STRIKE THREAT IN CALCUTTA

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 68, Issue 145, 1 April 1948, Page 5

STRIKE THREAT IN CALCUTTA

Pandit Nehru Blames “Certain Groups” ALLEGED PLANS FOR VIOLENCE (N.Z.P. A.—Copyright). LONDON, March 31. The Prime Minister of India (Pandit Nehru) was loudly cheered in the Indian National' Assembly in Delhi yesterday when, in care-fully-worded speech, he denounced . what he called “action calculated to challenge the foundations of democratic government, dislocate public work, and cause a breakdown of discipline in the public services.” The Delhi correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph” says that Pandit Nehru was referring lo the threatened strike on Friday of Government employees in Calcutta. Such action, he warned,, would be considered gross dereliction of duty, entailing instant dismissal. The threatened strike, he added, was part of a larger, movement. There had been incitement, to violence and the organisers thought in terms of achieving their objective by violent methods. The Delhi correspondent of “The Times” says that although Pandit Nehru did not actually name any political organisation it was obvious from the tone of his speech that he considered the Communists responsible. Certain groups, he said, were bent on creating trouble, particularly among the workers. *

According to the All-India radio, Pandit Nehru told the National Assembly that Government servants in Calcutta were threatening to begin on Friday a violent stay-in hungerstrike* with political motives. “This challenges the Government,” said Pandit Nehru. “It is evidently part of a larger movement, essentially political and violent, which is taking shape in some parts of India. There can be no democratic functioning if a small minority attacks the , • Government violently to enforce its will on the great majority.” The police arrested 17 Communist and trade union leaders in raids on the Communist Party’s New Delhi headquarters and on the offices of organisations affiliated with the Com-munist-dominated All-Indian Trade Union Congress. It is reported that the police have sealed the Communist headquarters. According to the “Daily Telegraph” correspondent, active Communists and Communist sympathisers control the trade unions in India, which have a membership of about 500,000.