The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 1935. THE HEART OF THE INDIAN PROBLEM.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 68, 21 March 1935, Page 6

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo.

THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 1935. THE HEART OF THE INDIAN PROBLEM.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrong that needs resistawe, For the future in the distance, And the good that ice can do.

The Hindu-Moslem riots at Karachi, in

India, and the use .of firearms against the m(// by a small body of British troops and by the police, bring once more into the lime-

light the main difficulty in the way of granting India self-government—the racial and religious differences which fissure a vast population. Communal clashes between Hindus and Moslems are the constant preoccupation of British officials. Such disturbances must not be confused with demonstrations against British i-u~e. The drastic action taken by General Dyer at Amritzar conies in the second category. There the outbreak was definitely anti-British, and the mob had been in charge of the city for a week, and had robbed, burned, and murdered. Though what has happened at Karachi was a clash bctvAaii Moslems and the British authorities, trouble arose out of feeling between Hindu and Moslem. A Moslem was executed for the murder of a Hindu who had written offensively about the founder of the Moslem faith, and a crowd of 100,000 Moslems exhumed the body and refused to disperse. Had the British authorities not handled the situation firmly, the Hindu population would have been exposed to grave danger. It is interesting to recall what happened four years ago at Cawnpore. Hindus declared a holiday in protest against the execution of one of their number, ' and when Moslem shopkeepers refused to obey, the Moslem community was attacked. In the words, of the Commission that investigated the tragedy, "a sudden fury of passion swept the riot out of control." The death roll was over 400. What was particularly interesting in ' the finding of the Commission, in view of the fact that Dyer was broken for what he did at Amritzar, was this: the British District Magistrate at Cawnpore was blamed for not having taken "swift, decisive action." Had he marched with a small police force to a threatened point he would have beaten off the attack. At Karachi the authorities apparently did take "swift, decisive action," but for which the loss of "life —to say nothing of property —would have been much heavier than it was.

According to a message published to-day, the Indian community at Karachi appreciates the way in which the riot was handled by the British, and there is no anti-British feeling. The British in India stand between Hindu and Moslem to see fair play and enforce justice, and over and over again they are called in to settle differences and keep the peace. They prevent or stop street fighting, ancl they put clown a,"large scale outbreak like the attack of the Moplahs— fanatical Moslems of the South —on Hindus, an affair that developed into a war arid was marked by appalling outrages. They are helped in this task because, though both Moslems and Hindus may dislike them, these parties know that they are impartial. But if this impartial authority Were withdrawn, what would happen? The power of using joolice .and troops would pass into the hands of Moslem or Hindu, and the authority •would no longer be considered impartial. Hindu or Moslem would be called to act in disputes between these two religions. In addition, it is notorious that the Indian is less willing than the British to take responsibility, and, as the riots at Cawnpore and other places have shown, unless cpiick and decisive action is taken, the results may be terrible. All this helps to explain why under the new India Bill certain powers are reserved to the British Administration.