It is unfortunate that the BJP should have taken the stand it has on Jaswant Singh’s book on Jinnah. Singh’s is not a new view (‘BJP’s Jinnah obsession’, August 19) and historians like Ayesha Jalal and others have given similar interpretations in the past. Even LK Advani had expressed his view that Jinnah was secular, so if Advani was allowed to remain as the head of the party, why the furore over Singh’s book? It is a sign of the fact that the party has not grown beyond its narrow anti-Muslim ideology, so anything that is seen as questioning that, howsoever mildly, is treated with hostility.
Taking a fresh look at historical figures who have had a great influence on our lives is something that happens in every mature country. Ironically, it was under the BJP that a series of historians were employed to take a fresh look at history, to remove what were considered to be Marxist interpretations of history. If that was all right, why is it not all right for Singh to question the demonising of Jinnah?
Rajeev Singh, New Delhi
