Singh’s controversial book becomes subject of debate in Pak
I was quoted in this press story. Also here
Press Trust of India / Islamabad August 20, 2009 - Seeking to give Muhammed Ali Jinnah a clean chit for country’s partition might have caused his expulsion from BJP, but former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh’s book has earned him supporters across the border.
Jaswant’s book and particularly remarks on Pakistan’s founder Jinnah has become a subject of animated debate in the country with the newspapers and electronic media giving extensive coverage to the event including his expulsion from the BJP.
‘Lets agree on Jinnah’s role’ said an editorial in ‘The Daily Times’. The paper said Jaswant Singh’s book “Jinnah-India, Partition, Independence” had given India a positive portrait of Pakistan’s founder.
The book may lead to a revision of highly demonised Muslim leader in India, the editorial said. “Given the fact of Singh’s BJP affiliation, the book is being treated as an extraordinary event in India. Because of his rightwing credentials, no one in India can doubt his patriotism. That is why the book is going to be an important Indian revision of a highly demonised Muslim leader”.
‘A new look at Jinnah’ said an editorial in ‘The News Daily’. The paper said, “Jinnah has re-emerged in a new light” in Singh’s book.
“This is particularly ironic given that Singh’s own party and its ‘mother organization’ so to speak, the RSS, have for the past six or so decades painted Jinnah as India’s greatest villain,” it said.
Other Indians too have done the job of “balancing the distorted Indian view” of Jinnah but “this time history may be re-interpreted more permanently in favour of an Indo-Pak detente through a ‘reinterpretation’ of” Jinnah, it said.
“Any fresh look at history and the characters who played a part in its making is always welcome. The founder of the nation has been elevated to the status of a kind of saint in Pakistan. Jaswant Singh’s book will, undoubtedly, create waves in India. But it may also help to create some much needed balance,” the editorial concluded.
Reams were also written on websites and in newspaper columns about Singh’s book. An article in the ‘Daily Times’ described Singh’s revelations as a “shock”.
“The irony is unmissable. On Monday those who thought that Singh’s book was actually a post-election snipe at Congress were in a strong position. Today, the BJP has left them rather undermined. Jaswant Singh did seem to be giving a good long shake to a pet Congress theme: secular India,” it said.
Raza Rumi, one of Pakistan’s best-known bloggers and columnists, called Singh a “reluctant fundamentalist”. He wrote that Singh’s right-wing worldview can be partially pardoned for he has made an attempt to set the record straight.
Singh also blames the stalwarts of Congress for partition and this has been the independent view held by many historians, Rumi said.
“It is shameful that a right-winger had to condone Jinnah but then someone had to take the first step in the popular domain. But for us Pakistanis, we need to take things with a pinch of salt- praises from BJP-RSS wallahs are at best double-edged,” he concluded.
A write-up by Indian journalist Karan Thapar, who interviewed Singh before the book’s release, was posted at a popular e-zine three days ago and comments piled up from bloggers. One wrote that “it would be great if Pakistanis also start acknowledging their heroes with a non-Muslim background”.
‘The Daily Times’ editorial concluded that Singh’s efforts to set the record straight in India may make it “easier for Pakistan to frame Mr Jinnah in a more realistic national reference” as the “identity of the state of Pakistan has been consciously moulded over the years in relation to India as the ‘enemy’ state”.
Interestingly enough, if Jaswant Singh had written that book, say, a couple of years ago, he would probably not have been expelled from the BJP and that is because he was not a dissident at that point of time. The party would still have dissociated itself from the book and described its contents as his ‘personal views’, however.
In light of recent developments, it appears safe to conclude that the book proved to be a rather convenient excuse for throwing out some one who had been asking too many inconvenient questions about the reasons for the BJP’s defeat in the recent Lok Sabha elections and demanding that those responsible be held accountable for their role in the debacle.
[...] RazaRumi—Singh’s controversial book becomes subject of debate in Pak I was quoted in this press story. Also here Press Trust of India / Islamabad August 20, 2009 - Seeking to give Muhammed Ali Jinnah a clean chit for country’s partition might have caused his expulsion from BJP, but former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh’s book has earned him supporters across the border. Jaswant’s book and particularly remarks [...] ’ by Raza Rumi at August 21, 2009 03:06 PM [...]