Jinnah not secular for Sheikh Abdullah
The ghost of Jinnah, founder of Pakistan, has overtaken BJP, ever since L K Advani raised the controversy over Qaid-e-Azam, who is held responsible for dividing the subcontinent. Jinnah’s apparition has of late plundered the BJP of inner party discipline that it was boasting of. Cracks are visible. The main opposition party is in a state of delirium, to the delight of the Congress.
While Jinnah was garlanded with shoes in the Muslim-dominated Kashmir valley by the activists of the then National Conference, led by Sheikh Abdullah, Jaswant Singh, a BJP stalwart for 30-years before he was thrown out of the party has not only eulogized Jinnah , but also blamed Nehru and Patel for the partition in his book, “ Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence”.
The Sheikh had rejected at point blank Jinnah’s two-nation theory. With ashes in his mouth, Jaswant Singh has said that partition was largely due to Nehru and Patel. The latter is responsible for unifying India. Jaswant Singh should have resigned from the party or sought permission before writing this controversial book.
Jinnah was the harbinger of two-nation theory, which led to painful partition. Can we expect a Communist to praise RSS? Or a radical Islamist to write a book in praise of L K Advani? Jaswant Singh knew how Advani had suffered because of his similar assessment about Jinnah. Though an able politician and a writer, he stirred up a hornets’ nest in the BJP camp and put it on fire. This is an open revolt, which could not be overlooked.
Sheikh Abdullah was diametrically opposed to Jinnah’s ideology. He did not want to join a country like Pakistan, based on religion. He did not want anything to do with Pakistan because of Jinnah’s ‘un-Islamic’ attitude towards the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
When Jinnah visited Srinagar in 1944 for asking people to join Pakistan, a National Conference leader Ali Mohammad Tariq had asked him whether the future of Kashmir would be decided by the people of the state. Jinnah’s reply surprised all. “Let the people go to hell.” The absurd remark hurt the Kashmiris. Massive anti-Jinnah demonstrations were held in Baramulla. An annoyed Jinnah sent a telegram to Maharaja Hari Singh, asking him to “crush Abdullah’s goondaism”.
Jinnah wanted Kashmiris to rally behind then Muslim Conference, led by Moulvi Yousuf Shah, uncle of assassinated Mirwaiz Moulvi Farooq. The Muslim Conference was aligned to Jinnah’s Muslim League. But it had little following. The Sheikh was a popular leader. He had spurned Jinnah’s hand to join Pakistan. Jinnah thought Kashmiri Muslims were ‘inextricably’ linked with Pakistan. He would often say “Kashmir was a blank cheque lying in Pakistan’s pocket and she could cash it whenever she liked.” But it did not happen. The people have opted for India, rejecting Jinnah’s ideology. Jaswant Singh should take note of it.
Irked by the Sheikh’s attitude, Jinnah on October 22, 1947 orchestrated tribal invasion of Kashmir. Nearly 5000 tribals were sent to Kashmir in 200 buses under the command of Pakistan army. They resorted to mass rape, loot, murder, and plundered Baramulla town. The victims were mostly Muslims whom Jinnah wanted to liberate. Are these the traits of a secular person?
At an earlier stage of his life, Jinnah was a nationalist to the core and a strong protagonist of Hindu-Muslim unity. But his ideology was never constant.
Now the BJP is on the boil. Thanks to Jaswant Singh and his opportunistic politics. Advani has almost become speechless. The party has got embroiled in deep crisis. One fails to understand why Jinnah has become the epitome of mankind for Jaswant Singh. Where was his ideology for 30 years?
RSS Chief Mohan Rao Bhagwat has said that Jinnah was neither a secular person nor did he support the ideals of secularism. He was the first person to lead an agitation for creating a separate nation—Pakistan—for he considered Hindus separate from the Muslims.
Jinnah was once asked why he hated the Hindus. His stark reply was “How could he, having sprung from the same stock. But how would one like to live in his elder brother’s house on mere sufferance” One can judge him by these outbursts.
The ghost of Jinnah has been haunting India, particularly the BJP, since June 2005, when Advani visited Pakistan and hailed Jinnah as a ‘secular’ leader. Advani’s assertions raised a lot of controversy as if Jinnah was the be all and end all for him. There are several hundred leaders of eminence in India but they have no attraction for leaders like Jaswant Singh, who held Patel responsible for partition, which was inevitable. It was the last resort. Jaswant Singh has denigrated Patel
While Advani hailed Jinnah as a secular, Jaswant Singh has regretted that he was ‘demonized’ by India. It is a pity. Jinnah has rightly been portrayed as a ‘wicked’ person because he allowed himself to be brainwashed by the British. He was responsible for creating anarchy and subsequent mass exodus of ten million refugees from India to Pakistan and vice versa. Jinnah had been insulting Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru and Patel for their nationalistic outlook.
After 30 years of association with the BJP, Jaswant Singh argues that BJP’s association with the RSS is ‘unhealthy’. He should have known it long ago. This is in contrast to what Arun Shourie has said. He wanted the RSS to ‘takeover’ the BJP. After all, BJP’s mentor is RSS.
In his last phase of life, Jinnah became a stooge of the British and he endeavoured to keep the Muslims away from the national mainstream. Patel’s task of integrating 600 princely states in a record time on the eve of the partition was no mean achievement. Nehru and Patel had insisted on a centralized system of governance, but Jinnah was eager for a ‘loose federation’ of states. Had Jinnah’s suggestion been accepted, India would have been again enslaved. Every state in a federal set up could demand independence.
Ironically, the suggestion for a ‘loose federation’ was put forth by India’s last Viceroy Lord Mountbatten. Obviously, it was the game plan of the British to rule by proxy. Jinnah was brainwashed in London. When he failed in his mission, he ultimately demanded Pakistan, which was further divided in 1971 war.
When an interim government was formed in 1946-47, it is said Jinnah used to quarrel with Congress leaders on flimsy issues, almost every day. According to historians, Partition was accepted by Nehru and Patel to ‘eliminate’ Jinnah’s ‘nuisance value’. Nehru has been quoted as saying “By cutting the head, we shall get rid of the headache”. Jinnah turned villain because of the machinations of the British, when D-Day was approaching.
