All Indians should read this book for various reasons. First of all, it
is a vivid and well-written account of India’s liberation from the British, the
dramas and the agonies that accompanied the liberation, and a close look at
some of our freedom fighters and other leaders of the time. Secondly, it shows
how history can be made interesting to read unlike the tedious stuff we are
usually made to study in schools. Thirdly, it is a look at India of that time
through the eyes of two persons from the West: an American and a Frenchman.
Fourthly, the present generation whose views on historical figures like Gandhi
and Nehru are being distorted through wilful propaganda need to be aware of the
truths beneath the propaganda.
Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins wrote the book after an exhaustive
research that lasted four years and gathered 800 kilograms of documents. Their
research began with none less than Lord Mountbatten himself whom they met at
his residence in London in 1970. Mountbatten was “the last living protagonist
of this classical tragedy,” in the words of the authors. Their research then
extended to all the metros and other important places in India.
Mahatma Gandhi is the central figure of this book and he is described as
“a strange blend of great moral principles and quirky obsessions.” The authors
show us both the sides of this great man. Other major leaders of the time also come
vividly alive in the pages.
Some of the princes of the time were blatant contrasts to these freedom
fighters. The authors took pains to present some of the bizarre practices of
these princes. Their unabashed opulence, vanity, lust and even sadism come
alive in the book. We meet the Maharaja of Patiala, for instance, at a
ceremonial annual function in which he appears before his subjects stark naked
but for a diamond breastplate, “his organ in full and glorious erection.” The
Maharaja of Alwar was “a homosexual of particularly perverse taste” who used
the handsome young men of his army for his inordinate pleasures some of which
culminated in sadistic murders. He also used children whom he picked up from
the huts of his impoverished subjects as baits in his tiger hunts. The authors
point out, however, that most of the princes were excellent administrators.
We meet Savarkar and his friends like Nathuram Godse, Narayan Apte and
Digamber Badge. The entire preparations they made for assassinating Gandhi are
described in extensive detail. Apte tells us that “Savarkar wanted Gandhi,
Nehru and Suhrawardy ‘finished off’”. But Savarkar managed to save his skin
after the assassination of Gandhi and the authors tell us how.
Savarkar and his gang “cherished an historic dream,” say the authors, “to
reconstitute a great Hindu empire from the headwaters of the Indus River to
eastern Burma, from Tibet to Cape Comorin. They despised Gandhi and all his
works. To them, India’s national hero was the arch-enemy of Hinduism.”
When Jawaharlal Nehru hoisted the tricolour at the ramparts of the Red
Fort in that historic midnight, Savarkar’s gang was in Pune hoisting another
flag: “an orange triangle, and emblazoned upon it was the symbol which, in a
slightly modified form, had terrorized Europe for a decade, the swastika.”
The authors of this epic book go on: “That ancient emblem was on the
orange pennant in Poona for the same reason as it had been on the banners of
Hitler’s Third Reich. It was an Aryan symbol. It had been brought to India at
some juncture lost in the mists of time by the first waves of Aryan conquerors
to subdue the sub-continent. The men gathered about it in Poona all belonged to
the RSS, the para-fascist movement, some of whose members had been assigned the
task of assassinating Jinnah along with Mountbatten in Karachi 48 hours earlier.
Hindu zealots, they saw themselves as the heirs to those ancient Aryans.”
Today, 73 years into the hard-won independence, India is in the hands of
a political party whose foundations are laid in those Aryan traditions, a party
which is making all kinds of overt and covert attempts to rewrite the history
of the very struggle that Lapierre and Collins recorded with meticulous details
and supporting documentation. The young generation of today may not be aware of
the real facts because fabricated truths are peddled as glittering truths all
over the mass media as well as social media. It is important to get back to the
real truths. This book, Freedom at Midnight, is one of the many that can
help.
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| A page from the book |
PS. This is part of a series being written for the #BlogchatterA2Z
Challenge. The previous parts are:
Tomorrow: The Grapes of Wrath
You have shared some compelling reasons to pick this book. Will look for it on Kindle.
ReplyDeleteYes, Amazon has it.
DeleteI read this book long ago. As you said it must be on every Indian's reading list.
ReplyDeleteI reread it recently just to remind myself of certain facts in today's vitiated atmosphere.
DeleteThankyou for this. My thoughts wander to the support in masses for the ruling party today. The real truths are in dire need.
ReplyDeletePeople don't read, they listen. The great orator of the country today is a follower of Godse. So you know how history is being twisted out of shape.
DeleteI have not had the opportunity of reading this book. You have so brilliantly put forth the facts from the book and rightly pointed out that every Indian must read this. First on my list.
ReplyDeleteGlad you're going to read it. Believe me, it's worthwhile.
DeleteThis book is on my must-read list. Hope to get to it sooner rather than later.
ReplyDeletewww.nooranandchawla.com
It's a matter of Covid beating the retreat. The book is available. Go for a good edition; the Indian edition that I have has a lot of printing errors.
DeleteThis sounds like a very interesting book. After this AtoZ challenge ends, I'll try to read and let you know!!
ReplyDeleteWill wait for your assessment of the book.
DeleteOMG this book looks a must read for my curiosity sake. I am a traveler and recently when I visited Jodhpur I got a glimpse of the life the royals used to live in those days.
ReplyDeleteThe royals get one chapter in the book. The rest is even more thrilling and sometimes baffling.
DeleteWhen Freedom at Midnight was published there was a controversy about an incident mentioned in the book. After Independence it is anarchy in Delhi and other parts of India. Government is unable to maintain order. Three weeks after Independence Nehru and Patel go to Mountbatten and plead with him to take back power. For next two months he manages skillfully. Indira Gandhi was PM at the time of publishing. She was asked about it. She said she did not know.
ReplyDeleteNarayan Apte was a palmist. He believed he would not be hanged. Godse and Apte were hanged with 22 months after killing Gandhi. Nowadays it is rare to see hanging of criminals even after 48 or 84 months. This year thrice the hanging of four criminals was stayed after fixing the date of hanging. Fourth time the hanging took place but there was doubt till two hours before hanging as Delhi High Court and Supreme Court heard appeals against hanging.
Chapter on Maharajas, Nawabs and Nizam was entertaining.
Thanks for adding to the post. The authors edited out a part on Savarkar's homosexual relationship with Godse due to an outcry from certain section in India.
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