BJP ejects leader over Pakistan founder praise

INDIA'S Hindu nationalist movement has been thrown into disarray by the publication of a book about a Muslim leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah who died more than 60 years ago.

Jaswant Singh, a senior leader in the Bharatiya Janata Party, the main opposition party, has been expelled after writing a book praising Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of the country's rival neighbour Pakistan.

The book Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence, published this week, describes Mr Jinnah as a ''great man'' who has been misunderstood in India.

The partition that separated Pakistan from India in 1947 remains a controversial issue in the region. Mr Singh's glowing assessment of Mr Jinnah, who is blamed by many Indians for unnecessarily dividing the subcontinent into nations based on religion, was unacceptable to many BJP leaders.

A party spokesman said Mr Singh had been expelled because his book went against its ''core ideology''.

Jaswant Singh, 71, was one of the BJP's top parliamentary performers, having served as foreign minister and finance minister in the former BJP government, which held power from 1998 to 2004.

Mr Singh said he was saddened at being expelled for writing a book.
''You can dispute what I write, but the day India starts questioning thought we are entering a very dark alley.''

It is not the first time that praising Jinnah has landed a BJP leader in trouble.
The political career of its leader, Mr Advani, was almost destroyed when he made favourable comments about Pakistan's first national leader in 2005.