Monday, June 27 2005 15:26 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Dhanbad: Taking a cue from party colleague and National Democratic Alliance (NDA) convenor George Fernandes, senior Janata Dal United (JDU) leader Nitish Kumar today (Jun 27, 2005) advocated a national debate to ascertain who had been actually responsible for the partition of India.

It was high time that a national debate was held over the partition so that people could know the actual reason and those responsible for it, Kumar told reporters in Dhanbad before leaving for Madhupur.

It would be an injustice to Mohammad Ali Jinnah if he alone was blamed for the partition, Kumar said.

Barring Mahatma Gandhi and Frontier Gandhi Khan Abdul Gaffur Khan, all Congress leaders of the time had been in favour of it, he claimed.

Earlier this month, Fernandes had also demanded a national debate on the issue.

Citing a book written by Rammonahar Lohia, Fernandes had claimed that Jinnah believed in secular politics but was drawn towards communal politics by none other than Jawaharlal Nehru.