Jaswant effect at Delhi fair: Books on Jinnah, Partition on demand

Books on history of Partition and Jinnah have been given a prominent display by many publishers in their stalls. Due to the "hype" about Singh's controversial 'Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence', there is a renewed interest on the subjects, the publishers say.
A sales officer from Rupa and Co, which published Singh's book, said the company is enjoying a "very good sale". The book is in "high demand", he said adding, along with it, other books on history of Partition are also witnessing increasing demands.

Other than 'Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence', Rupa is also offering books like 'Last Days of British Raj' and 'Witness to Partition: A Memoir' by historian B R Nanda.

Vani Prakashan, which is in the fair with an array of publications in Hindi, has on offer 'Jinnah: Mohammad Ali se Quaid-e-Azam', a translation of American historian Stanley Wolpert's book 'Jinnah of Pakistan'. Also on display beside it is a translation of Salman Rushdie's 'Freedom at Midnight'.

Rajpal and Sons has published a Hindi translation of Singh's book by Tufail Chaturvedi -- 'Jinnah: Bharat bibhajan ke aine mein'.
"We are seeing a heavy demand and selling nearly 100 copies a day on an average. We have already received orders for 10,000 copies from across the country," said Ramvir Singh, a representative of the publishing firm.
"We heard about the book in the news. So we are trying to find out about it," Asha and Neha, two students from Lakshmi Nagar who were browsing the book at Rajpal's stall, said.
Orient Blackswan, a leading English publishing firm which was earlier known as Orient Longman, was witnessing a "steady demand" for its books -- 'India Wins Freedom' by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and 'Jinnah's Early Politics: Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity', authored by Ian Bryant Wells.
However, Sheikh Mubarak Ali, a Pakistani publisher who has been coming to Delhi Book Fair since 1982, does not feel that Singh's book has led to increase in interest on Jinnah's politics in India.
"There was always some readers who were interested. The good thing is that this book has generated a spirit of discussion. This is nice that in India, Jinnah's role is being seen in a new light now," Ali, who is here with all volumes of writings by Jinnah, said.