THE INDIA OF TO-DAY

Feilding Star, Volume 9, Issue 3851, 6 October 1932, Page 6

THE INDIA OF TO-DAY

A Land of Many Minds INTERVIEW WITH REV. B. X. FADE MISSIONARY ON FURLOUGH A SOX OF FUELLING » “You can say whatever you like, and it will be true of some part of India.” said tilt Rev. B. X. Fade, who has just returned to Feilding from India, where lie has lK»en a Baptist missionary for six years. M *. Fade is a Feilding hoy. having been born and educated here, and was for some time on the staff of the Feilding Star. After studying theology in New Zealand In* was ordained at Dunedin and volunteered for service in India. lie married an American lady, also «i missionary in India, and his wife and child accompany him to liis home land. “ The first thing that! struck me on arrival in India." said Mr. Fade to the pressman, “was the absence of Englishmen. You might expect to set* them in every town, city and village, but: such is not tlie case. A visitor to the country said lie had heard that the English governed the country, hut lie wanted to know how they did it, seeing there were none of them there. The explanation is that, the English high officer issues the regularities and the administrative work is all in the hands of tlie Indians. The Home Government is represented by the Resident Magistrate. who has a wide district to control, and all the detail work is carried out by Indians. MU. (JAXDIII Naturally tlie conversation centred, on Mr. Gandhi. Mr. Fade says the name is pronounced Guildie. There is not doubt in the mind of Mr. Fade of tin* sincerity of this famous ,man. It is sail occasionally that lie is insincere, but such is not the ease. lit* is consecrated to the liftring Up of the Indian people by means of securing for them political control of their own affairs. lie is tin* greatest moral force in the country. and if lie were to die there is no one to take liis place. Mr. Gandhi represents the sentiment which desires complete political control for Indians, and liis followers, who are very closely attached to him. are fond of saying that good government is no substitute for selfgovernment. Educated Hindus and the intelligent class are generally members <f the Congress, which supports Mr. Gandhi. The famous leader himself is not the leader of the Congress, in fact lie is only a ‘member of the committee, hut is often referred to by the Hindus themselves as the* Dictator. His infiuence has been good in India. He has hud a restraint on tlie people, and had he not exercised that restraint there would have been much more trouble than there has been. The Indians feel, that there is a loss of dignity and prestige in having an outside Government. They desire to have their own Government elected by themselves. It is the Hindus principally who are agitating for this. Tlu> Mohammedans, who are largely outnumliered by the Hindus, also desire self-government, but they are not so keen oil it as the Hindus, for they fear the Hindu Raj. who might not give them such a good hearing as the British. In the meantime, however, they are always after the good positions, and press the British authorities for these and for reforms dor their own benefit. Amongst the Hindus the desire for this self-government is very strnog. The British missionary, for instance, as such is received very favourably in the country hut the Resident Magistrate, who is the outward and executive sign of the British Raj. is always in danger of liis life. Occasionally one is murdered by a young Hindu. Vlie murderer will go out with a revolver in one hand and a dust; of cyanide in (lie other, and as soon as lie had shot liis victim will take Hie poison. It is very difficult to deal with that ty]*e of miml. When such a murder has been coinmil ted, tlie people will pass resolutions of sympathy and profess horror at tlie dastardly crime, hut this is all with a shrug of the shoulders. With some, and not a few', it is looked on as a blow at the British Raj. the outside control of the country. RELIGIOUS LIFE The people are principally Hindu and Mohammedan, with the Hindu

very largely preponderating. The Hindu religion, safd Mr. Eade, has not a good influence on the life of its adherents. The belief is that life is a series of planes, and the religious plane is the last. While it is believed that religion affects the whole of life, the faith teaches the Hindu that the final step is the religious one, ami tlio consequence of this is that the old men devote themselves to tlie study of the philosophy of their religion—but not until they art- old men. Their idea of sin is a breai li of some ceremonial observace—not the Christian idea either of sin or morality. Yet in the home tha mother is held in the highest reverence. When a boy goes into his home the first thing he does is to go down prostrate on the floor and wijK* the dust from his mother’s' feet. The father comes a long way second. Tlie Hindu religion is largely philosophy and this gives its devotee the philosophical mind—it takes a good deal to get him down to the earth. He likes to think up in the clouds. The Mohammedan looks on the Hindu with disdain, but lie regards the Christian almost as a brother. “Wo have h sacred book,” lie will remark to the Christian, “but 'these—and a nod or a shrug dismisses the Hindu. Tlie Mohammedan will listen resiicet fully to tlie Chrsitian. but he cannot understand why the Christian will not believe that Mohammed was the last of the Prophets. He believes in Jesus Christ as a prophet, but not as tlie Son of Cod. The morality of the Mohammedan is not good. It was not denied that - good Mohammedan would pray to Allah to assist him as he was breaking into a house to rob it. And as for telling the* truth . . Tlie Indians art* very fond of litigation, and they can get witnesses to swear to anything, at a fee. U is known and ueci pted that witnesses tell lies in the Courts, and yet nothing is done about it. Tlie Magistrates do their best to sift out the facts, being well aware that the witnesses are of very little value. Hindus and Mohammedans liavo little objection to their boys listening to the Christian missionaries. In fact .they encourge it up to a point. They admit that the Christian influence is a good one. But when it comes to the stage when a young Hindu or Mohammedan desires to definitely join the Christian Church, then it is a different story. For a Hindu to beeome a Christian means severing every home and family tie, and josing bis status in the community. The Mohammedans are actively on tlie lookout for converts all the time. The Hindus at one time did not make converts*, their faitli being that a man was either born a Hindu or lie lie was not and that sett let! the question. Putteily, however, tin* Hindus have been earying <m x>ropaganda work, cspeeailly among the outeastes, win; were listening to the Christian message, and being lost to tlie Hindus. The rebellion against the British authority, sai l Mr. Fade, was having the effect of encouraging a feeling against all authority, and hoys were chafing against the authority of their fathers. This had its bad points, but it had tlifk effect, that the boys were not waiting for tlieir fathers* consent before going to hear the Christian missionaries. The Christian religion was making progress in India, said Mr. Fade, but there was a long way to go yet. With tlie immense population, the religions already established there, tlie Hindu especially so venerable,, and tlie general difficulties so great missionaries would need all human and superhuman aid. Mr. Fade is to attend the Baptist Conference at Christchurch this week and will later return to Feilding. He is to spend several months on furlough in .Yew Zealand.