All Indians Meet Cabinet

Northern Advocate, 7 December 1946, Page 5

All Indians Meet Cabinet

(Rec. 1 p.m.)) LONDON. Dec. G. A joint round-table conference of the British Cabinet Ministers and all the Indian leaders was held at No. 10 Downing Street tonight, a few hours before Mr Nehru was due to fly back to Delhi. The Indians left an hour later. Questioned, Mr Nehru said: "What do you expect so suddenly?” Reuter’s New Delhi correspondent says it is expected that an official statement on the talks will be made tomorrow simultaneously in New Delhi and London. Earlier the Evening Standard's political correspondent said there was no prospect of anything but a deadlock from the talks on India. MOSLEMS WILL BE ABSENT It now seems certain that the conversations in London between the Government and the Indian leaders, which will continue throughout today, cannot avail to secure the Moslem League's participation at the opening of the Constituent Assembly in Lelhi on Monday. According to the political correspondent of the Daily Worker, the Constituent Assembly will meet for formal business only and then adjourn until the spring. This compromise was reached at yesterday's talks, says the correspondent, and is apparently designed to give the parties further time to reach an agreement.

The Moslem representatives, Mr Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan, will remain in London for some days, but the Hindu leader. Mr Nehru, and the Sikh delegate, Sardar Ealdev Singh, will start early tomorrow on their way back to Delhi by air.

Perhaps the greatest disappointment, says The Times in a leader, has been the failure of the Government's attempt to bring both sides together round the same table, and it is not suprising that little progress has been made toward understanding the grounds on which Mr Jinnah refuses to take part in the Assembly. JINNAH’S ATTITUDE It is well known that he affirms that the Congress Party never fully accepted the British Cabinet Mission's plan, but has put its own interpretation on the provisions intended to secure political protection of the Moslems, and thereby shown its determination to dominate the Assembly by the voting power of the Hindus. Also he alleges that the British Government has permitted the Congress Party to monopolise the reality of power in a manner contrary to British policy, as expounded in the Cabinet plan.

He therefore maintains that the Moslem League’s further, cooperation has become impossible, since the League would face the prospect of complete political subordination. It is difficult to deny the force of + hese contentions. The Times adds, but 1 his by no means implies that Mr Jinnah's persistence in his present attitude will best serve even the Moslem cause.

Not much harm may be done if the Moslem League representatives are absent from the Assembly’s early sessions, which will be mainly devoted to formalities, but their continued refusal to take part in the working out of India's future Governmental structure will be regarded by many in Britain and elsewhere as having destroyed the last hope of India’s constitutional development or. peaceful and orderly lines, and will be blamed for aggravating the tragic communal tension. CALCUTTA EMERGENCY The Governor of Bengal has proclaimed a state of emergency in most of Calcutta because “the possibility of a fresh outbreak of communal strife cannot be ignored,” reports Reuter’s Calcutta correspondent. The Bombay Government announced that the police fired in the Dongri area, Central Bombay, to stop stonethrowing between communal rioters. A New Delhi message says Mr Asal’ Ali has been appointed to be India’s first Ambassador to the United States. A Moslem, he was Minister of Communications. War Transport and Railways in the interim Government.