| But
things were moving fast. In 1942, India, under Gandhiji, embarked upon its final struggle
for independence. In 1946, the British decided to quit India; they were not content,
however, to leave it as a united country. Partition
had to be accepted before they left our shores. By the Independence Act, the country was
fragmented and the Indian States let free from the bonds of paramountcy. India was, for
all purposes, balkanised. But the compulsion of geography and the collective will of the
Indian people were bent on consolidating the country. And the will had its mighty
instrument in Sardar Patel, who was to be the great restorer of the shrine.
The Muslim rulers of Indian States had their own dreams.
Whatever their people thought, whatever the compulsion of geography, their eyes turned to
Pakistan. One of them was the Babi Nawab of Junagadh. |
