By Justice Markandey Katju-
(Justice Markandey Katju is a former Judge, Supreme Court of India, and former Chairman, Press Council of India. The views expressed are his own)
A few days back I was interviewed by the eminent Pakistani journalist Moeed Pirzada, who is presently in Washington, DC. The interview was about an article I had earlier written on the eminent physicist Dr. Parvez Hoodbhoy.
The interview is given below (it has some sound problems)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmoDYaAIbNI&pp=ygUda2F0anUgbW9lZWQgZGl2aXNpb24gb2YgaW5kaWE%3D
Moeed then posted this video on Youtube.
Moeed says my knowledge of history is superficial because I am not a historian, history teacher, or expert.
Now it is true I was never a professor of history. But by my study of history for over 6 decades I can claim to have more knowledge of history than most of these professors. To the latter history was only the means of getting a job. To me it was, and is, a passion. Knowledge in one’s head is what is relevant, not high-sounding titles and designations. Moeed obviously does not understand this.
In his last video, Moeed does not deal at length with my central thesis ( that developed nations will oppose tooth and nail the rapid industrialization of India, because if we become a modern highly industrialized country, like China, with our cheap labor we will undersell the developed countries, causing their industries to collapse, and millions thrown out of employment ).
Moeed asks questions like why did India and Bangladesh not unite after 1971, since I claim India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh are really one country, only temporarily divided. He says that ‘ansuni” was done by me to that question.
The truth is I had replied to the question by saying that the Western powers opposed unification since it is their policy to keep us divided. This is because they do not want India to emerge as a united modern industrial giant, and with its cheap labor to undersell them, thus causing their industries to collapse, and millions thrown out of employment.
Moeed talks of Stanley Wolpert’s book ‘Tryst with Destiny’, and suggests that Partition was because of differences between Nehru and Jinnah.
This again is a superficial understanding. The British were determined to partition India before they leave, and the Cabinet Mission was just a decoy.
In fact, this was a favorite technique of theirs. Thus, they also partitioned on religious lines Ireland, Palestine, Cyprus, and even prepared to partition Turkey by the Treaty of Sevres, 1920, but were prevented by Mustafa Kemal before giving them formal independence. This they did to keep the communities fighting each other even after the Britishers leave, so that Britishers can still dominate the region, or at least safeguard their economic interests.
I may be having more interviews on this or other topics with Moeed, whom I respect, as he is a brave man.
