BRITISH FREEDOM

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 84, Issue 189, 13 August 1940, Page 6

BRITISH FREEDOM

THE GOAL IN INDIA CIVILISATION MENACED BY NAZISM [ British Official Wireless. ] RUGBY. Aug. 11. “It has often been said that the victory of Nazidom would mean the destruction of all the spiritual and moral heritage of Western civilisation so far as Europe is concerned. That is true, but ours is not the only ivilisation,” said the Secretary for India, Mr. L.. S. Amery, in his speech. “It is my privilege to serve in the British Government in the interest of the Empire of India, where 350,000,000 people can claim a civilisation more ancient than ours. They belong to religions which differ from ours in many respects and /ire at one with ours in their recognition of the spiritual value of the individual soul and their reverence for the moral law which knows no boundaries of race and applies «alike to rulers and ruled. “There is no common meeting ground between Nazism on the one side and on the other Islam, with its profoundly democratic sense of equality, with its emphasis on mercy and pity for the poor and weak, or Hinduism, with its concentration on the spiritual side of life and its rejection of violence. It is not only our civilisation and religion here in Europe, but all civilisation and all true religion that is threatened by the barbaric forces of spiritual even more than material destruction which are embodied in Nazi Germany to-day.’’

Mr. Amery went on to speak of England’s heritage of freedom and its Imperial heirs, and referred hopefully to the Government’s latest efforts to find a solution of the difficulties in India. “This English freedom of ours we have never thought as a monopoly, to be secured for ourselves at the expense of others. We have sought to spread it wherever our adventurous people wandered afield, and wherever British influence extended. “That has been a wonderful experiment, and we see the fruits of its success in the Dominion armies wbZ’i have come to Britain and to every threatened point in the Empire to defend our common freedom 'nd our common cause.

Daring Experiment “We are engaged upon an even more daring experiment of applying the same principles to India with her many races and creeds, with her immensely complex political structure, and with her difficult and dangerous problems of defence. “I have no doubt that we shall succeed because in the long run goodwill, sincerity, and statesmanship on both sides must prevail over shortsighted fears and suspicions. We have repeatedly declared our resolve that India shall attain to the same freedom and to the same full and equal partnership in the commonwealth as other Dominions, for that matter as Britain itself. There is no greater freedom and no higher status than that in the world to-day. “We have in these last few days given Europe an earnest of our intentions by making it clear that subject to clue provision for those special obligations and responsibilities which our long connection with India has imposed upon us, we wish to see India, like the other Dominions framing her own constitution in her own way and in harmony with her own political, social, and economic conceptions.

During the War “And if that can only be finalised after the war is over there is nothing to prevent much of the indispensable preliminary work of study, discussion and negotiations being taken in hand by friendly agreement even during the war. “Nor could anything help that atmosphere of friendly agreement more than the acceptance by the Indian leaders of all political parties of their share in the work of Government making it in fact in India as we have made it in Britain. A truly national Government, enjoying the goodwill and confidence of all main elements in India’s national life. “India is united to-day in her detestation of Nazi tyranny and aggression. She knows the menace a Nazi victory would mean, not only to the fabric of the British Empire as a whole but to India’s own existence, to her political aspirations, and to her moral and spiritual ideals. “I can only hope and trust that realising this her political leaders will accept without prejudice and in the spirit it has been offered them, the opportunity of serving the immediate interests of India in the world struggle and thus pave the way most smoothly and speedily toward the realisation of the goal to which we and they equally aspire.”