Europeans in Bengal

Manawatu Times, Volume 60, Issue 276, 22 November 1935, Page 12

Europeans in Bengal

LIVING ON A VOLCANO Terrorism—that fateful word probably conveys little, if anything, to you who live safely and in comparative peace in this sunny laud of Australia, but to those who havo lived in India, and particularly in Bengal, it has a wealth of meanings, none of'them very pleasant (writes Patricia Eyre, in the Sydney Morniug Herald). It means sudden death, armed guards, and a constant, unceasing fight against the spread of a movement which were it allowed to take a real hold on the youthful imaginations of Indian boys and girls under the iniluence of, unscrupulous and fanatical agitators, might mean disaster to tho whole of the European community in Bengal’. I went to stay with friends in Alidnapore when I was in India a little whilo ago. Alidnapore is a small station somo 80 odd miles from Calcutta, an absoluto hotbed of terrorism, which has frequently been referred to as the plague spot of Bengal. Aly host was tho District Magistrate, and as such, lived in constant danger of his life. Three Indian Civil Service men were murdered there within about 13 months, and when the third man, who was married and had one little girl, took up his duties, he went with’the knowledge that, sooner or later, he would havo to pay tho price, and suro enough ho was shot at and killed one afternoon as ho walked on the ground to referee a football match. You can well imagine that a certain number of added precautions had bo to taken ai’te that to prevent further outrages. When tho judge who tried and convicted the young man responsible for the murder of Air Burge left Alidnapore, he had to be smuggled out for fear of reprisals.

I travelled by train from Calcutta to Khargpur, where I was mot by -y fiance, who was carrying a loaded revolver, and accompanied by two husky plain clothes policemen, and driven tho remaining 12 miles by car. Two miles out from Alidnapore there is a river that has to bo crossed by means of a punt, and from that point right up to tho house wo were challenged by a fully-armed sentry with fixed bayonet every few hundred yards. When we reached tho house, I found it surrounded by a barbed wiro fence 4ft high, and armed guards posted at every entrance, who seemed- to mo to be relieved every few hours during tho night and to challenge every footstep —most disturbing at first, but in a very short timo I became quito accustomed to tho roueous "Halt! Who goes there!” and si’ep through it peacefully. There wero fioodlights round the compound, supported on high poles, thereby preventing anyono from approaching the house without coming into full view of the sentries. The electric supply failed one night, and tho guards round the house wore promptly doubled —just in ease of accidents. Room an Arsenal. In honour of my visit there was a large dinner party one night, and all

tlio European inhabitants, numbering about 12, were bidden; as each man (clad, as always, even in most remote districts, in dinner jackets and white trousers) camo in, ho disencumbered himself of a loaded revolver, and left it oil tho nearest available chair or table, so that in a few minutes* ‘lie room resembled a small arsenal.

Next day I wandered outsido the wire to take a photo of the house, and at onco had. an armed guard flying after me: “Miss Sahib. Don’t go without me.” Not .that I was really in any danger, being a mere female, and of no account; but orders arc orders, and even when my fiance and I went for a walk, wo were duty followed by an enormous, bearded orderly, generally referred to as “tho nursemaid,” wno kept respectful distance, but well within range—vigilance can be rather trying at times. At that time a curfew order had to be observed, and no villager was allowed outside his houso between sunset and sunrise, nor was anyone allowed to own a car or a bicycle without a special pormit; all of which sounds very arbitrary, but if you were taken, as I was, to see a houso where the walls are pitted with bullet marks made by the fire of organised bands of boys who were sent up there to l'carn to shoot straight, and not for fun, either, you would realise that tho life of tho Indiau Civil Service and the police is anything but tho proverbial bed of roses. Yet, in spito of it all, they carry on cheerfully and take the grim reminders of their precarious position as a matter of course. One man I knew iii tho police was in a very bad district when the terrorist movement was at its height, and • everyone was wondering just what would happen next. He received a request from a focal firm of photographers to allow thei/. to take his photo: “In case he might ba in tho news at any time.” His remarks on thi subject were mostly unprintable, but he did say that all they had omitted to do was to send the wreath. Midnapore is about tho worst centre, and moro precautions are taken there than elsewhere. But similar conditions, slightly modified, exist in - every upcountry station in Bengal, and most of them havo a contingent of troops stationed there as well'. In Dacca, a few months ago, only the quickness of a European police officer prevented some youths from throwing bombs into a crowd of British residents who were watching a cricket match at tlio club, and last year, at the Darjeeling races, a determined effort was made to assassinate tho Governor, which might well have succeeded bat for a faulty pistol and tho presence of mind of a spectator. At tho subsequent trial it was found that a girl aged IS was ono of tho chief movers in the audacious plot, while not one of those who took part in it was over tho ago of 25. However, one can become used tJ anything in time, and even armed guards and the knowledge that ono is living oil a volcano that may erupt at any moment does not prevent life in India from being very pleasant. After all, we are making history.