Now, Modi in Jinnah trouble

After haunting BJP stalwart LK Advani in 2005, an eulogy to Jinnah is now proving embarrassing for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Modi is facing the flak for praises showered on Jinnah in a fortnightly magazine published by the Gujarat Government.

Gujarat, an official magazine of the Information department, has carried an article on Jinnah in its latest issue. Written by Gujarati columnist Gunwant Shah, it calls Jinnah a secularist and cites some instances of the Qaid-e-Azam's friendships with Hindus.

Congress Legislature Party leader Arjun Modhvadia has condemned Modi for the article in the official magazine. Modhvadia told Hindustan Times on Tuesday evening that it was wrong to praise Jinnah as he was the founder of the 'two-nation theory' that divided the country.

"Is Modi trying to justify the two-nation theory mooted by Jinnah ?" Modhvadia asked.

Without going into the merits of the article and whatever is written in it, the Congress leader said that if Modi was keen to highlight some instances of communal amity then the magazine could have published the story of Vasant Hijbe and Rajab Ali, who laid down their lives while preventing riots in 1946.

More importantly, the magazine could have written about Badshah Khan, who too was a great secularist but did not subscribe to the two-nation theory, he said.