Freedom At Midnight

Yesterday only I finished this book "Freedom at Midnight" by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins. The Book was first published in the year 1975 but even today it is very refreshing. There is no doubt that authors have done a tremendous research about all the related historic events. It can be very well claimed as a book of facts, which are usually very informative but too boring to keep the reader engrossed, but this book is an exception. On one hand you will get to know about the history of India during Independence while on the other hand you will cherish the each and every word of it.
First few chapters give an account of all the important figures who took part in the process of Independence of India. I found this book somewhat inclined towards Louis Mountbatten. His role in the transfer of power and as a first Governor General of free India has been too glorified. This could be because of the reason that when the book was written very few people involved in the process Indian independence were alive. And the last Viceroy of India was among those fortunate ones. Authors had lot of discussions with him so they got to know his version of events that took place during the independence.
One of the most interesting chapters in the book is about the Maharajas and Nawabs of India. It includes lot of fascinating stories about the passions, opulence and grandeur. Some of the incidents are really very hilarious. Raja of Dhenkanal, a state in eastern India, used to organize a big function in which he used to show copulation of elephants to his distinguished guests. India's ruling princess had on an average 11 titles, 5.8 wives, 12.6 children, 9.2 elephants, 2.8 railway cars, 3.4 Rolls Royces and 22.9 tigers killed.
Some chapters in the middle show the barbarism and cruelity of rioters during partition. Few incidents are so gruesome that they could bring tears to your eyes. The trains coming from Pakistan were full of blood and mutilated bodies of Hindus leaving pakistan and trains full of Muslims leaving India also got slaughtered even before they could cross the Indian borders. Amidst this chaos a small and heart touching love story of Boota Singh is like a oasis in dessert.

And the last chapters unfold the mystery of murder of Mahatma Gandhi. The murder was first attempted on 20th Jan 1948 but failed. After that the laggard police could not arrest a single person. Which gave the culprits more time to plan another attempt on 30th Jan 1948 only 10 days after the first attempt. And this time the attempt was successful. Condolence messages came from whole world. Mountbatten said "Mahatma Gandhi will go down in history on a par with Buddha and Jesus Christ.".The most stirring message was from Hindustan Standard which termed the murder as Second Crucifixion. They left the editorial page blank with black border. At its center was a single paragraph set in bold type. It read:

"Gandhi Ji has been killed by his own people for whose redemption he lived. This second crucifixion in the history of the world hasbeen enacted on a Friday - the same day Jesus was done to death one thousand nine hundred and fifteen years ago. Father, forgive us."

More facts about Gandhi Ji murder can be found at http://www.mkgandhi.org/assassin.htm