THE SITUATION IN INDIA.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21040, 31 May 1930, Page 12

THE SITUATION IN INDIA.

The recent cabled reports concerning the situation in India do not permit of the unrest and rioting being regarded otherwise than as of serious moment. The campaign of civil disobedience inaugurated by Mr Gandhi has developed in a manner which is distinctly distressing to all people, British and Indian alike, who are cognisant of the futility of such demonstrations as a means, of intimidating the Government to move more quickly than it deems wise in the matter of allowing India a greater measure of independence. All will deplore, also, the suffering which the disturbances are imposing upon foolish, hot-headed natives, and upon women and children who are innocent of any desire to participate in Mr Gandhi’s schemes. Blind defiance of the British Administration, such as is being manifested in certain parts of India, is calculated rather to prejudice the Government against granting further concessions to India than to force its hand. Fortunately, however, the Government, while it unquestionably repets the necessity, is fully determined to stamp out acts of disobedience which, if countenanced in any degree whatsoever, would reduce India to a state of indescribable turmoil. The Government is not losing patience with the misguided people who are provoking it, and is still prepared to give every consideration to Indian claims when affairs have returned to a normal state. To this end the Statutory Commission has been asked to complete its report as quickly as possible, and after the report has been considered by the Government a round-table conference is promised at which representatives of all sections of Indian thought will receive an opportunity of discussing it. In the meantime Mr Gandhi’s “non-violent” campaign has caused widespread rioting, which has been aggravated by the religious festivals now being celebrated with more than the usual vehemence, and the British forces have been compelled on more than one occasion to intervene, not so much, it may have been noted, to meet violence with violence as to protect the property and persons of thousands of non-participants in the affrays. In the cable messages the more sensational side of the Indian situation has received prominence during recent weeks. It is as well, therefore, that Captain Wedgwood Benn’s statement in the House of Commons this week should be carefully

considered in order that a more accurate idea may be . obtained of the actual significance of the Indian unrest. The insubordinate movement in reality is confined to a very small proportion of the population, and is limited, to certain sections of the community. Apparently the Indian National Congress, with which Mr Gandhi is associated, is the most potent organ for the fomenting of strife, but while the Congress is the most active of the Indian parties it is, in force of numbers, one of the smallest. The influence of the Congress is confined for this reason, and if the Government finds such an extreme step justifiable it will the more easily be able to combat this influence at its fountain-head. On the other hand axe the Indian princes, who control a large portion of the land, and the Mohammedans, comprising a very large section of the Indian community. The princes are loyal to Great Britain, and the Mohammedans are, on the assurance of the Viceroy, readily grasping the fact that participation in the campaign of civil disobedience is opposed to their interests and security. The promoters of strife consist, then, of a very active minority of India’s 318,000,000 inhabitants and even the grave disorders which they have precipitated are seen to be vague in direction, and are to a large extent causing sectarian strife instead of indicating any overwhelming sympathy of the masses with the minority claims for immediate and complete independence. It is on the masses that the future of India depends, and there is no cause for assuming that the Indians, as a whole, are not prepared to accept, and to welcome, the assurances of the British Government that the measure of their freedom will be extended gradually, by sane constitutional means, as occasion warrants.