The Wanganui Chronicle. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 1942 INDIA TO-DAY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 86, Issue 59, 11 March 1942, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 1942 INDIA TO-DAY

INDIA to-day promises to play an important roll' upon the stage of world history. Hitherto, torn by dissensions through the non-assimilability of the various groups by reason of religious barriers, India appeared to be a storehouse for the fruits 01. human introspection. Tile many mystics of that religious land, it was tell, must surely in due time bring forth a rich burgeoning oj things spiritual. That due time, it was felt, would be an era of peace when contemplation could be freely engaged in and when the world was at, rest. India, however, has been moving fast since the war of 19.1419.18. Her industries have been developed and her economy has undergone a marked change. The vast masses of the sub-continent, however, are still tillers of the soil, winning from the sun-drenched land a simple living. Educational effort has succeeded in promoting the growth of a vast non-labouring class and unemployment, particularly among the members of the white-collar class, is both perennial and extensive. It is only by the aid of the group family system that want is held in check. There has been an insistent and natural demand for the greater employment of Indians in the Indian Civil Service, which is naturally tied to a political cry of India for the Indians. The problem when thus simplified is falsified. India is a laud which is a. racial reservoir of successive invasions. The non-niartial mass under a. democratic system would hold political power, the martial races if left to themselves would lake it : but in the modern world the minority martial races would be unable to provide India with the protection which she needs in order to permit a clemo<-i;iti<• regime to function. The martial races, however, are not attracted io the prospect of fighting bpreserve political power to the non-martial raecs. In the cautious approaches which the (lovernmeiif of India Ims made towards tl)e development of Dominion status they haw found the political forces abb in dialectics and weak in practice bility. The progress towards self-government that has brio achieved may be said, with a fail' measure of truth, to have been made in spite, but not because of Indian agitation. The development of economic strength am] the continuance of political weal; iiess arc the outstanding characteristics of the Indian scene to-dav. and Japan is making the preparatory moves for an invasion of India to-d;y. How will the Indian popiMtion react to this new menace 1 If is to be expected that the unemployed clerk al a st roi l corner in Bombay will ask himself whether the defeat of the British Raj will open up a. road to employment for him. The peasant who is farming irrigation land is nhlikclv to eoinprehem! I the full value which ho receives for the land tax which Im pavs I and ■which is really bis rent lor the benefit of a comjirchcnsix'c irrigation scheme that lias turned a desert into a land of plenty The politician in India is unlikely to be less self-seeking tlia'i politicians everywhere. There is, therefore, still a largo section : which, never linviiie known the anarchy which prevailed before . the peae.- of the White Queen was exMided (very often at the request ot the people themselves l , could be counted on to be non i co-operative at least ami at most may prove to be active allies of I Japan. ■Japan s immediate interest m India is to cripple ils war potcii i li.il ami. on long range, to incorporate the sub-continent info an | integral part of the Asiatic econowim order, whereby India’s oco- | mimic development would harmonise with that of Japan. The Imr- | monising process would be a prcservatßn of the Indian market lor the products of Japanese industry and the cliniiimfion or pro venfion of all disturbing competition. India is only just awakening to a truly national consciousness, and. while the Indian population has a deep eMitioiial all'cc lion for Mother India, it would he folly to assume llml the people will unite as one race Io oppose the Japanese. More probably they will he alleeted, al least in part, liy the Axis propaganda which will urge the Indian population not to a war for the British. Since Hie British connection with InJia lias been esfalilisheii. uowever, Indians who are appreciatin' of the benefits of British rule have always been willing to co-operate with the British. Thev llh-iyed a splendid pari ip f| lP Mesopotamia! I’alestlfp eanipaigns in t lie last war, and in the Abyssinian alid Libyan earn'■'imn in this war. I hey have made their presence fell in Malaya, ■lava, and Burma, and can be relied on to write some more brilli'iin' pages in their history in the near future. India will always provide the British with allies, but these are to be drawn from the minority martial races, whose political influence is likely to be siiainiied by any democratic lortn oj goiernmcnl. Ihe \ meroy. Lord Linlithgow, was largely responsible for he creation o| the Lastern Group Supply t'ojiisheil. “an organisation, says the Round Table, “based on three continents, which is iroyismnmg Allied ami Imperial Forces operating or situated in Africa. I’.'desliiH'. Syria. Iraq. Iran, India. Burma. Malaya. Ilong-'-oug. Atis talia and Xew Zeeland. I hrough its agency important and v it.-il supplies have been despatched L, meet the requirements I His Majesty’s Government, the material supplied being obtained irom 11, British territorii s in the eastern hemisphere under a policy Of (-o-ordinated effort without precedent in the experience of Hie British Commonwealth. The value of this supply organisation Io effort in Um Middle East and elsewhere can scarcely be computed, ami under the Viceroy's initiative it was established in time to mitigate the dangers arising from the partial blocking 0,1 the sea route by Ihi Mediterranean, atid to meet any change in the strategic situation which might develop,” All of which are excelluit reasons for Japan making a drive against India.