HEAVY DEATH ROLL IN INDIAN COMMUNAL RIOTING

Evening Star, Issue 26152, 14 July 1947, Page 5

HEAVY DEATH ROLL IN INDIAN COMMUNAL RIOTING

(liec. 11 a.m.) LONDON, July 13. Casualties in communal rioting at the week-end brought the total for all India since June 3, when India accepted the British plan, to 217 dead and 910 seriously injured, says the ' Daily Telegraph * ' New Delhi correspondent. The figures for the dead and injured in the worst affected localities are as follows:—Calcutta 60 killed and 369 injured; Lahore, 52 killed and 220 injured; Amritsar, 15 killed and 61 injured. Other cities and districts were affected in a lesser degree. Deaths and injuries from rioting nrs reported for the first time from the Indian States, including Hyderabad, Baroda, and Kashmir. Rioting and consequent curfew orders have drastically affected- all public services and trading. Provincial Governments have issued licenses'to carry arms, and-it is alleged that the Congress Government in the North-west Frontier Province alone issued 30,000. ! There were still 5,000 refugees in Delhi and 3,000 in Patiala from burned-out villages in the Gurgaon region. , Sylhet voters were offered the choice of remaining within Assam province, which is to remain as part of India, or of linking up with the adjoining Eastern Bengal, which is to become part of the Moslem State of Pakistan. As the referendum favoured amalgamation with Eastern Bengal, a boundary commission will be established to demarcate the Moslem majority areas of Sylhet. The voting resulted :—For joining Eastern Bengal, 239,619; for, Assam. 184,041: F.iIHS AT LAHORE (Itec. 1.30 p.m.) CALCUTTA, July 13. The Bengal ' Government reported that three were killed, ' including a policeman, in-shooting incidents. Widespread fires ■ raged at Lahore to-day after a fresh outbreak of communal rioting. The police fired to* disperse Moslem, Hindu, and Sikh crowds who were threatening one another after two bombs had burst in a Moslem locality.

LORD MOUNTBATTEN’S APPOINTMENT OF LIMITED DURATION

LONDON, July 12. The New Delhi correspondent of ! The Times ’ says the annbunceinent in Mr Attlee’s House of Commons speech on Thursday' that Lord Mountbatten had been recommended as the first Go-vernor-General for India (Hindustan) and Mr Jinnah f6r Pakistan came as a considerable suprise to the general public, who had expected Lord Mountbatten to be appointed interim Go-vernor-General of both dominions. The Moslems are jubilant, but among Hindus the appointments have had a mixed reception. • It is a question of face, and the latter ask why, if one dominion can have an Indian Governor-General, the other cannot have one, too, but, as the * Hindustan Times ’ points out, the practical advantages of having Lord ©Jountbatten have been considered to' outweigh the emotional satisfaction of having an Indian Governor-General. The paper points out - that Lord Mountbatten’s appointment is likely to be of limited duration, for the Indian Constitution, although not finally drawn up yet, provides for a President as head of the State, and he will surely be an Indian. Congress circles emphasise that ,1110 Governor-General plays a purely constitutional role, and that real power lies with the Premier and Cabinet. Tjie truth would appear to be that none of the Congress leaders can deal as effectively with Mr Jinnah as can Lord Mountbatten, and the advantages of retaining the latter’s services during the vital period of the next few months, when so many difficult decisions will have to be taken, have weighed heavily with Pandit Nehru and his colleagues. It is undoubtedly a great tribute to Lord Mountbatten, who has created a remarkable position for himself during the short time he has been in India. V