The former Foreign Minister and a towering Congress leader, Natwar Singh, on Sunday, said that he was glad that India’s partition happened as he believed that the Muslim League would not have allowed the undivided country to function and there would have been more “direct action days” if partition had not occurred.
Former Foreign Minister Natwar Singh: If India had not been partitioned, Muslim League would not have let Congress government function. So, I am a supporter of the partition.
Speaking at the launch of BJP MP MJ Akbar’s new book, ‘Gandhi’s Hinduism: The Struggle Against Jinnah’s Islam’, at Pranab Mukherjee’s residence, Singh said it would have been impossible for the country to function normally if the partition had not taken place. “According to me, I am pleased that India was partitioned. Because if India had not been partitioned we would have witnessed more Direct Action Days — the first we had during Jinnah’s (Muhammad Ali) lifetime was on August 16 (1946) when thousands of Hindus were killed in Kolkata (then Calcutta), and of course then the retaliation took place in Bihar where thousands of Muslims were killed.”
On August 16, 1946, Muhammad Ali Jinnah exhorted his fellow Muslims to observe ‘Direct Action Day’ in support of their demand for a separate nation for Muslims. The call for observing ‘Direct Action Day’ witnessed widespread communal riots between Hindus and Muslims, especially in what was Bengal province of British India, leavings thousands and lakhs perished in the ensuing violence.
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