Had it been know that Jinnah suffered from tuberculosis and did not have much time to live, there is a possibility Partition could have been averted.
Journalist Kuldip Nayar's autobiography recounts Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah's despairing remark, "What have I done?", after witnessing the mass displacement during the 1947 Partition. The article also details Nayar's own grim experiences of the communal violence and human tragedy at the time, highlighting the immense upheaval that accompanied the division of the subcontinent, now commemorated as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day.
Pakistan is set to bestow its highest civilian honour, Nishan-e-Imtiaz, upon two Mumbai-based Parsi doctors. The award recognises their crucial role in maintaining the secrecy surrounding Muhammad Ali Jinnah's terminal illness, a secret that a federal minister suggests was pivotal in the creation of Pakistan.
August 15 was the date of India's Independence, so why did transfer of power happen at the stroke of midnight August 14-15?
Although the front seat in my car will miss his presence, the echoes he left behind will remain for long. K R Nayar mourns legendary cricket writer Qamar Ahmed.
Aamir Khan's upcoming film, aims to shed light on the 1952-1953 India-Pakistan series, which occurred just five years after Partition and marked Pakistan's first official Test series.
'Gandhi was Thakur and Gabbar was Jinnah.'
The only thing that might make the BJP stop trying to isolate Muslims completely will be if substantial numbers of the community vote for the party that flaunts its animosity towards it, notes Jyoti Punwani.
The world had almost completely forgotten about Partition, and many never learned about it, says Guneeta Singh Bhalla, the woman who founded the 1947 Partition Archive.
'Partition was a two-sided story in a very big way.' 'We've oversimplified it, blamed the British, thought of ourselves only as victims.' 'We've been both victims and perpetrators.'
Abul Kalam Azad chose not to contest Congress Presidency and to throw his weight behind Nehru, instead of Patel, a decision he would come to regret. Patel would have seen his plan through, while Nehru, in Azad's opinion 'gave Jinnah the opportunity to sabotage' it, notes Aakar Patel.
'Kashmir needs to be divided and we need the land of Panun Kashmir in Kashmir.'
The Delhi University will set up a Centre for Independence and Partition Studies to facilitate research on the "high voltage politics" accompanying Partition and how the then central leadership failed to contain the "germs of separatism", documents show.
'If you watch songs like Acha Ji Main Haari Chalo Maan Jao Na, Lag Ja Gale or Jhumka Gira Re, you'll notice they're not just a distraction. There's a story unfolding within them.'
'They wanted the city to be a great business hub. They didn't like the fact that taxes collected in Bombay would go outside the city.'
'Jinnah developed a belief that Gandhi had stolen the tag of the leader of the Indian people from him and that he later used religion to reduce Gandhi's idea of a united India to naught was his revenge.'
Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw Field Marshal K M Cariappa Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh The three highest-ranking military heroes of the Indian Armed Forces. They were the rarest of the rare. The bravest of the brave.
It was good fortune for India to have Atal Bihari Vajpayee lead the government at a crucial moment in our history. He avoided India meeting the fate of Iraq or Ukraine, asserts military historian Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The British administration ignored the mounting evidence of violence between Hindus and Muslims... Military historian Barney White-Spunner traces the countdown to the tragedy in his book, Partition.
'When you watch Freedom At Midnight, I want you to feel like you are sitting on a ticking time bomb.'
India agreed to give up the Poonch salient as well as Uri. To the north India also proposed to give up land in the Gurez sector giving the entire Neelam/Kinshanganga valley to Pakistan. In return India sought control of the post dominating Kargil town, points out Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'If you can have Rampur flown magically to Pakistan's borders, I might ask the nawab to accede to Pakistan. Else, I'm afraid we have no choice in the matter but to join India.'
The United Kingdom extracted USD 64.82 trillion from India over a century of colonialism between 1765 and 1900 and USD 33.8 trillion of this went to the richest 10 per cent -- enough money to carpet London in notes of 50 British pound almost four times over.
'Nehru had multiple chances to make compromises, that would have preserved a united India, and he chose not to,' Nisid Hajari tells Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com
Pratinav Anil is able to foresee some agency and assertion on the part of India's Muslims. His hope emanates from the citizenship rights movement of Muslims in 2019-2020, notes Mohammad Sajjad.
'We were activists when we were students. It was as students that we were propelled to fight for justice. Neither of us regret that.' 'Where the country is now, more and more people should become vocal.'
'Sheikh Abdullah ruled the state with secular values. Post 1953, when he was sacked, corruption took over governance.'
India's struggle for freedom is one of the most unique and compelling stories of the 20th century.
'I didn't want to do a highlight reel with greatest hits of Yash Raj Films.' 'I wanted to do an actual story.'
'The tank battle was fought at ranges of 300-700 metres.' 'It was a rare example of the complete destruction of a squadron by another squadron.'
'It was Maulana Azad's foresight which created the IITs, UGC, science academies across the country.'
Besides his strategic and tactical acumen, it was his amazing personality, quick wit and ability to remain unflustered under any circumstances that stood him apart from almost any leader one has read about or known, recalls Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
Almost all will say no. Then ask them why they don't push back at those who rise the slogan of Khalistan. Somebody would confront you with a counter-question: If people can talk of a Hindu Rashtra, why get so upset if others talk of a Sikh Nation, points out Shekhar Gupta.
On Jawaharlal Nehru's 134th birth anniversary, Utkarsh Mishra recounts incidents where the first prime minister showed exemplary courage, bravery and integrity.
Glimpses of The Legend from our archives.
'I am not envious of those who are making millions. It's their era and I had my era.'
The West Bengal government on Monday made public the cabinet papers on Netaji and allied subjects from 1938 to 1947.
'We are ready to surrender,' Lieutenant General A A K Niazi said over the phone from Dhaka.
Bhagat Singh was born on September 28, 1907 in Banga village in Lyallpur district, now Faisalabad in Pakistan Punjab.
'The obsession of the Pakistan army with India leads to several destabilising things. Support for the Taliban in Afghanistan. Support for groups like the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, that have attacked India. Every time you get an attack like that there is a possibility of a war. And then the build up of the their nuclear arsenals. Chances of a nuclear weapon landing in the hands of a terrorist group, or a nuclear war breaking out, are tiny. But they are higher here than anywhere else in the world.'
