INDIA’S FUTURE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26027, 15 December 1945, Page 6

INDIA’S FUTURE

It is difficult to see how the world as a whole, and how India in particular, can fail to be impressed by the sincerity of the steadfast adherence of His Majesty’s Government to the policy of working towards full self-government for the people of India. It is not a policy to which one party only has committed itself. It has found expression in several important proposals for constitutional change since 1892. The reception of the Cripps Declaration in 1942 and of the efforts of the Viceroy, Lord Wavell, earlier this year, have made it increasingly clear that the obstacle to*be overcome is the divergence of opinion among the Indian people themselves. It is, of course, convenient for the two main parties, the Congress Party and the All-India Moslem League, to continue to blame the British Government. However much this may impress their own followers, it cannot be a widely acceptable opinion elsewhere. In an announcement in both Houses of Parliament a few days ago the Labour Government has stated its intention to • renew its endeavours. This time an allparty delegation is to be set up to visit India and to survey the situation once again. The matter is to be treated as one of great urgency. For the rest, the Government’s statement is on very general lines. The Indian people are warned that full self-government can be achieved only by peaceful means, and the hope is expressed that India will of her own free will remain within the' British Commonwealth. While no great encouragement seems to have been given in India to this hope, Lord Wavell has expressed his belief that a settlement is possible, given .goodwill and commonsense, and Mr Gandhi, after a long talk with the Viceroy, told a large gathering that only by peaceful means could they progress to independence. It is possible that the visit of the all-party delegation will result in the presentation of some fresh material. For example, its members will have an opportunity to study the effects of the war on the various political organisations and also on the lives of the people themselves. During the war years, a very considerable industrial development took place and it may be expected that this will influence the general situation, though the effects may not as yet be fully apparent. Again, the overseas war experience of Indian soldiers, many of whom have now returned to farms, villages and towns from the Northern Hills to the plateau in the South, must have produced some changes in outlook and the consequences of these may be expected to spread. These currents of opinion should make themselves felt 5 in the results of the forthcoming elections to the central and provincial legislatures, and an

indication of the reaction to the attitude of the Moslem League which resulted in the breakdown of the Simla negotiations is also possible. Since the rejection of the Cripps Declaration was due to the dissent of the Congress Party from it, it would seem that the possibilities of combining elements of the two proposals will now be examined. A writer in the Spectator after the Simla conference had terminated stated that the event had served to emphasise the conclusion of the Joint Parliamentary Committee of 1934: “ The difference between the two (Hindus and Moslems) is not only one of religion in the stricter sense, but also of law and culture. They may be said indeed to be two distinct and separate civilisations.” On this ground, the suggestion was made that the partition idea of the Pakistan scheme might logically be examined more thoroughly. In this connection it may be usefully recalled that Mr Amery had, when Secretary of State for India, expressed the view that Great Britain would “sooner see India divided and free than keep the various elements for ever chafing against us and against each other under a sense of impotent frustration.” The fact, however, that the Simla talks seemed to show that the Congress Party, the majority party, was willing to share the responsibility for the future of India, still leaves room for the hope that the deadlock which has persisted for many years may yet be overcome, opening the way to future political, social and economic progress.