Page 8 - Pakistan Link - August 13, 2021

P8 – PAKISTAN LINK – AUGUST 13, 2021 OPINION

n By Ghazala Akbar Drawing a Line on the Events of 1947 proaches, Jinnah and Nehru address
London, UK their born-again nations. Vicious
flames erupt ominously behind the
he division of the Sub-conti- delicate filigree screens. The ‘free’
nent into India and Pakistan sub-continent is burning. It is a
Tand eventually into Bangla- chilling moment and … years later,
desh reverberates 74 years after I could not help shed a tear or sup-
the event. Partition, press anger at the unfairness of it all.
as we are painfully Pakistan was deliberately born de-
aware, did not be- formed. A bird without a head…two
gin or end in 1947. unequal wings and no body. It was
Not a single day crippled from the start, never meant
passes, in the col- to work, always meant to fail.
lective memories My mind raced backwards. The
and in the present- Wars of 1948, 1965, 1971, 1999… the
day politics of our three countries, needless slaughter. Dark thoughts of
when we are not reminded or are revenge, retribution, righting his-
rueful of the consequences of this torical wrongs clouded my imagi-
cleaving. It is a continual work- nation. I recalled a TV interview
in-progress, a chapter that never of Mountbatten -- he had gloated
seems to close. when East and West Pakistan had
Was Partition a logical conclu- broken-up, the Two-Nation Theory
sion of the colonial policy of divide in tatters. I remembered too of his
and rule? Was it inevitable, unavoid- assassination by the IRA in 1979. No
able or engineered? What were the flags were lowered in Pakistan. Then
pressures on the British Govern- mercifully I had a Nelson Mandela
ment in scissoring their most prized into that bewildering and violent wife has writ large in the gossip col- leaves little room for doubt and he moment: focus on the present, not
imperial possession and exiting the situation…’ umns of history. (Certainly, in Paki- uses considerable poetic license to the past. Move forward, not back.
scene in indecent haste? Who was And so it begins in the heat of stan there were never any doubts). spice things up. Nehru and Edwina People that continually invoke past
responsible for giving Pakistan its July 1947. Radcliffe who has never In Alex Von Tunzelmann’s engaging are shown in each other’s arms, ca- grievances remain bitter and con-
final ‘moth-eaten’ shape? Could the travelled abroad except for Venice is 2007 work (‘Indian Summer: the se- vorting in the corridors of power fused, stifled and stationery.
blood and tears have been mini- sent by the post-war Attlee govern- cret history of an Empire’) the Eng- or hand-in-hand in refugee camps. We must draw a line on the
mized? And the eternal question: ment to chair the Boundary Com- lish historian devotes considerable Radcliffe is reminded by Edwina events of the past. Only then can the
why didn’t they settle the issue of mission that will bring an ‘honorable space to the affair and the Mount- that ‘hope lies with Nehru, not the nations of South Asia be truly free.
Kashmir then and there in 1947? end’ to the Raj in India. ‘Tiny little batten’s ‘open marriage’. (Some crit- Muslim League.’ In one memorable
A play performed at the Hamp- problem though,’ says his wife, mat- ics say she gives it too much space, scene the Mountbattens have a blaz- TIME FROM P20
stead Theatre in London re-several ter-of-factly. ‘You know bugger all given it is a scholarly work!) ing row about him being used as a She looked at the pack of cigarettes
years back examined these themes about India’. What he knows about Mountbatten’s daughter Pamela messenger for her ‘darkie.’ She is which I was holding, and said: “Stop
from a refreshingly new perspec- cartography and creating coun- Hicks in her book, (‘India remem- unrepentant and in turn accuses smoking. It’s not good for your health.”
tive. It is not the dominant persona tries is even less. But what he does her husband of deliberately fast- “I am trying to, Ma’am,” I said.
of Gandhi, Nehru, Jinnah or Mount- know is that the task will be messy forwarding the Independence Bill “Well stop it then, I am ordering you,”
batten that take center stage but a and bloody. 100, 000 deaths would As the hour of freedom by 9 months to hasten her departure she said firmly.
seemingly bit player, Cyril Radcliffe, be ‘an acceptable level’ says a cyni- approaches, Jinnah from India and Nehru -- a charge he After the haveli, we went for dessert
an unassuming judge who was en- cal, preening Mountbatten, the last does not deny. to a restaurant. She invited me to sit in
trusted with the unenviable task of Viceroy. and Nehru address Radcliffe too is confronted her car, making queries about the land-
setting the final boundaries of the Radcliffe has just five weeks to their born-again with a crisis of confidence and con- marks as we passed them by, particularly
lands we now know as India, Paki- do the job. He must cut-up the map science. He has already succumbed Data Darbar, the facade of which she
stan and Bangladesh. of India and locate a new country, nations. Vicious flames to arm-twisting on the final location admired. The restaurant was, as always,
Dramatizing a pivotal moment Pakistan which ‘exists in the heart of Calcutta. The fate of Kashmir, ear- abuzz with young Lahoris enjoying an
of South Asian history that is slowly but not on earth’. He must be logi- erupt ominously marked by him for Pakistan, will be evening out. There was a large contingent
being lost to living memory ‘Draw- cal, unemotional, impartial, inde- behind the delicate ‘decided’ through a referendum. But from LUMS and some students, on rec-
ing the Line’ by Howard Brenton is pendent and fair…but can he really he must draw the line somewhere ognizing her, came forward to ask if they
a vivid political essay that examines be all these things? Upon arrival, he filigree screens. The on making unethical compromises. could shake her hand.
personal relationships, political in- is sucked into the whirlpool of In- ‘free’ sub-continent is He cannot be a gangster’s ‘patsy’ any She graciously shook hands and
trigue, double-speak and outright dian politics and confronts its ugly longer. He will resign. Cracking up spoke to them, wishing them luck. It was
bias that underscored the final mo- realities. Amongst his staff there are burning. It is a chilling under the pressure, he seeks solace heartening to see such reverence in the
ments of the dying Raj. Deftly mix- lobbyists and spies for both camps. moment and … years in the wisdom of the Bhagwad Gita. eyes of Pakistan’s so-called disrespectful
ing fact and fiction Brenton weaves They can barely conceal their ha- A nocturnal visit from the deity in youth. I don’t think anyone who met Ms
a provocative historical narrative in treds and prejudices or even be in later, I could not help the shape of Lord Krishna gives him Wadia will ever forget her. I opened the
two-and-a-quarter riveting hours, the same room together. shed a tear or suppress his moment of clarity. The lines must door of the car and said goodbye. She
with each line loaded with intent The maps, the census figures be re-drawn. Ferozepur, he cries out, kissed me on both cheeks and held my
and meaning. The minimalist sets are outdated or unreliable. There is anger at the unfairness divinely inspired, Ferozepur must go hand firmly. It was an inexplicable sense
-- light-filtering through full-length no time for on-the-spot inspections. of it all. Pakistan was to Pakistan! of reassurance and comfort, this contact
filigree screens -- furnish a stunning He has a timetable to which he must Soon enough, Radcliffe is with the Quaid’s living link.
backdrop. strictly adhere. As the clock ticks, deliberately born rudely brought down to earth. The A small crowd had gathered outside
This is not the sepia-tinted Raj his unsuitability to the Indian cli- representative of the King Emperor, her car. A boy on the street tried to ap-
nostalgia that we often see on screen, mate takes its toll; he is stricken with deformed. A bird Mountbatten pays him a visit to re- proach her but was stopped by a police-
of stiff-upper lipped Sahibs and lin- a severe bout of ‘Delhi-belly.’ The without a head…two mind him of geo-political realities: man. “No, no,” she roared, in her father’s
en-clad Memsahibs wistfully lower- complexity of the task, of dividing India is bigger, more populous and voice, “let him come”, and motioned to-
ing the Union Jack on the Gateway communities, towns, villages, fields, unequal wings and no the more powerful. ‘If we must favor wards him. Like her father, she disliked
of India. This is a hard-nosed exami- irrigation schemes, communication body. It was crippled her, so be it.’ Radcliffe must change police escorts and the attendant fanfare.
nation of realpolitik, a revelatory fly- links, rivers, ports and cities is all too his map again. A knighthood waits. In awe-struck silence, the boy came to
in-the-wall account on how amongst much. He begins to unravel… physi- from the start, never A fee too. Five thousand pounds? the car where she took his hand, in her
other factors, an uneasy marriage cally, psychologically. meant to work, always Surely it can be increased. Aghast, usual style with both hands. The people
and an illicit liaison influenced the Not only must Radcliffe recon- Radcliffe declines. He questions standing around him also followed.
unfolding of political events and im- cile the implacable interests of the meant to fail. the viceroy’s neutrality -- to which There was complete silence as I saw, for
pacted the map of Pakistan. Congress and the Muslim League, Mountbatten retorts: ‘Fairness was the first time ever, a group of Pakistanis
So how did this all come about? there is pressure from another quar- just an outward show.’ Radcliffe ap- forming an orderly queue and waiting for
The author of the work, Howard ter: the imperious Viceroy, Lord bered: a personal account of the peals to the heavens. ‘Oh, God!’ their turn to shake hands with her.
Brenton, on a vacation to India in Mountbatten and his wife Edwina. Mountbattens during the transfer of The rest we know is history. A The car rolled away and the eve-
2009, met people whose families had Far from being neutral spectators, power’) admits the couple were ‘in contemporary poem by WH Auden ning was at an end. As I stood there and
migrated from the area of Pakistan. the glamorous power-couple have love’ but that the relationship was entitled ‘Partition’ lampoons the watched her go, I could not help saying
His curiosity about Partition was their own concerns. Mountbatten purely ‘platonic’. They frequently moment superbly: to myself: “Thank you, Shaharyar Khan,
aroused. Back in England he won- has a particular vested interest in wrote letters to each other. And ‘…but in seven weeks it was you have served your country well but
dered: how was the border drawn? exiting India, fast: his beautiful, fi- when Edwina died prematurely at done, the frontiers decided surely this was your greatest achievement
His researches led him to Cyril Rad- nancially-independent wife is besot- age 58, Nehru sent two Indian frig- A continent for better or for and thank you, General Pervez Mush-
cliffe, ‘a brilliant legal mind…but ted with the future Prime Minister, ates to accompany her last rites at worse divided arraf, for giving her the honor and re-
there are indications that during the Jawaharlal Nehru. There is talk of sea. (Imagine the uproar in the In- The next day he sailed for Eng- spect she so deserves. Goodbye, Ma’am,
time he spent drawing the border divorcing ‘Dickie’, marrying Nehru dian parliament and media were this land, where he could quickly forget and God bless you. Come back soon,
he had a personal crisis. My play- and becoming the First Lady of In- to happen now!) The case, as a good lawyer must. this is the home of your father and you
wright’s brain went into overdrive… dia. To what extent this friendship Return he would not. remind us so much of him.”
what a character, what did he go Although it is not part of any affected the final shape of the map Afraid, as he told his club, that It was over as soon as it had begun,
through, a decent liberal man confi- official record, the romantic rela- of the sub-continent can only be he might get shot. this unimaginable encounter, the most
dent in his sense of ‘fairness’, thrown tionship of Nehru and the viceroy’s imagined. Brenton’s Play, however, As the hour of freedom ap- magical evening of my life. (Courtesy
Dawn)
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