Jahane Rumi In search of the unsearchable: O, my soul! where would you find your house?

21Aug/091

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.

19Aug/0911

Jaswant Singh – the reluctant fundamentalist

Jaswant Singh's  right-wing worldview can be partially pardoned for he has made an attempt to set the record straight. The vilification of Jinnah to the extent of presenting him as a demon in mainstream Indian discourse has received a severe blow. Singh also blames the stalwarts of Congress for Partition and this has been the independent view held by many historians. It is shameful that a right winger had to condone Jinnah but then someone had to take the first step in the popular domain. The earlier voice of H M Seervai was drowned in the cacaphony of nation-state jingoism and because he was from a fringe community, his dispassionate views did not receive much attention. In fact many in India and Pakistan have no clue about Seervai.

22Mar/0913

Varun Gandhi is a scary bigot

A post at Pak Tea House and the sharp comments attracted some ire among the readers as to what was Varun Gandhi issue doing on a Pakistani blog-zine? Indeed, the question merits some deliberation. We in Pakistan are constantly being demonised by the Indian mainstream media as a ‘terrorist’ country and that we are a great threat to the ’secular’, shining India. Varun gandhi’s remarks as the saner elements of Indian media and commentators are saying only show that people have gotten away with such crap. The fissures in the secular Indian democracy get even more evident when such speeches are delivered.

Varun Gandhi’s remarks on Muslims, hate speech that goes beyond all measures of ‘hate speech’ concerns us as it only exposes us to brigades of hatred, communalism and violence across the border.