Manawatu Evening Standard. SATURDAY, JANUARY 10, 1920. THE UNREST IN INDIA.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIII, Issue 1710, 10 January 1920, Page 4

Manawatu Evening Standard. SATURDAY, JANUARY 10, 1920. THE UNREST IN INDIA.

The war brought with it unsettling conditions everywhere. It was scarcely reasonable, therefore, to suppose that India would escape the prevalent unrest that at present is so marked a characteristic of life amongst the democratic peoples of the world. The disturbances that took place in the Punjab last year were, however, fomented b}’ outsiders, and marked by very similar features to those that have been evident in Egypt, more particularly since it became apparent that America was unlikely to ratify the Peace Treaty. The game agencies would appear to have been at work in both countries, violent animosity being worked up against Europeans by a malignant and persistent course of misrepresentation of the Government policy. In India, the agitators appear to have concentrated their efforts upon the Rowlatt Act, introduced for the purpose of enabling the Government to bettor deal with, amongst other things, sedition mongers and propaganda seeking to overthrow the authority of the Government. The fact that the agitation took such deep root, and was responsible for so many disturbances, and the murder of Government officials and others in the Punjab, is the more surprising, seeing that, of all flie provinces, the Punjab proved the most loyal in its support of lh»* Government during the war. The Punjab’s contribution of fighting men, drawn during the war almost exclu-' siyely from,the rural population, practically represented half of India’s war effort, and comprised 170,000 Mahometans, 90,000 Sikhs, and 90,000 Hindus. In acknowledging an address presented to him at the Montgomery Hall, Lahore, by representatives of these martial races in April last, the LieutenantGovernor, Sir Michael O’Dwyer, referring to the disturbances which were then at their height, expressed his pleasure at meeting in “such a unique gathering so many representatives of the great martial races, Mahomedan, Sikh and Hindu of the Punjab, who, though differing in origin, religion and social customs, are united to one another and to the British Government by two bonds of steel, the bonds of loyalty and valour —qualities which have distinguished the Punjab during its seventy years’ connection with the British Government,” and which had “never been so conspicuous as in the las»t four and a half years of war.” Sir Michael went on to say that they had good grounds for urging that their services had had no small share in shaping the generous polic'y of the Reform Scheme, and for asking that, in giving practical form to that scheme, their services should not he forge tton, nor their interests overlooked.

DIFFICULTIES OF ADMINISTRATION-. Referring to the agitation that had proved so destructive of life and property within the previous few weeks, the Lieutenant-Governor said;— You realise the difficulties of admtyistratien.ftiul uJpj? rneasurei,

disorder and anarchy. You have seen within the last last few weeks how a

law, passed to safeguard the lives and property of the people against such outbursts of anarchy and revolution (a law that is only to be brought into operation if unfortunately those conditions should arise) has, by the persistent falsehood and misrepresentation of a small but noisy class, been made to appear as a deadly weapon aimed at the people it is intended to protect in situations of great emergency. Those of you who have studied that law, as I hope all of you have, know how baseless that agitation is. You can gather something of the motives of those behind that agitation from what took place a few days ago at Multan, whew the Rowlatt Bill agitation was made a pretext for offering an insult to a gallant Punjabi regiment, composed of Punjabi Mahomedans, Sikhs and Dogras, that had returned from the front after fighting the battles of India and its King-Emperor. The men who offered that insult had, as we know, no martial spirit themselves and no appreciation for valour and loyaltv on the

part of those wlio had been safeguarding their hearths and homes. Their ' object is to attack the Government and insult those who are true to their salt. Loyal men must and will oppose their evil designs. I would therefore <ask you to explain the motives and policy of tho Government as shown in that law to those within your influence, and to expose the campaign of falsehood that is being carried on in certain quarters in order to mislead the ignorant and credulous masses and the scum of the bazaars of the town, and to incite thorn to crime and disorder. Tho promoters of the agitation began by announcing a poliev of so-called passive resistance. What form lias that taken? You have heard what happened at Multan on Saturday. At Lahore and Amritsar on Sunday, coercion and intimidation were used to law-abiding citizens, and in Bombay they have begun to openly defy the law. This movement, unless promptly checked, will bring about disorder and bloodshed—it has already done so at Amritsar and Lahore, and will endangf* the lives and property of lawabiding citizerts. WHY MARTIAL LAW WAS NECESSARY.

The notation continued, and martial law had to ho proclaimed, but upon the facts it is clear that outside agencies were at work to stir up the disaffected among the educated classes, and to make use of their inflammatory puerilities to foster the spirit of revolution against the Empire. The geographical position of the Punjab is such that it is a comparatively easy matter for Bolshevik agencies and literature to he introduced across the North-West Border and to pursue their campaign of organised revolt to all duly constituted authority. The first sign of impending disturbances was always the same—the introduction of the “hartal,” or'compulsory closure of business, a sort .of “go-slow” movement, which resulted in the closing down of all native business establishments, and the cessation of work of all kinds, even tho railways being affected in some cases, with the consequent release of large numbers of, employees, who went to swell the mobs of disorderly persons who thronged the streets of the cities and raided the European quarters, committing excesses that ended in bloodshed and murder, and that naturally had to be put down with a strong hand. The Lahore Civil and Military Gazette, in a series of articles that were reprinted in pamphlet form, gives a very complete narrative of the various occurrences that kept the Province on edge, and shows fairly conclusively the outside origin of the disturbances, which, to a ceitain extent, appear to have been aggravated by the indiscretions of certain Home politicians, who are fond of airing their views upon the Government of India, while actually ignorant of the conditions prevailing there, and who are too ready to accept tho ex-parte statements of the agitators themselves. -The aim of the latter appears to have been to convince the ignorant natives, amongst other things, that the Government, under the Rowlatt Act, had taken to itself power to prevent a man getting married unless he had first obtained its sanction lor the act, and that ho must pay Rs. o for the privilege; that no burial could take place in the event of a person dying unless Rs. 5 were first paid to the Government, and that all persons must realise that the crops on their land were Government property and liable to seizure by the authorities. The agitators also sought ti show that the Government was following up the war by severe repressive measures, and colour was given to this, t j a certain extent, by the necessity the Government was under of dealing with the insurrectionary mobs guilty of the excesses at Lahore and Amritsar. The pamphlet to which we have referred contains the proclamations made when martial law was established in the Punjab. and the several orders made by the Commanding Officer in the Lahore district. to none of which can serious objection be taken as being at all unreasonable, considering the disturlied state of the districts covered by the orders. They include commands for the removal of the “hartal” and the reopening of tho shops and factories, etc., and the regulation of the profits of the shopkeepers in cases where undue profits were, being made on the necessaries of life, and more particularly upon foodstuffs—a timely interference on the part of the Government in the interests of the poorer classes of the community that could scarcely have been without its effect upon the population in convincing them that the authorities were not unmindful of their interests.