From l to r: Prof. Dr Syed Jaffar Ahmed, Director, Pakistan Study Centre, University of Karachi; Dr Muhammad Iqbal Chawla, Professor, History Department, University of the Punjab; Ameena Saiyid, Managing Director, Oxford University Press Pakistan; and Prof. Sharif al Mujahid, Distinguished National Professor, Higher Education Commission
Karachi, 7 Sept.: Oxford University Press launched its latest publication Wavell and the Dying Days of the Raj: Britain's Penultimate Viceroy in India written by Muhammad Iqbal Chawla. The book seeks to analyze the deeper and complex undercurrents of Lord Wavell's viceroyalty, a subject which has not been previously touched upon in depth. An attempt has been made for the first time to cover nearly all the major events and the leading characters (such as M.A. Jinnah, Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi) who constituted the variegated political scene of India in its widest sense during the Second World War and the period immediately after it when the British grip on India was loosening fast and their departure from India was imminent.
Dr Muhammad Iqbal Chawla is Professor, History Department, University of the Punjab, Lahore. He teaches graduate, postgraduate, MPhil, and PhD courses and is the editor of the Journal of the Punjab University Historical Society published by the University of the Punjab. His articles on modern South Asian studies, particularly pre-Partition Muslim politics, have been published in national and international journals. Furthermore, Dr Chawla is the author of Islamic Writings in Pakistan.
The launch ceremony held at the University of Karachi was well-attended by the students, academics and the faculty members of the university. The event featured a stimulating discussion between Prof. Dr Syed Jaffar Ahmed, Director, Pakistan Study Centre, University of Karachi, and Dr Muhammad Iqbal Chawla. While discussing the subject of his book, the author highlighted how Lord Wavell's viceroyalty actually set the stage for all that transpired during the Mountbatten era. Prof. Sharif al Mujahid, Distinguished National Professor, Higher Education Commission, also spoke on the occasion. Earlier in her welcome address, Ameena Saiyid, Managing Director, Oxford University Press Pakistan, introduced the author and said that he has tackled an important period of subcontinental history. She further added that very little has been written about Wavell and we have to be grateful to Dr Chawla for adding to the small reserves of information we possess on his role and performance.