ISSUES IN INDIA

New Zealand Herald, Volume 80, Issue 24542, 26 March 1943, Page 3

ISSUES IN INDIA

PERIL OF CONQUEST CONGRESS RESPONSIBILITY LONDON, March 25 The White Paper which the Government of India issued last month dealing with the Congress Party's responsibility for the Indian disturbances has now been laid before the House of Commons. A study of tile full text, says the Times, confirms the impression given 'by the condensed versions that the policy of non-co-operation adopted by Gandhi and the Congress Party left the Indian Government no alternative to the painful course it was compelled to take. The true force of this Paper lies not so much in its argument as in ite plain marshalling of evidence. The issue at stake before Gandhi's most recent arrest, was the safety of India against the peril of Japanese conquest. Whatever may be the theoretical cause for anarchy it cannot be argued in the presence of an armed and formidable enemy. Ail the evidence, the Times continues, convicts Gandhi of a miscalcula- ! tion in that he assumed the cause of the United Nations in India to be lost and it was not the Viceroy or tho Secretary of State, but Gandlii's own colleaguo, Pundit Nehru, who pointed out that following Gandhi's line would make India a passive partner of the Axis. Sir Stafford Cripps' plan was a positive and constructive proposal for reaching a goal which Gandhi and all his friends refused. Improvements to that plan or even a different plan would have been welcomed provided they were equally positive. But in fact there was no alternative. "Quit India" was not a plan. Sooner or later, therefore, negotiation must return to something like the scheme that has already been offered.