VINDICA

One cannot help but think that both the emotional parties in the Jinnah debate (BJP and Pakistani establishment) have jumped the gun in judging the book. BJP is distraught with thoughts of betrayal while Pakistan is elated at the vindication. However, the book may be more subtle than that. Consider Jaswant's interview in outlook magazine. In the book, I question the two-nation theory. I am saying Jinnah is wrong to say Muslims had a separate homeland. I say look into the eyes of Muslims and see their pain. How have they benefited from Partition? While Jaswant seems to be sympathizing with the difficult position of Indian Muslims in general and Jinnah in particular, he also seems to be rejecting the whole "ideology of Pakistan" business that seeks to portray Partition as necessary and inevitable. I wonder how the tone is going to change on the two sides of the border once everyone has had a chance to read the book! I guess the more sensible elements on both sides will

People of Otjivero in Namibia lived in absolute poverty. Women prostituted themselves for food while men were either drunk or waited around doing nothing (70% unemployment). 42% of the children were malnourished. A new kind of aid agency came up with a different idea for development. Just give them money! No discrimination between rich or poor. No bureacracy to determine eligibility. Anybody who wanted money was given 100 Namibian Dollars a month. Some time down the line, malnourishment is down to 10%. Unemployment and crime are plunging. This is the perfect model for aid delivery in India. What more, it is populist too! Imagine a government promising 1000 rupees a month instead of stupid schemes like Rs. 2 rice that are ravaged by corruption and middlemen. Popular, more efficient and ultimately better. Why does it work? Because the general consensus is that "Africa's poor need to be educated first before they can be given the right of self-determination, and that t