Can Jinnah save a desperate BJP?

Monday, August 17, 2009 08:26:11 PM, Ghulam Mohammad

The Congress win and BJP led NDA’s humiliating defeat in the last Lok Sabha elections, has created such a turmoil in the party ranks, that all the chintan baithaks around the country, is yet to give any semblance of internal order in Hindutva’s leadership ranks. The diehard ideological bosses at RSS are loath to show any compromise or weakness in diluting its exclusion of Muslim plank, for any electoral breakthrough. Those BJP leaders voicing their opinion in public to garner support for their opposition to inbuilt flaws that ensures BJP failures to concoct a majority that rule the country, are visibly sidelined.

Now Jaswant Singh, the newly elected BJP MP from Assam, has thrown his hat in the ring, by coming out, once again, with public secularization of Pakistan’s founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, so that a broader section of the voters, mainly gullible Muslims may be worked on, to ensure renewal of electoral fortunes for the BJP with that crucial Muslim marginal voting that incidentally catapulted Congress to the second term at the helm of affairs at the Center.

Global strategic developments are forcing India’s hand over its relations with Pakistan. Jaswant Singh’s initiative on Jinnah is shrewdly timed to court Muslim both here as well as in Pakistan. However, it is difficult for Muslim both here as well as abroad, to treat BJP/RSS combine as something other than the destroyer of Babri Masjid. The wound on Muslim psyche here as well as in the neighbourhood, is so deep, that any mention of BJP, RSS, and Hindutva instantly opens raw wounds. The Muslim hurt and Hindutva’s narrow fascist agenda for their Idea of India, is no longer only a private local affair, but has been on the agenda of various global strategists as to how, this weakness of India should be exploited. The Chinese Think Tank analyst that last week laid out China’s options in balkanization of India, into 20, 30 states, has gleefully welcomed Hindutva’s Idea of India, as contracting India to a very small territory and leaving the rest for others to seek freedom from the Brahminical stranglehold.

Under such circumstance, Jaswant Singh’s attempt to secularize Jinnah and sell him to Indians, both Hindus and Muslims, as the prodigal son fit to be welcomed back in to the fold, will be an exercise ending in futility, as the old divide had taken different dimensions and more powerful interlocutors have already staked their claims.

Another dimension that Jaswant may or may not have tackled in his book, is how Churchill, Lord Wavell and Jinnah operated a secret line of communication after Wavell apparently agreed to Churchill’s suggestion that some part of the subcontinent has to be kept for the West, to counter Russian advances towards its south and to ensure safety and security of Gulf oil badly required for European reconstruction, after the Second World War. The turn of fortune for Jinnah has not come about like some magic. It was at the initiative of the British and USA, working in tandem that sealed the future of India as a divided nation. Jinnah’s role was merely as facilitator for the British game plan, in the Great Game. It is ironical that Jaswant Singh, himself released the book: The Untold Story of India’s partition researched, written and published by Narendra Singh Sarila, one of Jaswant Singh’s own clan. All the material exposing the roles of the major part players was available to Jaswant Singh. Still that he has chosen to court the ghost of Jinnah amply exposes his and Sangh Parivar’s utter desperation.

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Comments:

Jaswant Singh did not blame Jinnah for the partition of India.In fact. Jinnah is to be blamed as he was firm on dividing India. Allama Mashriqi told Jinnah that partition would be harmful for the people of Indian subcontinent, but Jinnah refused to listen. Nasim Yousaf, Mashriqi's grandson, has written in detail on the subject in his book ("Hidden Facts Behind British India's Freedom: A Scholarly Look into Allama Mashraqi and Quaid-e-Azam's Political Conflict"). Every Indian and Pakistani must read it.

Salma (by e-mail)

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Who says BJP tasted humiliating defeat? In recent election even Indian media was not defeated who ignored that various trusted BJP allies shifted from NDA to Congress’ lead UPA.

Much more than BJP’s own expectation it touched the tally of 116 deputies on its own. The Congress under the leadership of Dr. Manmohan Singh served as one of the best governance in last few decades with almost negligible charges of corruption.

The much reported ‘Chintan-Manthan’ and internal strife within the ranks and file in BJP seems another ploy shrewdly being relayed to keep aging BJP alive. See how Vedanta Raje Scindia and Rajnath Singh amicably settled down the ‘dispute’?

The newfound love of Jinnah’s secularism after 60 years, first from Advani Ji and now from Jaswant Singh blaming more Pandit Nehru on partition of India, I wonder it is to malign the chances of 4-5th younger dynasty of Nehru.

Indian Muslims have nothing to do to sort out who actually be blamed on unfortunate division of India nor rehabilitating Jinnah’s image will yield any harvest of Muslim’s support for BJP or any other political party.

Whether BJP or Congress either way in power of or in opposition ironically, over a decade, Muslim Scholars and Seminaries has the thrust to denounce ‘Islamic’ terrorism and they are religiously and loudly condemning the terrorism at every podium and forums.

By and large Indian Muslims are as patriotic, loyal, peace loving and law abiding citizenry as any other compatriots from other faiths.

SMS Reza (by e-mail)

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Interesting indeed!

Now that jaswant singh has put this in black n white will the BJP stop demonising the Muslims???

It is perhaps the first time anyone in India has dared to say this in a book...but some years back a rtd prof in UP had told me during a casual conversation and i was surprised when he said it was actually nehru's lust for power, and the British avenging their humiliation at having to leave India, that created pakistan...and the Kashmir problem!
 

Whatever it was Indian muslims have paid (and are still paying) a high price for it and the guilt of Partion that has been inflicted on us ever since has taken its toll...

Zohra Javed (by e-mail)

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