THE DEFENCE OF INDIA.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21165, 24 October 1930, Page 10

THE DEFENCE OF INDIA.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —In your article of October 13, under tlie above caption, you state that if India is to achieve self-government, she can do so only when she commands a defence force of her own. The Simon Commission recommends that the Indianisation of the army should proceed steadfastly and sympathetically, etc. This sounds all right, but if left in the hands of British officialdom will it ever go any further than the usual fair promise uttered to the ear, only to be broken to the heart? The fact of the matter is: England does not want to lose the control of Indian defences. The British army iu India is kept permanently on a war footing, and provides a force of admirable efficiency and valour, ready to embark at a moment's notice for service in any part of the world. And that, without one penny of cost to the Imperial Treasury India is the recognised training_ ground for Britain’s soldiers; the maintenance of the troops while there, and even the cost of transporting them to and from this “ Imperial training ground,” falls upon the Indian Exchequer. An Indian Army could be maintained at less than half the cost, which at present amounts, as you state, to the sum of £41,000,000 per annum, and, moreover, the money spent on it would be retained in the country, in itself an important consideration. In the matter of India’s defence, as Sir William Lawrence says, we have consistently refused to allow Indiana to take the share they right* fully demand in their country's defence, and with the exception of the G-hurkas, Sikhs, and a few others have allowed them to become enervated by long years of the skin-deep civilisation of British India. We have specially seen to it that India will be un&ble to defend herself. So it ill becomes Britain to deny her the right of self-government on that plea. Ev,er since the Mutiny no Indian has been permitted to hold a commission in the engineers, the artillery, or any of the specialised branches of the army. Only one Indian is eligible for commissioned rank in the navy, but not even this concession is made in the Air force. This is not because of the inability or unwillingness of Indians, but simply in pursuance of a well-defined policy of subordination and distrust of Indians, which in turn naturally breeds distrust of the British. If the Indianisation of the army does not proceed more rapidly and sympathetically in the future than it has done in the past, and the granting of self-government is made to depend on its accomplishment, India’s liberation will be indefinitely nostSoned. Tlie question of the defence of the fqrth-ivest Frontier could be undertaken quite safely by India even now. Until quite recently the turbulent, ill-equipped, and ill-educated tribes who cause trouble there periodically were held in check b£ the Punjab frontier irregular force of 12,000 men. No British troops were required, and for the maintenance of internal order the Ghurkas have again and again proved their sufficiency. In the Indian States also it may be pointed out it has never been necessary to call for tlie aid of the British troops stationed in them. But even if, under stress of circumstances, extra help was required on occasion, could not the Imperial Government assist India even as India helped the Empire iu the Great War, and on other notable occasions? The feeling amongst Indians is that this is only an excuse for the continuance of British dopiination, especially as it is demanding from her a condition that was never even hinted _at in the case of any other selfgoverning dominion before it attained that status. No single British dominion has been asked absolutely to undertake its own defence, nor even to pay, as India has always been made to pay, the whole cost of British troops employed within her borders. India certainly will need the assistance of trained and experienced officers the transition period, and, if British officers are too proud to accept work under an Indian executive, well, arc there not plenty of Germans at present out of employment who would be quite capable of organising and training the Indian Army, and willing, moreover, to undertake the task?—l am, etc., W. Renwick, Representative, Oamaru Branch, New Zealand and India League.