While in a free country like ours everyone has the right to his/her opinion, people also have the right to ridicule bizarre ones, like the one voiced by a Kerala politician, and published in the RSS’ Malayalam mouthpiece.
The party has rightly distanced itself from the obnoxious view that Nathuram Godse should have targeted Nehru instead of Mahatma Gandhi, as the writer said India’s first PM was responsible for Partition.
This flies in the face of history. While Gandhi marked August 15, 1947 with a 24-hour fast as freedom came at an unacceptable price it was widely known that Nehru had opposed the creation of Pakistan tooth and nail. The one man responsible for polarising communities was Muhammed Ali Jinnah.
History says Jinnah and his party were responsible for the 1946 Kolkata riots that proved the final trigger.
The Congress’ leaders may have underestimated Jinnah when he made overtures in the 1930s, but once he knew he had the absolute support of his community in the 1940s, Jinnah simply refused a deal.
“The shortsightedness of Congress, Jinnah’s ambition, Britain’s cynicism — all these might have played their part, but by the early 1940s, Partition was written into the logic of Indian history”, notes historian Ramachandra Guha. To blame Nehru now is beyond the pale, and clearly beneath contempt.
