Thiruvanathapuram, Oct 9: Without Mahatma Gandhi, free India would have fragmented further while Pakistan's existence is "difficult to conceive" without Mohammad Ali Jinnah, says a British historian who has contrasted the two leaders in his latest book.
The effect of individuals in historical developments can be debatable but the fact of one free India and Pakistan is difficult to imagine without these two leaders, Roderick Matthews, author of "Jinnah and Gandhi", told IANS in an interview at the just-concluded 5th Kovalam Literary Festival here.
Matthews said there were alternatives to Gandhi within the Congress but none of them had his unique style.
"If there was no Gandhi, there were three or four Congress leaders who could have stepped forward. Motilal Nehru, C.R. Das.... or even (Subhas Chandra) Bose, could have replaced the Gokhale-Tilak generation in the 1920s," the Oxford-educated Matthews said.
"It is the 'What If' game.... but it is inconceivable that they could have achieved what Gandhi did. Gandhi held no political office, had a light touch and tended to stay back, had his deep personal favourites and inclinations but still managed to keep the Congress together...kept (Jawaharlal) Nehru and (Vallabhbhai) Patel in the party," he added.
