‘Viceroy Wavell wanted fair share for Muslims’

Lahore: Information Technology University's Centre for Governance and Policy hosted the launch of acclaimed British historian Victoria Schofield's book on Lord Wavell, the penultimate Viceroy of India, on Friday.

Discussing Wavell’s role in South Asia, Victoria Schofield mentioned that he knewd the land well. “Before becoming viceroy, he was commander-in-chief and much before that he had served in what is now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa."

He even knew Urdu and Pashto,” said Schofield, noting that today few people make such effort before being posted to a new position. “Wavell did not want India divided, but also wanted the Muslims to have their fair share, something which Jinnah wanted all along” argued the author.

In conversation with historian FS Aijazuddin, she stated that Wavell is often forgotten both in the history of the Second World War and Independence of Pakistan and India. “Wavell was the viceroy who really wanted an honourable settlement of the Subcontinent,” said the author.

"Wavell was a very smart student and his headmaster at Winchester wondered why he was going to the army,” said FS Aijazuddin, noting Wavell’s academic success and his earlier reluctance to join the army. Lord Wavell, in fact, wrote poetry, some of which got published and got good reviews.