Jaswant Singh to release book on Jinnah in Islamabad next week

Former external affairs minister Jaswant Singh will release his controversial book on Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah in Islamabad next week.

There had been talk of Singh releasing Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence in Pakistan since August last year.

The much-delayed launch ceremony has finally been scheduled by Oxford University Press, the book's publisher in Pakistan, at Islamabad Club on April 14.

Singh is expected to participate in events in other cities also, including Karachi, during his first visit to Pakistan since the release of the book.

Earlier, Mr Books, one of Islamabad's most popular book stores, had planned to host Singh in the federal capital but his trip to Pakistan was put off as the book had then not been published in the country.

Despite the delay in Singh's visit to Pakistan, copies of his book have been flying off the shelves.

Pirated copies of the book too entered the market and Oxford University Press filed a complaint with police that led to the arrest of several book store owners.

Singh argued in his book that Jinnah was not solely responsible for the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947.

Singh was expelled by BJP following the release of the book last year.