Let us not talk of dead issues
Oye Jinnah, Jinnah oye, oye Jinnah oye! That is India’s political chartbuster these days.
The BJP is a victim of this new anthem, thanks to its inherent contradictions, its gross overreactions and maybe even its bad management of affairs; Pakistan, of course, is laughing all the way to its modules in the nook and cranny of India; the Congress is all fun as the main Opposition party struggles to answer existential questions Pakistan’s creator has put it into; and the public — well the public is left as bemused as it usually is when, say, politicians speak the truth, or for that matter, stick to blatant lies.
So what is it with this Jinnah thing? And why on Earth does the man get this repeated posthumous glory of being tagged an Indian nationalist, that too when Sardar Patel is being accused of Partition?
For God’s sake! This bacon-eating, cigar smoking, wine sipping Muslim with entirely Western ways has never been questioned for his credentials in Pakistan where there is impromptu and often destructive rage over everything perceived to be defiling Islam.
Then why are we talking about him so much? He is dead and long gone. All he leaves behind is a legacy of Partition, strife and a common denominator called unrest.
There is nothing bigger than luck I suppose or else why would anyone on this side of the border give so much cognizance to a book uttering by a partyman?
There are much livelier issues that need to be addressed — both by the BJP, and the Congress which is in such obvious glee over the gloom in the rival camp.
Needless to say, there is inflation, terrorism, price rise, violence and many more talking points where something needs to be done. It really does not matter whether Jinnah took away a chunk because he was petulant about not getting the highest seat of power in a land where he came from; it really does not matter that Nehru may have messed up all those years ago. Really, no use crying over spilt milk.
What our politicians need to do is leave all this squabbling over dead matters alone and see how another historical blunder of India losing global advantage is saved from being committed.
India has, for long, been on the threshold of world acclaim with its manpower, brain power and resource power. It is being touted to have staved off a global slowdown due to a robust desi economy; it has shown signs of bouncing back into the midfield without so much as a dribble.
It is battling inner convulsions though and it would be becoming of our men in Parliament to see it does not implode under the weight of its very own domestic issues as Jinnah smiles from his grave and Patel turns in his!
Meanwhile, a lot may come out of this big churning process the BJP is going through. Old age may pass away, young ideas and men may stream in; glasnost may just become its salvation after such a big jolt. If that happens, which is very likely after every storm, Jaswant Singh and his book may become as revered for delivering the goods as he has made Jinnah out to be.
History has long been interpreted, misinter-preted debated, denied, questioned and mauled. Actually, history is what a certain set of historians convey it to you and me as. A left liberal interprets history quite divorced from what a saffron man might see it as. Both may be wrong, both may be right. Call it the ek chidiya, anek chidiya syndrome — in plainer terms, let a thousand views bloom, be it Jinnah, Patel or Nehru.
Common India does not really see a point in all this debate over who did what to lose or gain or give away what.
It is looking for someone who can keep together whatever is left to be salvaged.
The BJP is a victim of this new anthem, thanks to its inherent contradictions, its gross overreactions and maybe even its bad management of affairs; Pakistan, of course, is laughing all the way to its modules in the nook and cranny of India; the Congress is all fun as the main Opposition party struggles to answer existential questions Pakistan’s creator has put it into; and the public — well the public is left as bemused as it usually is when, say, politicians speak the truth, or for that matter, stick to blatant lies.
So what is it with this Jinnah thing? And why on Earth does the man get this repeated posthumous glory of being tagged an Indian nationalist, that too when Sardar Patel is being accused of Partition?
For God’s sake! This bacon-eating, cigar smoking, wine sipping Muslim with entirely Western ways has never been questioned for his credentials in Pakistan where there is impromptu and often destructive rage over everything perceived to be defiling Islam.
Then why are we talking about him so much? He is dead and long gone. All he leaves behind is a legacy of Partition, strife and a common denominator called unrest.
There is nothing bigger than luck I suppose or else why would anyone on this side of the border give so much cognizance to a book uttering by a partyman?
There are much livelier issues that need to be addressed — both by the BJP, and the Congress which is in such obvious glee over the gloom in the rival camp.
Needless to say, there is inflation, terrorism, price rise, violence and many more talking points where something needs to be done. It really does not matter whether Jinnah took away a chunk because he was petulant about not getting the highest seat of power in a land where he came from; it really does not matter that Nehru may have messed up all those years ago. Really, no use crying over spilt milk.
What our politicians need to do is leave all this squabbling over dead matters alone and see how another historical blunder of India losing global advantage is saved from being committed.
India has, for long, been on the threshold of world acclaim with its manpower, brain power and resource power. It is being touted to have staved off a global slowdown due to a robust desi economy; it has shown signs of bouncing back into the midfield without so much as a dribble.
It is battling inner convulsions though and it would be becoming of our men in Parliament to see it does not implode under the weight of its very own domestic issues as Jinnah smiles from his grave and Patel turns in his!
Meanwhile, a lot may come out of this big churning process the BJP is going through. Old age may pass away, young ideas and men may stream in; glasnost may just become its salvation after such a big jolt. If that happens, which is very likely after every storm, Jaswant Singh and his book may become as revered for delivering the goods as he has made Jinnah out to be.
History has long been interpreted, misinter-preted debated, denied, questioned and mauled. Actually, history is what a certain set of historians convey it to you and me as. A left liberal interprets history quite divorced from what a saffron man might see it as. Both may be wrong, both may be right. Call it the ek chidiya, anek chidiya syndrome — in plainer terms, let a thousand views bloom, be it Jinnah, Patel or Nehru.
Common India does not really see a point in all this debate over who did what to lose or gain or give away what.
It is looking for someone who can keep together whatever is left to be salvaged.
Published August 30, 2009; http://www.dailypioneer.com/199004/Let-us-not-talk-of-dead-issues.html
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