Are unresolved questions of Partition reflected in Pahalgam tragedy, asks Mani Shankar Aiyar
New Delhi, Apr 27 (PTI): Veteran Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar on Saturday wondered whether the Pahalgam tragedy was a result of unresolved questions of the Partition.
Addressing a book release function here, the former Union minister said the question that was posed to the country then and faced it today was whether Muslims in India felt accepted, cherished and celebrated.
"Many people almost prevented Partition, but it happened because there were differences in value systems and assessments of the nature of India's nationhood and its civilisational inheritance between people like Gandhi, Pandit Nehru, Jinnah and many other Muslims who did not agree with Mr Jinnah.
"But the fact is that the Partition happened and till today we are living with the consequences of that Partition. Is this how we should be living? Is that the unresolved questions of the Partition reflected in the terrible tragedy... in Pahalgam on April 22," he said.
Twenty-six people, mostly tourists, were gunned down by terrorists at Baisaran meadow in south Kashmir's Pahalgam on Tuesday.
Aiyar said Pakistan's dream of being the protector of Muslims in the subcontinent ended after the 1971 war, when Bangladesh became a separate country.
There was the partition of 1971, when more than half of Pakistan's population and a very important part of its territory deliberately moved away from it on the ground that it was not enough to be Muslim and it was also necessary to be Bengali, the Congress leader said.
"And it was the failure to understand that every salvation has more than one dimension to this identity that was responsible for what happened to Pakistan in 1971. Its dream of being the homeland of Muslims of India and being regarded as the protector of the Muslim community all over the subcontinent was finished forever," he said.
Reflecting on the pre-Partition period, Aiyar said the real question that was posed to India at that time and which continues to haunt it today is what is to be done with what were then about 100 million Muslims and 200 million Muslims now.
He further said, "Do we accept Jinnah's view and say 'no, they are a separate nation living amongst us as saboteurs or potential saboteurs', or do we look at them and say 'they are part and parcel of us'? Do we define ourselves as a composite or do we say 'no, we have only one dimension in our identity and that is the religious dimension of Hinduism'?"
"But in today's India, does a Muslim feel that he is accepted? Does a Muslim feel that he is cherished? Does a Muslim feel that he is celebrated? Why should I answer my own questions? Ask any Muslim and you will get the answers," he added.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Australia retains the Ashes with 2 tests to spare after a tense victory over England in Adelaide
Adelaide (AP): Australia retained the Ashes with two matches to spare after paceman Mitchell Starc took three of the last four wickets to blunt England's defiant comeback Sunday in a tense fifth-day finish to the third cricket test.
Australia started Day 5 needing four wickets to retain the Ashes, with England resuming at 6-207 and still 228 runs away from the victory target of 435 that would have required a world record to achieve.
“Feels pretty awesome,” Australia captain Pat Cummins said of the 82-run win at the Adelaide Oval. “We got it done.”
Cummins missed the first two tests while recovering from a back problem, with Steve Smith leading the team to two eight-wicket wins. Smith was ruled out of the third test about a half-hour before the toss because of vertigo.
“You can't really rush things here in Australia, it doesn't work that way,” Cummins said of the test going the distance. “It's a good old fashioned grind a lot of the time and, yeah, I love the toil from all the guys today.
“It got a little bit closer than I would have liked, but pretty happy.”
Tense Day 5
========
Starc took the only wicket in the morning session — Jamie Smith running out of patience and caught by Cummins for 60 — as England piled on 102 runs.
England's rally had narrowed the Ashes equation at lunch on the last day: Australia needed three wickets to clinch the old urn in Adelaide and England needed 126 runs to keep the five-match series alive.
No team had scored more than West Indies' 418 (in a three-wicket win over Australia in 2003) in the fourth innings to win a test.
But England skipper Ben Stokes later said he felt like his team were “on for another heist” in the morning session and was confident of achieving a record total.
With England's lower-order doggedly mounting pressure and Australia's attack missing veteran spinner Nathan Lyon, who limped off the field with an injured hamstring, the leading bowler in the series delivered for the hosts.
Starc, who was voted player of the match in Australia's eight-wicket wins in Perth and Brisbane, took the wickets of Will Jacks (47) — spectacularly caught by Marnus Labuschagne, who dived from slip in front of the wicketkeeper — and Jofra Archer (3).
That left Scott Boland to finish it off. He dismissed Josh Tongue (1) and left Brydon Carse stranded on 39 as England was all out for 352.
Player of the match
============
Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey was voted player of the match after posting a home ground hundred in the first innings, a half-century in the second innings in a 162-run stand with Travis Head, who top-scored with 170, and completing seven dismissals for the test.
England's out of contention
=================
England captain Ben Stokes said he was happier with the resilience shown by his team this week, despite ultimately surrendering the series in 11 days.
“This is going to hurt quite a bit,” Stokes said. “Obviously that dream that we came here with is now over, which is obviously incredibly disappointing.
“But look, we've got two more (tests) to go on and that's where the focus needs to switch to now.”
Injured Lyon
=========
A day after swinging the momentum back in Australia's favor with a three-wicket burst, veteran spinner Lyon hurt his right hamstring diving to cut off a boundary in the outfield and was ruled out of the remainder of the match. He got up and clutched the back of his right leg before walking off with a trainer when England was 249-6.
Long, long drought
============
Domestic media noted Sunday that it had been 5,462 days since England last won a test match in Australia — dating back to January 2011.
Since then, the Australians have won the series Down Under 5-0, 4-0, 4-0 and are now 3-0.
Melbourne will host the Boxing Day test starting Dec. 26 and Sydney will host the fifth test in the New Year.
