Spirit Of Compromise Prevailed For Once

Northern Advocate, 4 June 1947, Page 5

Spirit Of Compromise Prevailed For Once

(Received 12.30 p.m.) LONDON, June 3. WITH troops drafted into the main cities, India was quiet today except for a few minor incidents. A few minutes after Mr Jinnah’s broadcast, Samin Jam Khan, president of the North-West Frontier Province’s Moslem League, ordered immediate suspension of the league’s civil disobedience movement which was begun on February 20 against the province’s Congress Ministry.

The Times New Delhi correspondent says the relief obvious in New Delhi that the Viceroy’s conference with Indian leaders did not break down, will be' echoed throughout India by the common man who has been living in the valley of the shadow of death. .The leaders themselves apparently realised that the decisive hour had struck and peace or civil war hung in the balance. Therefore, though the plan satisfied no party completely, none was prepared to take the responsibility of rejecting it. For once in Indian politics a spirit of compromise prevailed and the leaders pledged themselves to work for acceptance by their followers. The correspondent adds that the most hopeful feature of the plan, and the one on which Indian and world opinion will fasten, is the grant of Dominion status as soon as possible to one or two successor states. It is much emphasised that the plan is in no sense an award which Britain has imposed on India. Also it is clear that the plan does not preclude negotiations between the communities for a

united India and this is precisely what the grant of Dominion status is calculated to foster.

The chances are that once an independent Indian government or governments begin functioning they will realise they are masters of their soul and shake off their inferiority complex toward the British and the frustration complex resulting from the cramping effects of communal friction. Now that it is clear that Britain concedes Indians the eventual right to decide whether to Aenain in the British Commonwealth a healthier spirit should pervade Indian public life. It is hoped that the last India bill will be enacted within three months so India will enjoy Dominion status by the end of August next. Probably with the establishment of two cabinets, responsible to their respective legislatures, the GovernorGeneral would be the constitutional head of both governments until they decide by June, 1948, whether or not they wish to remain within the Commonwealth.

The correspondent concludes that Indians of all shades of political opinion are united in admiration of Lord Mcuntbatten’s decisive handling of the tense, complex situation. He has deserved well of Britain and India.

Reuters diplomatic correspondent, quoting authoritative London quarters, says two Governor-Generals may be necessary for Hindustan and Pakistan during the interim period, but no rie cision has yet been made.

The Times parliamentary corresponent says the probability is there may be two Governor-Generals.