Author: Rafiq Zakaria
Publisher: Popular Prakashan
Year: 2001
Language: English
Pages: 276
ISBN/UPC (if available): 817154892x
Description
This book is one of the most impartial and scholarly studies of Muslim politics in India with special reference to Jinnah's leadership and its aftermaths - the division of India.
Even after the lapse of over fifty years, the question of how and why India was divided remains unresolved: various theories are propounded; not all historians are agreed. Nevertheless there is unanimity that irrespective of the causes, it was Jinnah who finally brought about the division; Nehru and Patel failed to resist him. Why did Jinnah do it? What was his motive? Did he do it because of his love for Islam? Was it indeed to free the Muslim from Hindu domination?
The celebrated author on international repute, Dr. Rafiq Zakaria who has written several best-sellers on the complexities of Indian politics, seeks the answers to these questions. He traces the chequered career of Jinnah from his birth to death, probes every aspect of his political life, and gives a lucid and penetrating insight into his relentless pursuit of power which eventually resulted in the division of India and the bloody and disastrous aftermath that followed in its wake and which has continued to destabilized South Asia ever since.
Contents
Dedication
Preface
CHAPTER I
Early Years
CHAPTER II
Political Initiation
CHAPTER III
Efforts at Unity
CHAPTER IV
The Lean period
CHAPTER V
Decline of Clout
CHAPTER VI
Temporary Retirement
CHAPTER VII
Undoing the Past
CHAPTER VIII
Preparing for Separation
CHAPTER IX
Demand for Pakistan
CHAPTER X
Encounter with Gandhi
CHAPTER XI
Viceregal Endeavours
CHAPTER XII
Failure of Negotiations
CHAPTER XIII
Surrender to Partition
CHAPTER XIV
Creation of Pakistan