New Delhi, Aug 17 - After creating a storm by his praise of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jaswant Singh Monday clammed up on the subject during the release of his book on the architect of Pakistan.

After a panel of seven speakers praised his book, 'Jinnah - India, Partition, Independence' at the launch function here, Jaswant Singh merely said - 'Authors should not speak. They are supposed to be read.'

'The books are available outside, please do buy and read it. Good night,' was all Singh said to the audience as he smilingly walked away, leaving high and dry a battery of journalists waiting for three hours to note what more he had to say on the issue.

BJP president Rajnath Singh, who heard out all speakers with rapt attention, could not but help grin when the former external affairs minister avoided any further controversy by keeping his own counsel.

Among other things, Jaswant Singh's book contests the popular Indian view that Jinnah was the villain of the 1947 partition and maintains that he was a secular person who was against religion in politics.

Singh had said this during an interview with CNN-IBN channel and also blamed India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru for the partition, creating a storm over the weekend ahead of the book's release.

The book received critical acclaim from the panelists - eminent writer Lord Meghnad Desai, veteran journalists Mark Tully, M.