Freedom at Midnight
Written by S. M. Hali
Wednesday, 01 August 2012 00:00
A great body of literature provides accounts on the independence of the subcontinent, but India
and Pakistan have had to face two very different fates.
The independence of Pakistan and India has been fairly well chronicled, both with accuracy
and biases. For instance, the renowned book ‘Freedom at Midnight’ (1975) authored by Larry
Collins and Dominique La Pierre, famous historians/writers, for a major part, revolves around
the incidents that took place from the time Lord Mountbatten reluctantly accepted his posting as
the last Governor General of India up until Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination. It records the end
of the British Raj -- the end of the Empire on the subcontinent -- the handing over of the “Jewel
in the Crown” and the embodiment of the freedom movement, which started long years before
Mohandas Gandhi.
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Freedom at Midnight
Written by S. M. Hali
Wednesday, 01 August 2012 00:00
Told in a series of vignettes, the book jumps back and forth throughout the long account of
Britain’s adventure and involvement in India. The authors have heavily leaned on narratives of
Lord Mountbatten: the last Indian Viceroy and a close friend of Jawaharlal Nehru, Jinnah’s
nemesis and according to the Beaumont Papers, the man who swayed Cyril Radcliff in shifting
the final Pak-India boundary to India’s advantage by reassigning Gurdaspur to it, thereby
providing ground access to Kashmir. In 1947, Christopher Beaumont was a private secretary to
the senior British judge, Sir Cyril Radcliffe, chairman of the Indo-Pakistan Boundary
Commission; the Beaumont Papers were made public in 1992.
‘Midnight’s Children’ is another volume on Pak-India Independence, authored by Salman
Rushdie (of Satanic Verses fame), which also deals with India’s transition from British
colonialism to independence, leading to the partition of 1947. Narrated in Rushdie’s inimitable
style, the story is told through a mythical character Saleem Sinai, born at the stroke of midnight
August 14/15 1947, i.e. sharing birthdays with Pakistan and India. The novel, which was
awarded both the Booker Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1981, is now being
turned into a movie by Deepa Mehta, is set in the context of actual historical events
interspersed with historical fiction.
Irrespective of narratives, six and a half decades later, even a neutral observer can take
cognizance of the deep divide that led to the creation of both states. Jinnah envisaged a
separate homeland for Muslims, based on bonhomie and camaraderie, which would lead both
nations to achieve their potential while India aspired for freedom from British slavery.
Regrettably, born of the same womb, separated at birth, India and Pakistan have clashed on
numerous occasions since independence and have been on the threshold of war many times.
Ever since the two acquired nuclear weapons, the world has held its breath lest the duo get
embroiled in a conflict, which may turn into a holocaust. The irony is that despite sharing a
language, culture and history, the two have been locked over military-security concerns for
decades, much to the detriment of their populace, since the billions of dollars expended on
arms and weapons could have alternate uses like development of infrastructure, education,
health and other basic amenities.
The very basis of independence has been contested by various writers and thinkers. Mahatma
Gandhi opposed the creation of Pakistan, which is chronicled by D.G. Tendulkar. In his book,
‘Life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’ quoting from his argument presented after the
adoption of the Lahore Resolution, “The ‘two-nation’ theory is an untruth. The vast majority of
Muslims in India are converts to Islam or are descendants of converts. They did not become a
separate nation, as soon as they became converts....”
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Freedom at Midnight
Written by S. M. Hali
Wednesday, 01 August 2012 00:00
We, the students of Pakistan’s history like to believe that Jinnah had the prescience to foresee
the predicament of Muslims in undivided India thus he renewed his efforts for independence for
the Muslims of the subcontinent, although in his epoch making speech to the Constituent
Assembly on 11 August 1947, Jinnah declared that people of all religious creeds and faith
were welcome to inhabit Pakistan. Yet, partition riots on both sides of the divide took a heavy
toll of lives.
Jaswant Singh, former BJP politician and author of ‘Jinnah - India, Partition, Independence,’
now reveals that Congress leaders Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel “conceded”
Pakistan to Jinnah with the British acting as an ever helpful midwife. Maulana Abul Kalam
Azad, a Muslim leader of the Congress, in April 1946, during an interview to renowned
journalist Shorish Kashmiri, had predicted that religious conflict would tear apart Pakistan and
its eastern half would carve out its own future. He even said that Pakistan’s incompetent rulers
might pave the way for military rule. He opined that Muslims of the Indian subcontinent are a
minority but to maintain their collective strength and safeguarding their rights, they should not
divide India.
Unfortunately, most of his predictions came true. The Muslims in India remain downtrodden but
the plight of Pakistan is no better. In 1971, East Pakistan was wrestled free with Indian support
and it became Bangladesh. Military rule has plagued Pakistan for most of its existence, while
corruption, bad governance, ethnic and sectarian strife have wreaked havoc within the country.
India’s strength has been its adherence to the principles of democracy and a string of rulers,
who have guided its economy towards a path of relative prosperity. India’s teeming millions still
starve but it presents the dazzling opportunity for a vast market to the international community,
after earning their respect and being recognized as a nuclear power; it vies for a permanent
seat in the UN Security Council which will further enhance its stature. Pakistan on the other
hand, having been deprived of the able guidance of both Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan in its
infancy, has been led by mere pygmies, whose lack of vision has hampered its growth and
today it is looked upon as a harbinger of terrorism and as being on the brink of failure.
Pakistan can still come out of the quagmire it is steeped in by focusing on the growth of its
economy and indulging in trade and commerce with its neighbors on an equal footing. The
progress of ASEAN, SCO and EU should serve as examples for emulation where neighbors
share the strengths and opportunities of each other, sinking differences and bringing prosperity
to all. 3/3