Does Akhilesh Yadav Seriously Think Invoking Jinnah Will Win Him Votes?
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
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By Linus Garg
First publised on 2021-11-01 15:25:31
About the Author
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
View all posts by this Author
Akhilesh Yadav is being taken to ask for equating the
founder of Pakistan, Mohammed Ali Jinnah with the icons of Indian freedom struggle like Mahatma
Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel. Yadav said that "Sardar Patel, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Jinnah studied at the
same institute and became barristers. They became barristers and they fought
for India's freedom. They never backed away from any struggle."
The BJP, the BSP and pointedly, Asaduddin Owaisi
of the AIMIM, criticized Yadav for speaking of Jinnah in the same breath as
Mahatma Gandhi and others. While the BJP accused Yadav of Muslim appeasement,
Owaisi advised him to "read some history" before making such intemperate comments and Mayawati alleged that it was an attempt to polarize voters.
UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath said that "his divisive
mindset came to the fore once again when he tried to glorify Jinnah by equating
Sardar Patel with him. It's the Talibani mentality that believes in dividing.
The Samajwadi national president should apologize for this."
BSP supremo Mayawati said that "the politics of
the SP and BJP have been complementary to each other. Since the thinking of
these two parties is casteist and communal, they depend on each other for their
existence. That is why when SP is in power, the BJP becomes strong; when the
BSP is in power, the BJP becomes weak". She alleged that what Akhilesh
Yadav said and how the BJP responded to it points to the fact that both
parties want to polarize voters ahead of the Uttar Pradesh polls.
But Asaduddin Owaisi was pained that by equating
Jinnah with Indian freedom fighters, Yadav was rubbishing the choice of the
forefathers of Indian Muslims who had made a conscious decision to remain in
secular India and not side with Jinnah's two-nation theory and a separate
country for the Muslims from undivided India. Owaisi said "Akhilesh Yadav
should understand that Indian Muslims have nothing to do with Muhammad Ali
Jinnah. Our elders rejected the two-nation theory and chose India as their
country." He also advised Yadav to "read some history" and change his
advisors.
There is no doubt that up to a point Jinnah was
associated with the Congress and participated to free India from the British.
But after that, he did not fight for India but for Pakistan. In that avatar, he
was against India and was bent on dividing it to achieve his dream of a
separate nation for the Muslims from undivided India. Hence, he can never be said
to have been a part of freedom struggle in India as he and his inflexible
attitude were solely responsible for the Partition and the horrors that
followed. Akhilesh Yadav is wrong in speaking of him in the same breath as
Gandhi, Nehru and Patel.
