GENERAL SITUATION

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 49, 26 August 1930, Page 9

GENERAL SITUATION

IMPROVEMENT REPORTED

UNREST STILL ON FRONTIER

British Official Wireless.

(Beeeivea 26th August, 11 a.m.)

BUGBY, 25th August. In the weekly appreciation by the Government of India of the situation in India it is stated that by the 19th August the Afridi lashkar had dispersed, although a few small parties still remained in the district. Congress emissaries from British territory are, however, reported to have passed up the Bara Valley to urge the Afridis to renew hostilities. About 3000 Afridis were present at the usual Friday jirga at Bagh on 22nd August, and an aeroplane doing reconnaissance there was fired upon. On the. northern border of the Peshawar district the Hadj of Turangzai and his emissaries have remained active among the Upper Hohmands and Utman Khel. A jirga of two sections of the latter tribe interviewed the Deputy-Commissioner on 16th August. They undertook to commit no more offences against the Government, to refrain from joining any hostile lashkar, and to refuse passage to any hostile lashkar of other tribes. In view of this undertaking their eleven prisoners captured at Pallai were released. It is clear, however, that the Haji has met with a. good deal of success among the upper Mohmands, and_possibly, some part of the Utman Khel tribe, and still has great hopes^^ of raising a lashkar to attack the Peshawar district by way of Gandao. # On the Kurram border an intensive bombing of Massozai and the Para Chamkannis had very good effect. A Massozai jirga and jirga of one section of the Para Chamkannis have come into Paraohinar to make overtures for settlement. The agitation, however, has spread .to other tribes. On 19th August Ahma'dzai Ghilzai colloeted a lashkar on Pciwav Kota.l in the neighbourhood of Utsar and Bargawisar. Reconnaissance aeroplanes were heavily fired upon from these two points, and militia pickets in the upper Kurram tvero iired on from Utsar. Thanks to excellent defensive measures adopted by tho Kurram militia and village levies, togother with successful measures adopted by the local Afghan authorities to restrain the tribes on their side of the border, the hostile forces disporsed after a few days without further committing themselves. EROVINCIAIi POSITION. Provincial reports for the first fortnight of August continue to show a marked improvement in most provinces. In Madras the number of breaches of the law and consequent prosecutions continuo to fall. In Bengal the improvement has been so marked that it is possible to discern a tendency to return to normal conditions. There has been less picketing particularly in Calcutta, and the movement generally has much weakened. A good sign in several districts is the increased attendance at school, and the boycott of educational institutions seems to be falling. In tlio United Provinces tho chief feature of the fortnight was the attack on institutions from which the Mo'lianiuiudans, however, kepi; aloof. There has been a very serious interference with studies at fell the Allahabad, Benares, and Lucknow Universities, but a recent report in the Pre'BS states (.hat stndcuta have py^l^A J» #* fest"