I should have read this masterpiece very much earlier…… Better late than never…. Close to 700 pages of fine print!…… Every Indian must read this one….. This is a neutral attempt by French journalist on the partition of India….. Attempt because I guess no one can be neutral…… Understood so many things…..Spoiler alert though these are things everyone must know…..
#Inspiration ….Mountbatten never wanted to be the last viceroy of India…. He has been shown to be a cool costumer…. The lead actor of this drama so to speak….. The whole view point is through his eyes…. It is thus understood that no gossip regarding the missus will be discussed!!…….
#Personal….. Only one person truly wanted partition….Jinnah….A pork and wine loving clean shaven Muslim whose grand father was a Hindu!!….. That’s the first shock…. He was originally opposed to a Muslim nation till he was sidelined by Congress (old habits!!) Which made him stronger….. That’s the second hit….. During the talks he discovered that he had lung cancer in the advanced stage…. Known only to him and a dedicated and integral Hindu doctor (professional hazards!!)… If only anyone else knew then the whole partition would have been averted….. The third and final blow…..
#confused …… Nehru…. Want partition…. Don’t want…. Can’t stand up to Jinnah…. Lost the lead during 1942 due to half baked attempt at quit India movement which was called off midway… Too much dependance on Gandhi, Mountbatten and Patel…… Trusted China who attacked us…. Never recovered from that…..
#respect……Gandhi was the only one according to the authors who was vehemently opposed to partition…. He even offered Jinnah the seat of the first pm of India much to the Chagrin of Nehru (the latter much to the dismay of the former refused….)….. Towards the end of his life he was treated merely as a prop to keep the masses silent…… While the whole world burnt after partition, Calcutta was quiet (relatively of course…) Only because of the efforts of one man…. But even saints get carried away….. Finding his new strategy of success he set out more complex goals…..Fast till the money owed to pak is returned…..(Nehru and Patel argued that they will use it only to strengthen their army but it fell on deaf ears…..)…. He also wanted Hindus to go Back to relief camps, not resort to hate and to give all the better accommodation to the Muslims……. He was above the normal feelings of human beings and I guess he expected others to be like that only……(though many vices he had been described in the book were a little too hard to digest……)…… The saddest part is that the father of the nation couldn’t be a good father (according to his son….).. To his own kids……
#angry …. Kashmir….. The king Hari Singh indecisiveness started this tsunami which is eating both our countries even now……
#sad…. The partition created zombies… No two ways about it…. The stories told so vividly makes your whole body shiver….. According to the authors it all started in Lahore….. The Hindu colony water and power supply was cut and anyone venturing out for these would be literally cut…. And then the see saw affect……. Each episode more sad and terrifying than the other…. The burning of babies, the raping, forced conversions, train carrying only chopped dead bodies…. The horror just goes on and on….. The saddest story was kept to the end… About Bhoota Singh….. Read and weep….
The book says it all about India…. The superstition, the pollution, the spoilt rich Kings with their crazy ways and orgies, the discipline of defence and the mob….I am guessing not much has changed….. One line sums up the feel…… It was the costliest divorce in the history…… The book however is affordable so get your copy…… And read…..
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