NEARER NORMAL

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 20862, 14 August 1942, Page 3

NEARER NORMAL

INDIAN SITUATION ISOLATED INCIDENTS MIDDLE EAST COMMENT (By Telegraph —Press Assn. —Copyright,) (11.45 a.m.) LONDON, Aug. 13. Reports received from India in the past 24 hours are still reassuring. The situation in Bombay city and Old Delhi has been much nearer to normal. From some 1 provinces, including Bengal, the Punjab and Madras, only a very few isolated incidents are reported, with some student demonstrations. There have been some disturbances in the city of Nagpur. The general impression is that for the time being, at least, the excitement is dying down, even in Bombay, the province most affected, though special precautions are still necessary. Public opinion in the Middle East unreservedly condemns the Indian Congress Party policy. A Turkish deputy comments on the incongruous demands that the British should leave India and at the same time defend India. Comment is also made that in a country under Japanese control, Gandhi and Nehru would not have been allowed to remain alive. An Iraqi newspaper states that Axis rule, as demonstrated in occupied countries, should have been a lesson to India, but Gandhi and his colleagues evidently have not considered what has happened and continued to prevent a solution of the Indian problem for their own selfish purposes. The United States State Department has revealed that it warned American troops in India that they were sent them solely to prosecute war against the Axis and primarily to aid China, and that they should scrupulously avoid participation in India's internal struggle. In the event of disturbances where the Americans are stationed, they are authorised to resort to defensive measures only should their own safety, or that of other American citizens, be endangered.