Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence (book)

Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence
Author Jaswant Singh
Country India
Language English
Genre Biography
Publisher Rupa Publications India Pvt. Ltd.
Publication date
2009
Pages 658
ISBN 978-81-291-1653-6

Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence is a book written by Jaswant Singh, a former Finance Minister of India and an External Affairs Minister, on Pakistan's founder Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the politics associated with the Partition of India. It is currently the latest book written by an Indian politician on the life of Jinnah.[1] The book was released on 17 August 2009 and soon became the subject of controversy, subsequently leading to Singh's expulsion from the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). It contains controversial opinions of Singh, claiming that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's centralised policy was responsible for partition, and that Jinnah was portrayed as a demon by India for the partition. The book launch ceremony was held at Teen Murti Bhavan in the presence of only a couple of BJP members.[2][3]

Response

Singh was expelled by the BJP following a party meeting chaired by L.K. Advani on 19 August 2009 stating that they will not "compromise on matters of ideology or disciple".[4] The government of the Indian state Gujarat banned the book for allegedly having defamatory references towards India's first home minister Vallabhbhai Patel.[5] However, Gujarat lifted the ban on 4 September 2009 after a court struck it down. The Indian newspaper The Hindu claimed "Mark Tully, Meghnad Desai, Ram Jethmalani, Natwar Singh and Hameed Haroon said a new appraisal of Jinnah’s role was needed and Mr. Singh had done a commendable job." [2]

Other publications on Jinnah

Interestingly, the first book about Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah titled Muhammad Jinnah: An Ambassador of Unity was also written by an Indian politician: Sarojini Naidu. It was published by University of Michigan Library on 1 January 1918, when India was still undivided and ruled by the British Empire.[6]

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.