The view that Partition ensured India’s unity (Op-Ed page, “By agreeing to Partition, Congress kept India united,” Feb. 20) is a skewed one that ignores the resulting communal violence. And the assumption that the federal system Cabinet Mission envisaged would have caused in a weak centre and a dismantling of the Indian Union is an unwarranted speculation. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was the Congress president when the Cabinet Mission arrived in India. In his autobiography, India Wins Freedom, Azad wrote: “[T]he Constitution of India must be federal. Further, it must be so framed as to ensure complete autonomy to the provinces in as many subjects as possible. We have to reconcile the claims of provincial autonomy with national unity. This could be done by finding a satisfactory formula for the distribution of powers...” The Indian subcontinent has never enjoyed peace and harmony since the Partition and the wounds it created are still festering.
Sukumaran C.V.,
Palakkad, Kerala
