PROBLEM OF INDIA

Otago Witness, Issue 3992, 16 September 1930, Page 29

PROBLEM OF INDIA

A MOMENTOUS CONFERENCE. THE LONDON GATHERING. RUGBY, September 10. A list is issued of the Indian States' representatives and the British Indian representatives invited by the Viceroy of India on behalf of His Majesty’s Government to attend the Indian Roundtable Conference, which will meet in London in a few weeks’ time. It is possible that as a result of correspondence still proceeding other names may be added to the list as it at present stands. This now contains the names of 16 representatives of the Indian States and 50 representatives of British India. Among the former appear such well-known Indian rulers and statesmen as the Maharajas of Bikaner, Al war, Patiala, and Nawanager (the last-named being familiar to English sportsmen as “ Ranji,” the famous cricketer).

The British Indian names are representatives of all shades of polities (with the exception of the Congress Party) and all Indian communities, including the martial races, Indian Christians, the Untouchables, the commercial community, and the European community, with three representatives of Burma and two Indian women representatives. Among the names are those of the Aga Khan, Mr Jinnah (a prominent Moslem politician, who also enjoys the confidences of Hindus), Sir lej Bahadur Sapru (a well-known Liberal politician), Mr Sasti (a leading Hindu politician), and Sir Muhammad Shafi (a leading Moslem politician). The Round-table Conference will bo a gathering of immense importance. The suggestion that it should be held was first made in a letter to the Prime Minister by Sir John Simon (chairman of the Indian Statutory Commission). Its wide scope was indicated by the Viceroy in his address to the Indian Legislature two months ago, when he said: “ His Majesty’s Government conceives of the conference not as a mere meeting for discussion and debate, but as a joint assembly of representatives of both countries, on whose agreement precise proposals to Parliament may be founded. The conference will thus enjoy the unfettered right of examining the whole problem in all its bearings, and His Majesty’s Government still hopes that Indians of all schools of thought—whatever the attitude that some have hitherto taken—will be ready t< share in this constructive work. I see no reason why from a frank discussion on all sides a scheme might not emerge for submission to Parliament which would confound the pessimism of those who would tell us that it is impossible for Great Britain and India, or for the various interests in India, to reach an agreement.” The names are not yet announced of the representatives from the Houses of Parliament. The Government has invited the leaders of two Opposition parties to nominate representatives to attend the conference from both Houses, but the Prime Minister has made it clear that while the presence at the conference of representatives of the other parliamentary parties would, in the Government’s view, lead to the removal of difficulties and differences, and would facilitate the subsequent legislation, the Government could not throw off its constitutional responsibility, and must retain complete freedom regarding the proposals it will, as an outcome of the conference, subsequently lay before Parliament. By permission of the King-Emperor, the conference will be held in St. James’s Palace.

DURATION OF CONFERENCE.

MAY LAST THREE MONTHS

LONDON, September 11. The Daily Herald says that the general estimate is that the India Conference will last three months. The number of British representatives is likely to be small. The conference, after the public opening, will presumably divide into committees, which will necessarily be almost entirely of Indian composition. This means that Indians themselves will work out plans for later discussion with the British representatives. The conference itself will, however, decide the agenda and the methods of procedure. It is largely Mr Gandhi’s own fault that he has not been invited, as his terms to the Viceroy were in the nature of an attempt to prejudice questions within the province of the conference.