Co-sponsored by the Asia Society and the CASI/UPenn Nand & Jeet Khemka Distinguished Lecture Series
The Honorable Jaswant Singh
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Government of India
CASI/University of Pennsylvania Distinguished International Scholar
In conversation with
Steven I. Wilkinson, Nilekani Professor of India and South Asian Studies and Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, Yale University
The partition of India has been, without a doubt, the most wounding trauma of the 20th century. Why did this partition take place at all? Who was or is responsible' Mohammed Ali Jinnah? The Congress Party? The British? Jaswant Singh attempts to find an answer'his answer, as there may be no definitive answer. Jinnah's political journey began as "an ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity" yet ended with his becoming the "sole spokesman" of Muslims in India; the founder of Pakistan, the Quaid-e-Azam. How and why did this transformation take place?
While no Indian or Pakistani politician or Member of Parliament has ventured an analytical, political biography of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah, this book attempts an objective evaluation. Singh asks when this questionable thesis of "Muslims as a separate nation" first originated and where it led the Indian subcontinent and Pakistan. He also asks why there was then a need for the establishment of Bangladesh, as well as the question of where Pakistan is headed.
Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence will be available for sale and signing. Shop AsiaStore for the book.
6:00 ' 7:30 pm: Program
7:30 ' 8:00 pm: Book signing and reception
Please note: this event will be a free live video webcast from 6:00 to 7:30 EST on AsiaSociety.org. Online viewers are encouraged to submit their questions to firstname.lastname@example.org.
Policy programs at the Asia Society are generously supported by the Nicholas Platt Endowment for Public Policy.The Nand & Jeet Khemka Distinguished Lecture Series is an endowed program of the Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI) of the University of Pennsylvania.