List of Illustration
Acknowledgements
Introduction: A Complex Opening
1: India and Islam
2: Jenabhai to Jinnah: The Journey
3: The Turbulent Twenties
4: Sharpening Focus - Narrowing Options
5: A Short Decade - A Long End Game
6: Sunset of the Empire - 'Post-dated Cheque on a Collapsing
Bank'
7: A War of Succession - Diverging Paths
8: Stymied Negotiations?
9: Mountbatten Viceroyalty: The End of the Raj
10: Pakistan: Birth - Independence: The Quaid-i-Azam's Last
Journey
11: In Retrospect
Appendices
Index
Jaswant Singh (born 3 January 1938) is an Indian politician. He is
from the Indian State of Rajasthan and was an officer in the Indian
Army in the 1960s. He served as Finance minister in the short-lived
government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, which lasted just from 16 May
1996, to 1 June 1996. After Vajpayee became Prime Minister again
two years later, he became Minister for External Affairs of India,
serving from 5 Dec. 1958 until 1 July 2002. Responsible for the
foreign policy, he dealt with high tensions between India and
Pakistan. In July 2002, he became Finance Minister again, switching
posts with Yashwant Sinha. He served as Finance Minister until the
defeat
of the Vajpayee government in May 2004 and was instrumental in
defining and pushing through the market-friendly reforms of the
government. Known for his moderate political views, he is a
self-described liberal democrat even though the Bharatiya Janata
Party is often described as a right-wing nationalist organization.
He was conferred the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award for the year
2001. On 19 August 2009, he was expelled from BJP after criticism
over his remarks in this book.
The book is well researched and the author has argued his case in a manner that makes readers question their assumptions. That in itself suffices as a raison d'etre for this important project, which deserves - and is likely to attract - a wide readership. Amit Julka, South Asia Research A very important book Eastern Eye Unique [and] well-documented Salil Tripathi, The Independent Botehr historically and politically, [Singh's] is a remarkable study. It sheds light on the complexities of a situation which still, today, remains volatile and apparently insoluble. Joan Stephens, Leicester Mercury
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