Firstly a book by an esteemed gentlemen known for his honesty and humbleness . In today's politically charged environment simple quotes comes under microscopic scrutiny and sometimes twisted to create political storms. Abuses are hurled freely with dangers of epithets to physical violence looms large. Nowadays people publicly brandishes their political affiliations and violently defend their beliefs and so,its best to refrain from commenting on social matters not out of conviction but safety. This book is a brave attempt to put past historical facts in public domain, no surprise author had to face wrath from certain quarters.
This is a remarkable attempt to understand different ideologies at play during the long and tedious path of freedom struggle. In our zeal to make heroes and worship them as gods we often forget that the person we are idealizing is a mortal with all his flaws. Don't we have the capacity to accept a person with all his flaws as a hero ? Why doesn't we accept a simple truth that heroes can and may commit mistakes ? Does those mistakes make him a lesser mortal ?
In the words of Dr. B R Ambedkar "Bhakti in religion may be a road to the salvation of the soul. But in politics, Bhakti or hero-worship is a sure road to degradation and to eventual dictatorship", hasn't few organizations with trademark victim hood card fallen prey to same ideology that Dr. Ambedkar warned us? I can only summarize it by saying its a book worth reading without preconceived notions on author. This book asks too many uncomfortable questions and too many excerpts with references that eventually helps understanding stalwarts by cleaning cobwebs. One of the finest book to read and understand the tussle and dramas inacted during the freedom movement of country
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