Found this in the archives Ingrid Srinath asked: On 8/12/07, shiv sastry <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > > Thanks for posting this. There are some minor factual inaccuracies, but I > > write to express my delight at seeing the author echo something that I >> have >> felt and stated in various places - i.e that the birth of Pakistan was the >> first blow in favor of pan-Islamic fundamentalism > do you also agree with the author that the birth of muslim nationalism in > india was a consequence of nehru/gandhi/congress hubris?
That actually played a useful role as per my current information. Muslim nationalism in India was based on Maududi's Islamist theory that found expression in Iqbal's views. Iqbal was the man who wrote "Sare Jahan se accha" Jinnah was a staunch Congressman who was rebuffed by the Nehru/Gandhi Congress - possible because he made his political speeches in English - the only language he knew. He retreated out of politics to England, but came back later. Jinnah was influenced by Iqbal, and felt that Muslim nationalism was a good plank for him to ride to power and to oppose the hated "Hindu" Congress. Jinnah's ambition was useful to Churchill in opposing demands for independence during the war - and Churchill was under pressure from BOTH the Indian Congress and Roosevelt. The Pakistan idea was born out of Maududi and Iqbal's Islamist exclusivism, Nehru-Gandhi hubris, Jinnah's ambition, and the geopolitical needs of Great Britain. But Pakistan, or some form of partition would have been inevitable anyway . Pakistan was the best we got and was good for India (my opinions) My main source on the details of history of partition in the years 1940 to 1947 are from the book by Narendra Singh Sarila entitled "In the shadow of the Great Game - the untold story of Partition" However I am now reading Ramchandra Guha's "India after Gandhi" - a new book of 700 plus pages (I am on page 36) and my views could get modified. Ram Guha is a TamBram younger brother of a classmate of mine from medical college. I owe it to my classmate to ensure that Ram gets at least some royalty shiv
