It was August 12, 1947, three days before India became free. My father, a practicing doctor, summoned us, the three brothers, and asked what our plans were. I told him that I wanted to stay in Pakistan just as the Muslims would in India.
More gruesome details about the Alwar lynching have come to light. Rakbar Khan, the victim, could have been saved if the police had acted in time. In fact, the force stopped for tea and wasted three and a half hours in reaching the victim to the hospital. He bled to death. If one were to put all the pieces together, one would come to the conclusion that the police delay was deliberate.
The army in Pakistan seems to have devised a way where a particular person is elected even without a valid cause. Imran Khan is a product of such phenomena. Long before the latest elections, his name was tossed around.
I recall after the Independence, politician and diplomat Syed Shahabuddin articulated the Muslim point of view. He did not ask for separation but suggested a self-rule for Muslims within the country. Nobody took him seriously, not even the Muslims because the partition had brought misery to both the communities.
An autocrat can really unhinge a democratic system. This is what President Donald Trump is doing. But he is also turning into an imperialist power.
I feel honoured that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken notice of my criticism. Indeed, he praised me and said: “I respect veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar ji, he fought for freedom during emergency, he maybe a harsh critic of us but I salute him for this.” The prime minister and I are on the same page when it comes to the criticism of the emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi, the then prime minister.
Certain dates are so important in a nation's history that they cannot be forgotten.
Pranab Mukherjee is a man of all-political affiliations. He has occupied the highest position as a Congressman and has also floated a political party with a few of his associates in the Congress. But one can call him a self-made man in the political arena. He has accepted the invitation to visit the RSS headquarters at Nagpur to address the cadre.
Modi still has more than three and a half years of his rule ahead. He should abandon measures which have not yielded any fruit and adopt new ones which will help the country to develop.
I wish that the Commonwealth War Graves Commission would bring out these Indian sacrifices and not project the two world wars as fought only or largely by white troops. The deaths of Indians are as shocking as the demise of any white soldier. They too have mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers.
I was a member of the Rajya Sabha some twelve years ago. The house would be disturbed over one matter or the other constantly.
Kashmir has changed beyond recognition. In less than five years when I visited Srinagar last, the valley has become visibly anti-India.
India's major political parties, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have rendered parliament a place of tamasha.
The India-Pakistan summit at Ufa is aimed at a long-term engagement as Modi has accepted Sharif's invitation to attend the next SAARC summit in Pakistan, scheduled for next year.
Those elected should get one consolidated sum which should include all expenditures, including accommodation, transport, electricity, water, telephone, etc. This will enable the people to know how much an elected member costs the exchequer.
The Kashmiris have come to develop a different thinking. They do not want either India or Pakistan to be the arbiter. They themselves want to decide what is suited to their genius.
In the light of Dhawan's revelations, the case should be reopened. More than that, there needs to be a probe on how the institutions were diluted and the power got concentrated on Indira Gandhi.
Forty years may seem to be a long period. But it is not long enough to efface the memory of a jungle raj which followed the imposition of the emergency in 1975.
