MOSLEMS’ VIEW

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 20865, 18 August 1942, Page 3

MOSLEMS’ VIEW

CRISIS IN INDIA ‘CALL GANDHI’S BLUFF GOVERNMENT SUPPORTED (By Telegraph—Press Assn. —Copyright.) (11.30) LONDON, Aug. 17. Messages from India report tha.t the meeting of the working committee of the Moslem League, under the presidency of Mr Jinnah, again adjourned. It is understood that the meeting had before it a draft resolution for discussion. Mr Jinnah, in an interview with the Daily Mail’s Bombay correspondent, said he hoped that the cricket match the Viceroy had been playing with Gandhi since the outbreak of war was now finished. “If I were to give .the word 80,000,000 Moslem followers would cause bigger repercussions than the Congress Party is capable ol producing. If the Viceroy continues his firm stand he will call Gandhi’s bluff without difficulty.” A message from Bombay states that there is a growing demand in all responsible quarters for the Government to take the lead in dissolving the deadlock. Proposals had been made for a conference on a wide basis ol non-party leaders. After Mr Rajagopalachari’s and Sir Tej Sapru’s statements, the Bombaj Trade and Commercial Association sent a message to the Viceroy urging him and .the Government to open negotiations. Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Spalding professor of eastern religions at Oxford University, pleaded in Benares for a provisional central Government consisting ol Indians of all communities and political parties, having entire freedom in internal administration except war matters. British Labour Attitude Broadcasting to North America on behalf of the British Labour Party, Mr A. Greenwood recapitulated the Labour Party’s attitude to the Indian problem. A solution, he said, could not be imposed from without; it must be sought by the Indian peoples themselves. He frankly admitted that the British Government had made a firm offer to India and if Indians showed a true unity they could help in the fight for a free India and a free democracy. Reports from various centres in India show that the disorders have considerably abated. An improvement is reported at Nagpur, one of the worst areas, where the post office and Central Co-operative Bank were set on fire and gutted and Government money stolen. Seven more persons were arrested this morning at Bombay, where conditions are now quiet. The secretary of the Punjab branch of the Indian Spinners’ Association in New Delhi warned workers who had joined the Congress movement to sever their connections with the association. Nine persons were injured .to-night in Calcutta when the police fired on a mob and also charged a mob in a bazaal - with lathis.