Jaswant Launches Jinnah Book in Pak
Launching his controversial book ‘Jinnah – India, Partition, Independence’ in Pakistan, former Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh has said that Indian leaders not only misunderstood Jinnah but also demonized him, said media reports.
Speaking at the book launch function in Karachi, which was attended by a galaxy of politicians, historians, journalists and diplomats, Singh compared Jinnah with leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, calling Jinnah a ‘self-made man’, who created a position for himself amidst the privileged ones, reports said.
“Gandhi himself called Jinnah a great Indian. Why don’t we recognise that? Why don’t we see and try to understand why he called him that?” ‘The Daily Times’ quoted Singh as saying.
“I admire certain aspects of his personality; his determination and the will to rise. He was a self-made man. Mahatma Gandhi was the son of a Diwan. All these people – Nehru and others – were born to wealth and position. Jinnah created for himself a position. He carved in Bombay a position for himself. He was so poor that he had to walk to work,” he was quoted as saying.
Singh, who was expelled from the BJP for praising Jinnah in his book, opined that the demonisation of Jinnah was a direct outcomet of the trauma of partition and that the view held by many in India that Jinnah hated Hindus was a mistake, said reports.
He also emphasized that it was time that the ‘Berlin Wall’ erected between India and Pakistan following the 1965 war should be demolished, reports said.
He said that people on both sides of the border have been trying to come closer for long and it was time a new start be made bilateral relationship, said reports.
“Masses at both sides of the border are longing to come close to each other, and therefore we must let go of the shadows of history and let the new dawn arrive. We must create a strong relationship with each other, otherwise the poverty at both sides of the border cannot be wiped away,” he was quoted as saying.
About US or the NATO mediation in India and Pakistan’s issue, he said that both New Delhi and Islamabad should resolve their differences amiably, reports said.
“The US is around 8,000 miles away from Pakistan, whereas India is only eight minutes away, therefore the people of India and Pakistan must resolve their differences themselves,” Singh was quoted as saying.
(Based on internet reports)
