SINCE the time Jaswant Singh publicised his book on the constructive role played by Mohammad Ali Jinnah before its release and was forced to leave the BJP as a result, the creator of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah has been grabbing headlines in newspapers.
On going back to the pre-independence period, it becomes evident that when Jinnah was with Lokmanya Tilak, he was completely devoted to the nation. When Gandhiji supported the Khilafat movement, then Jinnah asked him how the removal of the Caliph from Turkey could affect the fortunes of the Muslims in India. He went off to England in a huff and on his return, after hobnobbing with the British, he began to demand Pakistan.
Sudarshanji refers to the article by Ashok Prabhakar published in Punjab Kesari in which the latter alleges that the RSS was not able to stomach the popularity of Gandhi not only in the country but abroad too and thus started countering it by praising Mohammad Ali Jinnah. To refute this allegation, Sudarshanji quotes the two slokas which every Swayamsevak recites daily.
There are many interesting viewpoints presented, particularly about the role played by Gandhi and Nehru over the Kashmir issue and the Indian Constitution. -MG
(Lokhit Prakashan, Sanskriti Bhavan, Rajinder Nagar, Lucknow-226 004.)
