Jaswant Singh to launch “Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence” in Islamabad on April 14

ISLAMABAD - Former Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh would formally launch his controversial yet popular book- “Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence” in Islamabad on April 14.

Many noted politicians, parliamentarians and former ministers both from India and Pakistan are also likely to be present on the occasion, The Daily Times reports.

Singh’s son Manvendra Singh and daughter-in-law Chitra Kumari are also expected to be present at the book launch function, Oxford University Press’ (OUP), which has the publication and distribution rights for the book in Pakistan, managing director, Ameena Saiyid Obe said.

The book was released on August 2009 in India and soon became the subject of controversy, subsequently leading to Singh’s expulsion from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

It contains controversial opinions of Singh, claiming that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s centralised policy was responsible for partition and that Jinnah was portrayed as a demon by India for the partition.

The book has already received commendation from noted writers and experts Mark Tully, Meghnad Desai, Ram Jethmalani, Namwar Singh and Hameed Haroon, who believe that Jinnah’s role needed to be reassessed.

Not only intellectuals, but people from different strata of the society both in India and Pakistan have also shown interest in the book, in which Singh has praised Jinnah and described him as a leader who had strong faith in united India, while blaming Sardar Patel for the partition in 1947. (ANI)