Nelson Evening Mail WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 1937 INDIA’S FRONTIER WAR

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXI, 28 April 1937, Page 4

Nelson Evening Mail WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 1937 INDIA’S FRONTIER WAR

THE trouble on the north-west frontier of India has been brewing for some time. As long ago as the middle of last month six thousand troops of the Indian Army were moved up to the frontier in anticipation of trouble in the -region beyond, where a newly-fledged fanatic, the Fakir of Ipi, was preaching a holy war, and inciting the tribesmen to rise against the Indian Government, His pretext was that Islam was in danger, because, he said that A Hindu girl, who had been converted to Mahommedanism, was ordered by the court at Bannu to be returned to her parents. The

Fakir has considerable influence in a limited region in what may be termed the no-man’s-land between the frontiers of India and Afghanistan, “a treeless shaley

country, riven into streamthreaded valleys and gorge-like clefts. Rain makes the shaley hillsides slippery and the tracks by which the tribesmen can make guerrilla movements. Roaring

spates sometimes come down the gorges, carrying all before them. That will give a clear enough idea of the conditions under which the war with the tribesmen is being waged. The fact that so large a force as 33,000 troops, 5 com-

panies of light tanks, and 2 squadrons of the Air Force is being used to subdue the Fakir, is sufficient indication of the serious view which the Indian Government takes of the situation. Of course war on the north-west frontier of India is no new thing: if not actually perennial, at least it may be said to be so frequent in recurrence as to be a constant factor in India’s experience. The fact is that neither the Amir of Afghanistan nor the Government of India has any desire to rule the tribesmen in the barren territory between them, and consequently it is a region where it may be expected that such adventures as the Fakir of Ipi will flourish for a season. But there is one danger. This Moslem fanatic has proclaimed a holy war, and if he were to have some measure of success, he might cause unrest among certain sections of India’s vast Moslem population. Therefore it is to be expected that the Indian Government will act firmly, and employ ample forces to bring the Fakir’s warlike activities to an abrupt end