GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

Taranaki Daily News, 22 November 1930, Page 7

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

CONVERTS TO FEDERATION SAFEGUARDING MINORITIES GOODWILL AT CONFERENCE TRIBUTES TO LORD IRWIN British Wireless. Rugby, Nov. 20. Two ideas for the government of India had emerged, said Mr. Srinivasa Sastri at the India conference to-day. They were Dominion status and federation. The latter wps comparatively new and he confessed himself a convert. During the general discussion Sir Chimanlal Setalvad assured the minorities that the majority of the community would be ab|e to, agree to such safeguards as would satisfy them. Indians knew, tjiey would commit mistakes, and for ‘ some time their administration would be comparatively inefficient, but they were determined to go through that stage.

The Nawab of Bhopal said the conference met in an atmosphere of goodwill which had been fostered throughout hist vice-royalty by Lord Irwin, one oi the greatest Viceroys and ope of the best friends-India ever had. The. proposed federation should concern itselt solely iff matters of common interest, to bo defined by mutual consent. The federation also must be equal on both sides/ and there could be no question of the status of the States being in any way subordinate to that of the lest q India. On those conditions he entirely agreed with the principle of federation. Ho emphasised that among the Princes no lift existed as between Moslems and Hindus, and in the Indian States communal tension was practically non-ex-istent. ,<• r J.l ' Mr. Joshi, speaking on behalf ot the workers of India, said he and Shiva ■Rea had come to the conference in the hope that, with the help and sympathy of other delegates, a constitution of a self-governing India would be reached. Thev would like the constitution to contain" a declaration °f the fundamental rights of the workers; secondly, that Hie constitution should be founded upon universal suffrage,- and thirdly, fhgt Labow- legislation always remained a subject for the Federal Government. Mrs. Shah Nawaz, one of the. two women in the conference, pointed out that her presence, as a Moslem woman belonging to a family which always observed strict purdah, was an illustration that the so-called unchanging East was unchanging no longer. She hoped the conference would give Indian women an adequate share in the administration of the nation, with equal status within the commonwealth. DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS. Sir Mirza Ismail, Prime Minister of Mysore, said the success of the conference would be’tested mainly by how far it had bben able to bring England and India closer together in the bonds of true friendship and unity. He believed that the very diversity ot interests in India would go far to ensure the requisite standard in the democratic institutions it was proposed to be established, a constitution which provided full autonomy in the provinces and responsibility at the centre, subject to such transitional safeguards as might be necessary and unavoidable and a close association between British India and the ' States in matters of common concern. •‘This, let us hope, may be the result of cur deliberations' here.” ■ _ . Sir Rahiaswami Aiyar, an Indian Liberal, said the only way of procuring peace, contentment and comradeship between India and England was to hammer out a system, of Government which would give the most restless spirits in India to feel that they have brought into being a constitution worth working in, ’ Lord Reading, a former Viceroy, said the conference was memorable because it differed from the previous practice by giving India a chance to put its case before, and not after, the Government reached conclusions. Referring to the demand for an advance in constitutional government, Lord Reading said Dominion status was a vague term and had never been defined, but no one doubted that what was meant by it was a status equal to that of the other Dominions, and very many question* must be considered and discussed, before the ultimate goal they were striving for could be attained.

COMMON GOAL SOUGHT. Speaking far thosee with whom he was associated, however, Lord Reading would say they fully accepted the. statement that the natural issue of the 1917 declaration was Dominion status. Thein could be no difference of opinion legaiding the goal arid they would, do everything possible toward reaching it. It was idle to say that at this moment there could bo anything like equality of status in India with the Dominions; idle because other questions such as the army and foreign affairs must be discussed, and Andeed no one could more, freely have* recognised this than Sip Tej Bahadur Sapru (who organised the boycott of the Simon Commission). Finally, however, it was Parliament that had to be persuaded. One of the. striking things about Lie reliable literature available for the conference was that in the Government of India’s report the Viceroy and members of the Council gave views which differed but little from the conclusion arrived at in the main by the Statutory Commission regarding the main question now under consideration. The Statutory Commission laid great stress upon federation and sought to make it rhe ultimate goal. The Government of India took the same view, only regarded it as more distant: Since then a great change h-.d taken place, because the Princes had explained their position. They did not all a n ree in detail, but he hoped thev would arrive at conclusions when thev tried to settle the great questions 'file Maharajah of Nawauagar (best known as “Ranji”) empliabmed the vital necessity of satisfying the aspirations of India as a whole if India were ta ‘mv linue a contented member of the Brit ish Commonwealth. Britain had done well by India in developing its lesouices, modernising many of its institutions and above all establishing peace and UanMitter, representing the landlords in different provinces,, said they desired a constitution ensuring protection of their interests wjth adequate representation both in the provinces and the centre. . . Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, speaking on behalf of the depressed classes, a .community of 43,000,000, explained their status ns midway between the serf and slave, except for the additional handicap of untouchability. They had welcomed the

British as deliverers from agelong tyranny and the oppression of orthodox Hindus, but they found that, instead of advancing, they were marking time. Only with a Swaraj. constitution could they stand a chance of having political power in their own hands, without which they could not bring salvation to their people. They did not want a Govern: ment that would only mean a change of masters, but one really representative. _ Mr. K. T. Paul, representative of the , minority of 5,000,000 Indian Christians, While urging Dominion status for India, expressed the belief that the conference should lay down general standards of equitable treatment to all citizens without prejudice or favour. Sir Abdul Quiyum pressed the claims of the north-western frontier province to greater control of its own affairs. Mr. M. A. Jinnah, British Indian delegate, said the cardinal practice guiding them in their deliberations was India s desire to be mistress in -her own house. Obviously there must bo safeguards during the transitional period. Sahibzada Sultan Ahmed Khan, Gwalior State, said no thinking Indian believed to-day that India could shoulder the entire responsibility of a lullpledged Dominion. That position could be reached onlv by stages. Mr. Faai-ul-Haq, a leading Bengal Muslim, said the present moment was I most opportune for settling the dineiences that had distracted India. Sir Pheroze Sethna, Farsi and Libera], emphasised that India would be satisfied with nothing short of Dominion status with safeguards during the transition period. Sir Akbar Hydari, representing the Nizam of Hyderabad, said that if the British Parliament gave responsibility to a great Indian Federal policy within the Empire, Englishmen! who had done so much for India in the past could have a welcome and honourable place in the India of the future.