JD(U) MLC fuels Jinnah fire in Bihar, RJD, Cong hit back

PATNA The controversy over Mohammad Ali Jinnah, which started with the statement of Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, got further fuelled on Friday in Bihar, with ruling Janata Dal (United) legislator Khalid Anwar putting part of the blame for Partition on the Congress as well as Jawahar Lal Nehru

PATNA

Khalid Anwar

The controversy over Mohammad Ali Jinnah, which started with the statement of Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, got further fuelled on Friday in Bihar, with ruling Janata Dal (United) legislator Khalid Anwar putting part of the blame for Partition on the Congress as well as Jawahar Lal Nehru.

“Jinnah was a great freedom fighter of united India and has great respect in Pakistan. There is no doubt that he was a big leader. He was responsible for the Partition of the country, but no less responsible was the Congress and Pt. Nehru, who became the Prime Minister of India,” Anwar told a TV channel when asked about his views on remarks about Hindutva in Congress leader Salman Khurshid’s book.

“I told them that this was the divide and rule politics of the Congress that led to the partition of the country. This is the brand of politics Congress plays and has been playing,” he said.

A few days ago, Bihar chief minister had dismissed debates over Jinnah as “irrelevant” . “Did Mahatma Gandhi like Partition? No, he didn’t. It all happened due to the situation that then unfolded. Later, Pakistan also got divided. What is the relevance of discussing about it,” Kumar had said.

However, Anwar’s statement triggered immediate reactions. BJP MLC and minister Samrat Choudhary advised those praising Jinnah to shift to Pakistan. “This is a country which prays Mother India and Mahatma Gandhi. Those who want to praise Jinnah should move to Pakistan. There is no place for such elements in India,” he said.

Rashtriya Janata Dal leader and Rajya Sabha member Manoj Jha described the debate over Jinnah as “unfortunate” and a reflection of “lack of knowledge about history” just to deviate people’s attention from issues that concern them. “Of late, people who have no sense of history and have not read about freedom movement or how things were shaped, particularly 1945 onwards leading to partition, are trying to pit one great leader against another just to distract people’s attention from core issues. But then, what else you expect when a Padma Shri recipient lady says that the actual freedom India got was in 2014. Another person said India got freedom on 99-year lease. A couple of years ago, a leader described Nathuram Godse as the greatest patriot and she sits in the Parliament. These unfortunate statements tell that we are heading for a disaster “ Jha said.

Former Bihar Congress chief Anil Sharma said distorting facts could not change history. “It is established that Jinnah was adamant on Partition, as he wanted a separate Islamic state, while the leadership of the Congress was in the hands of Gandhiji, who had clearly said Partition would happen only over his dead body. Congress cannot be blamed for it by any stretch of imagination. It is just a figment of imagination of some people to take political advantage by distorting historical facts,” he said.