Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Historic tragedy

Sir, — This is with reference to the interview with the British historian Antony Copley in "Untold tales of Indian history" (Nov 30).

When Mohammed Ali Jinnah, who was initially in the Indian National Congress, realised that he could not ascend the power hierarchy, he joined the Muslim League and started advocating the `two-nation theory'. The fact that Nehru and Patel wanted to be the undisputed leaders of the INC intensified the power struggle.

When independence looked inevitable, the eyes of Nehru, Patel and Jinnah were on the prime ministerial post of free India, as they had already `tasted' power in British India. (Gandhiji's appeal to Congressmen in 1937 to attach to their posts `lightly and not tightly' apparently had no impact.) Had the leaders realised the importance of the country and not just their positions, Partition, an unforgettable tragedy in history, might have been avoided.

Mohamed Diwan Mydeen,
Tirunelveli, T.N.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Opinion

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Refocussing on peace
• Justice within prisons
• How soon can the U.S. exit Iraq?
• Why is Assam burning?
• Jogi's turn
• The Hindutva plank
• Indo-Pakistan ties
• Emulate him
• Hindi option
• Historic tragedy

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu