INDIA'S ATTITUDE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 224, 22 September 1938, Page 6

INDIA'S ATTITUDE.

IN EVENT OF WAR.

DOMiHION RIGHTS CLAIMED. VM&OTVXJLR. BIIX PASSED. (from Our Own Correspondent.) "MADRAS, September 5. In an atmosphere of boisterous scenes, bantering speeches and keen party rivalry the Criminal Law Amendment Bill was debated for six days in the Central Legislative Assembly at its] Simla session last month, anrl finally passed in the teeth of popular opposition as the result of a bargain between the Government and the Muslim League. The object of the bill is to punish anyone who dissuades or attempt* to dissuade the public or any person from entering the military, naval or air forces of His Majesty; or, in the alternative. any one who incites would-be recruits to commit acts of mutiny or insubordination after joining the forces. It is obvious that this irrational juxtaposition of two different evils betrays th« mentality of the framei s of the bill. While the former is a perfectly legitimate right of all people, the hitter is a breach of duty and discipline in respect of which condign punishment has been tha recognised punishment of all governments. By combining the two a new. offence has been created which denies the fundamental liberty of the subject by punishing him for peacefully propagating his views on war and peace. Such was the stand taken bv the elected members of the Assembly, moatly Congress, who opposed the bill." Example of Dominions. I According to the statement of objects and reasons, the aim of tha bill is to penalise those who would "dissuade would-be recruita from taking part in any war s» which' tha British Empire may become engaged." There is no war now actually going on in which the British Empire is involved; and no one can Tory well dissuade recruits from taking part in a wax that does not; exist. The real object of the bill, it is ; suspected by its opponent*, is to penalise j speeches which assart India's right to be consulted about her nationals lx>ing used in any war that the British Empire may choose to engage in and the resolve of India's leaders to oppose her army taking part in any war ahmit which one fcaa pot been consulted. The Indian army la now definitely contemplated as part qf the Imperial force with which to defend the British Impire. Tha Congress members in the A as, amply asked the Government to consult thg nation before using her amy, and to remember how a contogtad India would be a source of strength to her, even as South Africa had been daring the German war. Tboggh low* dwv be made to ensure Stoßdy recruitment, the bureaucracy ohojpld. got forget that the determined paaoirity of the masses of people would cripple the Government far more fatally then open rebellion. The Congress party is not opposed to eo-operation between India and England, but it urges that the army in India should be treated as intended, for the defence of India, in the same way as the defence forces of the Dominions are intended for their domestic purposes. gnd not as an army of occupation, to he reedy at the beck and call of the War Office, to be used for Imperial purposes. India should be conceded the right that every Dominion claims, of joining or keeping aloof from any war that Britain may enter. ; Qn Titel questions Britain dare not go ahegA without consulting the Dominlogg. General Smuts, Minister for Justice in South Africa, replying to l>r. Malan, leader of the Nationalists, observed #i the House of Assembly so recently as August 25 last, that South Africa would not be automatically at war, if Britain was at war, as in 1914. The Union Parliament would have to decide. But if he were a m emDer of the Government when Britain was involved in war, his advice to the Cabinet and the Parliament would be to stand by Britain. General Hertzog, Prime Minister, also reiterated the Union's position by saying that Parliament would have to decide on the merits of the case when the need arose. On the question of the desirability of taking part in Britain's wars, General Hertzog continued, the Government refused to bind themselves beforehand. When the time came the people would decide. "When that day comes, the country can be assured that the Government will do their duty and that they will take the responsibility for their actions."

Regarding the attitude of Canada in the event of war, it might be profitable to recall the words of Mr. Mackenzie King, Prime Minister, on September 29. 1936, ia the ninth plenary session of the League of Nations: "The nations of the British Commonwealth are held together by ties of friendship, by similar political institutions and by common attachment to democratic ideals rather thaa by commitments to join together in war. The Canadian Parliament reserves to Itself the right to declare in the light of circumstances existing at the time, to what extent, if at all, Canada will participate in conflicts in which the other members of the Commonwealth maw be engaged." That is what the Congress party in the Assembly claimed for India, and their main object also in opposing the Anti-Recruitment Bill which penalised tha members, telling their countrymen not to be mercenaries in another counwar. Jinnah's Revenge.

It was an interesting fact that the Moslem League party in the Assembly under the leadership of Mr. 'M. A. Jinnah, supported all the arguments of the Congress party, but voted against it. It voted with the Government and thus had the bill passed by a narrow majority not to decise the issue purely on the merit* of the question > DUt to teach the Congress a lesson for refusing to come to an agreement on the communal question. The Moslem League party in the Assembly j» in the enviable position of hqldiof tjw balance of power. Mr. Jinnah promised ale party's votes to the Government and the latter gracefully accepted his amendments to which the Congress has most strongly objected to the bill without question. Although the features of the bill still remain, it has Visa amended by the addition of two clauses which .have made its operation; dependent on the actions of the Provincial Governments and reduced. the punishment from two years to One year imprisonment. The Act will' not be .brought into force in any province except I under the orders of the Government of that province and no person shall be. prosecuted for an J Ofenee under it except with the previous sanction of the Provincial Government. There are Congress Government in seven out of the eleven provinces. It was a tragic, yet significant, fact (Sat tae members of the Moslem League, after helping Britain to utilise Indian laneJss *■ asr vara* ntei oa the mor-

row to observe "Palestine Day" as a protest against the British policy in that land There is no guarantee that the Act will never be used in a manner repugnant to the Moslem League and its supporters; and Nationalist leaders lielieve that the league is not justified, iu the words of Mr. Bhulabhai Desai, Leader of the Congress Assembly party, "sellinor India's freedom and betraying India's birthright." It is not unlikely that a contingent may be sent to Palestine, for once there is outbreak of hostilities, Britain is not going to listen to the .linnahs of the land as to what she will or will not do with the armv in India.

Even Anjilo-Indian journals express that the debate lias resulted in the moral victory of the Congress and sound a note, of warning to the Government of India to remember that whatever measures may be taken to strengthen the Indian Army now. it is ridiculous to contemplate the helpful co-ope*ration of India in a Commonwealth commitment which responsible Indians have no reason to rei-o-nise. The time has come when Britain must face the logical conclusions of India's political L-rowth and parallel constitutional evolution. If democratically developing India is to play its part in the collective security system which the British Commonwealth constitutes, it can onlv do so in a spirit of co-operation. Either that co-operation must be jought on a basis of understanding or Britain must face the unpleasant fact that a sullen India may well prove to be a liability in a major emergency. Federation Prospects. The fwlinga which the debate has raised, and the countrywide opposition the bill lias aroused, "must have come as a rude shock to the Covernment; and it realised too late that this is not the proper time for controversial measures. When the country is passing from one constitutional stage to another and people are in the fever-heat of expectation and apprehension about the prospects of Federation—surely such a bill, which was bound to be resisted by all the elected members of the Assembly whose voice alone counts in a selfgoverning country, should not have been brought forth at all. There is a distinct note of pessimism in the talks ia official circles in Simla about Federation. News from London about the progress of the Viceroy, Lord Linlithgow's, mission is not encouraging. A , difference of opinion between the ViceI roy and Lord Zetland, Secretary of State for India, on the question of the inauguration of Federation, is reported. While Lord Linlithgow has succeeded in his conversations with Mr. Neville Chamberlain and Lord Halifax (who was former Vieeroy of India) and other inemliers of the Cabinet and emphasised the need for a compromise with the Indian National Congress, the only national organisation in the land fighting for complete independence, he has tailed to impress Lord Zetland, who it is stated is advising the Cabinet to stick to the Government of India Act, 1936, without any alteration.

It was argued that if the Cabinet is unwilling to place exclusive reliance on the Viceroy's judgment in contravention of the traditional policy of Britain to trust the man on the spot, there was no reason why it should not send Lord Zetland to India to study the situation first hand. During the last few weeks there were several rumours from London hinting at the possibility of Lord Zetland's visit to India, but they were set at rest by the definite report that Colonel A. J. Muirhead. Under-Secretary of State for India, accompanied by hie Parliamentary Secretary, will visit India shortly. Ho is leaving London on September 24, and he will s|>end nearly three months in India? end return only at the end of the year. The surmise in political circles 13 that ha the Secretary of State is evidently preoccujiied with other matters he bas for the present decided to send his deputy to "nose around" and see how things lie.

The India Office apparently wants to conciliate the Congress, but "it does not wsnt also to risk any opposition from the States. Colonel Muirhead's first task will be to get into touch with the important native States* representatives and bring them round to approach the problem of federation from a new angle so that the objections of the progressive British India might be met. He will, of course, have an opportunity to meet political leaders of India, especially Ma hat ma Gandhi, and ascertain their views on the all-absorbing question of federation. Tt is reported that the Under-Secretary of State will convey an invitation to Mr. Gandhi to visit England and have talks with the members of the British Cabinet.