INDIA QUIETER.

Waikato Times, Volume 112, Issue 18776, 26 October 1932, Page 7

INDIA QUIETER.

A CASTE REVOLT. “UNTOUCHABLES” IN TEMPLES. ANTI-GANDHI SENTIMENT. United Press Assn. —Elec. TeL copyright CALCUTTA, Oot. 25. The Hindu citizens of Benares, which is regarded as the religious capital of Hinduism and is a great centre for orthodox pilgrimages, have revolted against Gandhi’s dictum regarding the admission of “untouchables” into temples. The priests and community leaders have sent a petition to the Viceroy, Viscount Willlngdon, seeking protection against religious interference under Queen Victoria’s proclamation of 1858. A movement is already afoot to endeavour to persuade Gandhi to consent to a restoration of caste restrictions, but It is unlikely that the Congress leader will agree. Nearly 6000 employees at Perambalur -workshops, Madras, on the southern Mahratta railway, are on strike as a sequel to discharges under a retrenchment scheme.

ARRANGING A CONSTITUTION. CONFERENCE IN LONDON. (Omcial Wireless.) RUGBY, Oct. 24. The third India Round-table Conference is to open on or about November 15 in rooms in the House of Lords. This will mark the penultimate stage in the process of consultation and cooperation laid down in the shaping of India’s new constitution. The coming conference will be followed by the final stage, consisting of a reference of the proposals to a joint select committee of both Houses of Parliament. This will precede, instead of following, the framing of the required legislation in order to ensure a continuance -of co-operation. The list of invitations to the conference is shorter than for previous conferences, but is of a representative character. The work before the delegates will oall less for general dlsousslons and set speeohes than for an examination of practical details. In any case, as the Times points out, even if the number of actual delegates has been restricted, there will yet be frequent opportunities, both during and after the conference, for informal conversations between the British delegates and the leaders of Indian thought.