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Journalism of Courage
• I have never been an admirer of L.K. Advani but he deserves kudos for his comments on M.A. Jinnah. I find the hue and cry raised over his comments rather ridiculous, specially as someone of Dr Ambedkar’s standing said of him (1945) that “it is doubtful, if there is a politician in India to whom the adjective incorruptible can be more fittingly applied”. No no less a person than Gokhale asserted that Jinnah was “free from all sectarian prejudices and was the best ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity”. He has been unjustly vilified as a communalist, fanatic, separatist, egoist, enemy of the Congress. Any unbiased student of history would know that Jinnah’s earliest mentors were all non-Muslims. Besides Gokhale, who was an early mentor, he came under Dadabhai Naoroji’s influence during his stay in England. Before things soured between him and Congress, he always considered himself an Indian. Speaking in the Imperial Legislative Assembly in ’25 he stated that he was “a nationalist first, a nationalist second and a nationalist last”. Sadly it was Mahatma Gandhi who, perhaps unwittingly, heralded the birth of communal politics in India. During a reception organised by the Gujarat Society (presided over by Jinnah), welcoming Gandhiji back to India, Gandhiji said that he was glad to find a ‘Muslim’ chairing the reception. It was an unfortunate statement as Jinnah, who had never flaunted his Muslim identity, took it as a personal affront. As Stanley Wolpert observes in his book on Jinnah, this statement of Gandhi set the tone of their relationship always at odds.
— Gautam Gupta Delhi
Keep dreaming
• There are enough precedents to show that US policies are tailored to meet their political needs (‘US may back India’s UNSC bid’, IE, June 17). I am sure the US will settle on some Islamic country, like Egypt, in order to project itself as a friend of Islam. India, with one-sixth of the world’s population and with the second largest Muslim population, will be left out and will continue to daydream about a UNSC seat.
— A.S.R. Krishnan Chennai
Typical!
• Apropos of the news item, ‘Governor raises red flag on ULFA talks’ (IE, June 15), Assam Governor Lt Gen Ajai Singh cautioned the Centre on its proposal to engage the ULFA in peace talks. Frankly such statements from a governor appointed by the Centre should not surprise anyone. Neither does he have any roots in Assam, nor does he feel the immense pain of the Assamese. The governor’s worries about talking to the ULFA confirms the government’s lack of trust in the people of Northeast.
— Bhaskar Mahanta New Delhi
White elephants?
• Does India need governors? If the answer is a genuine yes, does India need so many governors? Does anybody know how much a governor is costing the taxpayers each year on an average and how much of that money is well spent? Can we not do away with the office of governors altogether and save hundreds, if not thousands, of crores of taxpayers’ rupees? In a country where tens of crores of people go to bed hungry, is it not a criminal waste to have so many white elephants?
— R.P. Rammohan Hyderabad
Correction
• The piece, ‘Jinnah: Secular and communal’, which appeared on the Op-Ed (IE, June 17), was written by Narender Singh Sarila, formerly India’s ambassador to France and ADC to Lord Mountbatten in 1947-48.
— The error is deeply regretted.
