Reflecting a change in Bhartiya Janata Party's attitude, top party leader L K Advani was on Thursday night present at a function where Jaswant Singh released the paper-back edition of his controversial book on Pakistan founder Mohd Ali Jinnah.
The occasion was the 75th anniversary celebrations of the publication group 'Rupa' in New Delhi where the paper-back edition of Advani's autobiography 'My Country, My Life' was also released.
Two days after his controversial book 'Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence' was launched in the capital, Singh was expelled from BJP for his views on the Pakistan founder.
No senior BJP leaders had at that time attended the function. Advani was in Chandigarh while leaders who were in Delhi were conspicuous by their absence while former defence minister George Fernandez was prominent among those present.
Advani too had to step down as BJP chief in the wake of his remarks praising Jinnah during a tour of Pakistan.
After his expulsion and party-ruled Gujarat banning his book which praised Jinnah, Jaswant had termed BJP as 'narrow-minded' party with 'limited thought.'
However, Singh was readmitted to the party this year. It was a study in contrast on Thursday night as Singh sat beside Advani at the function -- a seminar on future of boooks -- which was also attended by writer-minister M Veerappa Moily, eminent lyricist Gulzar, writers Ruskin Bond, Mark Tully, veteran journalist M J Akbar and writer Chetan Bhagat.
Incidentally, Akbar and Tully were present last time. Singh's praise of Jinnah and not-so-sympathetic view of the first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhai Patel, whom BJP considers as an iconic figure, with regard to the partition of India and Pakistan had irked his party.
In the book, Singh claimed that former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's centralised policy was responsible for the partition and that Jinnah was portrayed as a demon by India for it.
Speaking at the seminar, Advani said his love for reading began at childhood. "I would not have written my autobiography had my wife and daughter not pressurised me," he said.
Moily said his 'illiterate' mother was his motivation for reading and writing as she used to wake him up early in the morning and then read.
The panelists were of the opinion that the future of books appeared bright inspite of the invasion television and internet.
Gulzar, however, lamented that not enough children's books were there in Hindi or Urdu literature.
"There is no original books for children in Hindi though one can find many in Malayalam and Bengali," he said.
Bond was of the view that reading was always a minority's past time. "But this minority population has grown. That can only continue, I can only be optimistic," he said.
Singh said people will continue to read despite the 'assault' of television and internet though they are among the 'variety of distractions.'
