NDTV: India Better-off With Partition? -2/5

This is a solid panel discussion with leading scholars, columnists, intellectuals, and politicians on whether India has been better off with Partition. It represents a wide variety of perspectives and deals with such factors as: (a) flaws of the failed Cabinet Mission Plan that could have led to Balkanization of India; (b) disenchantment of Muslim immigrants from UP and Bihar with Punjabi domination in Pakistan; (c) historical existence of India as a unified "cultural" if not a "political" entity; (d) potential spillover in united India of Cold War power play and Middle Eastern religious politics; (e) extreme difficulty of integrating a "continental-size" country with a diverse population; (f) role of British in introducing and aggravating communal feelings between Hindus and Muslims; (g) redundancy of "minority syndrome" among Muslims in a unified Subcontinent; (h) extremely communally charged atmosphere in the 1940s that made Partition inevitable; (i) forging of an Indian "nation" after Partition via introduction of a Constitution and a liberal democracy; and (j) RSS "Akhand Bharat" ideology for reuniting the Subcontinent. The panel also discusses potential reunification of the Subcontinent and whether Muslims would have been better off in a united India.

The panel discussion was hosted by Vikram Chandra, host of the weekly Indian TV program "The Big Fight", in Fall 2009 following publication of Jaswant Singh's book on Jinnah and Partition; the episode was titled "An Undivided India?" The panelists are: (1) Salman Khurshid, Indian minister of Minority Affairs; (2) Ahok Malik, Senior Journalist at Pioneer; (3) Sir Mark Tully, former Bureau Chief of BBC, New Delhi; (4) Tarun Vijay, former editor of RSS weekly, Panchajanya, and a columnist of Times of India; (5) Ramachandra Guha, historian and columnist for the Telegraph and Hindustan Times; (6) Shatrujit Singh, Prince of Kapurthala; and (7) Yusuf Salahuddin, grandson of Allama Iqbal, one of the leading proponents of the "two-nation" theory.

PLEASE READ MY COMMENTS ON THE VIDEO BEFORE WATCHING.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• India
• Subcontinent
• Hindustan
• Pakistan
• Partition
• independence
• division
• breakup
• Quaid-e-Azam
• Mohammad
• Ali
• Jinnah
• Jawaharlal
• Nehru
• Mahatma
• Gandhi
• Patel
• Maulana
• Azad
• Mountbatten
• Indian
• National
• Congress
• Muslim
• League
• British
• responsibility
• responsible
• history
• factors
• forces
• causes
• reasons
• analysis
• perspectives
• historical
• overview
• consequences
• effects
• Two
• Nation
• Theory
• Hindus
• Sikh
• communal
• hate
• hatred
• divide
• communalism
• genocide
• SAARC
• reunification
• reunified
• reunited
• Akhand
• Bharat

[banu111]

from peshawar to mizoram and kanyakumari to kashmir. India would be great and big country.

[madhavasathishkumar]

most of them are driven by emotions and fantasies (i don't know about the people on the other side of the border). accept the hard facts; there are no hypothetical ideal situations with truck loads of if and buts. don't try to go back and fantasize. instead, try to make a new beginning.

[workhardt2]

@redhotarrows

This is a lie !

The first settlers in the Indian sub continent settled at the Indus River- Its this river that gives India its name. Also during the Murya Dynasty, Gupta Dynasty and Kushan Empire Pakistan was united with India (i.e Parts of India )

[workhardt2]

@AbzaMane

This Partition killed us all !

This would have been the most powerful region !

[workhardt2]

Akhand Bharat ! One day i hope to see a United India !

[counterstrikerify]

@superbosoy

agree on the EU concept it would be more economically beneficial for both countries

[khanna111]

guha is right. everybody else is living in a fools paradise.

[dpinzow]

To bring some light-hearted banter to the conversation, india would never suffer a shortage of fast bowlers (for those who watch cricket)

[MegaBaddog]

@TheEsotericDesi say that about  dr abul kalam the ex president

[MegaBaddog]

@plunkett1209 kya 26/11 ache ke liye huwa?

[workhardt2]

@superbosoy

Anthropologically, culturally,linguistically Bangladeshis are closer to India. Given that there are 140 million bengalis in Bangladesh and 90 million Bengalis in India. you though have ignored all of this, and has simply found a common bond in religion. This is the only commonality between Pakistan, Bangladesh. Historically as well Bangladesh has a common history with India. Clearly u are a religious person. Am i right ?

[superbosoy]

i am a bangladeshi muslim. i believe partition was right. it probably prevented genocide + civil war. however, though i do not want bangladesh to reunite with india, i would like bangladesh to reunite with pakistan (or atleast a union with pakistan like the EU). i am quite sure that almost all bangladeshis would like to reunite with our pakistani brothers. i believe that we are the same people and that reunification would help both bangladeshis and pakistanis

do any pakistanis agree with me?