GANDHI'S OPPONENTS

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 117, 20 May 1930, Page 9

GANDHI'S OPPONENTS

STABLE ELEMENTS

RALLY ROUND VICEROY

On Wednesday and Thursday, the 26th and 27tli of l">ebruary, a conference of impo.rtunco for tho future pdlJtical progress of India was hold in Delhi, writes a special correspondent of the "Manchester Guardian." This was a conference of loaders of tho many political parties and schools of thought in India which have dissociated themselves from Mr. Gandhi and his ruinous independence movement. The holding of such a conference,has been suggested from more than one quarter sinco the Lahore session of tho All-India National Congress last December, when Mr. Gandhi and tho two Nehrus, arro-' gating to themselves the .title of Congross, declared that the goal of India was complete independence of tho British Empire, and that tho goal was_ to be reached by an organised campaign of non-violent civil' disobedience, or what would be callcdin England passive resistance. It is well known that none, of the other political parties in India associated thcmsolves with Mr. Gandhi, that even the Congress party divided itself on this issuo of independence versus Dominion status \vithin the British Empire as the goal of India's policy, and that in the end Mr. Gandhi and the two Nehrus have found themselves with no following but the organised youths of a few of tho larger cities of India and certain Labour leaders of the more extreme type. DANGER FROM GANDHI.. The dangors to be apprehended from Mr. Gandhi's ■ proposed campaign _of civil disobedience are, of course, immense, in spite of the fact.that he has no following except that mentioned above, and it is as certain as anything human can be.that when once tho. campaign of civil disobodienco gets well under way Mr. GandM will be even less able to keep it' non-violent than ho was able to prevent the murderous outrages and horrors of his carlior Non-Co-operation movement. Last time he had whole communities and sections of tho Indian people on1 his side who to-day are not only not with him but are hostile to him. There arc thus no • stablo elemonts and no influential leaders to prevent any excesses into which impetuous youths ami misguided labourers may rush. Already tho appeal to passion and ignpranco has begun by the issue of an "Economic Programme," in which tho usual promises of reduction or abolitibu ,of taxation and generally of an economic millennium are given. • . . THE NEW POLICY. Only concerted action by tho many parties who form the opposition' to Mr. Gandhi can save India from a rcerndesceneo of tho old Non-Co-operation niovoment, with its heavy toll in human suffering and economic loss, and fortunately they have been given a rallying point in the new policy of' Lord Irwiu. and Mr. Wedgwood Benn, ' by which the leaders of. Indian public opinion are invited to co-operato fully and freely with Parliament in plotting out India's advance to full Dominion status within the British Empire, which His: Majesty's Government has declared to be, India's goal. For a variety of reasons—political, communal, and personal—the assembling of a conference. of leaders, of all the non-Congress parties—that is, of all the.parties hostile to the independence movement—has proved to be a very difficult matter, but it has been accomplished at last,-and it should be noticed that this is a real AU-Partios Conference, because it includes the leaders not only of Hindu, Mohammedan, Sikh, and Non-Brahmin parties, but also accredited representatives of the European and Anglo-Indian communities in India. .•■ , ■,•;■. MANY INTERESTS CONCERNED. It is worth while dwelling for a moment on the spectacle .presented by the.presence in one room of the representatives of so .many interests which hitherto havo been divided from each other by deep and fundamental differences gathered together in support of a policy which, has appealed to them all. .Of course, too differences between them still persist, but they are all united in support of the Eound-Ta\jle Conference, and their conference is not only proof of a desire but an expression of a will to reconcile, as far as historic circumstances will allow, those clashes of interests and ideals which aro admittedly one of ■■ the greatest barriers to India's political progress. It is true that during the two days of discussion no agreement was reached on'any of tho points in dispute between the different communities, but it is also truo that tho proceedings ive.ro both harmonious and friendly. It is too much to exx>eet that even the very influential and representative committee which has been formed to examine the possibilities of ' a settlement acceptable to all interests, will be able to/bring about complete unity on points which for years have, baffled the most earnest efforts of various "Unity" and "All-Party" conferences; but it is a great thing to get the different parties working together harmoniously toward one great and common ideal, and whatever'tho practical result of the ■ labours of tho committee ipay be, it is at any rate certain that support for the BoundTable Conference' will be confirmed and strengthened as a result of those proceedings, and India's representatives will have learnt to work together in preparation for tho all-important conference in London.