ONLY ONE ANSWER

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 20858, 10 August 1942, Page 3

ONLY ONE ANSWER

OFFICIAL STAND MEETING CHALLENGE GOVERNMENT STATEMENT (British Official Wireless.) (9 a.m.) RUGBY, Aug. 9. The Government of India, in its statement following the Congress Party’s decision to initiate: a mass " struggle, says: “The All-India Congress committee has ratified the resolution passed by the working committee of the Indian National Congress demanding the immediate withdrawal of British power from India. The Government has been aware for some days past of the dangerous preparations by the Congress Party for unlawful and, in some cases, violent activities directed, among other things, at an interruption of communications and public utility services, the organisation of strikes,'and interference with defence measures, including recruitment. “The Government has waited patiently, hoping that wiser counsels would prevail. That hope has failed. To the present challenge only one answer is possible. The Government of India would regard it as wholly incompatible with its responsibilities to the people of India and to the Allies that any demand should be discussed the acceptance of which would plunge India into confusion and anarchy and paralyse her war effort. For the demand of the Congress leaders there is no warrant. It is almost impossible to reconcile it with a full sense of responsibility on the part of the leaders of the Congress Party. “Totalitarian Policy” “The Government cannot accept their claim to speak for India as a whole, a claim which has no solid foundation. The Government’s acceptance of the claims now put forward by the Congress Party would mean the abandonment of all those large and powerful elements of the population which have condemned the course of action proposed by the Congress Party. The Congress Party is not India’s mouthpiece, yet, in the interests of securing their own dominance and in pursuit of a totalitarian policy, its leaders have consistently impeded the efforts made to bring India to full nationhood, “The fullest guarantee has been given by the British Government that when the war ends the final structure of India’s constitution will be erected toy the Indians themselves. Those guarantees are accepted by the people of India, it is firmly believed. “The Government cannot accept the Congress leaders’ claim that the British withdrawal now would lead to stability and co-operation with the United Nations against the aggressors. In the view of the Indian Government, acceptance of the demand now put forward by the Congress Party would mean a betrayal of the Allies, whether inside or outside India, and, in particular, a betrayal of Russia and China, a betrayal -of India’s fighting men, and a betrayal of all the loyal co-operative elements in India which have played so active and valuable a part in the prosecution of the war. Representative Government “India has to-day a Government stronger and more representative than ever in the past, a Government predominantly Indian and non-official, a Government determined to prosecute the war and no less determined to lead India on to her political goal. The task of this Government is the defence of India, maintaining her capacity to wage war, and safeguarding the interests of different sections of the people at this critical juncture. This task the Government will discharge in the face of the challenge now thrown down, hut with a desire that the action shah be preventive of any interruption of the war effort rather, than punitive, and with a full consciousness of the responsibility to India .and the cause nf the Allies and civilisation. lhe Government appeals to the people of India to unite with it in resistance to the present challenge, laying aside all political differences for the period of the ™’ ar ”