INDIA

Grey River Argus, 4 May 1931, Page 4

INDIA

BRITISH POLICY. LORDS DEBATE (Aus. & N.Z. Cable Assn.) DELHI, April 29. Bakrid, the grteat Mahommedan festival. passed off quietly throughout the country, contrary to expectations, and probably because of the drastic precautions following the riots at Cawnpore. RUGBY, April 29. Lord Peel, opening the debate in the House of Lord s on India, invited the Government to indicate the personnel and scope of the resumed meeti ingj o{T the Round-Table iCbnfe-rence, land asked if Dr. Gandhi’ was to be the sole representative of the- Congress. 1 He said that it was to be noten. that from recent meetings at Karachi, it did not appear that the views of the Congress were unanimous or homogeneous. He urlged the* importance of safeguards, specially for minorities, and expressed anxiety at the present stat-e of communal relations. ! Lord Reading, said that the substance of the safeguards and reserva tions, as stated by him to the Committee. which had been accepted by the Government and pronounced for by the Pnime Minister, were part and parcel of the whole question, and part of the promise or expressions in favour of responsibility. Referring to tlie Cawnpore massacries, he asked what steps had beeta taken to prevent a recurrence of such incidents. Dealing with; the recent warnings of Sir Goeffrey De Montmorency, Governor of the 1 Punjab, about the spread of discord. he applied to the Government, to give the Viceroy the fullest assurance of their support in any measures he might, wish to take. In doing so, they would have the support, of both political parties and the country as awhole. ‘ Lord Snell, (Under-Secretary for India), said that the 1 Government proiposed to invite the Indian delegates 'to visit London, to resume the work ■of the Federal Structural Committee, and the Government hoped that tne Committee’s deliberations would make ■ progress here during the summer. ( The Indian representation on the Com- | mittee was to be the same, but the I Government was considering whether it would not be desirable to add to it j representations of certain interests not directly represented on the original committee. A definite statement j as to the personnel could not be made I untfl Lord Willingdon had time to consider the matter. The Government’s plans contemplated bringing I the problems which had been entrusti ed to the Federal Structure Committee under further discussion. The specific heads of inquire- referred to the Committee when it sat in London were intended broadly to cover collectively the whole field of the Constitution and powers of a Federal or Central Government of the type contemplated by the Government. The plans sketched out in the 1 Committee’s two reports left much, of' that field unexplored . The Government hoped that a further session would enable it, if not to complete the work, at all events to make specific progres s towards it s completion. The Government. had no definite formation as to tho reception of individual rulers not piiesent at th>e London Conference towards the scheme of federation. The increase of ill-feeling between the Hindus and Moslems was a matter inherently delicate, and a solution of which was primarily for the Indians themselves. All tha Government could do was to reiterate what was placed in the forefront of the Prime Minister’s declaration? The new Constitution must contain such) a guarantee as required by the minorities to protect their political libertces and rights. That was one of the drastic conditions, which not only the Government, but all parties at the Conference took their stand. The time was muchl too short since Lord Irwin s conversations with Gandhi to form any competent opinion of ’ the effect of the agreement on. trade movements, and he had no reason to think that the undertaking was being disregarded. although certain difficulties had arisen, which were receiving the attention of the Government of India. There was a wide*spread desire through India for and while there were difficulties ahead, the Government saw nothing to justify a mood of pessimism. The situation "required qualities of both patient and tolerant ’inderstauding.