INDIA: Passage Home

An uneasy truce prevailed in the subcontinent. Mohamed Ali Jinnah for the Moslem League, and Jawaharlal Nehru for the All-India Congress, had accepted the plan which meant that at least two new nations, Hindustan and Pakistan, would arise in India. Finally, Mohandas Gandhi gave his acquiescence.

On a raised white platform in Delhi's Untouchable colony sat the Mahatma, cross-legged on a white cushion, a cooling wet white kerchief covering his bald head. Overhead glimmered a lone 80-watt electric bulb. Reluctantly he assented to the splitting of India. "What is past is past," he mourned. "I cannot blame the Viceroy for...

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