CONGRESS SESSION

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 10 August 1942, Page 5

CONGRESS SESSION

SPEECH BY MR NEHRU “IN DEADLY EARNEST” London, Aug. 9. A Bombay message says Mr Nehru, when concluding the Congress session, said: ‘‘The Quit India resolution is not a threat but an offer of co-operation to free India. We are in deadly earnest. We are on the verge of a precipice. This war is part of a revolution which is enveloping the world. The war may end, but the revolution will go on until it runs its course. It will never be a Hitler peace, nor a pax Britannica, nor a pax America. Mr Churchill spoke of two branches of the Anglo-Saxon race marching in dignity and majesty all over the world. That may have thrilled Anglo-Saxons! but the world is filled with people who are not Anglo-Saxons. We have had enough of these mechanical civilisations telling us to do this and to do that. If Japan came to India you and I would suffer or die, not the people of London. New York or Washington. They say we do not know what Japan is. We know subjection better than anyone. We have had 200 years of it. We prefer to throw ourselves into the fire. The outcome would be a new nation or we would be reduced to ashes.” The speech was wildly cheered. The British Press gives prominence to the Congress decision. Leading articles and special articles emphasise the gravity of the situation.—P.A . I