jaswant Singh is no exception. Whether one agrees or not many of the minority community in India are having a good time only in India. It is a country where the Boll wood is totally dominated by Khans....the Carpenter, Tailors and many leather related business is dominated by minority community. It is India Irfan and Yusuf could play with Cricket coming from a poor and minority community....One likes it or not it is the majority Hindus who are suffering in many of the cases. Name one Hindu player in any sphere of activities in Pakistan, Iran, Iraq or any other UAE Countries...In taking care of the minorities our majority has taken a back seat. Added to all this here is a work from Jaswant Singh further pouring hot water to a nation which is standing on the cross roads of many issues which has no solution as on date..Narayan S
Venu10
#2
18 August 2009 03:44:56
The BJP should forthwith expel Jaswant Singh from the party, as he has trivialized the partition of India by absolving its chief architect from the primary responsibility for partition. Jinnah's two nation theory not only led to partition but is a pernicious doctrine that continues to threaten India's integrity. By stating that Nehru’s insistence on a centralized polity was the cause of partition is to reduce the events that led to partition as one of merely a difference in the form of governance and whitewash Jinnah’s use of religion in influencing the events. If BJP accepts Jaswant’s view, would it tomorrow say that Islamic terrorism in India is not to be linked to religion but is merely political in nature? BJP, which stands for Indian nationalism, cannot afford to compromise on its core values and cannot have in its midst, that too at the leadership level, a person who trivializes the cause of an event that lead to the biggest human tragedy of modern times.
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http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3149838&ucid=175051#uc2Lst175051
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