Letters to the Editor
“The legacy of partition”
This refers to Syed Badrul Ahsan's above titled thought provoking write-up dated 14.8.13. Many blame Nehru for torpedoing the Cabinet Mission Plan for a confederated union of India comprising A, B, and C zones, the B zone roughly constituting what is now Pakistan together with East Punjab and possibly Kashmir and the C zone roughly comprising what is now Bangladesh together with West Bengal and North East India. The reason behind Nehru's outright rejection of the plan, which was accepted by the Muslim League, was the latter's insistence on the implicit right of the B and C zones to secede from the Union through a future referendum, Hindu-Muslim parity at the centre and other undemocratic, unreasonable and unacceptable demands. His greatest nightmare was the distinct possibility of the loss of roughly a third of India through such a referendum leading to chaos, civil war and the break-up of the sub-continent.
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