RIGHTS OF INDIANS

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 1, 1 July 1922, Page 12

RIGHTS OF INDIANS

(FROM OUR OTTN CORRJSPOMDSNT.) SYDNEY, 21sfc June. The cause of the Indians domiciled in Australia has been pleaded, eloquently here by Mr. Srinivasa Sastri, a man of wide political vision. His advocacy of the policy or equality and brotherhood is a skilful one, and leads by measured steps to the dominant idea—a vote for the Indian. One cannot repress admiration for the earnestness and sincerity of the distinguished petitioner. As president of the twenty members of' the Servants of India Society) he is vowed to a life of poverty and' self-denial, and his oath binds him to servo the motherland in a missionary spirit all his life. Those who have heard him are enthusiastic in their praise of his culture, intelligence, and whole-souled conviction, and'of the tact and strength with which he presents his case. He addresses his audiences in fluent English, choosing his. words vwith great deliberation, and investing his sentences with charm and great appealing force. Resolute and ardent in his quest for improved conditions for the Indians, he presents, a graphic picture of their susceptibilities, heart-burnings', and political aspirations. He is a strong advocate of restricted immigration of tlie coloured race he represents, and appears .quite undismayed at finding himself up against such a formidable barrier as the White Australia policy.. ■ .. ■ Asked prior to his departure from Sydney to Brisbane if anything had yet been decided arising out of his mission to Australia, Mr. Sastri said ho had had informal conversations with the J*rime Minister (Mr. Hughes), and on 27th June he was to address the members of the Federal House, of Representatives, when his mission wonlrl be explained in detail. "Perhaps,", said Mr. Sastri, "the Prime Minister will have ' consulted his Cabinet on the matter before that,; and by that time, he may be able to tell mo something definite.". Mr. Sastri will leave ..for New Zealand early in July.