He Almost Prevented Partition

by Praveen Davar

English 240 pages 1 edition

The remarkable story of a man who made it his life’s mission to prevent the partition of India—and overcame the heartbreak that resulted from the failure of his mission by dedicating himself to the cause of the Partition refugees and peace. ‘The partition of the subcontinent came at an unbelievable human cost. This story, powerfully recalled and vividly told, is of a man who never forgot this scorching fact. Dr M.C. Davar saw the folly of the Two Nation Theory…and he interiorised the torments of refugees rendered homeless and hopeless by the Partition. He strove for justice, for due compensation, for basic human rights…. We can read his life-story to our enrichment, or miss out on reading it to our impoverishment.’— Gopalkrishna Gandhi ‘This is the saga of [a] man who strove first to secure freedom for his country and then to prevent its savage vivisection. He dreamt of a plural and progressive India and so long as he lived, strove to translate it into reality. His tale had remained on the margins of our national consciousness; now, at long last, we have this excellent biography…. Immensely readable.’— Shashi Tharoor ‘As the Freedom Movement recedes from our collective consciousness, it becomes all the more necessary to remind [ourselves] of the triumphs and tribulations of those times. Praveen Davar has done just that with this biography…based on hitherto undisclosed records that bring back to life the relentless efforts his father made to avoid Partition and then devoted himself to promoting his deeply held secular values.’— Mani Shankar Aiyar