Salman Rushdie’s acclaimed Booker Prize winning novel, “Midnight’s Children,” tells the story of two sons switched at birth who were born at the very midnight hour when India awoke to independence and freedom. Although Rushdie also penned a novel, “Shame,” about Pakistan, it is “Midnight’s Children” that better serves as a metaphor for both India and Pakistan.
India and Pakistan became independent states on the stroke of midnight on Aug. 14 (Pakistan) and Aug. 15 (India), 1947. Like South Asia, Kashmir was partitioned at birth. A Muslim majority state ruled by a Hindu maharajah, it had been incorporated by India at independence. However, India’s claim to Kashmir was contested by Pakistan, which invaded Kashmir shortly after partition.
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