INDIAN CONGRESS

Greymouth Evening Star, 10 December 1945, Page 5

INDIAN CONGRESS

“NATIONAL ARMY WEEK.” LONDON, December 9. “A crowd of 200,000, including 100 recently released but still uniformed members of the Indian National Army, attended the biggest public meeting ever held in Calcutta to launch ‘lndian National Aimy Week,’ ” says Reuter’s correspondent in Calcutta. “A giant portrait of Subhas Chandra Bose (leader of the war-time Japanese-sponsored Indian ‘Government’), who is a native of Calcutta, surmounted a decorated rostrum. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Mr. V. Patel addressed the crowd and took the salute when the National Army members marched past. Patel declared: “We cannot tolerate the continuance of British power in India any longer. Foreign domination must end.’ , A “Mr. Patel told the National Army men: ‘Congress has a place for you all because of your remarkable courage and self-sacrifice-.’ “Pandit Nehru warned that sporadic violence would not pay. ‘lf we are forced to adopt the way of violence, then it is for the nation to do so deliberately, not casually,’ he said.” The correspondent adds that Pandit Nehru, while visiting Burma and Malaya, will investigate the arrests of Indians there and arrange for their defence and other aid. A New Delhi message says that, in an effort to prove that Subhas Chandra Bose’s “Provisional Government of Free India” was not a puppet but a Government, defence counsel in the Indian National Army trial called two Japanese Foreign Office officials to give evidence today. They declared that Japanese war aims for India were “to make India independent” and produced a copy of a speech by To jo in which he offered to place the Andaman and Nicobar Islands under the jurisdiction of Bose’s Government. VICEROY AND GANDHI. NEW DELHI, December 9. A statement from Viceroy House says that Mr. Gandhi’s forthcoming meeting with Lord Wavell is not' the opening of negotiations with the Congress Party and that there will be no negotiations with any party .at present. It added: “The Viceroy is always ready to see the leaders of the principal parties and hear their views, but negotiations must wait until after the elections.”

TIDAL WAVE VICTIMS,

NEW DELHI, December 8. It is officially announced that the original report that 4000 were killed and 40,000 rendered homeless in the tidal wave west .of Karachi on November 28 was exaggerated. It is now indicated that 200 were killed.