'India Wins Freedom' is an autobiography of a great India Freedom Fighter and one of the builders of Modern India, 'Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (1888 - 1958)', put into words by Humayun Kabir. It was published in two phases one in 1958 (without 30 pages critical of Patel, Nehru and Gandhi) and the complete version in 1988.
Maulana Azad was born in a family of great Islamic theologians in Mecca, his family moved to Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1890. He was there at the founding session of Muslim League in 1906 and his career took a rapid start during the Khilafat movement. He championed the cause of Urdu Journalism and continuously wrote nationalist articles despite of seizure of his press by the British. He became the youngest person to become the President of Congress although in a special session (in 1923). He was the longest serving (1940-46) President of Congress before the advent of Indira Gandhi. He lost his wife when he was in Jail (1942-45) and Britishers did not allow him to even pay the last visit to his dying wife; such was the sacrifice he made.
He accuses Sardar Patel of Communalism and calls him the founder of the partition of India; he blames Gandhi as well as Nehru for the partition albeit in a moderate manner but the way he puts venom on Patel, its tough to digest as Patel was not alive at the time of publication of this book to give his own account, similar was the case with Gandhi and to a certain extent Pt. Nehru. He blames Congress for the partition and calls the actions of Jinnah a bit of exploitation of the blunder made by Congress in vacillating around Cabinet Mission proposal. At many places he says that Muslims has played a heavy price of the partition but he does not say anything about the Hindus/Sikhs of the Pakistan (and Bangladesh). He becomes completely partisan of the interests of the Muslims during the riots and does not say a thing about the interests of the non-Muslims in Pakistan.
A nice read, it gives another perspective of the freedom struggle and the tense and bloody days of 1940s.
Highly Recommended (8/10)
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