A life of rivalry

The horrendous bloodletting that happened in the wake of Indian Independence saw the largest migration in human history. Sixty eight years on, the legacy of blood-soaked Partition lives on.

Ever since its birth, Pakistan has been at loggerheads with India due to its claim on Kashmir. The two nations fought three wars with brief spells of thaw. The infiltration of terrorists into Kashmir from Pakistan right from 1947 to-date has been a stumbling block in bilateral relations.

Theocratic Pakistan and democratic India have struggled to find common ground. After entering into military alliance with the US and Islamisation, the chasm between the neighbours has only widened. Now nuclear-armed, the prospects of peace on the borders look no better. The Line of Control (LoC), termed as “the most dangerous place on earth” by Bill Clinton, remains a flash point. The decades-long diplomatic efforts have failed to evolve confidence-building measures in the sub-continent.

London-based journalist and historian Dilip Hiro recounts the troubled history focusing on the fallout of Partition in August 1947 that resulted in communal holocaust. This is how he describes the savagery: “The frenzied crowds vented their primeval religious hatred and animosities, bottled up during the past many generations, in an orgy of cathartic bloodletting.” For Hiro who was born in Sindh, that August seems never ending. The Longest August: The unflinching rivalry between India and Pakistan is an exhaustive narrative on Indo-Pak relations coloured by the burden of history. He traces the events that led to Partition and describes how the Hindu-Muslim animosity has transformed into intractable Indo-Pakistan dispute over Kashmir.

Was the Partition avoidable? Hiro doesn’t jump to conclusions. Instead, he devotes a lot of space to the key architects — Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The tensions, their egos and their flaws come alive. Hiro terms Gandhiji’s mixing of religion and politics his ‘original sin’. Jinnah had openly opposed this initially. After being snubbed by Gandhiji on a few occasions, the antagonism between the two only grew. According to the narrative, haughty behaviour of Congress and the spurning of Muslim League’s friendly overtures in 1937 led to the parting of ways. Rebuffed Jinnah hit back by stoking fears of Hindu domination. Hiro puts the blame for Partition more on the Congress party than on Jinnah.

All major events after the birth of Pakistan find mention in the volume. Political turmoil in Pakistan leading to army becoming the main arbiter of power, the wars of 1965 and 1971, the rise and fall of flamboyant Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who pursued the quest for Islamic bomb with single-minded devotion while taking a belligerent attitude towards India, and the reign of Gen. Zia-ul-Haq, who called himself the soldier of Allah and the duplicity of Gen. Musharraf, umpteen futile diplomatic initiatives on Kashmir get attention.

It was Soviet intervention in Afghanistan that transformed Pakistan into a frontline state in the fight against global communism. Zia exploited the situation to the hilt by bolstering his military and expanding ISI into a dreaded intelligence agency that masterminded Jihadi terrorism. Pakistani army’s fixation with India as the foremost enemy got reinforced during his regime. ISI siphoned off foreign funds for nuclear programme and trained Kashmiri militants. Pakistani army has become increasingly dependent on the nuclear arsenal as it cannot match India in conventional forces. During the Kargil War, Musharraf toyed with the idea of using nuclear arms, creating a frightening scenario.

Major events in India like the wars with Pakistan, the Chinese invasion, the Emergency, the rise of Sikh militancy, the assassination of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, the terrorist attack on Parliament House, and the fallout of Mumbai attack are dealt in detail. Dilip Hiro also refers to the gradual expansion of Indian engagement with Israel’s Mossad. Indira Gandhi seriously considered hitting Pakistan’s Kahuta nuclear plant with Israeli help. Another plan to raid Pak nuclear plants was averted during A B Vajpayee’s tenure.

A major drawback of the chronological narrative is that the author strives to cram the seven-decade troubled history in a single volume. Consequently, some of the major events get only cursory treatment. Nevertheless, it is a bold, dispassionate attempt to examine the bitterly contested subject.

The immensely readable book is peppered with catchy anecdotes linking senior leaders of India and Pakistan. Nehru is described as self-righteous and a master of obfuscation when it suited him. He was disdainful of President Ayub Khan as he was not an Oxbridge graduate. Ayub said Nehru looked at him with contempt. When he referred to Kashmir during a bilateral meeting, Nehru stared out of the window. Nehru could have sealed an accord with Pakistan on Kashmir, but for his obstinacy. When Bhutto was woken up to inform him about the sudden demise of Lal Bahadur Shastri in Tashkent, he asked, “Which of the bastards?”