Jaswant Singh's latest book 'Jinnah, India, Partition' is a scholarly work. Jaswant, who hails from Rajasthan, a desert state on the western border of present-day India, is an ex-Indian Army officer who as a Major resigned his commission to pursue a political career. He was a founder member of the BJP the Hindu revivalist party. Jaswant is generally regarded as an authority on matters of defense and national security. He rose to prominence in the BJP and was selected by Vajpayee to be the Foreign Minister during the erstwhile BJP rule during 1998-2004.
Jinnah is like a red rag to a bull for most Indians and politicians. Hardly a book has been written about the founder of Pakistan by any notable Indian. Thus Jaswant's book fills a void and attempts to understand the mind of Jinnah and his equation with the Hindu leaders of the congress viz Patel, Nehru, and Gandhi. The book is lucid and well written. His interpretation of the sordid and tortuous period of partition in 1947 is well presented. Jinnah now given credit for Pakistan was not a communalist at all. Remember his opposition to the Khilafat movement supported by Gandhi? But he was outmaneuvered by the Hindu Leaders Gandhi and Patel and slowly his mind accepted the two-nation theory. Who is to blame for this transformation? Jaswant writes with flair and brings out the hand of Nehru and Patel in this transformation. India may well have remained united only if Nehru in his greed to become the Prime Minister had not played into the hands of the British. Jaswant lucidly brings about the transformation of Jinnah from a nationalist and secularist to the sole spokesperson of Indian Muslims. But he can give no definite answer.
The story revolves around a little girl with polio, Lenny, the only child of upper-class Parsi parents. For reasons I'm not sure I understand, Parsis and Christians are not part of the tensions between Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs.
India has obtained its long-sought independence from Great Britain, but now people who were at least semi-united in their shared hatred of being a colony of Britain turn on each other with violence the scope of which is difficult to grasp. It's horrible to think that's what is depicted in this film is a tiny percentage of the real-life violence that India went through.
Singh brings out the fact that Jinnah was not a hater of Hindus, but was only allergic to the Congress party and its Hindu leaders Gandhi and Nehru. Many Indians will not agree with this. The responsibility of partition has to be squarely shouldered by Nehru who had the ear of Gandhi at that time. Jaswant has thus stoked the embers and the flame has grown so high that it has consumed him.