GANDHI AND BRITAIN

Southland Times, Issue 23437, 18 February 1938, Page 5

GANDHI AND BRITAIN

“ATMOSPHERE OF CONFLICT”

CRISIS OVER INDIAN PRISONERS

ALL CONGRESS MINISTRIES MAY RESIGN

(United Press Assn.—Telegraph Copyright)

(Received February 17, 8.10 p.m.) LONDON, February 16.

The Mahatma Gandhi, in his first public comment on the constitutional crisis caused by the resignation of the Bihar and United Provinces governments, declared at Bombay: “It is Bihar and the United Provinces today; it may be Madras tomorrow. It is not a question of whether three or 30 prisoners are involved. It is the principle that counts. It seems only a matter of time when the other Nationalist Congress governments will follow the lead of the United Provinces and resign. '

“A crisis has arisen, the consequences of which nobody can foretell. The Viceroy’s interference seems unfortunate and uncalled for.”

According to a special correspondent of the News Chronicle at Haripura the Mahatma Gandhi is considering a mass “civil disobedience” campaign to end the Constitution if the Government remains adamant over the release of pri-

soners. The Congress leaders are reported to have ordered the five remaining Congress Ministries to resign. They are Bombay, Madras, Orissa, . Central Provinces and North-West Frontier Province.

Pandit Nawarhalal Nehru, relinquishing the presidency of the Congress, said: “We must be ready to march at a moment’s notice. We meet in an atmosphere of conflict with British Imperialism. What is coming we cannot say.” BRITISH ATTITUDE Speaking on behalf of the Government in the House of Commons on. the resignation of the ministries of Bihar and United Provinces, Earl Winterton said it had been an important feature of the programme of Congress Ministries of all provinces to secure the release of all prisoners convicted of crimes which were considered to be actuated by political motive. The governors of Congress provinces had accepted the proposals of their Ministries for the release of a substantial number of such prisoners, having satisfied themselves after examination in each individual case that no menace to the peace or tranquillity of the province was involved. In United Provinces 14 prisoners had been' released and in Bihar 15, but there remained. 15 more in United Provinces and 26 in Bihar, some of whom had been convicted of serious crimes of violence. The Governors were fully prepared to deal with the remaining cases on the same basis of individual scrutiny but Ministers in both provinces proposed to release forthwith all the remaining so-called political prisoners without regard to the nature of circumstances of the crimtes. The Viceroy (the Marquess of Linlithgow) decided he could not agree to the immediate indiscriminate release of a body of legally convicted prisoners which includes dangerous terrorists. He was satisfied, and the Secretary for India (the Marquess of Zetland) was in full agreement with him, that the adoption of the proposal of Ministers of these two provinces would be attended by the gravest risk to the peace and tranquillity of India. Even if there were some provinces in which the effects would not be immediately felt, in the end the basis of good government everywhere would inevitably be dangerously impaired.