Had Godse killed Jinnah instead of Gandhi, partition would’ve been averted: Shiv Sena

Sanjay Raut has also outlined that partition of India was indeed a horrific event which left wounds on Hindus, however, those who opposed it just laid down their arms like the soldiers in Afghanistan

In the backdrop of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement to observe August 14 as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day, the Shiv Sena has questioned what did the people, who are now vouching for undivided India, do when the country was on the verge of the partition. The Sena has also said that the believer of ‘Undivided Hindurashtra’ had admitted to the two-nation theory and run away from the battleground.

Sanjay Raut said it was Lokmanya Tilak who had accepted the demand for Separate Electorates for the Muslims, which was eventually scrapped by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru after India got freedom. (HT File)

Shiv Sena parliamentarian Sanjay Raut, in his weekly column Rokthok in party mouthpiece Saamana, has said that there would have been no need to observe such a day had Nathuram Godse, who killed Mahatma Gandhi, had trained his gun on Jinnah, the man responsible for creation of Pakistan.

“Godse held Gandhi responsible for partition and killed him. Was Jinnah less responsible? Had Godse killed Jinnah, there would have been no need to observe Partition Horrors Remembrance Day in the first place, after 75 years. Jinnah secured Pakistan only on the strength of his typewriter and legal skills. Jinnah’s killing would have averted the creation of Pakistan,” said Raut.

Raut has also outlined that partition of India was indeed a horrific event which left wounds on Hindus, however, those who opposed it just laid down their arms like the soldiers in Afghanistan. Raut said those who advocate ‘Akhand Hindustan (Undivided India) and reunification of India and Pakistan were the ones who at the time of independence had accepted the idea of Pakistan and did not fight for it. He quoted Marathi scholar Narhar Kurundkar, who said that these people accepted the Muslim League’s theory of partition and had retreated from the battlefield.

Raut said that Jinnah and other Muslim leaders had left the Congress as Mahatma Gandhi refused to accede to their unreasonable demands for Muslims. He said it was Lokmanya Tilak who had accepted the demand for Separate Electorates for the Muslims, which was eventually scrapped by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru after India got freedom.

While signing off the article, Raut said if Modi wants to create ‘Akhand Hindustan’, it was a welcome move, but he needs to specify what will be the fate of 110 million Muslims residing in that country.

Reacting on the remarks in the column, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Ram Kadam said it was an attempt by the Sena to whitewash the deeds of the Congress.

“(Sena founder) Balasaheb Thackeray used to bash the Congress for its role in the partition of the country and here we have this Sena defending its role. This shows how they have compromised their ideology to remain in power. Sena should understand that PM Modi’s aim was to remind the present and the future generations that such incidents need to be prevented,” he said.