BLACKWELL FAMILY ALICE STONE BLACKWELL SUBJECT FILE India: Printed Matter"New Times and Ethiopia News," January 26th, 1946. New Times and Ethiopia News for Liberty, International Justice and Democracy Editor: E. Sylvia Pankhurst London Jan. 26th, 1946 2d. Weekly No. 508 10th Year of Publication PRINCESS TSAHAI MEMORIAL HOSPITAL Patrons: Their Imperial Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Ethiopia, H.I.H. Princess Tenagne Work Haile Sellassie of Ethiopia. Chairman: Lord Winster. Correspondence only to - Hon. Secretary: E. Sylvia Pankhurst, 3 Charteris Road, Woodford, Essex. Buckhurst 2463. All donations to be sent to - Hon. Treasurer: Lord Horder, G.C.V.O., M.D., B.Sc., c/o H. Reynolds & Co., Hon. Chartered Accountants, 1, Bloomsbury Court, High Holborn, W.C.I. Please make cheques, etc., payable to Princess Tsahai Memorial Hospital Fund. - We desire to thank most cordially Miss Turner, of Brighton, for a quality of school books, sent in aid of the Hospital. These books were not taken to be sold, but they are being sent directly to Ethiopia, to be distributed amongst the various schools. A special word of thanks is due to the Commandant, Officers and Members of the British Red Cross, Wilts, - To The Italian Prime Minister A Letter From the Editor of "New Times and Ethiopia News: I note you have expressed on behalf of Italy contrition for her crimes against France, Greece and her European neighbours, but you have not referred to Italy's crimes against Ethiopia. I am enclosing herewith a booklet containing a few of the photographs taken by your compatriots for their own amusement, depicting their own crimes. These are but a few of the many left in Ethiopia to testify to their sins. It is a unique collection. I do not believe any aggressor ever provided such hideous evidence of his own guilt. It is obvious from this terrible evidence that the perpetrators of these iniquities were numerous and of all ranks. Clearly this was not a case of acting under the compulsion of a Dictator; the crimes were evidently voluntary and arose from wide-spread corruption and sadism among the Italians. You will understand that the future of Italy's ex-Colonies, which are homelands of the Ethiopian people, and were annexed by force and guile between 1885 and 1890, is a burning one. Is there sufficient humanity and generosity in the present Italian Government, and in Italy at large, to dictate that all claims to the future domination of the people who have suffered so much under Italian rule shall be renounced by the Italian Government? In Britain we have a public generous enough to produce a wide demand for self-government for India, which in the last century was regarded as "the brightest jewel in the British Imperial Crown." A generous gesture now on the part of Italy would be exceedingly beneficial to her international reputation and thereby would immensely conduce to her best interests and future happiness. If on the contrary the Italian Government persists in the return of the ex-Colonies, it is surely impossible that the United Nations will be so mistaken as to grant the claim. Italy will in that case miss a golden opportunity of making a clean break with the evil policies which disgraced her in the past. Faithfully yours, E. Sylvia Pankhurst - U.N.O - O.N.U. Greetings to the Delegates The delegates to the United Nations Assembly are invited to the Cowdray Hall Concert in aid of Princess Tsahai Memorial Hospital The daily journal of UNO announces the invitation. January 28th, 1946, at 7 p.m. Seats have been reserved for them. How to get there? See col. 1 this page. - THE MONOLITHIC CHURCHES OF LALIBELA Ethiopian Muslems celebrate the Anniversary of Ethiopia's Liberation. ETHIOPIAN INDEPENDENCE AND RE-UNION The Ethiopian people claim the reunion to the Motherland of the territories and populations formerly annexed by Italy and termed, since their annexation, Eritrea and Somalia. This claim is made by the populations on both sides of the artificial frontiers created by the aggressors. The peoples of Eritrea and Somalia have manifested their desire for reunion to Ethiopia by petitions to the Ethiopian Government, processions and demonstrations, deputations to the British Military Administration of Eritrea and to the British, American, Russian and French Legations, as well as by cables to the Foreign Ministers of the Five Powers. The peoples of the two ex-Colonies bitterly resisted the Italian occupation when it was effected towards the end of the nineteenth century, and many revolts followed. During the sixty years of Italian rule numbers of people migrated from Eritrea and Somalia to the Motherland, where they were received as loyal subjects of Ethiopia and accorded all citizen rights. Many of them obtained positions in the Ethiopian Government. Under Italian rule the people of the land were prohibited from all skilled employment, and denied any share in the administration; they were precluded from any measure of self-government. Moreover the two territories were used as bases for further conquest. Italy made war from these bases against Ethiopia in 1896 and in 1935, and against Britain and Egypt in 1940. Marshal De Bono revealed that, without intermission, from the signature of the Italo-Ethiopian Peace Treaty of 1898, recognizing Ethiopian independence and pledging perpetual peace and friendship which resulted from Italy's defeat at (unreadable).AND ETHIOPIA NEWS FOR LIBERTY, INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE AND DEMOCRACY Editor: E. Sylvia Pankhurst LONDON JAN. 26th, 1946 2d. Weekly No. 508 10th YEAR OF PUBLICATION PRINCESS TSAHAI MEMORIAL HOSPITAL PATRONS: Their Imperial Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Ethiopia, H.I.H. Princess Tenagne Work Haile Sellassie of Ethiopia. CHAIRMAN: Lord Winster. Correspondence only to-- HON. SECRETARY: E. Sylvia Pankhurst, 3, Charteris Road, Woodford, Essex. BUCkhurst 2463. All Donations to be sent to-- HON. TREASURER: Lord Horder, G.C.V.O., M.D., B.Sc., c/o H. Reynolds & Co. Hon. Chartered Accountants, 1, Bloomsbury Court, High Holborn, W.C.1. Please make cheques, etc., payable to Princess Tsahai Memorial Hospital Fund. We desire to thank most cordially Miss Turner, of Brighton, for a quantity of school books, sent in aid of the Hospital These books were not taken to the last Bazaar in order to be sold, but they are being sent directly to Ethiopia, to be distributed amongst the various schools. * * * A special word of thanks is due to the Commandant, Officers and Members of the British Red Cross, Wilts, 68 Detachment, for very useful medical books. * * * We expect to receive shortly a varied collection of samples of Ethiopian products. When they arrive we shall organise in London an Exhibition having a dual purpose: firstly, to show to the British public what Ethiopia can produce and export; secondly, to assist the Hospital Fund by the sale of tickets of admission. Meanwhile, we are looking for a suitable hall and making other preparations relating thereto. * * * Owing to pressure of space the latest list of donors to the Hospital Fund has again been held over. See next issue for it. HOW TO REACH COWDRAY HALL Cowdray Hall is the hall of the Royal Institute of Nursing, and it is situated at 1a, Henrietta Place, off Cavendish Square, W.1, which is on the west side of Regent Street and on the north side of Oxford Street. The nearest tube station is that of Oxford Street, on the Central Line. (Note that Henrietta Place, W.1, is still given in some Guides of London as Henrietta Street, W.1, and that it should not be confused with a street of the same name near Covent Garden, W.C.2.) I note you have expressed on behalf of Italy contrition for her crimes against France, Greece and her European neighbours, but you have not referred to Italy's crimes against Ethiopia. I am enclosing herewith a booklet containing a few of the photographs taken by your compatriots for their own amusement, depicting their own crimes. These are but a few of the many they left in Ethiopia to testify to their sins. It is a unique collection. I do not believe any aggressor ever provided such hideous evidence of his own guilt. It is obvious from this terrible evidence that the perpetrators of these iniquities were numerous and of all ranks. Clearly this was not a case of acting under the compulsion of a Dictator; the crimes were evidently voluntary and arose from wide-spread corruption and sadism among the Italians. You will understand that the future of Italy's ex-Colonies, which are homelands of the Ethiopian people, and were annexed by force and guile between 1885 and 1890, is a burning one. Is there sufficient humanity and generosity in the present Italian Government, and in Italy at large, to dictate that all claims to the future domination of the people who have suffered so much under Italian rule shall be renounced by the Italian Government? In Britain we have a public generous enough to produce a wide demand for self-government for India, which in the last century was regarded as "the brightest jewel in the British Imperial Crown." A generous gesture now on the part of Italy would be exceedingly beneficial to her international reputation and thereby would immensely conduce to her best interests and future happiness. If on the contrary the Italian Government persists in the return of the ex-Colonies, it is surely impossible that the United Nations will be so mistaken as to grant the claim. Italy will in that case miss a golden opportunity of making a clean break with the evil policies which disgraced her in the past. Faithfully yours, E. SYLVIA PANKHURST. U.N.O. - O.N.U. GREETINGS TO THE DELEGATES The delegates to the United Nations Assembly are invited to the Cowdray Hall Concert in aid of Princess Tsahai Memorial Hospital. The daily journal of UNO announces the invitation. January 28th, 1946, at 7 p.m. Seats have been reserved for them. How to get there? See col. 1 this page. THE MONOLITHIC CHURCHES OF LALIBELA By DR. LOUIS FINDLAY CHAPTER V. THE MOSLEM INVASION OF ETHIOPIA UNDER GRAN (1528-1540) The Portuguese Embassy to Ethiopia, under Roderigo de Lima, left that country in 1527, leaving behind several of its number who were probably held as hostages. Among those who remained in Ethiopia was a curious character, Bermudez, the barber-surgeon. He was not a figure of any importance in the Embassy, and is barely mentioned in the narrative of Alvarez. He played, however an interesting role in the history of later events. Immediately following on the departure from Ethiopia of Roderigo de Lima and Alvarez, a Mohemedan ruler from the coastal plains, began, in the year 1528, his invasion which in the short period of about ten years was to make him master of the whole of Ethiopia. This rule, named by Castanhoso as the King of Zeila, but more commonly known as Gran, was in fact the Imam Ahmad, and probably a Somali. In the work of his historian, Ahmed Ben 'Abd El Qader, we find Gran starting his military career as a common soldier in the army of Garad Aboun. As he was born in the year 1507, his rise from the ranks must have been rapid to have placed him in 1528 as commander of the invading army at the early age of twenty-one. His name of Gran, by which he is still known in Ethiopian traditions, is a nickname, meaning left-handed, and was given to the Imam Ahmad in ridicule. The Amharic word for left is "gra," and the title [C???atch] still in common [??????????????????????????????????] burned the monastery of Debra Libanos, sacred to the memory of the greatest of Ethiopian Saints, Takla Haimanot, and from there, his armies moving north, destroyed all the churches, including those at Axum, and robbed them of all their riches. We have two accounts of the visit of Gran to the sanctuaries of Lalibela, one by the historian Ahmad Ibn 'Abd Al-Kadir and the other by Castanhoso, who claims to have visited Lalibela in 1543 and to have received from the priests there their account of Gran's visit, which probably took place some ten years previously. In the narrative of Castanhoso we read3: "I heard them (the friars) say that the King of Zeila came to see these edifices, and that two Moors tried to ride in, but when they came up to the door their horses foundered; which miracle they have committed to writing, and spoke of much. The Moor ordered his men to leave the place as 'Mafamede' did not wich Ethiopian Muslems celebrate the Anniversary of Ethiopia's Liberation. ETHIOPIAN INDEPENDENCE AND RE-UNION The Ethiopian people claim the reunion to the Motherland of the territories and populations formerly annexed by Italy and termed, since their annexation, Eritrea and Somalia. This claim is made by the populations on both sides of the artificial frontiers created by the aggressors. The peoples of Eritrea and Somalia have manifested their desire for reunion to Ethiopia by petitions to the Ethiopian Government, processions and demonstrations, deputations to the British Military Administration of Eritrea and to the British, American, Russian and French Legations, as well as by cables to the Foreign Ministers of the Five Powers. The peoples of the two ex-Colonies bitterly resisted the Italian occupation when it was affected towards the end of the nineteenth century, and many revolts followed. During the sixty years of Italian rule numbers of people migrated from Eritrea and Somalia to the Motherland, where they were received as loyal subjects of Ethiopia and accorded all citizen rights. Many of them obtained positions in the Ethiopian Government. Under Italian rule the people of the land were prohibited from all skilled employment, and denied any share in the administration, they were precluded from any measure of self-government. Moreover the two territories were used as bases for further conquest. Italy made war from these bases against Ethiopia in 1896 and in 1935, and against Britain and Egypt in 1940. Marshal De Bono' revealed that, without intermission, from the signature of the Italo-Ethiopian Peace Treaty of 1898, recognising Ethiopian independence and pledging perpetual peace and friendship, which resulted from Italy's defeat at Adowa in 1896, the Italian Government maintained a continuous effort to corrupt and mislead Ethiopian subjects as a preparation for future war, even then premeditated. The incidents provoked by the Italians at Gondar and Wal Wal in 1934 revealed the sinister Italian plot. THE ETHIOPIANS ARE ONE PEOPLE The people of Ethiopia, who dwell on the Horn of Africa, bounded by the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, are one people. In the migration of populations, which proceeded in the course of many centuries, various racial strains reached Ethiopia. Peoples who had settled there thousands of years before the birth of Christ united with later immigrants from Arabia across the Red Sea, who came in successive waves, particularly in the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries. By long residence together, by common experiences and common perils they have become a nation. Though, like the peoples of many other States, they still speak divers languages and dialects, they have a common official language, Amharic. RELIGION The religions which have gradually replaced much older rites in Ethiopia are of three main branches: Jewish, Christian, Mohammedan. The Jewish faith was adopted in the time of King Solomon. Christianity was introduced in the time of the Apostles, and became the State Religion in 330 A.D. The faith of Mahommed gradually entered from the seventh century, when the Prophet advised some of his followers to seek refuge in Ethiopia, "the land of righteousness, where no one is wronged." They were kindly received. On learning from them that they acknowledged Christ as "the spirit and word of God" born of the Virgin Mary, the Ethiopian Emperor refused the demand to surrender them to their persecutors, the Koraish. 1La Guerra D'Etiopia, Pietro Badoglio, 1937. (English version published by Methuen.)2 New Times And Ethiopia News January 26th, 1946 The Monolithic Churches Of Lalibela (continued from page 1) the fire was hot Ahmad said to them, 'Now let one of you and one of us enter,' wishing to see what they would do, and to test them. Then their Chief said, 'Willingly I will go in'; but a woman who adopted the religious life arose and said, ' It is he who expounds to us the Gospel. Shall he die before my eyes? ' and threw herself on the fire. The Imam cried ' Drag her out.' They dragged her out, but part of her face was burned. Then he burned their shrines, broke their stone idols, and appropriated all the gold plates and silk textures he found." These two accounts, although they differ somewhat according to the point of view of the writers, have this fact in common; that Gran's treatment of the churches at Lalibela was moderate and tolerant, in comparison with his usual custom of destruction. In fact, it is doubtful if Gran could have done serious damage to the actual structure of the buildings, carved as they were from the solid rock. Apparently he did not discover Bieta Golgotha, for it is doubtful if he would have left intact the fine wall carvings of Saint John, Saint George and Saint Stephen. (1) CHIHAB EDDIN AHMED BEN 'ABD EL QADER, op.cit., p. 409. CHAPTER VI. THE PORTUGUESE EXPEDITION OF 1541-1543 UNDER CHRISTAVO DA GAMA.1 During this period of the conquest of Etehiopia by Gran, the defeated Emperor, Lebna Dengel, had sent Bermudez to Europe to treat with the King of Portugal and with the Pope, demanding help and arms. The account of this mission was written by Bermudez himself, but not until after the account by Castanhoso. The narrative of Castanhoso is more detailed than that of Bermudez, as well as being more accurate and truthful. Bermudez makes the fanciful claim to have been appointed Patriarch of Ethiopia by Pope Paul III, and to have been given full powers to try and restore order and to win over the Ethiopian Christians to the Roman Catholic allegiance. In the "Short Account" of Bermudez is one interesting reference to the Negus Lalibela. He wrote: ("The Emperor.) He asked him (the Pope) to send troops to defend him from the King of Zeila . . . Also, to send him quarry men to dig through a hill where his ancestor Eylale belale (Lalibela) formerly diverted the Nile, in order to turn it there again and damage Egypt2." This legend has been referred to in an earlier passage. The Emperor Lebna Dengel died in 1540, one year before the arrival in his country of Bermudez and the Portuguese expedition, and he was succeeded by his son, Galaudewos. Dom Christavao da Gama, a son of Vasco da Gama, arrived with his four hundred and fifty musketeers at Massawa in February, 1541, and shortly afterwards began his march south into Ethiopia, hoping to make early contact with the small but resolute band of patriots under Galaudewos. Before, however, this alliance of arms could be made, da Gama fought several battles with the army of the Imam Ahmad. By August,* 1542, the Portuguese had suffered heavily in a succession of defeats, and in that month Christavao de Gama was captured and put to death. His broken army, determined to avenge the death of its commander, succeeded in joining forces with the Emperor Galaudewos, and the united forces gave battle once again to the Imam, north of Lake Tsana, in 1543. The battle went well for the superior forces of the Imam until the gallantry of one of the Portuguese soldiers led to the wounding and death of Gran himself. Defeat was rapidly turned into victory, so decisive that the power of the Moslem invader was now at an end, and Ethiopia was once again free and at peace. The Portuguese army, its task completed, found that it had been abandoned to its fate by Portugal. Less than ten men, including Castanhoso and Bermudez, eventually found vessels to rescue them, but the majority of the army settled in Ethiopia, their descendants becoming merged in the native population. It was during his final march to the ------------------------------------------------------------ (1) See page 47, note 2. (2) The Portuguese Expedition to Abyssinia in 1541-1543, etc., p. 131. coast that Castanhoso claims to have visited Lalibela. Certainly his route lay through the mountains of Lasta. Castanhoso's description, which follows, is largely exaggerated and in parts fanciful. It is possible that he was relying on eye-witness accounts given to him by other Portuguese, or on second-hand accounts from those who had heard the descriptions made by Alvarez. It does not appear that Bermudez himself visited Lalibela, either when he was travelling with Alvarez, or when he accompanied the later expedition under da Gama. It is possible that Bermudez was the source of second-hand information used by Castanhoso, if, in fact, this writer did not himself visit Lalibela. Castanhoso wrote: "We continued on until we came to a hill, on whose top were twelve monasteries of friars, or churches in which religious men lived, a few men to each, and each one dedicated. Each church was formed from one stone, excavated on the inside with a pick; like ours are, with two lofty naves and pillars, and vaulted, all from a single rock, with no other piece of any kind, with a high altar and other altars, all of the same stone; as I say, in the whole edifice of the church there was nothing brought from the outside, but all cut from the same living rock. Each church is as large as that of St. Francis, at Evora; all exists exactly as I in truth relate it. I measured the smallest to see how many paces it was, and I found it fifty paces; the others were very much larger . . . These edifices, according to the story of the Abyssinians, were made by white men . . . (The Christian King of this country) brought many men with him to work at this rock with pickaxes, and they cut out a cubit a day, and found three finished in the morning; and the King died a Saint after he had completed these edifices. They showed us the place of his burial . . . (1)". Following the departure of the Portuguese leaders, Lalibela reverted to its accustomed isolation and obscurity, and was not seen again by European eyes for over three hundred years. ----------------------------------------------------------- (1) The Portuguese Expedition to Abyssinia in 1541-1543, etc., p. 95-96. CHAPTER VII. RECENT EXPEDITIONS TO L'ALIBELA. After the departure of Castanhoso, we have no record that Lalibela was seen again by any European until the year 1868. During that interval of some three hundred and twenty years, the churches of Lalibela were mentioned by Ludolph, Bruce, and Salt. The first of these was purely a historian, and although the latter two travelled in Ethiopia, neither of them visited Lalibela. In the year 1868, Napier led the British military expedition from a point on the coast near Massawa, south through Ethiopia to Magdala. In his company was the German explorer, Gerhard Rohlfs. Following the death of the Emperor Theodore, the British troops retired by the route they had come, but Rohlfs set off north-west, intending to visit Lake Tsana and Gondar. His journey took him through the district of Lasta, and he 'rediscovered' the town Lalibela. In his book1 he describes Lalibela, and some of his observations are referred to in an earlier passage of this report. In the year 1881, the French Consul at Massawa, M. Achille Raffray, accompanied by M. Gabriel Simon, went on an exploratory journey into Ethiopia, visiting Lalibela on their way back. Raffray's article gives us ------------------------------------------------------ (1) Gerhard ROHLFS, Land und Volk in [???ka] Bremen, 1870, p. 122, et. sq. the first detailed and accurate descriptions written in comparatively modern times. His publication is accompanied by sketches and plans, as is also the book written by his companion, Gabrial Simon. Reference has been made earlier in this report to some of the observations of these OBITUARY The Very Rev. J. H. Hertz, C.H., Ph.D., LL.D., Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregation of the British Empire, who died on January 14th, was an Honorary President of the Princess Tsahai Memorial Hospital. He gave willingly valued aid by addressing a circular letter to the Hebrew congregations in Britain, urging them to support the Hospital Fund. We express our sympathy in their bereavement to the family of Dr. Hertz, and to the United Hebrew Congregations in the loss of a pastor so eminent and devoted. IN THE PRESS . . . From "The Sudan Herald." ITALY'S WAR CRIMES IN ETHIOPIA We have recently received, under the above title, a small booklet (24 pages), published by Sylvia Pankhurst, Editor of the "New Times and Ethiopia News," at 3, Charteris Road, Woodford, Essex, England (price 1s.). The booklet contains 23 pictures, showing grim evidence of Italian atrocities committed in Ethiopia during its short domination by the Blackshirt Fascists, and is an evidence for the War Crimes Commission. As an introductory paragraph, there is a grim estimate (by no means yet final) of the slaughter of Ethiopians, compiled from the evidence thus far investigated, showing that a total of some 460,300 men, women and children were exterminated by the Italians by means of poison gas, bombing, wholesale massacres, and from privation and maltreatment in concentration camps. Several eye-witness accounts are included in this booklet, showing clearly how the Fascists were ruling their colonies. This small, but important, booklet is an "eye-opener" for those who still advocate that former Italian colonies be returned to Italy. NATIONAL PROVINCIAL BANK LIMITED Head Office: 15, Bishopsgate, London. Chief Office for Overseas Business: Overseas Branch, 1, Princes Street, London, E.C.2 EVERY KIND OF BUSINESS BUSINESS UNDERTAKEN Particulars on request London Correspondents for STATE BANK OF ETHIOPIA two Frenchmen, especially in relation to the question of the date of construction of the churches at lalibela. Apart from the value of giving the first modern description of Lalibela, Raffray's work is of greatest interest in that he borrowed and had translated the MS. which describes the foundation of the sacred town by the Negus Lalibela. Before the close of the 19th century, Lalibela was again visited, by an American, Mr. Harlan, who does not appear to have left any account of his visit. Another twenty years passed before Lalibela had another visitor. M. de Coppet, French Minister at Addis Ababa made a journey there1, followed in 1925 by the British woman explorer, Rosita Forbes2. Until the Italian occupation of Ethiopia in 1935, probably the only other visitors to Lalibela were the following missionaries, the Rev. C. Kenneweg, Dr. and Mrs. Nystrom, Dr. Lambie, Mr. Gudmunsen, and Mr. and Mrs. Ogilvie. During the Italian occupation of Ethiopia, few Italians visited Lalibela. The seat of government of the district of Lasta was removed from Lalibela to the slightly more accessible town of Muggia. The mountainous regions of Lasta never wholly submitted to the invader, and the military outposts were in none too secure a position. One officer and a handful of men were stationed at Lalibela. In the year 1939, the Italian archaeologist, Prof. Monti della Corti, visited Lalibela, and has published his findings and observations. His book, however, at the time of writing this report, is unobtainable as it was published after the entry of Italy into the War. And so it appears, on account of the relatively inaccessible position of Lalibela, that these wonderful buidlgins, which, if situated in some other part of the world more accessible to modern transport, would be visited by thousands, have, in fact, been visited only ten or twelve times by Europeans. --------------------------------------------------------- (1) M. DE COPPET, L'Illustration, 31 Mai 1924. (2) Rosita FORBES, From Red Sea to Blue Nile. Abyssinian Adventures, London, 1925, p. 253-276; also Rosita Mc GRATH, Lalibala, The Geographical Journal, London, Vol. LXVI, 1925, p. 507-518; and Illustrated London News, August 17th, 1925. THE END ETHIOPIAN INDEPENDENCE AND RE-UNION (Continued from page 1) HISTORICAL CONSIDERATIONS The Arab Power--Religious Wars of the Past On this account Mahommed forbade his followers to attack Ethiopa. Though the Arabs raided her coasts, Ethiopia retained her independence when all her Middle Eastern neighbours had been absorbed by the Arab Empire, which extended from the Indus to Morocco, and conquered Syria, Perisa, Egypt and Spain. Ethiopia held out against the yet more powerful Empire of the Turks, who ousted the Arabs from the leadership of Islam, and under Suleiman the Magnificent, in the sixteenth century, overwhelmed all Eastern Europe, and were only checked at the gates of Vienna. Though her independence was thus preserved, it was impossible for Ethiopia not to be affected by the powerful Mohammedan movement, which had conquered the countries both east and west of her, advancing by faith, as well as by the sword. Islam had its converts also on her soil; for three hundred years she was tormented by religious war. It was a civil war, waged by native converts as much as by foreign invasion. The most destructive foe of the Christian faith was a Mahommed Gran, a native of Audel, now named Zeilah. When Ethiopia summoned aid from Portugal, a fellow Christian nation, to defend the Christian faith, it was given by a force of brave soldiers, but the Portuguese Jesuits who followed brought further strife, by endeavouring to compel Ethiopian Christianity to transfer its allegiance from the Church of Alexandria to that of Rome, and by claiming possession of half the country, to which they held themselves entitled, because of the decision in 1493 that all newly discovered lands should be divided between Portugal and Spain. During these long wars the ancient Ethiopian Federation, which formerly extended through Nubia to Nepata, was reduced and impoverished. Buildings and property of every sort were looted and destroyed. NO RACIAL OR RELIGIOUS STRIFE OR DISCRIMINATION IN MODERN ETHIOPIA In modern Ethiopia there is no racial or religious persecution, no rioting or violence between the people of different faiths. The religious strife of former times has no relation to present-day Ethiopia. Though the Italians endeavoured to revive it during their occupation in 1936-1941, they failed. There is no religious or racial discrimination by the Government of Ethiopia. All Ethiopians enjoy the same civil rights and are equal before the law. All have the same right to elect and to be elected to Parliament and the local governing bodies. The Ethiopian Parliament comprises representatives of every province and of all races and religions. The same is true of employment in the Ethiopian Government and Provincial Administrations and in the Law Courts. All civil and criminal cases come before the general Courts, except those relating to Mohammedan customary law, in relation to marriage and inheritance, which are dealt with by the "Kadi" Courts. ERITREA IS ETHIOPIA: HISTORICAL RETROSPECT The Ex-Italian Colony of Eritrea, mainly annexed between 1885 and 1890, was part of the Tigrai, one of the historic Kingdoms which formed the ancient Ethiopian Federation, and including the city of Axum, the capital of the dynasty of that name, with the stele of the Queen of Sheba and the Church of St. Mary of Zion, the heart of Ethiopian tradition and belief. THE TURKS SEIZE MASSAWA In 1558 the Turks seized Massawa, and during the succeeding centuries supplied the Moslem insurgents with modern firearms, and at times with troops. The prevented trade, and rendered it difficult for travellers to enter or leave the country. The Turks, however, neither conquered nor colonised the hinterland. Their power was confined to points along the coast. Even there it was purely military and maintained by the sword. They took tribute, but left the administration to local Naibs. Henry Salt, who landed at Massawa in 1809, wrote that before his arrival the Naib of Massawa had retired to Arkeeko, the nearest port on the mainland, feeling an equal dread of the Turkish Sheriffe of Mecca, and of the Ethiopian Governor of the Tigrai, Ras Welled Sellasie, from whom, because of the detention of some of his property at the port, the following message had been received: "Send up the goods, or in a few days I will be with you." THE PEOPLE OF ERITREA NATIVES, NOT COLONISTS The people of Eritrea were, none of them, foreign Colonists imported by the Turks; whether Christian or Moslem they were all natives of the country whose families had long been settled there. How superficial was the Turkish control is indicated by an official note of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, British Ambassador at Constantinople, addressed to the Turkish Government in 1855, protesting against the persecution by the Pasha of Massowah of all who did not profess the Mohammedan faith, and urging: "A greater responsibility must be made to impress on the new Governor that jealousy of foreign intercourse with Abyssinia must cease to be the mainspring of his policy. He ought to be supplied with a regular force sufficient to maintain his authority in the island." This note is quoted by Colonel H. St. Clair Wilkins, Royal Engineers, Aide-de-Camp to Queen.1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Reconnoitring in Abyssinia." H. St. Claire Wilkins (Smith Elder, 1870). ARTS - CRAFTS - INDUSTRIES To Encourage Production! ETHIOPIAN To Awaken Interest! PERMANENT To Stimulate Sales! EXHIBITION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, INDUSTRY AND AGRICULTURE ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Haile Sellassie Road, Addis Ababaenter, wishing to see what they would do, and to test them. Then their Chief said, 'Willingly I will go in'; but a woman who had adopted the religious life arose and said, 'It is he who expounds to us the Gospel. Shall he die before my eyes?' and threw herself on the fire. The Imam cried 'Drag her out.' They dragged her out, but part of her face was burned. Then he burned their shrines, broke their stone idols, and appropriated all the gold plates and silk textures he found."1 ------------------------------------------------------- (1) CHIHAB EDDIN AHMED BEN 'ABD EL QADER, op. cit., p. 409. point of view of the writers, have this fact in common: that Gran's treatment of the churches at Lalibela was moderate and tolerant, in comparison with his usual custom of destruction. In fact, it is doubtful if Gran could have done serious damage to the actual structure of the buildings, carved as they were from the solid rock. Apparently he did not discover Bieta Golgotha, for it is doubtful if he would have left intact the fine wall carvings of Saint John, Saint George and Saint Stephen. CHAPTER VI. THE PORTUGUESE EXPEDITION OF 1541-1543 UNDER CHRISTAVO DA GAMA.1 During 1541 to 1543 the conquest of Ethiopia by Grañ, the defeated Emperor, Lebna Dengal had sent Bermudez to Europe to treat with the King of Portugal and the Pope, demanding help and arms. The account of this mission was written by Bermudez himself, but not until after the account of the subsequent Portuguese expedition had been written by Castanhoso. The narrative of Castanhoso is more detailed than that of Bermudez, as well as being more accurate and truthful. Bermudez makes the fanciful claim to have been appointed Patriarch of Ethiopia by Pope Paul III, and to have been given full powers to try and restore order and to win over the Ethiopian Christians to the Roman Catholic allegiance. In the "Short Account" of Bermudez is one interesting reference to the Negus Lalibela. He wrote: ("The Emperor). He asked him (the Pope) to send troops to defend him from the King of Zeila . . . Also, to send him quarry men to dig through a hill where his ancestor Eylale belale (Lalibela) formerly diverted the Nile in order to turn it there again and damage Egypt2." This legend has been referred to in an earlier passage. The Emperor Lebna Dengel died in 1540, one year before the arrival in his country of Bermudez and the Portuguese expedition, and he was succeeded by his son, Galaudewos. Dom Chrisfavao da Gama, a son of Vasco da Gama, arrived with his four hundred and fifty musketeers at Massawa in February, 1541, and shortly afterwards began his march south into Ethiopia, hoping to make early contact with the small but resolute band of patriots under Galaudewos. Before, however, this alliance of arms could be made, da Gama fought several battles with the army of the Imam Ahmad. By August,* 1542, the Portuguese had suffered heavily in a succession of defeats, and in that month Christavao de Gama was captured and put to death. His broken army, determined to avenge the death of its commander, succeeded in joining forces with the Emperor Galaudewos, and the united forces gave battle once again to the Imam, north of Lake Tsana, in 1543. The battle went well for the superior forces of the Imam until the gallantry of one of the Portuguese soldiers led to the wounding and death of Gran himself. Defeat was rapidly turned into victory, so decisive that the power of the Moslem invader was now at an end, and Ethiopia was once again free and at peace. The Portuguese army, its task completed, found that it had been abandoned to its fate by Portugal. Less than ten men, including Castanhoso and Bermudez, eventually found vessels to rescue them, but the majority of the army settled in Ethiopia, their descendants becoming merged in the native population. It was during his final march to the ------------------------------------------------------------ (1) See page 47, note 2. (2) The Portuguese Expedition to Abyssinia in 1541-1543, etc., p. 131. coast that Castanhoso claims to have visited Lalibela. Certainly his route lay through the mountains of Lasta. Castanhoso's description, which follows, is largely exaggerated and in parts fanciful. It is possible that he was relying on eye-witness accounts given to him by other Portuguese, or on second-hand accounts from those who had heard the descriptions made by Alvarez. It does not appear that Bermudez himself visited Lalibela, either when he was travelling with Alvarez, or when he accompanied the later expedition under da Gama. It is possible that Bermudez was the source of second-hand information used by Castanhoso, if, in fact, this writer did not himself visit Lalibela. Castanhoso wrote: "We continued on until we came to a hill, on whose top were twelve monasteries of friars, or churches in which religious men lived, a few men to each, and each one dedicated. Each church was formed from one stone, excavated on the inside with a pick; like ours are, with two lofty naves and pillars, and vaulted, all from a single rock, with no other piece of any kind, with a high altar and other altars, all of the same stone; as I say, in the whole edifice of the church there was nothing brought from the outside, but all cut from the same living rock. Each church is as large as that of St. Francis, at Evora; all exists exactly as I in truth relate it. I measured the smallest to see how many paces it was, and I found it fifty paces; the others were very much larger . . . These edifices, according to the story of the Abyssinians, were made by white men . . . (The Christian King of this country) brought many men with him to work at this rock with pickaxes, and they cut out a cubit a day, and found three finished in the morning; and the King died a Saint after he had completed these edifices. They showed us the place of his burial . . . (1)". Following the departure of the Portuguese leaders, Lalibela reverted to its accustomed isolation and obscurity, and was not seen again by European eyes for over three hundred years. ------------------------------------------------------------ (1) The Portuguese Expedition to Abyssinia in 1541-1543, etc., p. 95-96. CHAPTER VII. RECENT EXPEDITIONS TO L'ALIBELA. After the departure of Castanhoso, we have no record that Lalibela was seen again by any European until the year 1868. During that interval of some three hundred and twenty years, the churches of Lalibela were mentioned by Ludolph, Bruce, and Salt. The first of these was purely a historian, and although the latter two travelled in Ethiopia, neither of them visited Lalibela. In the year 1868, Napier led the British military expedition from a point on the coast near Massawa, south through Ethiopia to Magdala. In his company was the German explorer, Gerhard Rohlfs. Following the death of the Emperor Theodore, the British troops retired by the route they had come, but Rohlfs set off north-west, intending to visit Lake Tsana and Gondar. His journey took him through the district of Lasta, and he 'rediscovered' the town of Lalibela. In his book1 he describes Lalibela, and some of his observations are referred to in an earlier passage of this report. In the year 1881, the French Consul at Massawa, M. Achille Raffray, accompanied by M. Gabriel Simon, went on an exploratory journey into Ethiopia, visiting Lalibela on their way back. Raffray's article gives us -------------------------------------------------------- (1) Gerhard ROHLFS, Land und Volkd in Afrika, Bremen, 1870, p. 122, et sq. the first detailed and accurate descriptions written in comparatively modern times. His publication is accompanied by sketches and plans, as is also the book written by his companion, Gabriel Simon. Reference has been made earlier in this report to some of the observations of these Hospital. He gave willingly valued aid by addressing a circular letter to the Hebrew congregations in Britain, urging them to support the Hospital Fund. We express our sympathy in their bereavement to the family of Dr. Hertz, and to the United Hebrew Congregations in the loss of a pastor so eminent and devoted. IN THE PRESS . . . From "The Sudan Herald." ITALY'S WAR CRIMES IN ETHIOPIA We have recently received, under the above title, a small booklet (24 pages), published by Sylvia Pankhurst, Editor of the "New Times and Ethiopia News," at 3, Charteris Road, Woodford, Essex, England (price 1s.). The booklet contains 23 pictures, showing grim evidence of Italian atrocities committed in Ethiopia during its short domination by the Blackshirt Fascists, and is an evidence for the War Crimes Commission. As an introductory paragraph, there is a grim estimate (by no means yet final) of the slaughter of Ethiopians, compiled from the evidence thus far investigated, showing that a total of some 460,300 men, women and children were exterminated by the Italians by means of poison gas, bombing, wholesale massacres, and from privation and maltreatment in concentration camps. Several eye-witness accounts are included in this booklet, showing clearly how the Fascists were ruling their colonies. This small, but important, booklet is an "eye-opener" for those who still advocate that former Italian colonies be returned to Italy. NATIONAL PROVINCIAL BANK LIMITED Head Office: 15, Bishopsgate, London. Chief Office for Overseas Business: Overseas Branch, 1, Princes Street, London, E.C.2 EVERY KIND OF BANKING BUSINESS UNDERTAKEN Particulars on request London Correspondents for STATE BANK OF ETHIOPIA two Frenchmen, especially in relation to the question of the date of construction of the churches at Lalibela. Apart from the value of giving the first modern description of Lalibela, Raffray's work is of greatest interest in that he borrowed and had translated in the MS. which describes the foundation of the sacred town by the Negus Lalibela. Before the close of the 19th century, Lalibela was again visited, by an American, Mr. Harlan, who does not appear to have left any account of his visit. Another twenty years passed before Lalibela had another visitor. M. de Coppet, French Minister at Addis Ababa made a journey there1, followed in 1925 by the British woman explorer, Rosita Forbes2. Until the Italian occupation of Ethiopia in 1935, probably the only other visitors to Lalibela were the following missionaries, the Rev. C. Kenneweg, Dr. and Mrs. Nystrom, Dr. Lambie, Mr. Gudmunsen, and Mr. and Mrs. Ogilvie. During the Italian occupation of Ethiopia, few Italians visited lalibela. The seat of government of the district of Lasta was removed from Lalibela to the slightly more accessible town of Muggia. The mountainous regions of Lasta, never wholly submitted to the invader, and the military outposts were in none too secure a position. One officer and a handful of men were stationed at Lalibela. In the year 1939, the Italian archaeologist, Prof. Monti della Corti, visited Lalibela, and has published his findings and observations. His book, however, at the time of writing this report, is unobtainable as it was published after the entry of Italy into the War. And so it appears, on account of the relatively inaccessible position of Lalibela, that these wonderful buildings, which, if situated in some other part of the world more accessible to modern transport, would be visited by thousands, have, in fact, been visited only ten or twelve times by Europeans. ------------------------------------------------------------- (1) M. DE COPPET, L'Illustration, 31 Mai 1924. (2) Rosita FORBES, From Red Sea to Blue Nile. Abyssinian Adventures, London, 1925, p. 253-276; also Rosita Mc GRATH, Lalibala, The Geographical Journal, London, Vol. LXVI, 1925, p. 507-518; and Illustrated London News, August 17th, 1925. THE END her independence when all her Middle Eastern neighbours had been absorbed by the Arab Empire, which extended from the Indus to Morocco, and conquered Syria, Persia, Egypt and Spain. Ethiopia held out against the yet more powerful Empire of the Turks, who ousted the Arabs from the leadership of Islam, and under Suleiman the Magnificent, in the sixteenth century, overwhelmed all Eastern Europe, and were only checked at the gates of Vienna. Though her independence was thus preserved, it was impossible for Ethiopia not to be affected by the powerful Mohammedan movement, which had conquered the countries both east and west of her, advancing by faith, as well as by the sword. Islam had its converts also on her soil; for three hundred years she was tormented by religious war. It was a civil war, waged by native converts as much as by foreign invasion. The most destructive foe of the Christian faith was a Mahommed Gran, a native of Audel, now named Zeilah. When Ethiopia summoned aid from Portugal, a fellow Christian nation, to defend the Christian faith, it was given by a force of brave soldiers, but the Portuguese Jesuits who followed brought further strife, by endeavouring to compel Ethiopian Christianity to transfer its allegiance from the Church of Alexandria to that of Rome, and by claiming possession of half the country, to which they held themselves entitled, because of the decision in 1493 that all newly discovered lands should be divided between Portugal and Spain. During these long wars the ancient Ethiopian Federation, which formerly extended through Nubia to Nepata, was reduced and impoverished. Buildings and property of every sort were looted and destroyed. NO RACIAL OR RELIGIOUS STRIFE OR DISCRIMINIATION IN MODERN ETHIOPIA In modern Ethiopia there is no racial or religious persecution, no rioting or violence between the people of different faiths. The religious strife of former times has no relation to present-day Ethiopia. Though the Italians endeavored to revive it during their occupation in 1936-1941, they failed. There is no religious or racial discrimination by the Government of Ethiopia. All Ethiopians enjoy the same civil rights and are equal before the law. All have the same right to elect and to be elected to Parliament and the local governing bodies. The Ethiopian Parliament comprises representatives of every province and of all races and religions. The same is true of employment in the Ethiopian Government and Provincial Administrations and in the Law Courts. All civil and criminal cases come before the general Courts, except those relating to Mohammedan customary law, in relation to marriage and inheritance, which are dealt with by the "Kadi" Courts. ERITREA IS ETHIOPIA: HISTORICAL RETROSPECT The Ex-Italian Colony of Eritrea, mainly annexed between 1885 and 1890, was part of the Tigrai, one of the historic Kingdoms which formed the ancient Ethiopian Federation, and including the city of Axum, the capital of the dynasty of that name, with the stele of the Queen of Sheba and the Church of St. Mary of Zion, the heart of Ethiopian tradition and belief THE TURKS SEIZE MASSAWA In 1558 the Turks seized Massawa, and during the succeeding centuries supplied the Moslem insurgents with modern firearms, and at times with troops. They prevented trade, and rendered it difficult for travellers to enter or leave the country. The Turks, however, neither conquered nor colonised the hinterland. Their power was confined to points along the coast. Even there it was purely military and maintained by the sword. They took tribute, but left the administration to local Naibs. Henry Salt, who landed at Massawa in 1809, wrote that before his arrival the Naib of Massawa had retired to Arkeeko, the nearest port on the mainland, feeling an equal dread of the Turkish Sheriffe of Mecca, and of the Ethiopian Governor of the Tigrai, Ras Welled Sellasie, from whom, because of the detention of some of his property at the port, the following message had been received: "Send up the goods, or in a few days I will be with you." THE PEOPLE OF ERITREA NATIVES, NOT COLONISTS The people of Eritrea were, none of them, foreign Colonists imported by the Turks; whether Christian or Moslem they were all natives of the country whose families had long been settled there. How superficial was the Turkish control is indicated by an official note of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, British Ambassador at Constantinople, addressed to the Turkish Government in 1855, protesting against the persecution by the Pasha of Massowah of all who did not profess the Mohammedan faith, and urging: "A greater responsibility must be made to impress on the new Governor that jealousy of foreign intercourse with Abyssinia must cease to be the mainspring of his policy. He ought to be supplied with a regular force sufficient to maintain his authority in the island." This note is quoted by Colonel H. St. Clair Wilkins, Royal Engineers, Aide-de-Camp to the Queen.1 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Reconnoitring in Abyssinia." H. St. Claire Wilkins (Smith Elder, 1870). ARTS - CRAFTS - INDUSTRIES To Encourage Production! ETHIOPIAN To Awaken Interest! PERMANENT To Stimulate Sales! EXHIBITION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, INDUSTRY AND AGRICULTURE ---------------------------------------------------------------- Haile Sellassie Road, Addis Ababa[*Sub owing*] THE GREAT FAILURE Published Monthly. INDIA BULLETIN ORGAN OF THE FRIENDS OF INDIA. President: Laurence Housman. Vol 3. No. 2. MARCH, 1934. One Penny CONTENTS. PAGE Current Indian Topics ... ... 1 Gandhi and Untouchability. By D. V. Tahmankar ... 2 The Other Side of the Medal (concluded). by J. T. Sunderland ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 2 The Great Failure ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 4 The Indian Earthquake ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 5 Opinions of the White Paper ... ... ... ... ... 5 The Late Mr. A. Rangaswam Aiyengar ... ... ... ... 6 Trade Union Movement in India ... ... ... ... ... 6 Rt. Hon. Srinnasa Sastri on the White Paper ... ... 7 Meetings in Lincolnshire ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 8 Light From the East. By Rev. Will Hayes ... ... ... ... 8 CURRENT INDIAN TOPICS. INDIANS IN SOUTH AFRICA. Once again the White Settlers of South Africa are up against the Indians there. The Union Government has set up an Enquiry Commission to report on the possibility and desirability of sending over Indians to other parts of the Empire and to colonize there. Naturally the Indian community is alarmed at this. It should be remembered that the Colonies of Natal, Transvaal, Cape Colony and Orange Free State which form the Union of South Africa are mainly the product of Indians. It was the Indian labor which cleared the jungles, made railways and roads, laid large scale cultivation of sugar cane and built cities like Johannesburg. There are over 200,000 Indians of whom more than 85 per cent. are born in the country. To them, South Africa is the mother country. Their memories of "Home, sweet home" are linked up with that land. They are proud to call themselves South African Indians. That should suffice to convince anybody how deeply attached they must be to the country, and explains why the Indians did not take advantage of facilities of repatriation. Now the Union Government, maybe, under the pressure of the White Settlers has launched upon the above-mentioned enquiry. The reader will recollect that the Government of South Africa has tried to clear the colony of Indians over and over again. But Gandhi's eight years' prolonged Satyagraha and the consequent Gandhi-Smuts agreement of 1914 has achieved for Indians the right to live in the land as the sons of the soil. Since Gandhi went to India the Union Government has considerably whittled down the agreement, and has made many inroads on some of its important provisions. The Indian community is bravely and doggedly fighting the battle. The Lang Commission of 1921, after careful investigation came to the conclusion that the apprehensions and fears of the White Settlers that they would be swept away from trade and commerce by Indians, had no ground at all. Sir Kunwarsingh Maharaj, the Agent-General of the Indian Government in South Africa, has ably and convincingly proved in his memorandum that that bogey is absolutely baseless as the Indians are only one per cent. of the whole population of the country and three per cent. less than the White Settlers. Then, again, their trading activities which are severely restricted by various ordinances and enactments of the Government are mainly confined to their own localities and to a few natives. The new attempt of the Union Government to drive away the Indians has no justification, and only shows their insatiable greed to exploit the helpless condition of the Indians. D. V. T. IRON HAND OF THE BENGAL GOVERNMENT. In England we hear so much of the Nazi atrocities in Germany and Austria. A great many English people both inside and outside the Church have condemned the Fascist outrages against their opponents. But how many of them have bothered to know what is to-day happening in Chittagong? Last month we referred to the mischievous remarks of Sir John Anderson, the governor of that Province. It is our painful duty to revert to the subject again. During the last month news is pouring from India to show that the repression of the Government of Bengal is growing every day. The District Magistrate of Chittagong has recently issued orders which prohibit any Hindu Bhadralok (middle-class) youths under 25 living in certain localities in Chittagong from leaving their houses for a week. Does the Government want to create the impression that every other Bhadralok Hindu youth is a confirmed terrorist and a revolutionary? What is the difference between the systematic and torturous treatment of the Jews in Germany, and this treatment of the so-called terrorists of Bengal? We are told by the Secretary of State for India that the Government is determined to root out terrorism from Bengal. In doing so is it necessary to forget even the first principles of civilised government? The plea of the authorities is that they have to resort to these methods because the people would not help the former to find out the terrorists. The fact of the matter is that the British rule has lost its raison d'etre in India, and to-day it is simply falling back on the old rusty weapon of governing by an iron hand. May we point out to Sir John Anderson and others like him that terrorism in Bengal can never be uprooted so long as he continues to be deaf to the popular urge to freedom. Government in Bengal itself to-day has degenerated into an organised terrorist machine. It is an inexorable law of history that any government which ceases to be human and responsive to the general will of the governed must perish. A government without life is bound to crack; but let the British public opinion take this into account that longer the repression is allowed to play its havoc, the more difficult it will be to bring about a friendly understanding between India and Great Britain. D. V. T. JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE. Has Cost £24,797 So Far. LONDON, Feb. 1. The cost of the Joint Select Committee is hitherto £24,797, according to an estimate, contained in three volumes totalling 2,399 pages republishing the evidence issued by the Stationery Office. The total includes the cost of payment to delegates and witnesses and other incidental sums amounting to £18,782. Another volume and an index will be published. The present three volumes are available to the public for £3 10s. Our motto: SEEK TRUTH.INDIA BULLETIN ORGAN OF THE FRIENDS OF INDIA. President: Laurance Housman. Vol. 4, No. 9. March, 1936. One Penny. A Constituent Assembly for India. By JAWAHARLAL NEHRU. The India Act has been imposed on India in spite of the vehement opposition of all politically-minded Indians. The provincial part of it will probably come into effect early next year and presumably the Congress, as well as other organisations, will combat it in various ways. The federal part is still very much in the air and even its sponsors and partisans tell us that it will take another two or three years before it takes shape. Two or three years are a short period in the life of a nation but they are long and full of possible happenings and vast changes in the present state of the world and of India. So it is quite possible that this federal structure may remain still-born, and, if so, the rest of the India Act may soon follow it into oblivion. Very few will regret this and the vast majority of the people of India will rejoice that this terrible burden has gone. What then is the way out? If the world as a whole or India see and experience great upheavals, political and economic, no one can say what the result will be. When vast and unknown forces are let loose, the best-laid plans go awry, and sometimes the fresh writing has to be done on a more or less clean slate. So we may not lay down what will happen when such an upheaval has occurred. But if there is no such upheaval, what then? The Congress has stated that the only solution is by means of a Constituent Assembly, elected on adult suffrage, which will draw up the constitution for a free India. That is the only way to give effect to the wishes of the people of India; that is the democratic way. That way also helps greatly in the solution of the communal problem. No solution that is drawn up by the British Parliament or any other outside authority and imposed on India can ever be agreed on or bring peace. If the Indian people are to decide democratically they can only do son through some form of Constituent Assembly. But such an Assembly must be a real one, fully representing the masses and with power to decide and give effect to its decisions. A so-called All-Parties Conference or an assembly elected on a limited franchise will be useless. This will reflect the communal and other divisions of the upper classes and prevent issues affecting the masses from coming up. If the masses are fully represented, inevitably economic issues affecting them will come to the fore-front and superficial problems, like the communal one, will lose importance. New and vital forces will be released, drawing their strength from below, and these will seek to solve India's problems in terms of economic reality. The Congress demand for a Constituent Assembly is thus a vital one and we must work for its realisation. CONGRESS NEWS-LETTER. Assembly Activities. The budget session of the Indian Legislative Assembly met on February 3rd. Although no question of outstanding importance has yet been tackled by it, voting on a few miner issues gave victory to the Congress party. The Assembly started with a resolution of condolence for the death of King George the Fifth moved by the Government spokesman with which the leaders of all the parties in the Assembly associated themselves in suitable terms. It passed the motion of Sardar Mangal Singh recommending the appointment of a Joint Standing Army Committee consisting of members of both Houses to advise the Government on all matters connected with the defence of India. The motion was opposed by the Army Secretary and the European group, but was supported evey by men of moderate views like Sir Cowasji Jehangir and Sir Mohamed Yakub. It was passed without Government members saying "no" or challenging division. The Congress Party decided to withdraw all notices for adjournment motions and members of the Party informed the President of that decision. The Government sustained a defeat on the closure motion moved by the Law Member on debate on clause 2 of Mr. B. Das's bill to repeal the Criminal2 INDIA BULLETIN March, 1936. Law Amendment Act. The motion was rejected by 60 to 58 votes. The defeat of the Government frustrated their intention of stifling discussion on the bill and created a great sensation in the Assembly as it was somewhat unexpected owing to some Congress members not having yet attended. Urgent whips have been sent to Congress members to come to Delhi and participate in the final voting on the bill. "India in 1933 - 1934." The propagandist publication of the Government of India under the above head has been criticised by nationalist India from the political point of view, and there may be even a move in the Assembly to question the utility of a public expenditure on a publication giving such coloured and one-sided version of facts relating to India. The President of Congress, Babu Rajendra Prasad, has raised his voice of protest against observations made in the publication on activities of the Bihar Central Relief Committee. He challenged the statement of the propaganda officer, which ran as follows: - "But of the desire for effective co-operation with the Local Government in its task of organising relief measures, there were few signs, and information as to the disbursement of the Congress Relief Fund of 24 Lakhs was difficult to obtain." He has shown from the report of the Relief Commissioner of the Government, Mr. W. B. Brett, I.C.S., that the insinuations and allegations made in the above statement had no foundation in fact whatsoever. He also pointed out that it was because he refrained from entering into a controversy that he did not say anything about the administrations of the Viceroy's Fund but this did not mean that he was ignorant of what had happened or approved of all that had been done. "In the opinion of the writer," said Babu Rajendra Prasad, "we needed an earthquake to rehabilitate the Congress prestige and well may one retort that the Government waited for another earthquake to rehabilitate their prestige by preventing all non-official philanthropic and humanitarian organisations from entering the area where relief was needed after the great catastrophe at Quetta." In a second statement in reply to the Publicity Officer of the Bihar Government who entered the controversy on behalf of the Propaganda Officer of the Government of India, Babu Rajendra Prasad said: "Our only fault throughout has been that we did not agree to merge the Bihar Central Relief Committee funds in the Viceroy's Relief Fund. The Publicity Officer makes no secret of this grievance. This would have been a clear breach of faith with our donors. (See page 6) Phenhara Shooting. The shooting incident on a crowd of Hindus on August 4th, at Phenhara, in the district of Champaran in Bihar, which resulted in five deaths and injuries to several others has been again brought to the fore through the judgment delivered in a case by Mr. Luby, district and session judge of Muzaffarpur who declared that the firing was thoroughly unjustified. In his opinion the firing was ordered by the Subordinate Magistrate in order to "reassert his flouted authority." Mr. Luby also stated in the course of his judgment that his considered opinion on the evidence on record was that the Subordinate Magistrate in question was "not the sort of officer who should be trusted to handle armed police." This judgment was delivered in a case of appeal filed on behalf of 22 Hindus, who had been convicted on charges of forming an unlawful assembly, rioting and disobedience of Magisterial orders. The judgement showed how cheap human life is held in India when people showed any disobedience to constituted authority. The Sessions Judge pointed out that although it was no part of his task to come to a finding whether the firing was justified or not, he felt it incumbent to express his opinion on this point "as the trying Magistrate had gone out of his way to praise the coolness of the Subordinate Magistrate and commend his every action." The judgment has created a sensation throughout Bihar and the Bihar Government has requested the Chief Justice to depute a High Court Judge to hold public investigation into the action of the Sub-divisional officer in ordering a firing. BRITISH SEARCH-CARAVAN STILL GOES ON AND ON -- ON ITS ENDLESS JOURNEY. The recrudescence of the hunt for objectionable literature by the U.P., Punjab and the Calcutta Police is another prominent feature of recent political incidents in India. The searches were made ostensibly for the discovery of communist literature, but other literature considered objectionable by the Police was also not neglected. In the course of the search of the office of the General Secretary of the Punjab Socialist Party books like "Logic of Socialism"; "This Religion of Capital"' "The Right of Labour"; "Economics Made Easy"; and "The Communist Manifesto" were seized by the Lahore Police along with certain manuscripts and articles pertaining to socialism At Cawnpore twenty houses were simultaneously raided on February 5th and a large quantity of literature was seized. The houses in the labour quarters received particular attention of the police, specially those of prominent labour leaders. Shri Santosh Chand Kapur, a worker in the labour movement was arrested under Section 124 A, I.P.C. A dozen placed in Lucknow and about seven of eight houses at Allahabad were raided by the Police the same day. The E.I.R. Railwaymen's Union, Lucknow, and the house of the Secretary of the Union were searched. At Allahabad the houses searched were mostly occupied by students. It is said the Police expected to make a sensational discovery of communist conspiracy throughout U.P. as the result of these unexpected raids. The Lucknow Police also raided the office of the Ramesh Fine Printing Press in the Aminabad on January 29th and took away some papers alleged to be Independence Day pledges printed in that Press under orders of the U.P. Provincial Congress Committee. They searched also the office of the Provincial Congress Committee and the residence of the Assistant Secretary. It is said they took away from these last two places literature in connection with the Independence Day as well as an appeal issued in connection with the March 1936. INDIA BULLETIN 3 hunger-strike of J. C. Chatterji, the Kakori case prisoner confined in Lucknow jail. Following the arrest of a Bengali youth and three Punjabees alleged to be members of the Communist Party, the special branch of the Calcutta Police searched about half a dozen places in the city and suburbs on January 21st, and arrested three Bengali youths one of whom is described as a medical practitioner. Indian Reaction to Herr Hitler's Speech. Herr Hitler's recent address before the rally of 6,000 Nazi University students at Munich created a wave of indignation throughout India because of its humiliating reference to the Asiatic and coloured peoples of the world. His reference to India in this connection was particularly unfortunate, and the brutal frankness of the declaration that the European races wanted the colonies to govern them in the interest of the Europeans themselves will help to dispel all doubt from the minds of the coloured races about their intention. A hostile demonstration was held in Bombay before the German Consulate for which the German Consul lodged a complaint with the Bombay Government. Expression was given to this resentment by the Press as well as by public men of such prominence as Shri K. F. Nariman, the present Mayor of Bombay. The Indian National Congress is publishing a series of cheap pamphlets descriptive of all aspects of its work, amonge these is one by Mr. Kumarappa entitled: "Village Industries and Reconstruction." CONGRESS SOCIALIST PARTY. The Second Annual Conference of the All-India Congress Socialist Party met at Meerut on January 18th, 19th and 20th. Messages of greeting were received from many prominent British Socialists and other left-wing sympathisers. The deliberations of the Conference were a great success. Resolutions were passed : -- (1) condemning the New India Constitution; (2) opposing the participation by India in any war in which the British Government may be involved; and (3) denouncing the Italian aggression against Abyssinia. Defining its attitude towards the Indian National Congress, the Conference opined that in order to make the Congress a truely anti-Imperialist organisation, its constitution and programme needed the following changes: -- (1) Its Constitution to provide for adequate representation of workers, peasants and other exploited classes through their class organizations; (2) Its programme of work to include the organization of workers, peasants and other exploited classes on the basis of their economic demands in trade unions, peasant unions, etc.; (3) Its Objective of Complete Independence for India to be amplified to include transfer of power to the producing masses, nationalisation of key and large industries, abolition of landlordism and distribution of lands to the tillers of the soil, the cancellation of debts owing by peasants and workers and the abolition of the Indian States. NEHRU AS CONGRESS PRESIDENT By M. R. MASANI, Officiating Secretary Congress Socialist Party. Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru was unanimously elected President of the Lucknow Congress. Out of the 21 provinces, 19 voted for him, and of the remaining two, Bengal did not take part in the election because delegates had not been elected, and the North-West Frontier Province was kept out of the election because the Congress organisation is still under a legal ban there. The Country and the Congress are both faced with grave problems and need a strong and able man at the helm of affairs. The Pundit is eminently fitted for the position, as barring Gandhiji no Indian leader has anything approaching his personal prestige. But the most significant fact is that his election has been unanimous inspite of his radical views, both socialists and non-socialists having voted for him. This election augers well for the socialist minority in the Congress. But his task is none too easy. The Parliamentary group within the Congress is the chief stumbling block and will make the task of the President unusally difficult. Nehru and this group have little in common, and hold different and distinct points of view. And though the Pundit may depend upon the support of the small radical group in the Congress, he must work continually against the steady pressure of the majority group in the Congress. Of course, it seems rather unfair to thrust on his shoulders this heavy responsibility; he is just out of prison and for several years he has been cut off from taking part in the national movement. "I have watched the passing events as a distant and passive spectator," he has said, and one might add from behind the bars of prison windows. And ever since his release serious domestic anxiety has given him little peace of mind; besides he has had hardly any time to meet and confer with fellow workers and friends. If he has worked harmoniously with Gandhi in the past, it was because the past was an exceptional period in our history. But times are changing. Would it be possible for him to give his co-operation to the majority group and at the same time press for a more radical outlook, and win without compromising? All-India Committee for Amelioration of Condition of Political Prisoners. Under instruction from Babu Rajendra Prasad, an All-India Committee has been formed by Shri Bhulabhai Desai for the amelioration of the condition of political prisoners. The Committee will work for the acceptance of the demands put forward by J. C. Chatterji. The Committee has appealed to Chatterji to give it a chance to make every effort in its power for the accomplishment of the purpose for which he has prepared to sacrifice his life. The Committee will form provincial Committees to carry on its work and has appealed to the people to render it co-operation.4 INDIA BULLETIN. March, 1936. INDIA BULLETIN (Organ of the Friends of India) 51, Lancaster Gate, London, W.2. Telephone: Paddington 6880 President: LAURENCE HOUSMAN. Issued Monthly. Price: 1d. Yearly Subscription 2/-, Including Postage. Signed articles do not necessarily represent our views. Vol. 4 No. 9 March, 1936 All Nationalist India will soon be concentrating on the Annual Congress Session at Lucknow. The usual widespread and intense interest in this event will this year be enhanced by the presence of a much-loved Leader. The shadow of personal loss will be over the home-coming of Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru and the joy of the people's welcome will have a deeper note of sympathy and a sense of national loss. We in this country should endeavour to realize the nature of this home-coming. It will not merely be a welcome to a returning traveller, but rather the joy of seeing one, who has suffered long in the wilderness for a great cause, restored to his rightful place. This Congress Session will be interesting from every point of view, for no one can foresee how the Indian political situation will develop. Those who read the Reports which come from week to week from the various groups in India, are aware on all sides of great activity and a strong sense of conscious purpose in all of these. This is true absolutely of the Women's Movement, the Congress Socialist Party and the Group which is now concentrating on the work of Village Uplift, to mention only three out of innumerable others. In estimating the results of this Session at Lucknow the British reader needs to bear in mind the nature of the National Congress. It should not be compared to our conception of a political party in this country, for the Congress is an organisation representing almost the whole of the National Movement and it therefore includes people of diverse views, creeds, races and castes. Within the Congress fold there is an extreme Right Wing and an extreme Left Wing and between these two there is to be found every shade of opinion. Hence it follows that on every issue under discussion there will be different points of view held strongly by individuals and groups. This is what one ought to expect in a nation which is really alive and developing rapidly. On one issue there will be unanimity, namely, in an utter dislike of the new Act, no matter how many different opinions there may be as to the best way of meeting the present political situation. On all other subjects of political and economic policy there will be differing groups emerging as they have done and are doing in other countries. The great difference between India and most other countries to-day is that in the former there have emerged great leaders capable of clarifying the main issues and bringing about a unity of purpose in spite of all minor differences. KAMALA NEHRU. The passing of Mrs. Kamala Nehru with its sad circumstance and its dark political background will live as a tragic yet beautiful memory in this chequered period of India's National life. Our sympathies go out to her husband, her daughter, and her people in the great loss they have sustained. Everyone knows of the long years of illness and suffering and that the end came in a Sanatorium at Lausanne, at the early age of 36. Mrs. Nehru came from a Brahmin family and would seem to have embodied in her life the age-old ideal of Indian womanhood combined with the modern ideal at its highest. We know that when her husbaand, Jawaharlal Nehru was imprisoned, she took up the standard he was forced to release, with all its political implications and risks. She worked tirelessly in Allahabad in the place where so much had been given to the people by her husband's family. Here Kamala Nehru as an ordinary volunteer in the Congress ranks, worked out in her own life the economic faith in which she believed--her jewels had been given to the Cause and her dress was of simple home-spun (Khadi) like the peasants. Mr. Andrews tells us that although in failing health at the time of Mahatma Gandhi's long fasts for Hindu-Moslem unity and for the untouchables, she remained at his side, thus identifying herself with the deepest needs of India in her striving for unity and purity. Mrs. Nehru spared herself no effort while her husband was in prison and in the end she too was taken and whatever the nature of that imprisonment she would accept no treatment but that accorded to others. Her sentence was one year, but fortunately the political "Truce" shortened it to a few months. During her last illness the government delayed and went on delaying, but at last her husband was released and allowed to come to Europe and be with her to the end. History will record its verdict on this incident and the many like it in India to our lasting shame. The tragedy of the story of Kamala Nehru's life is being repeated over and over again in India, only the characters are of unknown and humble origin! Up to the last days of her illness Mrs. Nehru still hoped to return to India to organise a Children's Hospital, for this was her chosen work. It is these efforts that those of us who never had the privilege of knowing her personally, recognise the awakened spirit of womanhood whether in the East or the West. This practical dream will never be fulfilled by her, for this beautiful but fragile life could never have stood for long the terrors of modern political strife and the end had been hastened by long years of terrible anxiety and overstrain. Had she lived a little longer her final gift would have been the sending of her husband back to India to lead his people again, but without her. This, however, was not to be, yet hers was indeed the love of country and of truth "which lays upon the altar its dearest and its best!" And yet in spite of all the cynical and cruel buffeting of political strife, the loss of home, health and life itself, her character knew no bitterness-- in calamity it was still beautiful! Here in this short life we can see India and her great ideal Renunciation--yes; but must we make her people pay this price? E. H. March, 1936. INDIA BULLETIN. 5 WEEKLY LETTER. From HARIJAN. After eight weeks of ups and downs Gandhiji's blood pressure touched normal the other day and there was wide-spread rejoicing. But it was too early perhaps to rejoice. For there was again a rise which means that the drop to normal was only temporary. We are not yet out of the wood, but we must resolve not to be anxious. And for a reason. The reason is provided by a letter received last week from that great Turkish lady, Begum Halide Edib Hanum. "I do not like to know that you are not well, but I am not anxious," she writes. "People with missions in life live in the face of all physical setbacks until they have laid down the basis of the social, moral edifice they are meant to erect. Jesus died because he believed that death was his mission. Moses survived Pharaoh's legions and the Desert. Our own Prophet lived until he laid down the foundations of his social system." And then she describes what to her mind is Gandhiji's life-mission. It is refreshing to find it out in her own novel way: "I am much more interested in the caste question than I used to be before visiting India. Whatever is happening in this confused world of ours can be traced back and resolved into "caste or no caste, that is the question." I do not want to tire you with this difficult problem of your land. But for me the future form of society will depend on a large degree on the kind of solution you may give to caste in India. And that is why I believe that you will walk our dark earth in the flesh until you start India on a definite direction in regard to caste." Perhaps Begum Halide Edib had not read Gandhiji's article, "Caste has to go," published some time ago, when she was writing this. Hindu India has been already started by Gandhiji on a definite direction in regard to caste. But though she has written with regard to our particular problem of caste, has not caste a much larger meaning? And does not Gandhiji stand for abolition of caste in all its shapes and forms, castes, for instance, of exploiters and exploited, of high and low, of rich and poor? And abolition of it not through any form of violence but through the forces of purest non-violence. That surely is the mission for which he has lived and will live until God wills him to. MEMORIAL MEETING. A Meeting in memory of Mrs. Kamala Nehru was held on Sunday evening, March 8th at the Indian Students' Hostel, 112, Gower Street, London. Mr. Krishna Menon presided over this gathering of Indian and British friends who wished in some way to pay their tribute to this much honoured Indian Woman Leader. Short speeches were made by Mrs. Vakil, Mr. Polak, Mr. Gandhi and many others. Messages of sympathy and condolence were cabled to Mr. Nehru to reach him on his arrival in India and to his daughter, Miss Indera Nehru, now in Switzerland. "KILLED BY INDIAN OFFICIALDOM." By HANNON SWAFFER, in the "Daily Herald." If you want to understand Imperialism, examine the case of Kamala Nehru, the wife of the Indian Nationalist leader, who has just passed away in Switzerland, the victim of tubercolosis. She has been killed by Indian officialdom, just crushed out of earthly existence. She came from an old Kashmiri family. Small and delicately formed, she looked like an ivory statuette. When they were married -- Gandhi attended the wedding -- she and Jawaharlal Nehru seemed the most perfect couple in India. Work for the Masses. Yet, denying themselves the blissful seclusion they could have enjoyed, they threw themselves into the work of ameliorating the grim poverty of the masses of India. And so they fell out with Indian officialdom. Of the fourteen years of their married life, Nehru spent five years and a half in prison, most of it in the last seven years, the time of civil disobedience. A Great Lawyer. Nehru's father, Motilal Nehru, was one of India's most famous and richest lawyers. Handsome almost beyond degree, he looked like one's ideal of a great Church dignatary. Motilal threw himself into the fight and died, as a result of imprisonment. When Jawaharlal was arrested, Kamala, his wife, took his place. She travelled all over India, speaking and organising, until she was herself thrown into prison. Prison life -- for she was put into a dreadful jail in the great heat of the year -- played havoc with her tender health. She developed consumption. Released, she went on with the work, against medical orders. "I cannot rest while Jawaharlal is in prison," she said to Ellen Wilkinson when Ellen visited her sick-bed in Allahabad in 1932. Among the Great Souls. Nehru came out of prison for a few weeks and was then vindictively sentenced to another two years. That broke up his wife's health for ever. Friends here and in India appealed that her husband should be allowed to visit her. She went to Germany as a last hope. It was only when Officaldom knew she was dying that they let her husband fly to her by air. Then he came to London -- and went back to India, to fight on. Kamala Nehru goes into the gallery of the heroic women of India. God's Own Children. The Nehrus had given up even the Brahminism in which they traced their descent for 2,000 years in the knowledge that the caste system was the curse of India. They went to the length of eating anything, and -- a brave thing in India -- with anybody. They saw beauty in all religions and, therefore, no particular virtue in one. It was at Nehru's meeting in London that I heard the phrase: "The Untouchables are God's own children."6 INDIA BULLETIN. March, 1936. THE OFFENDING REPORT. "India in 1933 - 34." It will be recalled that, at the time that attention was drawn to the stupid and discourteous blunder of the Bengal Government in alleging against Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru conduct affecting his personal honour and integrity, Mr. B. Shiva Rao drew attention in the "Manchester Guardian" to the fact that the Bengal Government was nothe only, or the worst, sinner in the matter of imputing dishonourable conduct to Congress or to Congressmen. He drew especial attention to the official publication of the Government of India, entitled: "INDIA IN 1933-4," prepared for presentation to Parliament with the general approval of the Secretary of State for India. No doubt, Lord Zetland did not commit himself to every statement contained in that publication. Indeed, from a perusal of the Report, and from what one presumes to be the desires of the Secretary of State for the improvement of political conditions in India, it is unlikely that he even read the Report before its presentation to Parliament. That, however, does not absolve the Government of India, or, for that matter, the local Governments, on whose reports the Government of India's publication is of necessity largely based, from the responsibility for the presentation of biased views expressed in a spirit of political controversy, and used and intended for purposes of anti-Congress propaganda. "The Indian Social Reformer" of February 15th, just to hand, shows for example, that the Bihar Earthquake Relief Commissioner, whoever he was, deliberately set out to discredit the Bihar Central Relief Committee, and a substantial part of his commentary and criticism is reproduced in the Government of India's publication. When Babu Rajendra Prasad, on behalf of the Bihar Central Relief Committee, pointed out the inaccuracies, both of statement and of inference, contained in the Official Report, the Bihar Publicity Officer reproduced the Relief Commissioner's criticism, but, as the "Reformer" remarks, with further aggravations of his own! Propagandist reports issued by or on behalf of, or in the name of, Government Departments in India are obnoxious and are contrary to the practice that we understand to prevail in this country. They are made infinitely worse when, under cover of official authority, attacks are openly made, or insinuations are suggested, against the honour and integrity of a political party unpopular in Indian official circles, and on its duly appointed and highly respected leaders. Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru does not stand alone; Babu Rajendra Prasad, the President of the Congress and of the Bihar Central Relief fund, is equally a victim. Apart from the fact that an attitude of this kind, in official circles, is highly reprehensible, Mr. Shiva Rao renders a useful public service in recalling a statement of Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru, referring to an episode that occurred during the Viceroyalty of Lord Reading, when Sir Tej Bahadur was himself Law Member of the Government of India. The Viceroy was anxiously considering with his Executive Council the question of a settlement with Mr. Gandhi. One of the members present apparently made a slighting reference to some (contd. on page 7, col. 2) AS I SAW "INDIA IN 1934." By AGATHA HARRISON. The Report prepared by the Bureau of Public Information of the Government of India for presentation to Parliament entitled "India in 1933-34" is now available in this country. I read it with the background of some months spent in India in 1934 and was aghast. The record of steady work undertaken by the Government of India fades into the background on account of the spirit in which the author deals with the history of Congress activities, and the interpretation put on these. I refer particularly to Chapters 1 and 2. The Report itself is dealt with in another column. The purpose of this article is to put alongside of the ungenerous picture presented to India, to this country and to the world some first hand impressions gained in India in 1934. I arrived in Patna shortly after the resolution for co-operation with the Government in relief work, had been passed by the Bihar Central Relief Committee. Mr. Gandhi and Babu Rajendra Prasad had just started their tour of the devastated area. I had the privilege of joining them as a guest of the Central Relief Committee. It was an experience I shall never forget. On page 5 of this Report is the following sentence: "Considered in retrospect, it is legitimate to say that Congress as a whole appreciated the opportunity provided by distress over so large an area to rehabilitate their prestige . . ." And the Publicity Officer of the Government of Bihar, in his reply to Babu Rajendra Prasad's protest has further stressed this. Across my mind sweep the memories of those crowded days--when travelling with Mr. Gandhi and Rajendra Prasad and meeting in each centre the leaders engaged in Relief work--I had the opportunity of seeing at first hand what was taking place. Had their concern been to "rehabilitate their prestige" the chance was to hand. But I did not see this used. Crowds, the like of which I have seen in no country of the world in which I have lived, gathered wherever we stopped. Even along the route, there were "walls" of people who had waited for hours in the scorching sun, to catch a glimpse of these loved leaders as the cars passed by. It would have been easy to condole with such stricken men and women-- to have used the opportunity for increasing personal popularity. Instead the Mahatma and Rajendra Prasad presented them with a challenge. At every place we stopped the same message was given:-- "What has this calamity taught you?" "This is no time for differences between Government and Congress--between Hindu and Moslem--between Touchable and Untouchable." "If you take money from the Relief funds-- don't be beggars-- see that you earn it. Clear away this sand-- this debris." I sat on the platform at all these meetings and Babu Rajendra Prasad interpreted what Mr. Gandhi said. After the first two or three meetings he would say: "He is saying the same thing." At each of these mammoth gatherings, the volunteers went round and took up a collection. At the end of the day this money was counted in a most meticulous manner and the articles of jewelry carefully recorded. The volunteer in March, 1936. INDIA BULLETIN 7 charge of this section of the work rarely finished the reckoning of annas and pice and jewelry till the early hours of the morning. Each night we were housed in a different centre of the Central Relief Committee. These were planned on the simplest lines, and one met young men and women who had recently been released from prison eager to help in this gigantic task. An unique opportunity-- had it been used. Perhaps here, as in the case of the Irwin-Gandhi Truce, there were those on both sides who were not particularly anxious for "co-operation" to succeed. The spirit engendered by this Pact had been severed. Contact in the intervening years between Government and Congress--had been for the most part as between prison officials and prisoners. Machinery for "co-operation" naturally creaks after such an experience. All I can say is that I found the spirit of service and willingness to co-operate amongst the people whose guest I was. And finally. With regard to the references made on pages 4, and 44 of the Report to Mr. Gandhi's Harijan and Village Industries work. There is a weekly paper "Harijan" to which Mr. Gandhi has contributed regularly (with the exception of the past few weeks when his health has intervened) since it was first started. Following this carefully, one can learn the underlying principles of what Mr. Gandhi is trying to achieve; can see listed the money collected; can read reports from various districts, of work undertaken and money expended. Did the officials of the Bureau of Public Information have the 1934 file of "Harijan" before them when they were writing this Report? I can hardly think so. I see reference is made to the "resentment over the constant calls for cash and misgivings as to the manner of its expenditure." The Mahatma certainly does make "constant calls" for money. And I imagine he will continue to do so! He is the best money-raiser that I have ever met. For he believes that if you have this commodity and the other person has not--then you should share your possession. He is deeply concerned about the "Have Nots" in the world. But he is equally concerned that accounts should be meticulously kept and accounted for. The section of the Report that deals with the formation of the Village Industries Association also shows that the author could have paid but scant attention to the circumstances attending its birth. For in the November and December issues of 1934, these are very clearly outlined. For instance in the issue of December 28th there are the "Ten Commandments" laid down. And in the December 21st issue where the "Object and Constitution" of this Association are outlined by Mr. Gandhi--the following sentences occur, under the title: "Pledge for Members":-- "So long as I remain a member of the Association, I shall not take part in any campaign of Civil Disobedience." "In the discharge of my duties, I shall seek the assistance and co-operation of all who may be willing to give them irrespective of differences in politics." . . . Yet on pages 43 and 44 of the Report, in the paragraph dealing with the formation of this Association, are these words:-- " . . . . Government certainly felt justified in allowing for the eventuality that apart from its avowed economic or humanitarian objects, the Village Industries Association might prove to be of far reaching political importance. Provincial Governments were therefore apprised of the potentialities of the situation created by the Bombay Congress Session and advised to watch developments. The advice was conveyed in a confidential Government circular." Might not a "more excellent way" have been to read the "Pledge for Members" cited above, and to have been ready to offer "assistance and co-operation?" A grave responsibility rests on the men and women of this country, to whom this Report has been presented, to see that in the future they are presented with objective information- not with opinions. PRESIDENT'S CALL TO NATION Babu Rajendra Prasad, Congress President, addressing a public meeting put in a passionate plea for carrying out the present Congress programme. He emphasised that his recent tour throughout the country had shown him that love for the Congress was universal and that there had been no slackening of the enthusiasm for that organisation, even in places where people had been dispossessed of their hearth and home and otherwise terrorised in the pursuit of official repression. What was necessary was to garner and conserve that nation-wide enthusiasm and harness it to the cause of freedom. The Congress President emphasised that those who scoffed at khadi as a primitive revival would do well to remember that whereas a capital of say Rs. 25 lakhs provided employment to twelve to fifteen hundred men in a particular mill, with the same capital, khadi organisation provided employment to a lakh of people. He was convinced that a programme of industrialisation would mean more unemployment in the prevailing conditions in India. Human improvement as against mechanical improvement was the only feasible course they could follow in a country like India which lacked resources of the Empire to find markets for proper goods. THE OFFENDING REPORT - contd. Congress leaders. The Viceroy's rebuke, Sir Tej observes, was swift and sharp: "I will not have that," Lord Reading is reported to have said, "HIs Majesty's prisoners of to-day may be His Majesty's ministers of to-morrrow." These are words that may well be borne in mind in the light of the possibility that governments composed of, or largely influenced by, members of Congress, may come into existence next year in some of the Indian Provinces. It is time, therefore, that official spokesmen should re-orient their ideas in the light of realities, and remember that official reports and publicity statements should be objective in character, and completely purged of the prepossessions and prejudices of individual writers or of the Departments concerned.8 INDIA BULLETIN. March, 1936. A POIGNANT TALE. "Cholera"--and thereby hangs a tale. What follows is taken from the "Amrit Bazar Patrika," a Calcutta daily of January 25th, 1936. On January 12th, Jyotish Chandra Chakervarti had gone out at 2 a.m. to fetch medicine for his 9 year old nephew stricken with cholera. As he was hurrying back with the medicine he was "beaten by a constable at 2 a.m. The hour no doubt was unearthly but the gentleman who had satisfied one constable as to the urgency of the business that had found him on the street at that hour of the night, was abused most filthily by another and assaulted by a third." All this inspite of the fact the Chakravarti produced both the phial of medicine and the cash memo of the firm of druggists for the inspection of the guardians of the Law. "One of the constables not only paid no heed bu threw the phial on the street," thereby smashing it to pieces, "and also gave him a thrashing." He was then taken to the Police Station, "where the officer on duty, presumably a man of some education, refused to believe his story," even though it was supported by the cash memo for the medicine. He was kept in the police lock-up and was only released the next morning after his finger-prints had been taken. Mr. Chakervati has written to the Police Commissioner, and the text of the letter is given in the paper, but the paper did not rest there, it interviewed the victim with a view to testing the authenticity of the incident. Mr. Chakervarti after stating the details of the story, says in the letter that when the police officer did not believe his statement he requested him to inform this people at the house or the poor kid would go without medicine, but, says Mr. Chakervarti, "he turned a deaf ear to my request." By the time he was released in the morning the child had grown worse and died that evening. If this is what happens in Calcutta, one wonders what must be the plight of people in Midnapur and Chittagong. Such callous indifference on the part of the Police in India is unfortunately, by no means rare. HUNDRED DAYS OF HUNGER-STRIKE. The prolonged hunger-strike, which began on November 13th last, of J. C. Chatterji, a Kakori case prisoner in Lucknow Jail has focussed public attention in India on the disabilities of political prisoners in British Indian jails. In 1929, the hunger-strike resulting in deaths of two political prisoners, viz., Jatin Das and Phongy Vizaya, had forced the subject to public attention and the Government of India had to issue orders in February, 1930, embodying their decisions regarding amendment of jail rules which introduced the system of classification of prisoners into A, B and C classes based on the education, social status and habits of life of the prisoners. These rules, however, as actual experience proved during and after the last C.D. campaign remained more an eye-wash as the ultimate authority responsible for their administration, viz., the Local Governments [*???????????????????????????????????????????*] The present hunger-strike of J. C. Chatterji has been undertaken to retrieve this position and to bring the disabilities of such prisoners to the forefront of public attention. The Congress President, Babu Rajendra Prasad, and men of eminence like Pandit Malaviya have appealed to Chatterji not to throw away his life with a promise that the cause for which he was fighting would be taken up by the public and members of the Legislature. Babu Rajendra Prasad has asked the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly to form a Committee of members of the Legislature to carry on agitation in and outside the Assembly and put pressure on the Government. The demands for which Chatterji has gone on hunger-strike are:-- (1) that the present classification of prisoners should be abolished and all political prisoners irrespective of social status and political creed should be placed in one special class. (2) that they should be allowed a daily paper. (3) that all political prisoners at present confined in the Andamans should be brought back to India, and that no such prisoner should be sent there without his previous consent. Public opinion in India without any dissentient voice is behind the demands for which Chatterji has risked his life. In a communique issued on the subject the Government of U.P. have given their reasons for denial of enquiry into the alleged grievances which induced Mr. Chatterji to take recourse to the hunger-strike. It says that under existing orders no enquiry could be made much less can any concession be granted to a prisoner as long as his hunger-strike continued. Shri Mohanlal Saksena and Shri R. S. Pandit have dealt with the Government communique in a joint statement to the Press. They have shown that the avowed to the Press. They have shown that the avowed object of Chatterji's fast was not to seek any personal benefit but to relieve the condition of all political prisoners and that there was no prohibition in any rule against taking up the question of relief of political prisoners who are not on hunger-strike and amending the rules if the points suggested by Chatterji were just and reasonable. Government might, if they so choose, disallow relief to Chatterji for the breach of Jail rule committed by him. The statement further pointed out that hunger-strike was only a weapon of the weak against the mighty. "A prisoner who finds himself helpless within the four walls of jail, after he has exhausted all methods of seeking redress of wrongs, has no other method open to him of bringing the justice and fairness of his demands to the notice of the authoorities and the public except by offering to lay down his life with determination for what he believes to be a righteous cause." It is expected the Government will yet reconsider its position save the life of a prisoner for the loss of which they may be otherwise held responsible by posterity. INDIA BULLETIN ORGAN OF THE FRIENDS OF INDIA. President: Laurance Housman. Vol. 4, No. 8. FEBRUARY, 1936. One Penny. This issue of the Bulletin has been delayed in order to give to our readers at a distance (who far out-number those in London) an impression of Pandit Jawaharlal's visit to London. We make no apology for the fact that every page this month has some reference to Mr. Nehru, but it must not be a matter of surprise that nowhere is there a statement of policy present or future. It will be readily understood that the President Elect of the Indian National Congress, must make any pronouncement of that nature first in the coming Congress Session in India. What then is the impression left on the mind of the ordinary Britisher who has come into contact with this great Indian leader for the first time this winter? In other columns will be found Indian appreciations by those who have known him long and who feel their country's welfare is, to such a great extent, in his hands, but for us the approach is different. Every impartial person who has listened to his quiet talks in small rooms and to his equally quiet utterance to a large audience in the Caxton Hall will have been left with three very clear impressions of this great personality. The first is an impression of latent power--of still waters running deep. The second is of hidden fires, which are capable of eruption, and the third is an overpowering realization that here the brutal effect of modern persecution has grievously stunned a strong and sensitive man! The only thing left for us is to pray that nature's healing may be allowed to restore to full health what we have injured and that our Government may cease to "stone the Prophets and kill" (by long incarceration) "those who are sent!" AN APPEAL FOR JUSTICE. We join the mourners in offering our sincere sympathy to the Queen on the death of His Majesty King George V. With the passing of King George, and the accession of Edward VIII, an opportunity has occurred for the statesmen to do justice to India. It is a time-honoured custom, both in the East and the West, that an occasion like this is marked by some generous gesture on the part of the ruler towards the people. We are [*???????????????????????????????????????????*] We sincerely wish that it is made possible for India to co-operate with Great Britain. This will be achieved only if India is treated with justice and fair play. The accession of the King to the throne offers an opportunity to create confidence in the minds of Indians. May we, therefore, request the Government of India and the Government of Great Britain, to do away with the three enormous wrongs under which the country is grievously suffering: 1--Detention and imprisonment of hundreds of Indian patriots in Bengal, in N.W. Province, and other parts of the Country; 2--The Criminal Law Amendment Act, which was almost unanimously rejected by the representatives of the people but came into force on its being "certified" by the Viceroy; 3--The semi-marshal law conditions in Bengal. No constitution can be acceptable to a people so long as its basis is complete negation of free will. To-day in India, the whole trend of administration is to reduce civil liberties almost to vanishing point. There is no free press, free speech nor personal liberty. It is our considered opinion that the new constitution--cannot be welcomed by the people when they see their kith and kin in jails and their own liberties restricted on all sides. Will it be too much to appeal to the generosity and Statesmanship of His Majesty to use his royal prerogative to give a fresh start to the Indian people, by a political amnesty? We assure him that this will change the whole relationship between this country and India. If our suggestion is adopted, we feel sure that the policy will go down in history as a supreme act of Statesmanship and courage. FRONTIER BOMBING. By C. F. ANDREWS. It becomes clearer to me every day that we cannot possibly, in England, be constantly condemning Italy for the actions that she is taking in Abyssinia, and not at the same time condemn ourselves for "land grabbing" in the past, which has been equally bad, even though less notice was taken about it at the time.2 INDIA BULLETIN. February, 1936. It may be said in each one of these instances the Italian or German offence is much more flagrant, but there can be no "Nicely calculated less or more" where matters of principle are concerned, and in each of these cases the principle involved appears to me to be the same. And, therefore as far as I have been able to do so, I have spoken out in the public press against each one of these things which either involve injustice between Man and Man or cruelty. Here at Cambridge, I find that there are very many who are united with me in condemning these things, and during this term there will be meetings at which they will be discussed. RADIO IN INDIA. For some time past great capital has been made in this country about the Government's efforts to give wireless facilities to the people of India. A large-scale programme of wireless development was foreshadowed in the budget speech of the Finance Minister of the Government of India last year. The N.W. Frontier Province saw communal radios installed in the villages; experts were sent to organise Indian broadcasting; and a new department to deal with this development was set up. Mr. Fielden of the B.B.B. went to India as the Director of Indian broadcasting. We had the honour of interviewing him and discussing various problems connected with broadcasting. We had expressed our apprehensions that the radio might be used for propaganda purposes by the Government. Our representative was assured by Mr. Fielden that it would be his special care that the radio was not misused for any such purpose. Instruction and entertainment were to be the first and last concern of the Wireless Department of the Government of India. But developments during the last few weeks seem to disappoint the high hopes and ideals entertained by the Director. Yet for the position of News Editor of Indian broadcasting--a post which, above all others, requires a man of integrity and impartiality--is selected Mr. H. George Franks. This gentleman holds very pronounced--and biassed --views on communal issues; he is the notorious author of "Queer India," a suitable companion volume to Miss Mayo's "Mother of India;" he has specialised in anti-Indian propaganda, as on the occasion of his recent visit to London; and through these objectionable activities he is very unpopular in India. These things lead to one conclusion: that broadcasting has become a new weapon in the hands of the Government. We have referred to the suppression of the Indian press elsewhere in this issue. Thus, with a controlled press and radio the Government can propagate whatever views it wishes. It is taking a mean advantage of the situation and we strongly protest against it. We sincerely hope that the Congress Party in the Indian Assembly takes up the issue and restores the freedom of the radio platform, whose potentialities are immense. COMRADE SAKLATVALA. We offer our sincere condolences to Mrs. Sehri Saklatvala and the family on the death of Mr. Shapurji Saklatvala. In politics we seldom saw eye-to-eye with him, but that fact does not affect our profound respect for the man and his splendid services to the cause of Indian freedom. He was a tower of strength to the Indian community in this country. He had made it his particular job to look after the Indian seamen and pedlars of the East end, who were never refused help. But Mr. Saklatvala did more than that. He created true solidarity between the working classes of England and India, and made the former realise that the Indian struggle was not merely an isolated movement, but one which directly affected their own well-being. We think Mr. Saklatvala was the first to point out how the cheap labour in India is being exploited by British capitalism, which adversely affects employment in this country. We regret that a valiant fighter like Comrade Sak should be removed by the hand of death, when Imperialism is making its last desperate attempt to strengthen its hold on the workers and peasants of the country A GREAT MOGHAL EMPEROR ON HINDU-MUSLIM UNITY. It is generally believed that the advent of British rule in India is primerally responsible for keeping the Hindus and the Mohamedans from fighting each other. The anti-Indian propagandists revel in telling the public that before the British rule was firmly established the two communities had no sense of mutual toleration and always looked upon each other with suspicion and hatred. The obvious moral is that the Hindus and Muslims will begin fighting the moment the British control is slackened. How different are the facts? History tells us that the Muslim rulers had realised the importance of toleration from the early days of their coming to India. We give below a few extracts from the edicts and letters of Babar, the founder of the Mogul dynasty, and his Royal mother, Hamida Begum. The Begum writes to her son, " . . . . . For the stability of the Empire it is written. O my son! The realm of Hindustan is full of diverse creeds. Praise be to God, the Righteous, the Glorious, the Highest, that He hath granted unto thee the Empire of it. It is but proper that thou, with heart cleansed of all religious bigotry should dispense justice according to the tenets of each community. And in particular refrain from the sacrifice of the cow; for that way lies the conquest of the hearts of the people of Hindustan; and the subjects of the realm will through royal favour be devoted to thee. And the temples and the abodes of worship of every community under the Imperial sway, you should not damage. . . . . The progress of Islam is better by the sword of kindness, not by the sword of oppression." This was written on January the 11th 1529. Babar, writing to his son, Humayun, who succeeded him on the throne of Delhi, exhorts him to deal justice with even hand and amity. He wants all communities brought together by the silken knot of affection and common interest. To his co-religionists he says in unforgetable words: Kindness and not tyranny or intolerance is the key to the glory of Islam. February, 1936. INDIA BULLETIN. 3 PANDIT JAWAHARLAL NEHRU'S VISIT TO LONDON. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the President elect of the Indian National Congress, came to London on Sunday, the 26th of January. He was received at the station by a number of Indian and British friends. The first concern of us all was his wife's health. We were much relieved to know from the Pandit that Kamala Nehru was slightly better and was going to be removed to Lausanne, Switzerland. Mr. Nehru told his friends that he had come on purely private business and incidentally will renew his contacts, both political and private. Mr. Nehru has had a crowded programme since he arrived in London. He has given special interviews to British and foreign journalists, to representatives of the Indian press in London and a good many private people. He has attended quite a number of meetings and receptions. He presided over the condolance meeting of the late Shapurji Saklatvala and also spoke at the reception given in his honour by Miss Ellen Wilkinson, M.P., and Mr. John Jagger, M.P. Mr. Nehru is the leader of young India and can speak with authority on every political issue relating to India. The great characteristic of Nehru is his outspokenness. The sincerity and conviction with which he expresses his views will always command respect in any gathering. His utterances have an added weight and influence now that he is president elect of the Congress for the year, the highest honour India has to bestow. We give below a summary of his views as expressed in the various interviews and speeches during the last few days. As regards the new Act the Pandit said, "All political groups in India, moderate or extreme, Congress or non-Congress, have the same reaction to the Government of India Act, it is a reaction of extreme resentment. All the parties agree that the one thing to do is to combat the Act in one way or another. It is an evil thing and a reactionary thing. The only variation of opinion we find is that certain moderate sections of Indian politics think that, although it is very bad, they ought to attempt to better it and find some kind of way of working it, but they too would like to get rid of it. The main objection, which is fundamental as a matter of fact, to the act, according to Nehru, is that it safeguards all possible vested interests. It petrifies every single vested interest in India from that of the British Government, the City of London, the Indian Princes, the landlords, and every thing else, ending up with the Scotish Presbyterian Church in India. Under this act India has become a mortgaged land, the mortgagee sitting in the City of London and taking the major portion of the country's money and vital resources. It will be almost impossible to make any vital changes in India because of the consolidation of the vested interests. "Yes. It might be conceded that some minor changes can be made under the act. But I am concerned with big changes, vital to the condition of India. Take for instance the agrarian problem. It is so intimately connected with the economic evil of landlordism. But under the Act it cannot really be touched. In my opinion the new Act does not solve or tend towards the solution of a single vital Indian problem, not only that but actually it makes the problems more difficult of solution. We are convinced that the only solution for the economic troubles of India is a democratic constitution. But the Reform Act has nothing to do with democracy. It is not capable of amendment as some people seem to suggest. The resentment against the Act is universal. So far as the Congress is concerned its members do not think that the Act can suitably be amended to make it serve any useful purpose. The Indian National Congress stands for complete independence and obviously the Act is not framed in terms of Indian independence. I definitely think that the Act does not solve any of the difficulties but makes the whole situation more acute. Congress has a solution for it; it is the calling of the Constituent Assembly, elected on a wide franchise to draft the Constitution. Congress will very likely take part in the coming elections, with a view to ending the new Act rather than mending it or working it." He asked his audiences to understand and appreciate the background of the Act, which is that of continued repression and denial of civil liberties. As a case in point he cited the recent certification by the Viceroy of the Criminal Law Amendment Act. Mr. Nehru does not think that the Communal issue has anything to do with religion. "It is mainly economic, political and concerned with the middle-classes, and these differences are made to exist and grow." In speaking of the feeling of bitterness and irritation which is undoubtedly growing in India, the Pandit said:-- "Yet there is a background of goodwill. The time will come when we can make friends. "Whether one goes to a little prison or not does not matter. One is always in a vast prison. That is India. "We have large numbers of our comrades always in prison. When they are in prison, it is disloyalty to them to keep outside. "When I go back, I shall see many faces I love, but I shall miss many faces. They will be those of comrades newly detained. "There is Abdul Gaffur Khan, one of the noblest of all. "When you learn of punitive raids and bombing --well, his word is more powerful on the frontier than half the British Army. Yet, instead of being allowed to go to settle things, he is put in prison." In replying to the welcome at the Caxton Hall, Mr. Nehru concluded:-- "Soon I shall be going back, entangled again, in spite of myself, in Indian politics. Politics, there, is not a profession, but an urge. You get in the coils. "What will happen to me I do not know. But, whatever happens, I shall always remember your great kindness. I may be exalted or depressed. But your words of good cheer will always encourage me to carry on the good work of helping to make India free."4 INDIA BULLETIN. February, 1936. INDIA BULLETIN (Organ of the Friends of India) 51, Lancaster Gate, London, W.2. Telephone: Paddington 6880 President: LAURANCE HOUSMAN. Issued Monthly. Price: 1d. Yearly Subscription 2/-, Including Postage. Signed articles do not necessarily represent our views. Vol. 4 No. 8 Feb., 1936 PANDIT JAWAHARLAL NEHRU. The President Elect. An Appreciation by KRISHNA VIR. "He is pure as the crystal, he is truthful beyond suspicion. He is a knight sans peur, sans reproche. The nation is safe in his hands." Thus spoke Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest living soul, of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the noblest son of India. Jawahar, the crystal-- how appropriately he deserves his name-- has, since this fine tribute was uttered years ago, undergone further trials and onslaughts of friends and foes alike only to prove beyond the realm of the Mahatma's acute and imaginative mind, his inherent and radiant brightness, his purity of life and character, and his unassailable genuineness. No wonder the nation does feel safe in his hands and unanimously elects him for the second time President of the Indian National Congress-- the greatest honour the India of to-day can bestow upon a citizen in recognition of his service and sacrifice. Consistent brute force may keep India deprived of her freedom for a time, the tyranny of unscrupulous exploitation may drain the life blood of the country and sap the manhood of its citizens, and the terrible fear of Damocles' sword may condemn the Indian people to be as prisoners in their own homes, but nothing, not even the might of Imperialistic Britain can destroy the imperishable soul of India which finds expression in the spontaneous and courageous unanimity of its people in the worship of their hero - the arch enemy of this satanic domination of the land of his birth - who, for that reason alone, has become an eyesore to the foreign usurpers. Son of an illustrious father, the famous Pandit Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal would rightly inherit his name and fame but it will not be the betrayal of any secret to say that it was the greatness of the son that made the great father still greater. An ardent socialist, overwhelmingly moved to serve the starving millions of his fellow countrymen, young Nehru spurned the life of wealth and luxury as inconsistent with his cherished principle of plain living and high thinking and devoted his life to the service of his Motherland. The example and consequent sufferings of the son contributed to a considerable extent to the conversion, under Mr. Gandhi's influence, of Pandit Motilal Nehru from the princely autocrat to the meek saint he became in the later period of his life. No doubt Jawaharlal Nehru received a very liberal education and gained vast knowledge and experience both in England and in his own country, and with his natural genius he was able to make full use of his opportunities, and in the prime of life, by his brilliant work in the Congress, and Trade Unions, in village uplift and other great movements, he soon became the idol of young India. To the Imperialist Government, he is consequently a potential danger and is therefore constantly prosecuted and persecuted and as far as possible is kept confined within the safe boundaries of prison. In the usual course of things as they are in India the Government must treat him as a crank, an irresponsible fanatic, and a dangerous revolutionary, while to the people he is a philosopher, the glory of Indian manhood, and the champion and martyr of his country's freedom. If you watch Nehru's zeal and the enthusiasm with which he labours for the public good you at once discover the ideal leader in him; you observe the fortitude with which he endures every personal and domestic misfortune and you are filled with affectionate admiration for him; you mark the lofty disdain with which he looks down on temptations and dangers and you lay the foundation of your own character-building; you feel with him the hatred which he bears to all forms of bigotry and tyranny and you automatically follow the path of fairness and justice. To know him personally is a perpetual joy, to serve him as an honoured guest becomes in itself an honour, and to converse with him on matters great or small is a great inspiration. Thus it is that in him the noblest qualities of all phases of life are combined in harmonious union. Such is this hero of the Indian stage who, in spite of his limited audience, will in course of time rank as a great world figure. His political outlook being that of a socialist and an internationalist, fires the imagination of modern youth. His insistence on the independence of India, and her separation from the British Empire because of the latter's basis of imperialism brings him into line with the aspirations of young India. His faithfulness to his country never wavers in spite of the privations, sufferings, and tortures inflicted upon him and has earned for him the indisputable right of leadership. The country knows it and has decided to follow him. * * * * * * MAHATMA GANDHI'S HEALTH We are glad to inform readers that Mahatma Gandhi, who was suffering from high blood-pressure and had to take a rest, is progressing satisfactorily. The latest information which has come to us from Bombay brings reassuring news that the few weeks rest has restored him to his former health. The blood-pressure has become normal, and Gandhiji is expected to take up his Harijan work very shortly. February, 1936. INDIA BULLETIN. [page] 5 GANDHI'S ECONOMIC CHALLENGE. By J. C. KUMARAPPA. Gandhiji's teaching is that of Universal Brotherhood. Although we named our association the All India Village Industries Association universal brotherhood is the motive behind it. Charity begins at home. Therefore, we start with an All India Village Industries Association and in time I hope we shall have an all World Association. I want to explain to you that this idea is not merely "A back to the simple village" movement. At the present time that which holds our attention in the world is capitalistic and communistic organisation. In juxtaposition to these I would place the All India Industries Association. Capitalism, after the Industrial Revolution, developed into three set forms. One of these is the financial type found in the British Isles. The outcome of which is this; the financier who sits in London exploits the millions in India, China, and elsewhere. The instrument by which he draws out blood is finance. After the battle of Plassey Indian Gold left for England and that helped the financial type to take root in Europe. The other capitalism is that of the machine. It is found in America. Owing to political, religious and economic oppression in the Middle Ages in Western Europe people left their countries and found shelter in America. But they carried with them the idea of feudalism which had been ingrained in their blood. Then new environments were encountered. They first of all crossed the unchartered seas, and surveyed all unexplored lands. These experiences gave them a practical turn of mind and with that mind they began to tackle their problems and set about the conquest of Nature, where employment was infinite and labourers were few, and to-day we find them full of all kinds of labour saving devices. We find a new age where production is taking place on a large scale and markets are glutted regardless of demand. Materials of vital importance are lacking while luxury goods are being produced. With the financial heritage of England and the feudal background these two types of capitalism were moulded. The third is an offshoot of the above two types of capitalisms. It may be termed a rationalised capitalism. This we find in Russia to-day. What happened there was that the labourers who were crushed under the exacting despotism of the aristocrats revolted and evolved from that a system which has removed some of the evils of capitalism. They wished to socialise the motivating force. They have succeeded in guiding production by social ideals and not by profit but to this they have added and retained the system of centralised production. What they have added on to it is a subject mentality which may be passed off under the euphemistic designation of discipline as it is called to-day in Germany. Still the evils are there in the three methods. The production is in the hands of the few. We have to liberate the producer. In centralised production the labourer has no independence and no soul. The producer is allowed to do according to his whims. To-day in America, with ready made walls and windows a house can be built over-night. Those wall and windows were built before you thought of building a house. Many of you have built houses, planned houses and trouble yourselves over the contractors, plans, etc. Yet will you rather have a ready made house as in America in preference to even a mud hut that you may build for yourself? What we want is to have the joy of creation. Capitalism and communism have standardised activity and reduced life to a rut. The production is very great and markets have to be found and armies have to be marched to guard them. War and preparations for war occupy the minds of such nations. No amount of conferences will succeed in abolishing war as has been apparently found by the Disarmament Conference; no amount of pious resolutions will help in the least. Where the carcass is, there will the vultures be also. Where there is capitalism, there will be the motive for war. Communistic people have removed profits. But they know the hungry wolves of capitalism are watching to see whom they may devour next and therefore they have huge armies for defence and as a sanction to enforce their plan. Soviet Russia has had to resort to violence. Apart from this there is another cause for war. War is itself the cause for war. The armament production is a profitable business. Turkey declares war on Egypt and England supplies armaments. This is good business. As long as there are such communistic and capitalistic organisations war cannot be removed, because of greed and suspicion. If we wish to have world peace, we have to decentralise production. Several of you have seen centrifugal machinery that separates the profit from the producer. In the Village Industries Association we aim at decentralising production thus to leave the fruits of labour to the producer. The profit motive is curbed and the producer takes a personal interest in the product and finds joy in his creation. There is no use for violence. Hence you will see that the Village Industries Organisation sets out to solve the problems that are raised by capitalism, communism, and war. It is a bold challenge thrown out by Gandhiji to the voracious world to bring it back to brotherhood, peace, and prosperity. It is the culmination of Gandhiji's message to the economic world. An extract from - "The Philosophy of the Village Movement." The Indian National Congress is publishing a series of cheap pamphlets descriptive of all aspects of its work, among these is one by Mr. Kumarappa entitled: "Village Industries and Reconstruction." It should perhaps be noted that Babar's message is only one of the series of Imperial edicts, which were issued from time to time by the Moghul Emperors. Akbar and Jahangir went as far as to prohibit the slaughter of animals on certain days of the week. (This information is taken from an article by Mr. N. C. Mehta, I.C.S., published in the "Twentieth Century," a very scholorly and well-informed magazine published at Allahabad.6 INDIA BULLETIN February, 1936. INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS India's Struggle for Freedom. By D. V. TAHMANKAR, B.A. The year 1907 is a sad year in the history of the Congress as it created a split in the political parties in India. The more ardent Nationalists like Lokamanya Tilak left the Congress and for nine years it was under the control of the Moderate Party. It was in 1916, mainly by the efforts of Dr. Annie Besant, that Mr. Tilak and his party returned to the Congress. The period between 1907 and 1916 is fraught with important changes although the Congress did not play a very conspicuous part. It met in its annual session, and passed resolutions of protest against the government; but singularly it lacked that urge and enthusiasm which come from a spontaneously popular movement. Government had locked Mr. Tilak behind the prison bars, had instituted the worst type of Press censorship and had resorted to the most extreme measures of intimidation- overt and covert. Into this vitiated atmosphere the Reforms of 1910 were launched. The Moderates welcomed them, the people spurned them. A boycott of British goods was carried on which directly encouraged the Indian Textile industry. The Youth of the country became more articulate and defiant and definitely began to distrust the older politicians. The war broke out in 1914 and the country was offered new opportunities. Mr. Tilak was released and Gandhi had just come home after a long-drawn battle of passive resistance with the Government of South Africa. The statesmen and politicians saw their chance; they seized on the words of Mr. Bonar Law that the difficulties of the Empire were the opportunities of India. Mr. Tilak, always ready to strike the iron while it was hot, brought together his followers and as stated above with the co-operation of Dr. Besant returned to the Congress. IN 1916, at the Congress of Lucknow, the politics of India passed for ever from the hands of the Moderates to the hands of the Extremists, using that term in its best sense. The Congress ceased to be henceforth a mere reformist body and soon assumed the rôle of a revolutionary body. The story of 1916 to 1919 is a story of co-operation between Tilak and Mrs. Besant. They formed the Home Rule League and led a gigantic agitation for India's right to self-government and self-determination. Both of them came to London prior to the Montague-Chelmsford Bill and addressed hundreds of meetings in London and the provinces. Their Indian Campaign will remain an outstanding epoch in the annals of the Country. For the first time in the history of the Congress they definitely discarded the old methods of addressing the middle class intelligentsia and approached directly the masses. Gandhi's advent into politics had been telling on the Congress ever since 1917, but not till 1920 was his leadership assured. The Amritsar massacre of April 1919 rudely shocked the people and they were made conscious of the real nature of the government in its free use of naked brute force to attain its end. Gandhi the apostle of non-violence still believed in the British as a justice loving people and pleaded with them to redress the colossal wrong which had been done to his countrymen. The government, both in India and in England, turned a deaf ear to his earnest pleadings and his confidence was shattered. The special Congress of Calcutta, 1920, adopted this programme of non-co-operation and for the first time in history a subject nation applied sanctions against an all powerful Imperial power. This was the first mass resistance the Congress had organised. In every sense of the term the Gandhi programme was revolutionary. But it was very different from the usual political revolution and from that generally associated with an eruption of force and resistance to authority, indigenous or foreign, which is generally accompanied by violence. The Government got panicky and treated this non-violent revolution just as it would have treated a violent outbreak. With varying success the Congress has fought against British domination from 1920 onwards. It is mainly political organisation but it has not been afraid to change its tactics according to changing circumstances. In 1925 it relaxed its boycott of the Indian Legislatures and captured them almost completely. The Congress Swaraj Party of 1925 was a formidable opposition to the Government. Its record in the Indian Assembly is one of sustained and brilliant effort. In 1928 the Simon Commission was appointed. It was to decide the destiny of the Indian people but no Indian was chosen to sit on it. It was a calculated insult to India. The country once more looked to the Congress to maintain its self-respect and dignity. It decided to boycott the Commission a lead which was followed by all the political parties in India. Gandhi once again came to the fore; the government pleaded with him to attend the first Round Table Conference. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru advised Gandhi not to yield. In 1929 the Congress met at Lahore - Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru presiding. In that year The National Organization of India proclaimed complete Independence, Poorna-Swaraj as the goal of India. The flag of the Congress was saluted as the flag of liberty. Since Nehru's declaration of Independence the history of The Indian National Congress and the struggle for freedom completely merged. The stupendous movement of Civil Disobedience, the colossal sacrifice of millions, the splendid work of Indian women, the national display of courage, suffering and endurance are things which are writ in the history of India with the blood of the people. The country has not yet won its objective yet it can always look upon these years with pride, and take new inspiration. Last month, December 28th, 1935, the Congress celebrated its Golden Jubilee. Fifty years of National Service, with a brilliant record is itself a great achievement. Freedom is a precious pearl for which my country will have to plunge into deeper depths. But I have no doubt about the result. February, 1936. INDIA BULLETIN. 7 History has yet to show a single instance where a Government has succeeded in completely suppressing the national will for freedom, when once that will has dawned on the minds of the masses. It will be a great mistake to think that the brutal suppression of the government has killed that will, the new spirit of freedom which was brought into being by The Indian National Congress. Once the torch of freedom is lighted it goes on burning with an ever increasing brilliance and splendour. The Indian National Congress is responsible for planting the flag of freedom; it _will_ see that it is hoisted over a Free India. Vande Mataram!! AN APOLOGY TO MR. NEHRU In our last issue we published a letter from Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru protestng against certain statements in the Bengal Governments Administrative Report for 1934-5. The following is the apology from Bengal and a further letter from Mr. Nehru. Both are reprinted from the "Manchester Guardian". In an official statement issued to-day the Government of Bengal expresses regret for certain references to the activities of the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, which appeared in the Bengal Administration Report for 1934, to which he had taken exception. The statement says: "Accepting the Pandit's disclaimer, the Government of Bengal desire to express regret that what was only an interference should have been put forward as a fact and that a report which intended to do nothing more than give an accurate picture of current events should have contained the passage in question. It will be deleted from all copies still under the control of the Government." The statement adds that the Government referred the matter to the author of the report, who explains that the statement which has been challenged was nothing more than in inference drawn entirely from the public utterances of the Pandit before his arrest, and particularly from the speech which he delivered in Calcutta on January 18, 1934. IN the opinion of the author this was a legitimate inference, and he interpreted the Pandit's public utterances in the light of his own knowledge of political tendencies. - Reuter. A Reply to Bengal Government. To the Editor of the Manchester Guardian, Sir, - I have just seen the statement issued by the Bengal Government in regard to the reference to me in their Administration Report to which I had taken exception. I am glad that they have thought it fit to express their regret and to withdraw the passage in question. I must express my appreciation of this and my gratitude to them for it. In the course of the Bengal Government's statement reference is made to a speech I delivered in Calcutta two years ago and to the possible inferences that might be drawn from it. May I make clear what I said then? I stated that the national movement had grown so strong in its challenge to the existing order that the British Government sought to make every kind of effective activity illegal. An Authoritarian Government never likes any organised activity which is independent of it or which does not fit in with its own scheme of things. When opposition to it grows in strength fear seizes it and it suspects every activity which touches the masses and tries to suppress it, even though that activity is wholly non-political. A kind of nervous breakdown follows, and the Government, being authoritarian and all-powerful, makes illegal all public activities that it does not like. This applies inevitably to the political movement, but also to economic, social, and other movements. All these, therefore, hover continually on the verge of illegality, for new laws are promulgated overnight by decree. As an instance of the lengths to which the Government in India was going, I mentioned that every approach to the masses, urban or rural, for the most innocent of purposes, was stopped. People going to the villages were arrested even before they had said or done anything. Even the Harijan (anti-untouchability) movement, which was purely one of social reform and was neither political nor anti-Government, had in some places come into conflict with the authorities. To my knowledge Harijan workers had been stopped from going to the villages to carry on their work and in some instances had actually been arrested. On another occasion I mentioned that, in view of this authoritarian and neurotic state of the Government's mind, I felt sure that any popular non-official movement aiming at the greater use of soap by the masses would be suspect in official eyes and would come into conflict with the Government. - Yours, &c., JAWAHARLAL NEHRU. Badenweiler, January 9. Calcutta, January 7. HARIJANS BECOME BRAHMINS. It is a fashion to describe Hindu people as caste-ridden and conservative. The obvious implication is that they will never abolish their age-long religious wrongs and therefore are unfit to govern themselves. The following news item will be interesting. Not only the new spirit is destroying the old evil of caste but giving the untouchables absolute equality in all social and religious matters. The Arya Samaj of Lahore has initiated recently thousands of the Harijans to the highest caste of the Hindus, viz. Brahmin. They were given the sacred threads as a mark of their re-birth into Hinduism and in recognition of their attaining equal status with other caste Hindus. After the ceremony of initiation an inter-caste dinner was held in which the caste Hindus and the newly initiated untouchables took part. This memorable event took place in a village near Deolali Camp, Bombay Presidency. "INDIA AND BRITAIN." A Moral Challenge by C. F. ANDREWS. This book can be obtained from "Friends of India" Book Stall, 5/-.8 INDIA BULLETIN. February, 1936. FRIENDS OF INDIA ANNUAL REPORT 1935. Reviewing the year 1935, it is true to say that the work of the Society has been consolidated. We feel it is something to have maintained during many months when public interest in Indian affairs has been at its lowest. Not only have we maintained, but the Membership Roll has been and still is in process of being purged and although the Membership which will remain may be smaller, it will be sound. In regard to Finance, all expenses have been met and the old debt drastically reduced, but verily eternal viligence is the price of solvency! The development most pleasing to us all is the flourishing new Branch in Dundee. Often we wish those enthusiastic supporters of the cause were nearer to London. The following is the Report of our activities:-- India Bulletin. During the year ending December, 1935, ten issues of the "Bulletin" have been published. Sources of Information. (a) News Letters direct from National Congress Office by special arrangement. (b) Articles and extracts reprinted from "Harijan" at the suggestion of Mahatma Gandhi. Sales and Distribution. 1500 Copies of every issue are despatched from the office and the "Bulletin" is sold at most of the meetings addressed by our speakers. It frequently happens that articles are reprinted in Journals in other countries. From the Gandhi Birthday number three articles were reprinted in an American Journal and one in a Danish publication. The list of subscribers to the "Bulletin" includes people in every part of the world. Congress Letters. Copies of this can be had by application to the office. Speakers. Our Speakers have been continually addressing meetings and groups of other societies in London and the suburbs. They include Labour Parties, Co-op. Guilds, Brotherhoods, Youth Groups and Peace Societies, etc. London Speakers--Mr. Tahmankar, Mrs. Hunter, Mrs. Inwood. Meetings in the Provinces. Mr. Tahmankar has addressed meetings in many parts of the country. Sometimes he has attended a full week's meetings, arranged by some supporter in the district. We feel that these extended Conferences are of great value. Mr. Frank Dawtry has also spoken for us in several places in Yorkshire. Monthly Meetings at 51, Lancaster Gate. These Meetings are held every month when possible. the following have taken place:-- JANUARY Addressed by Mr. Tahmankar. FEBRUARY " " Miss Masani. MARCH " " Mr. Krishna Vir. APRIL " " Swami Avyaktananda. MAY " " Mr. Masani. Summer Months--Meetings suspended. OCTOBER Addressed by Rev. C. F. Andrews. Mr. Laurence Housman gave, on April 11th, a Reading of his plays in the Essex Hall in aid of F.O.I. funds. In November, the F.O.I., through the generosity of a friend, were able to entertain Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru to a dinner at the Koh-I-Noor Restaurant. Study Circle. A Study Circle is held at the office every week, the convenor being Mr. Krishna Vir. The books studied are of every kind in relation to India, cultural as well as political. Dundee Branch. The Friends in Dundee formed a Branch of the F.O.I in Dundee last year. The Branch is very active, and the membership is steadily increasing under the able leadership of Dr. D. R. Saggar, the Hon. Secretary and his brother Dr. J. D. Saggar. Many copies of the India "Bulletin" are sold in Dundee. Affiliated Groups. We are in constant correspondence with groups in Denmark, Norway, Holland, Switzerland and (up to just recently) in Germany. These contacts we consider to be one of the most important aspects of our work. Correspondence with these groups and with our membership in the English Provinces is very heavy and constitutes a large part of the office work. The office is open every day (except Saturdays) from 1.0 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. and only closed for a very few weeks in August, but correspondence is received and dealt with all through the holiday season. In the office there is an interesting Library and many periodicals and newspapers from India. Visitors are always welcome. BOOK REVIEW. "PHILOSOPHY OF THE VILLAGE MOVEMENT." By J. C. KUMARAPPA, M.A., B.Sc., F.S.A.A., Organiser and Secretary, All India Village Industries Association. This little book which has just come from India is a collection of speeches by Mr. Kumarappa. As the Secretary of the A.I.V.A., he speaks with great knowledge of the Movement and a deep understanding of the principles which inspire the activities of this side of the constructive work of the Congress. The writer shows clearly how the schemes for social re-construction have been conceived in accordance with the historic development of the people in the past and follow the lines indicated by racial tendencies and national traits. In a few simple words he links up the movements in India with the great world-processes. The book is too short for so great a subject and we express the hope that Mr. Kumarappa will write at much greater length in the near future. in the meantime all wishing to understand these Movements, will find it most instructive. On page 5 we publish a striking extract from one of the speeches. This book is published in India and can be obtained from the "Friends of India" Book Stall. Price 1/- including postage. Published by Friends of India, 51, Lancaster Gate, London, W.2., and Printed by T. W. Cole & Sons, Ltd., Gloucester.INDIA TODAY Published Monthly by INDIA LEAGUE OF AMERICA 40 East 49th Street, New York 17, N. Y.--Tel. PLaza 3-5088 The League was organized in 1937 to interpret India and America to each other. The bulletin presents a brief synopsis and interpretation of authentic and significant news from India, and reports the principal activities of the League. $2.00 per year April, 1947 INTER-ASIAN RELATIONS CONFERENCE The Asian Relations Conference held in New Delhi, India, from March 23-April 2 under the auspices of the Indian Council of World Affairs was an important step in the emergence of a new Asia and of India's influence in Asian affairs. In the words of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in his opening address: "When the history of our present times is written this event may well stand out as a landmark which divided the past of Asia and the future." A permanent Asian Relations Organization was established. The Conference brought together for the first time in history representatives of various academic, cultural and other organizations from Asian countries to discuss the position of Asia in the post-war world, to exchange ideas on the problems common to all Asian countries and to study ways of promoting closer contacts among them. The Conference was "unofficial" and "non-political." However, delegates included distinguished persons from a number of governments and political organizations, and the Conference inevitably dealt with political problems. Discussion of controversial internal political problems was barred. Delegates came from Afghanistan, Soviet Armenia, Soviet Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Burma, Ceylon, China, Egypt, Georgian Soviet Republic, India, Indonesia, Iran, Soviet Kazakstan, Korea, Malaya, Outer Mongolia, Nepal, Palestinian Jews, Philippines, Siam, Soviet Tadjik, Tibet, Soviet Uzbekistan, Viet Nam. Japanese delegates were invited but could not attend. Observers were present from the Arab League, Turkey, Turkistan Republic, as well as from American, British, Australian and New Zealand organizations, among others. Sirdar J. J. Singh, President of the India League of America, attended as observer for the League. Countries from which delegates were present have a combined population of well over a billion. Nehru's Inaugural Address The Conference was inaugurated by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. In his opening address, Nehru said: "We stand at the end of an era and on the threshold of a new period of history. . . . Asia, after a long period of quiescence, has suddenly become important again in world affairs. . . . This Conference itself is significant as an expression of that deeper urge of mind and spirit which has persisted in spite of the isolationism which grew up during the years of European domination. As that domination goes, the walls that surrounded us fall down and we look at each other again and meet as old friends long separated. "In this Conference and in this work there are no leaders and no followers. All countries of Asia have to meet together on an equal basis in a common task and endeavor. It is fitting that India should play her part in this new phase of Asian development. Apart from the fact that India herself is emerging into freedom and independence, she is the natural center and focal point of many forces at work in Asia. Geography is a compelling factor and geographically she is so situated as to be the meeting point of western and northern and eastern and south-east Asia. Because of this the history of India is a long history of her relations with the other countries of Asia. . . ." "We meet here not to discuss our past history and contacts but to forge links for the future. And may I say here that this Conference and the idea underlying it is in no way aggressive or against any other continent or country. Ever since the news of this Conference went abroad some people in Europe and America have viewed it with doubt, imagining that this was some kind of Pan-Asian movement directed against Europe or America. We have no designs against anybody; ours is a great design of promoting peace and progress all over the world. For too long we of Asia have been petitioners in the western courts and chancellories. That story must now belong to the past. . . ." "The countries of Asia can no longer be used as pawns by others; they are bound to have their own policies in world affairs. Europe and America have contributed very greatly to human progress and for that we must yield them praise and honor and learn from them the many lessons they have to teach. But the west has also driven us into wars and conflicts without number and even now, the day after a terrible war, there is talk of further wars in the atomic age that is on us. In this atomic age Asia will have to function effectively in the maintenance of peace. Indeed there can be no peace unless Asia plays her part. There is today conflict in many countries and all of us in Asia are full of our own troubles. Nevertheless the whole spirit and outlook of Asia are peaceful and the emergence of Asia in world affairs will be a powerful influence for world peace. "Peace can only come when nations are free and also when human beings everywhere have freedom and security and opportunity. Peace and freedom therefore have to be considered both in their political and economic aspects. The countries of Asia we must remember are very backward and the standards of life are appallingly low. These economic problems demand an urgent solution or else crisis and disaster might overwhelm us. "We have therefore to think in terms of the common man and fashion our political, social and economic structure so that the burdens that have crushed him may be removed and he may have full opportunity for growth. We have arrived at the stage in human affairs when the ideal of the 'One World' and some kind of world federation seems to be essential though there are many dangers and obstacles in the way. We should work for that idealand not for any grouping which comes in the way of this larger world group. We therefore support the United Nations structure which is painfully emerging from its infancy. But in order to have 'One World' we must also in Asia think of the countries of Asia cooperating together for that larger ideal. . . ." "We seek no narrow nationalism. Nationalism has a place in each country and should be fostered but it must not be allowed to become aggressive and come in the way of international development. Asia stretches her hand out in friendship to Europe and America as well as to our suffering brethren in Africa. We of Asia have a special responsibility to the people of Africa. We must help them to take their rightful place in the human family. The freedom that we envisage is not to be confined to this nation or that or to a particular people but must spread out over the whole human race. That universal human freedom also cannot be based on the supremacy of any particular class. It must be the freedom of the common man everywhere and full opportunities for him to develop. . . ." Nehru's speech was followed by greetings from the various delegations, in this and the following session, who expressed the necessity for cooperation among Asian peoples. Among the comments were the following: Miss Karima Syed, on behalf of the feminist movement of Egypt, stated that "the people of Egypt were willing to stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Asia in their fight against imperialism." Professor Saul Hugh Bergmann, speaking on behalf of the Palestine-Jewish delegation, conveyed the greetings of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, of the Jewish Women's Rights Society in Palestine and of the Jewish National Council of Palestine (Vaad Leumi), "who acted as convenors of our delegation." Dr. Bergmann said: "Those are the greetings of an old religion and an old Asiatic people which had been driven from its Asiatic Motherland eighteen hundred years ago by the force of the Roman sword but which has never ceased to be linked in thought and daily prayer with this Holy Land, which is at the same time the Holy Land to Christianity and Islam. We are happy and proud to take part as an old Asiatic people at this Conference and we strive to be a loyal member of this great family of nations." Referring to the "Asian system of multi-racial and multi-religious and multi-cultural organizations' which has "stood the test of time,' Dr. Bergmann added that "this lesson Europe was unable to teach us. We do not want to be ungrateful to Europe. We have learned very importnat lessons there. We learned to appreciate logical reasoning, methodical thinking. We have learned in Europe and transplanted to Palestine the teaching the way of life of modern socialism. . . ." Palestinian Delegate's Position "We have come to learn not to teach," Dr. Bergmann continued. "But if we may contribute actively to the aims of this Conference it shall be in the lines just mentioned. Because in Palestine it was and is our first aim to enlarge the economic capacity of our small country, we have used to the utmost of our knowledge of scientific methods to solve the problems of settlement to transform barren deserts into fertile soil and to work out such forms of cooperative and collective colonization which would make it possible to intensify to the limit the fertility of our land and at the same time our health and social services. The experts in our delegation will be glad to offer their humble services to our common cause in the same way as our scientific research and our health service in Palestine desires to serve not only our community but the whole country and in certain measure the Middle East." On behalf of Viet Nam, Mai Tai Chao thanked the Indian people and the leaders of other Asian countries for their sympathy and warm support to Viet Nam's struggle for freedom. The Arab League observer, Mr. Thankirrudin, told the Conference that the League had now begun to share in the urge for freedom initiated by India. "For your freedom is necessary for our freedom," he added. Indian Attitude Toward Palestine The proceedings were interrupted at this point by Madame Karima of Egypt who asked for a chance to reply to the remarks of Dr. Bergmann regarding Palestine. Madame Karima stated that there had been no controversy between Arabs and Jews in Palestine, but that the Arabs objected to European Zionists coming to Palestine under British protection to claim a separate state. Dr. Bergmann then asked for a chance to say a few words in reply, which Nehru denied stating that any further speeches would lead the Conference into the realms of controversy. In his closing remarks, Nehru referred to the incident, saying that it was his desire to avoid controversy on this subject or any subject affecting the internal policies of the Asian countries at this Conference. Nehru declared that the people of India, as was well known, had during these last many years sympathized with the sufferings of the Jews in Europe and elsewhere. "At the same time," Nehru added, "it is also clear, and I do not say this in any controversial spirit, that the people of India, necessarily and for various reasons into which I shall not go, have always said that Palestine is essentially an Arab country and that no decision can be made without the consent of the Arabs. "We did hope and we still hope," Nehru continued, "that if a third party was removed or went from Palestine it might be easier for other parties more intimately concerned to settle their own problems among themselves however difficult they might be." After the two plenary sessions, the Conference divided into five groups to discuss the following topics: national movements for freedom in Asia; racial problems with special reference to racial conflicts; inter-Asian migration and the status and treatment of immigrants; transition from colonial to national economy; agricultural reconstruction and industrial development; labor problems and social services; cultural problems with special reference to education, art and architecture, scientific research and literature; the status of women and women's movements. On the fourth day of the Conference, a plenary session adopted a four-point report on racial problems and inter-Asian migration. The report called for complete legal equality of all citizens; complete religious freedom of all citizens; no public social disqualification of any racial group; and equality before the law of persons of foreign origin who have settled in the country. On the question of legal status of immigrant populations, such as Indians in Burma and Ceylon, and Chinese in Malaya, Burma and Indonesia, the delegates agreed that a distinction must be made between those immigrants who identified themselves with the country of their adoption and applied for naturalization and those who chose to remain nationals of their mother country. Concerning naturalization, it was felt that all foreign settlers in Asian countries who were prepared to comply with the naturalization laws and who looked upon their adopted country as their homeland and the sole object of their loyalty should be granted full citizenship. Alien settlers who wanted to retain the nationality of their country of origin should have equality before the law without having civic rights, should enjoy safety of person, and should be treated in a generous and humane manner. It was generally felt that a person could have only one nationality. While most delegates agreed that liberal naturalization laws should regularize the status of existing foreign settlers, there was considerable difference of opinion in regard to future immigration. Many opposed complete prohibition and advocated a quota system. It was pointed out that economic factors were responsible for the hostility and suspicion prevailing in several Asian countries between indigenous and immigrant populations and it was felt that fear of economic submergence on the part of economically less advanced indigenous populations must be removed and that newcomers must be assured of full citizenship rights if they chose to identify themselves with people of the country. It was agreed that, though legally there was little discrimination against individual racial or national groups, there was considerable de facto discrimination in the sphere of administration and public life. Long-term methods of education, social contacts, etc., were felt to be indispensable for the lasting elimination of all racial inequalities. A scientific study of the cultural, social and economic conditions of backward communities such as the aboriginal tribes of India, Burma and Indonesia was recommended as a basis for any policy aiming at their ultimate assimilation. For such a study international cooperation was required. the chairman of the reporting committee agreed to the inclusion of a point raised by K. Santhanam (India) that the formation of parties on a communal and racial basis was one of the causes for conflict in several countries. Reform of land Tenure System In the committee report on the agricultural situation in Asian countries, the reformation of the land tenure system was recommended. Importation of modern agricultural implements and chemical fertilizers was suggested. Efforts should be made to build up merchant marines in Asian countries, the report added, since lack of their own shipping often contributed to food shortages. On the following day, the plenary session adopted the report of the committee on cultural affairs which suggested the setting up of an Asian Cultural and Scientific Organization with a permanent secretariat to promote scientific and cultural collaboration. The report, after praising western scientific achievements, warned that Asia must not be tied to the apron-strings of Europe. Scientific research should be related to food, health and sanitation, and thus contribute to raising the standard of living of the masses, the report said. The importance of eliminating illiteracy and the need for increased educational facilities was stressed. It was recommended that the use of new media of education, such as the radio and movies, be fully explored. The report included the following suggestions: Collaboration among libraries and museums; translation of the classics and other significant works for one language to another; production of suitable documentary and educational films of common interest; appointment of teachers of various Asian languages by the countries concerned; comparative study of Asian cultures at universities and at the proposed school of Asian studies; consideration of the equivalence of and recognition of university degrees and diplomas; compilation of pamphlets and memoranda about educational and cultural conditions in different countries; institution of scholarships and reduction of fees for foreign students; provision for visiting children who come on excursions, and free travel and accomodation for language students in the host country; holding inter-Asian student conferences; setting up of an inter-Asian physical culture and education association; setting up of an Asian broadcasting station. The report stated that "History should be re-written on rational and humane lines preserving the values which Asia has cherished most, namely a regard for human personality, the importance of religion, the essential unity of all religions and the unity of mankind." The report suggested that the Conference should make a declaration of its faith and fundamental values. On the subject of common language, the report said that while an artificial language might be possible it was not an immediate problem. The use of English as the most widely used language should be continued and the study of Asian languages encouraged. On March 29, the Conference adopted the reports of committees on the transition from colonial to national economies, agricultural reconstruction and industrial development. Full details of these reports are not yet available. A discussion of the role of foreign capital in colonial countries took place at this session. The report on industrial development stated that "great care must be taken in determining the conditions under which foreign capital is imported." An amendment was added as follows: "Among such conditions should be considered the desirability of imposing limits on profits and ensuring the maintenance of minimum living standards." On April 1, the Conference adopted the report of the committee on national movements for freedom. The report, without going into the history of individual movements, stated that it was generally agreed that Asian countries should speedily move towards freedom based on democracy, that the standard of living in all Asian countries must improve with the approach of freedom and that in order to facilitate this, Asian countries should assist one another by the exchange of technical information and experts. It was realized that, for various reasons, western colonial powers, Britain particularly, could not afford much longer to hold these countries in political subjection. Some delegates felt that Britain would try to become stronger in Ceylon and Malaya with a view to retaining her supremacy in the Indian Ocean and that these "danger spots" should be carefully watched. Delegates from Burma, Indonesia and Malaya urged that no Asian country should give any direct or indirect assistance to any colonial power attempting to keep any Asian country in subjection. Economic Aid for Small Countries It was also stated that small Asian countries would need economic aid from larger Asian powers but it was hoped that this would not lead to domination by larger powers. Regarding the use of Indian troops in Burma and Indonesia the report stated that Indian delegates explained that until recently the Indian troops in those countries had been under foreign control and that the Interim Government had adopted the policy that Indian troops should be withdrawn from other Asian countries and that in no case should these troops be used for the suppression of national freedom movements in Asia.Indian and Chinese delegates promised full support to Asian countries seeking admission to UN and other international organizations. It was also suggested that all other Asian countries immediately recognize the Indonesian Republic. It was unanimously agreed that indigenous minorities resident in any Asian country should support the struggle of that country for freedom. The Conference also adopted the reports of the committees on labor problems, social services and the status of women and women's movements. Complete reports on these questions are not yet available. The report on labor problems recommended the formulation of the charter of human rights embodying minimum standards for food, education, housing and social security and the extension of political rights to workers. Nationalization of social services was recommended. Asian Relations Organization Perhaps the most significant single action of the Inter-Asian Relations Conference was the formation of an Asian Relations Organization. Declaring that "the peace of the world, to be real and enduring, must be linked up with the freedom and well-being of the people of Asia," the delegates decided unanimously that "the contacts forged at this Conference must be maintained and strengthened and that the good work begun here must be continued, efficiently organized, and actively developed." The objectives of the new organization are as follows: 1. To promote the study and understanding of Asian problems and relations in their Asian and world aspects. 2. To foster friendly relations and cooperation among the peoples of Asia and between them and the rest of the world. 3. To further the progress and well-being of the peoples of Asia. To this end a Provisional General Council was appointed consisting of the following persons: Doctor Abdul Majid Khan, Afghanistan; Taqueddeen Elsoleh, Arab League; Kalantar, Armenia; Yusufuv, Azerbaijan; The Honorable Justice Kyaw Myint, Burma; M. A. Raschid, Burma; The Honorable S. Bandaranaike, Ceylon; The Honorable George De Silva, Ceylon; Han Hin Wu, China; Wen Yuan Nig, China; Kupradze, Georgia; Doctor Abu Hanifa, Indonesia; Soeripno, Indonesia; Dr. G. H. Sadighi, Iran; Ali Asghar Hekmat, Iran; Sharipo, Kazakstan; Dr. Paik, Korea; Dr. Burhanuddin, Malaya; Ja Thivy, Malaya; Lubsan Vandan, Mongolia; Major General Bijaya Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana, Nepal; Prof. Hugh Bergmann, Palestine; Anastacio De Castro, Philippines; Prof. Sukhit Niamanhamindra, Siam; Tursunzade, Tadjikistan; Sarimsakom, Uzbekistan; Dr. Tran Van Luan, Viet Nam; Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, India; and Rani Laxmibai Rajwade, India. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was unanimously elected president of the Council. Two general secretaries, B. Shiva Rao (India) and Bhan Lih Wu (China) were also elected unanimously. The Asian Relations Organization will be composed of national units, one in each Asian country affiliated to the organization. The units will be non-governmental, with objectives similar to those of the organization. The organization and its units will have no party affiliations, nor will they engage in political propaganda. The first task of the members of the Provisional General Council on their return to their respective countries will be take immediate steps to secure the affiliation of existing national units and to establish such units where they do not exist. the Council is authorized to grant such affiliation. The work of the organization will be carried out in the countries concerned through their respective national units after they are established and affiliated to the organization, pending which it will be carried out by their members on the Council. The next general conference will be convened in 1949 in China. The Council may convene special or regional conferences in the interval for special purposes, in general conformity with the organization's objectives. The Council will frame a provisional constitution under which the organization will function. This constitution will be submitted for ratification to the general or a special conference. The present Provisional Council will hold office until the body which is to take its place is elected and assumes office. Dr. Sutan Shariar, Indonesian Premier, attended the Conference and urged that the policies and plans initiated by the Conference be carried out "in such a manner that the consequences of our action would not be unpalatable to other peoples but would instead strengthen the bonds existing between the races of the world." Dr. Shariar thanked all countries that had supported Indonesia in her struggle and thanked India especially for her moral and material aid. The Philippine delegate, A. de Castro, speaking of his country's recent liberation from foreign domination, said that the United States had really done magnificently by his country. Even after the Philippines became free the United States was helping her to rehabilitate herself, the delegate stated. Mahatma Gandhi addressed the gathering and was greeted by an ovation. Gandhi asked the delegates to understand the message of Asia--a message of love and a message of truth. "In this age of democracy, in this age of the awakening of the poorest of the poor," Gandhi declared, "you can redeliver this message with the greatest emphasis. You will achieve complete conquest of the West, not through vengeance because you have been exploited, but with real understanding. I am sanguine that if all of you put your hearts together--not merely your heads--to understand the secret of the message that these wise men of the East (Zoroaster, Buddha, Jesus, Moses, Mohammed, Krishna and Rama) have left to us and if we really become worthy of that great message the conquest of the West will be completed. This conquest will be loved by the West itself." Commenting on the outcome of the Conference, the Statesman of Calcutta of April 5 praised "the absence of bitterness in the references to repressing European empires and the genuine anxiety to help the Occident in difficulties." The paper emphasized that it would be the neglect of an opportunity if the West fails to respond to this gesture of friendship. This may best be done by removing the remaining impediments to political equality, the paper concluded. Although a number of Moslem countries were represented, the Moslem League of India boycotted the Conference.GANDHI-JINNAH PEACE APPEAL Mahatma Gandhi and Mohammed Ali Jinnah issued a joint statement on April 18 deploring acts of lawlessness in India. The full text of the statement follows: "We deeply deplore the recent acts of lawlessness and violence that have brought the utmost disgrace on the fair name of India and the greatest misery to innocent people, irrespective of who were the aggressors and who were the victims. "We denounce for all time the use of force to achieve political ends and we call upon all communities of India, to whatever persuasion they may belong, not only to refrain from all acts of violence and disorder, but also to avoid, both in speech and writing, any incitement to such acts." It was announced that the declaration was made on the initiative and by specific request of the Viceroy. As the first implementation of this peace appeal, an amnesty for 5,000 Moslem League political prisoners jailed in recent riots in the Northwest Frontier Province was announced on April 20 following a conference among the Viceroy, Pandit Nehru, Provincial Governor Sir Olaf Caroe and Congress Provincial Premier Dr. Khan Sahib. Meanwhile, Congress renewed its appeal to the Moslem League for a joint meeting to consider the new situation arising out of the British decision to quit India by June, 1948. Liaquat Ali Khan, secretary of the League and Finance Member in the Interim Government, replied to the request by stating that "in view of the discussions which are now in progress between the Viceroy and the Indian leaders, it is not likely that a meeting of the (League) Working committee will be called until a definite stage in the talks has been reached." According to reports, the Viceroy's main efforts in the talks with Indian leaders have been directed towards bringing the Moslem League into the Constituent Assembly. It is reported that the Viceroy has asked Congress to remove any ambiguities there might have been in its acceptance of the British Cabinet Mission's proposals in order to pave the way for League entry. However, Mr. Jinnah does not seem to be in a mood for compromise as is evidenced by his rejection of a suggestion that Pakistan be "truncated" to eliminate the Sikh and Hindu minority areas from a separate Moslem state if partition of India is inevitable. Several weeks ago the Congress Working Committee suggested that the Punjab be partitioned into predominantly Moslem and non-Moslem areas. Leaders of the Congress and Sikh Parties in the Punjab Provincial Assembly demanded on April 23 that the Punjab be immediately divided into two or, if necessary, three autonomous provinces as an "interim and transitional arrangement." The statement added that "in the existing circumstances we are not prepared to cooperate with the Moslem League for forming a single ministry for the whole of the Punjab." On April 11, eleven nationalist members of the Central Legislature from Bengal submitted a memorandum to the Viceroy stating that "in our view the only solution of the problem lies in the creation of separate autonomous provinces in the West and North of Bengal within the Indian Union." The legislators declared that Bengal nationalists could never agree to incorporation into a separate Moslem state, and that the choice before them was between freedom and slavery. They attacked the formation in Bengal of the Moslem National Guard "which is assuming the character of a private army and is fast becoming a menace to the peace and tranquility of the province." According to the statement, the Bengal Moslem League Ministry has created an armed police force consisting of Moslems recruited from another province and has posted Moslem police and magisterial officers in key positions. The signatories asked that the Viceroy install immediately, as an interim and transitional arrangement, two regional administrations with separate ministries under a common governor for the two parts of Bengal. Commenting on the political situation on April 13, Pandit Nehru said, "Congress wants to see India free. The Pakistan demand of the Moslem League is a negative demand. We have been asking them for a definition of Pakistan. They have never given it. Difficulties are bound to arise if things are not made clear. . . ." "The time has now come to decide whether we want a united India or a divided India. This question must be decided immediately. We do not want to compel any province or part of the country to join Pakistan or Hindustan. Sind has declared that it will become independent in June, 1948, after the British leave India. The Sind League leaders do not realize the loss to that province if she does not want to have anything to do with the rest of India. Similar is the case with Bengal. It is the province if she does not want to have anything to do with the rest of India. Similar is the case with Bengal. It is the province which has suffered most. If parts of the Punjab and Bengal want to separate no one can compel them the other way." In a significant declaration on April 21, Nehru stated that "the Moslem League can have Pakistan if they wish to have it but on condition that they do not take away other parts of India which do not wish to join Pakistan." While this cannot be taken as official Congress policy, it reflects an important tendency among nationalists to let Jinnah have Pakistan if it does not include unwilling nationalist minorities, and to proceed with those parts of India which want an Indian union with the eventual perspective of unity compelled by economic and political realities. INDIAN STATES RULERS CONFERENCE The Conference of Rulers of Indian States passed a resolution in Bombay on April 4 setting forth the States' position in regard to participation in the Constituent Assembly and to the new situation arising out of the British decision to withdraw by June, 1948. The ambiguous nature of this resolution reflects the conflicts among the Princely states on their attitude towards the future of India. The resolution "reiterates the support of the States to the freedom of the country and their willingness to render the fullest possible cooperation in framing an agreed constitution and to all genuine efforts towards facilitating the transfer of power on an agreed basis." This could be interpreted to mean that no agreement between the states and the rest of India will be reached until an agreement between the Congress and the Moslem League is achieved. This is the position of a number of States led by the Nawab of Bhopal. The resolution also ratifies the understanding reached between a Princes Committee and a Constituent Assembly Committee regarding allocation of seats in the Constituent Assembly (see India Today, March) "subject to the acceptance of the aforesaid understanding on the part of the Constituent Assembly, provided that this acceptance must precede the participation of the representatives of such States as may decide to do so in the work of the Constituent Assembly at the appropriate stage." In other words, the procedure adopted does not mean that States are committed to joining the Constituent Assembly but only provides for a procedure for those who want to. A number of states have already indicated that they will join the Assembly. They include Baroda, Chochin, the Bhavagnar and Darbar, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Jaipur, Patiala, Rewa and Bikaner. These states are joining for various reasons, the most compelling being that they feel that their future position will be more secure if they cooperate with nationalist India at an early date. The resolution also welcomes the British statement that paramountcy will cease at the time of the final transfer of power by June, 1948. "This means," the resolution continues, "that all rights surrendered by the States to the paramount power will revert to them and they will be in a position as independent units to negotiate freely in regard to their relationship with the others concerned." this interpretation leaves the States free to set themselves up as independent entities. The Premier of Hyderabad, the largest and most powerful of the Indian States, stated on April 8 that Hyderabad will form an "alliance with whatever central government emerges in an independent India." Such an alliance, he said, should result in a "common arrangement" on the same powers that a central government held for British India and the other Princely States. The statement is generally interpreted to mean that Hyderabad would like to be an independent state with perhaps some delegation of power to a weak central government. Hyderabad has so far refused to commit itself to joining the Constituent Assembly. Since it is a large state, it might conceivably be able to exist as a semi-independent entity in contrast to the many small states which have no practical choice but to be submerged in an Indian union. However, Hyderabad is land-locked and this will make it heavily dependent on the rest of India. The Nizam of Hyderabad is therefore treading a careful path between what he would like and what he can get. His attitude might have important repercussions on other large Princely states. Travancore, a coastal state, has already declared that it will become independent when Britain leaves. The resolution of the Conference of Rulers of Indian States reaffirmed "previous recommendations in regard to internal reforms and emphasizes the urgency and importance of suitable action being taken without delay where needed with due regard to local conditions." Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, addressing the All-India States' People's Conference at Gwalior on April 15 deplored the "shopkeepers mentality" of bargaining on the part of some of the Princes which he said would create enmity between them and the rest of India. "All those who do not join the Constituent Assembly now could be regarded as hostile States and they will have to bear the consequences of being so regarded," Nehru said. "Our aim at present is to liberate as much of India as we can--half or three-fourths --and then to deal with the question of independence for the rest. I know we have to make a lot of concessions. But sometimes one has to pay a high price for the country's larger interests." When agreement was reached with the Prince's Negotiating Committee, Nehru added, it was made clear that final approval would have to come from the people of the Indian States. "We were not satisfied with the method of selecting the States representatives but we had to concede certain points because we knew if the States joined the Assembly work would be finished more easily. I commend you to accept the agreement arrived at between the negotiating committees," Nehru said. Stating that all Princes did not belong in the same category and congratulating those who had decided to join the Constituent Assembly, Nehru declared that it was the duty of Praja Mandals (State Subjects Organizations) to demand the setting up of Constituent Assemblies in their respective States to frame their own constitutions. Liaquat Ali Khan, Finance Member in the Interim Government and General Secretary of the Moslem League replied to Nehru's statement by saying that when the decision regarding the future of India has been announced, the Indian States will be "free to negotiate agreements with Pakistan or Hindustan as the considerations of contiguity or their own self-interest may dictate, or they may choose to assume complete and separate sovereign status for themselves." Liaquat Ali Khan characterized the Constituent Assembly as "dead beyond resurrection, although Congress may pretend to ignore the fact." The Constituent Assembly will reconvene on April 28. RUPEE DELINKED FROM POUND India's currency was de-linked from sterling and linked to the currencies of all those countries which are members of the International Monetary fund with the passage of the Reserve Bank Act by the Central Legislative Assembly on April 9. The Act will not have the immediate effect of changing the rupee's exchange rate or of taking India out of the sterling area. INDIAN AMBASSADOR HONORED His Excellency M. Asaf Ali, India's first Ambassador to the United States, was the guest of honor of the India League of America at a dinner in the Hotel Commodore in New York on April 15. Colonel Louis Johnson, formerly President Roosevelt's personal representative in India, was toastmaster. Speakers were Pearl S. Buck, Honorary President of the India League, William Phillips, former Under Secretary of State and Colonel A. W. Herrington. The greetings of the League were presented by Richard J. Walsh, chairman of the Executive Committee. Over 700 persons attended. AMERICAN AMBASSADOR TO INDIA Henry F. Grady has been appointed the first American Ambassador to India. Mr. Grady was head of a technical mission to India in 1942. He helped write the reciprocal trade agreements program and served as Assistant Secretary of State under Cordell Hull. Recently, Mr. Grady served on the Allied Mission which observed the 1946 Greek elections. He is known as a New Dealer. NOTICE TO INDIA LEAGUE MEMBERS Some of the members of the League have enclosed their membership dues along with their annual ballots, without giving their names. These members are requested to communicate with the League office so that they may be credited with these payments. Published by India League of America. Hazel Whitman, Editor.--Officers and Executive Committee of the League: Honorary Presidents: Pearl S. Buck, Dr. Lin Yutang; President, Sirdar J. J. Singh; Chairman Executive Committee, Richard J. Walsh; Vice-Presidents: Louis Fischer, Dr. J. Holmes Smith; Secretary, Hemendra K. Rakhit; Treasurer, Roger N. Baldwin; Herbert J. De Varco, Sidney Hertzberg, Moosa Habib Rawjee, Dorothy Norman, Josephine Rathbone, S. S. Sarna, Rustum D. Wadia, Walter White.INDIA TODAY Published Monthly by INDIA LEAGUE OF AMERICA 40 East 49th Street, New York 17, n. y.--Tel. Plaza 3-5088 The League was organized in 1937 to interpret India and America to each other. The bulletin presents a brief synopsis and interpretation of authentic and significant news from India and gives a list of current articles bearing upon India. #2.00 per year 357 April 1946 MUST INDIA STARVE? Each day makes it clearer that only large-scale imports of grain can avert and Indian famine of unprecedented proportions. Yet as the famine deadline draws nearer, it still appears that almost nothing has actually been done. Speaking in New York on April 18 Sir Girja Shankar Bajpai, India's agent-General in the United States, declared that to date "not even a single grain" has been shipped from the United States to India. Yet for some areas of India famine is already at hand; for others, it will arrive in a matter of weeks; for none of the potential famine areas can it be delayed, in the absence of imports, beyond the end of July. The greatest problem faced in securing aid for India in time to prevent millions of deaths has been the almost complete ignorance of India's food situation which has prevailed in this country. To some extent it is possible that this ignorance has reflected a wish on the part of some officials to ignore a problem so vast that it offers no easy way out. The political pressures of the hungry countries of Europe have perhaps been greater than those which have operated in behalf of India, both because Europe is nearer and more familiar to most Americans, and because the problems of Europe appear to assume more manageable proportions than those of India. And the number of American voters of Indian extraction does not compare with the number from any of the countries of Europe. But it is probably that most of the ignorance in regard to India's needs has been genuine. Certainly one cannot believe that the statements of President Truman and Secretary of Agriculture Anderson, to the effect that the danger of famine in India has been decreased due to recent rains, were other than honest errors. Yet it is such mistaken impressions as to the facts which have been one of the principal obstacles with which India has had to contend Recently, there has been a change for the better in this situation. A large part of the credit for this belongs to the India Famine Emergency Committee, under the chairmanship of Pearl S. Buck, which has carried on a vigorous campaign to obtain and publicize the actual facts in regard to India's food situation. Much credit in this respect also belongs to United States High Commissioner to India George R. Merrell, who stated that his office had forwarded no reports to Washington which could furnish a basis for the optimism of the Truman and Anderson statements. And Mr. George E. Jones, the excellent correspondent of the New York Times, has done valuable work in acquainting the American public with India's needs. Nevertheless, the practical results obtained so far have been inadequate, and the time is short. Early last month the Government of India requested the Combined Food Board--which represents Great Britain, the United States, and Canada, but allocates the world's food supplies - for an allotment of 2,200,000 tons of grain, to be shipped before the end of June. This was the amount which it was estimated would be required if a ration of 960 calories a day was to be maintained - a diet on a level with that of Hitler's concentration camps, in the last stages of the war. This amount was not granted by the Combined Food Board. Sir Ramaswami Mudaliar and Sir Girja Shankar Bajpai have stated that a provisional allotment of 1,400,000 tons of wheat was made. But in reply to a telegram from Pearl S. Buck, Chairman of the India Famine Emergency Committee, the United States executive officer of the Combined Food Board, Mr. Glenn H. Craig, denied that the Board had "to date [April 17] recommended an allocation of wheat to India or to any other country." Commenting on this statement the head of the Food Department of the Government of India, Mr. B. R. Sen, declared that the news had taken him completely by surprise, since the 1,400,000 ton allotment represented a definite and final promise made by British Food Minister Sir Ben Smith and Prime Minister Attlee. He added: "Britain understands our desperate plight and has done everything possible to help us and to present our case to the world. We don't understand President Truman's statement and we don't know what is going on." The Government of India has asked the British Government to explain the discrepancy between the Craig statement and the promise made to India. But in any case, no grain has yet been shipped to India by the United States. Meanwhile the Government of India, the provincial governments, and the Indian people have been taking such steps as are within their power to meet the situation. Rationing has been introduced in areas where it previously did not exist. Rations, including those of the armed forces, have been cut. Central distributive machinery has been set up. A vigorous campaign to increase food production so far as possible, by such methods as cultivation of home vegetable plots and the planting of flower gardens to food crops, has been undertaken. But all these measures remain merely a drop in the bucket. The only hope of averting mass starvation in India in the coming months remains large scale and immediate importation of food grains from abroad. Late Famine Developments New Delhi, April 24. Former President Herbert Hoover arrived in Bombay today, after conferring with Mahatma Gandhi at the latter's headquarters in the Sweepers' Colony here. Mr. Hoover also conferred with Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and obtained his views on the famine situation. The former President pledged that the United States would do everything in its power to prevent famine in India, as well as in other areas of the world. It was emphasized that Mr. Hoover's visits to GandhiINDIA TODAY Published Monthly by INDIA LEAGUE OF AMERICA 40 East 49th Street, New York 17, N. Y.--Tel. PLaza 3-5088 The League was organized in 1937 to interpret India and America to each other. The bulletin presents a brief synopsis and interpretation of authentic and significant news from India, and reports the principal activities of the League. $2.00 per year 357 May, 1947 UNITED VERSUS DIVIDED INDIA The crucial issue of unity versus division of India continues to be the crucial problem in India as the various parties mobilized their strength for a showdown and the British prepared to announce their plan for transfer of power to Indian hands when the Viceroy, Lord Mountbatten, returns to India after consultation with the British Labor cabinet in London. The British decision to postpone their announcement, originally scheduled for May 17, for two weeks so that the Viceroy could go to London for consultation is an indication of the gravity of the situation. The Indian National Congress has traditionally stood for a free and united India while the Moslem League has consistently demanded a separate Moslem state consisting of the Punjab, Northwest Frontier Province, Baluchistan, Sind, Bengal and Assam with a corridor connecting the eastern and western parts of Pakistan. The most important prevailing attitudes at present are: 1) India must remain united. 2) India should be united but if this is impossible, Bengal and the Punjab should be partitioned leaving the predominantly Hindu or Sikh sections in Hindustan and the predominantly Moslem sections in Pakistan. 3) India must be completely divided with a corridor between the eastern and western parts of Pakistan. Mahatma Gandhi's Position Mahatma Gandhi strongly favors a united India and his point of view still constitutes a tremendous, if not necessarily decisive, influence in nationalist India. In an interview on May 5, Gandhi was asked: "Is the communal ing India to chaos or anarchy. This is so because there has been no home-rule; it has been imposed on the people. And when you voluntarily remove that rule there might be no rule in the initial state. It might have come about if we had gained victory by force of arms. The communal feuds you see here are in my opinion partly due to the presence of the British. If the British were not here we would still go through fire no doubt but that fire would purify us." Congress Position on Pakistan While the Congress position has always been for a united India, there are many indications that Congress will accept division as a last resort. According to reports there is considerable sentiment in Congress for this position provided that Bengal and the Punjab are partitioned. Nehru has publicly expressed this view. Dr. P. C. Ghosh, a member of the Congress Working Committee, stated on May 9: "The Congress Working Committee have with a deep sense of sorrow been reconciled to the division of India. Events have taken such a turn that the division has become inevitable." While reaffirming the Congress' allegiance to a united India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, generally referred to as the "boss" of the Congress Party, indicated in an interview on May 9 that Congress would reluctantly accept Pakistan "but it will result in dividing Bengal and the Punjab." Sardar Patel declared that the current British policy of "remaining neutral but holding power is the way of INDIA TODAY Published Monthly by INDIA LEAGUE OF AMERICA 40 East 49th Street, New York 17, N. Y.--Tel. PLaza 3-5088 The League was organized in 1937 to interpret India and America to each other. The bulletin presents a brief synopsis and interpretation of authentic and significant news from India, and reports the principal activities of the League. $2.00 per year 357 July, 1947 INDIA AND PAKISTAN TO BECOME DOMINIONS ON AUGUST 15 On August 15, the two independent dominions of India and Pakistan will come into being. The Indian Independence Bill providing for the new dominions and terminating British paramountcy over the Indian Princely States was rushed through Parliament to become law on July 18. India will consist of the provinces now known as British India, over which in the past Britain has maintained direct rule, with the exception of those parts of provinces which go to Pakistan, in addition to any Princely States which join India. This will include Assam (minus the Sylhet District which goes to Pakistan), Bihar, United Provinces, Orissa, Central Provinces, Madras, Bombay, the newly created provinces of West Bengal and East Punjab plus at least 60% of the Princely States which are expected to join the Union of India. It will also include the Andaman and Nicobar Island groups. Pakistan will consist of Sind, British Baluchistan, Northwest Frontier Province, the new provinces of West Punjab and East Bengal, the latter including the Sylhet District of Assam, and any Princely States which join Pakistan. The provinces of Punjab and Bengal will cease to exist, being divided between India and Pakistan. Indian Independence Act Ends Paramountcy Paramountcy, the system by which Britain ruled the Indian States indirectly through puppet Princes, will cease to exist. The States will be free to join India or Pakistan or remain independent. However, various British spokesmen have declared that any States which remain independent will not be recognized as separate international heart of the Union of India. The new dominions will be governed by their respective Constituent Assemblies which will perform the dual functions of legislating and constitution-making. The legislature of each dominion will have full powers to make laws for that dominion, including laws having extra-territorial operation, and including the right to limit the functions of the legislature. The British Parliament will have no power to make laws for the new dominions and the dominion legislatures will be free to deal with the existing laws as they please. A law passed by Parliament may be extended to the new dominions by a vote of the dominion legislature. In order to provide for the interim period while the new Constitutions and laws are being drawn up, the Government of India Act of 1935 will continue to apply with suitable omissions, adaptations and modifications made by the Governor-General except in so far as other provisions are made by the dominion legislatures. The Act will apply separately to each dominion, will entail no form of control by the British Government over the affairs of the dominions, and there will be no reserved subjects or disallowances of Provincial Acts. (Under the Government of India Act of 1935, certain subjects were "reserved" to the British and Acts of the legislatures could be set aside.) There will be a Governor-General for each dominion. The Act provides for a joint Governor-General unless provision is made to the contrary by the legislature of either of the dominions. According to reports, it was first agreed to have a jointINDIA TODAY Published Monthly by INDIA LEAGUE OF AMERICA 40 East 49th Street, New York 17, N. Y.--Tel. PLaza 3-5088 The League was organized in 1937 to interpret India and America to each other. The bulletin presents a brief synopsis and interpretation of authentic and significant news from India, and reports the principal activities of the League. $2.00 per year March, 1947 NEW TENDENCIES IN INDIAN POLITICS The British decision to withdraw from India by June, 1948, has had a profound effect on Indian political life. The fundamental question in India today is no longer a free India but what kind of a free India. This does not mean that the precise way in which the British will leave India will not be important. Nor does it mean that every political or economic group has a clear program for India's future. What it does mean is that the economic and political conflicts which have been submerged in the struggle for freedom are now beginning to make themselves felt. India's basic economic problems, land reform and industrialization, will be increasingly important, and Indian political alignments will change under the stress of these problems. This process may be slow or fast but it is inevitable as control of economic as well as political life passes into Indian hands. One of the most important reactions to the new situation was the decision of the Congress Socialist Party to broaden its membership to include non-Congressmen. This reflects a growing cleavage in the Congress between the right and left wings. Congress, being a nationalist party, inevitably includes divergent tendencies. Disagreement has been sharp in the past. During the 1942 civil disobedience movement, the official Congress position was to court arrest. The Socialists, however, disagreed with this strategy. They believed that a large-scale resistance movement had to be launched and therefore they went underground. More recently, they opposed the Congress entry into the Interim Government. They have also been critical of the operation of various provincial governments and have attacked what they regard as a race for political plums and office among some Congressmen. Their basic tendency has been to fight for policies which, according to them, would unleash the vast energies of the Indian masses towards the achievement of socialism in India. They have opposed policies which they believed would set nationalists competing for office and entrench anti-socialist elements in power. Their viewpoint is that communal tension in India is in part due to what they feel is the failure of Congress to mobilize India around a program for basic economic change. Socialist Goal Outlined Jai Prakash Narain, leader of the Congress Socialists, summarizes the economic picture of a socialist India in the November, 1946, issue of Janata, socialist paper, as follows: "Co-operative farming run by gram panchayats (village councils); collective farms in new settlements; large-scale industry owned and managed by the State; community-owned and managed industry; small industry organized into Producers' Cooperatives." Narain says that "the State in socialist India must be a full democratic State." He advocates full freedom for political parties representing workers, peasants, and lower middle-class interests. He stresses that the trade unions should not be "limbs of the State and subservient to it, but independent bodies supporting the State, and also exercising a check over the government of the day." He believes that both in agriculture and industry it is of the utmost importance to avoid "totalitarianism of the type we witness in Russia today." Convention Decisions Explained At the convention of the Congress Socialist Party held at Cawnpore in the beginning of March, Dr. Rammanohar Lohia, its president, stated that the decision to admit non-Congressmen should not be interpreted as a hostile gesture. He said that the bonds between Congress and Congress Socialists had not been removed but only loosened. Socialists could hereafter work in different spheres of public life, such as the peasant (Kisan) and labor movements with freedom, according to Dr. Lohia. Jai Prakash Narain announced that the socialists will launch a unity campaign all over the country; propagate among Moslems that the division of India is against their interests; prepare the people of West Bengal and the Eastern Punjab to resist if they are forced to join Pakistan; organize the Mazdoors (workers) and peasants for launching a movement to obtain power for them. The convention changed the name of the party to the Socialist Party (India). According to reports, this was done in deference to the wishes of senior Congressmen. The right wing of Congress, whose acknowledged leader is Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Home Secretary in the Interim Government, has often been embarrassed by the activities of the Congress Socialists and Patel has rebuked them publicly on occasion. The right wing is generally taken to mean the Indian industrialists, such as Tata and Birla, who have backed the Congress Party. This group favors state planning as an essential of industrializing an economically backward country, but would also like a considerable measure of private enterprise, and would, of course, want an important voice in determining the kind of state planning to be followed. Many Congressmen belong to neither the right nor left wing tendencies in Congress, although official Congress programs have leaned in a socialist direction. However, it is to be expected that Congress will be increasingly polarized between the left and right wings. Communists are excluded from Congress membership and most Congress opinion, including the right and left wings, is hostile to them for varying reasons. the conflicting elements in Indian political life were INDIA TODAY Published Monthly by INDIA LEAGUE OF AMERICA $2.00 per year 40 East 49th Street, New York 17, N. Y. Tel. PLaza 3-5088 The League was organized in 1937 to interpret India and America to each other. The bulletin presents a brief synopsis and interpretation of authentic and significant news from India and gives a list of current articles bearing upon India. Vol. VI, No. 4 JULY 1945 INDIAN AND THE LABOR VICTORY The Labor landslide in Great Britain will improve the atmosphere in India, but it will not necessarily mean a material change. Here are the relevant facts that must be included in any estimate of the situation: The official position of the British Labor Party is full of good will, but without commitments to specific action. (See India Today, Jan. 1945.) The position of Prime Minister Attlee is static (See interview in this issue.) The position of Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin is not known except for his pledge, made during the campaign, to abolish the India Office and place India under the Dominion Secretary. Sir Stafford Cripps, who will be President of the Board of Trade in the new cabinet, recently urged general elections in India. In India, comment on the elections was circumspect. The Hindustan Times of New Delhi, edited by Devadas Gandhi, said: "This transformation in British politics may or may not mean radical changes in the imperialistic creed, but it cannot mean that the same values will be applied by Labor as by the Tories." Vallabhai Patel, a member of the Congress Working Committee, seemed to express general Nationalist sentiment with his comment: "We shall judge the Labor Party by what they do after they have formed a government. When they had their government on previous occasions we had a very sad experience. We hope that this time, having a good majority, they will live up to their professions." The Moslem League organ, Dawn had no editorial comment on the elections. Only one prediction can be made with assurance: The Labor government will support Viceroy Lord Wavell in whatever moves he thinks ought to be made to break the deadlock. The possibilities for new moves are: Appointment of an Executive Council including Moslems but without the participation of the Moslem League, or the calling of new elections, or both. However, the new Labor Government must move very quickly if it wants to obtain the confidence of the people of India. Any delay will inevitably arouse suspicion and mistrust. People of India and friends of India all over the world will now eagerly await the implementation of Labor Party's pledge of independence to India. The first move will be watched with keen interest as it is likely to indicate the new Labor Government's policy towards India. EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH ATTLEE Sirdar J. J. Singh, President of the India League, attended the San Francisco Conference as representative of a group of Indian newspapers. His reportorial activities included an interview on May 4, 1945 with Clement Attlee, who was a delegate. Mr. Singh's only story on this interview follows.--ED. By J. J. SINGH My talk with Major Clement R. Attlee was interesting but disappointing. It was disappointing because the Labor Prime Minister seemed to have no more liberal or progressive attitude towards India than any Conservative with the exception perhaps of Churchill. Like many Englishmen, he has talked himself into believing that the trouble really lies with the Indians and not with the British. I told him that, though India's past experiences did not justify any optimism with regard to the British Labor Party, yet it is generally considered more liberal. So I wondered if he and his party had given any thought to finding some way to settle the India problem. Attlee snapped back. "I would like to ask you that question. Have the Indians decided among themselves what they want?" Then after puffing on his pipe, he added: "It is very difficult for us to do anything when we know that anything we may offer will be rejected. I really think it is up to the Indians." I remarked that though he is sincerely convinced the British could not part with power unless the Indians got together, the Indians were just as sincerely convinced that so long as the British keep power they will never get together. I asked Attle if he did not think the continuance of the political deadlock in India was likely to endanger world peace. He agreed. I suggested that, in the absence of a settlement, the present bitterness might be intensified beyond reason or control, and that within five years after the end of the war there might be an armed revolution in India with the help of a foreign power. I added that he could easily guess who the foreign would be. That, I said, would mean chaos and bloodshed. I ended by asking "Do you want that?" Attlee said. "Oh no, oh no, certainly not." Attlee said he thought that Indian leaders made a great mistake in not accepting the Cripps offer. "The Cripps offer," he added, "is still open. I think they ought to accept it and become a Dominion with the right to secede from the empire." At the time of the interview, Nehru and other Indian leaders were still in jail. I mentioned this and Attlee agreed that it was a great loss to the builders of future peace not to have a man like Nehru with them. Attlee hoped that something would be done soon. At the end he said: "I am always working for Indian freedom."Gandhi Arrives in Bombay BOMBAY, March 31 (AP)—Mohandas K. Handhi arrived here today to attend meetings with trustees of the Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Fund. Traveling third class as usual, the Nationalist leader alighted from his train at a grade-crossing outside Bombay to avoid demonstrations. Gandhi was expected to receive a few leaders of the All-India Congress party, including Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, the "frontier Gandhi." [*1943*] India's Status Equal To Other Participants LONDON, April 28 (Reuters)— The status of India at the San Francisco Conference is the same as that of any other United Nation taking part, the Secretary for India, Mr. Leopold Amery, stated in the House of Commons. He was ansering a Labor Member, Mr Reginald Sorensen, who asked what India's standing was and who nominated the members of the India delegation. "The selection of Sir Ramaswami Mutaliar and Sir Firoz Khan Noon as delegates was made by the Governor General in Council," Mr. Amery stated. "Sir V. T. Krishnamachari agreed to serve as third delegate at the invitation of the Crown representative." INDIA TODAY Published Monthly by INDIA LEAGUE OF AMERICA $2.00 per year 40 East 49th Street, New York 17, N. Y. Tel. PLaza 3-5088 The League was organized in 1937 to interpret India and America to each other. The bulletin presents a brief synopsis and interpretation of authentic and significant news from India and gives a list of current articles bearing upon India. Vol. IV, No. 9 DECEMBER, 1943. Indian Students' Reply to British Library of Information's "50 Facts About India" The British Library of Information has recently been circulating a booklet titled "50 Facts About India." There has just come into the possession of the editor a pamphlet published in India answering these statements, fact by fact. The answers are the work of Indian students. We intend to publish each month a certain number of these answers, together with the "facts" as stated by the British Library of Information. 6. "There are two Chambers in the Central Legislature the Council of State of 58 members and the Legislative Assembly of 141 members, of whom 32 and 102 respectively are elected by their fellow Indians." Answer: "These Chambers which in fact have no freedom of approaching even to a College Debating Society are toy Parliaments to give the semblance of democracy to an Imperialist Government. The Viceroy can veto everything including mere discussions on subjects of public importance. If cuts are passed by the Legislature on tax proposals or budgets they can be restored by the Viceroy. This happens invariably. "The composition of the two Houses is such that communal and vested interests far outweigh the national representation. The vested interests are safeguarded by 40 nominated members in the Assembly and 26 in the Council. The Government members or executive councillors also vote. The franchise is fixed at a very high property qualification-- annual income of Rs. 30,000 for the Council and the minimum payment of income tax the minimum income to be defined from time to time for the Legislative Assembly. The territorial seats in the Legislative Assembly have been distributed on a communal basis highly favorable to the British and generally favorable to the Muslims. Some years ago Hindus were pampered; now the Muslims. The change of front is significant." 7. "The Chief Executive of British India is the Viceroy. The Viceroy's Executive Council contains 11 Indians and 4 British members. Indians hold the portfolios of Defense, Labour, Commerce, Supply, Indians Overseas and Law. The British portfolios are War, Finance, Home and War Transport." Answer: "The Viceroy is the sole dictator of British India. He has more powers than those of the President of the United States, the Premier of the United Kingdom, the Dictators of the totalitarian countries or the Roman Patria Potesta of old. He is the supreme authority in every field. He is given the power of statute and convention, to override any decision of the Central Legislature, to make laws by passing Acts independently of the Legislature, to issue Ordinances and to suspend the entire constitutional machinery and govern the country himself. He is the head of the Executive, and his authority in this capacity is subjected to no limitations. He controls personally the important departments mentioned above. 80% of the budget is determined by him and with respect to the remaining 20% he can disallow any financial measure passed by the Legislature. On top of it all he is vested with 'Special Responsibilities' which cover every aspect of governmental activity, which he can discharge in his discretion. He is the British nominee of the Secretary of State. He in turn nominates the members of his Executive Council. For the first time in 1941 when the Council was expanded for war purposes there was a majority of Indian prize-boys. Till then it was preponderately British in composition. Even with this Indian majority inconsequential portfolios are divided up while the vital departments of War, Finance, Home Department (in charge of repression) and War Transport ('war' transport seems to be a misnomer, the member is in charge of all transport) and Foreign Affairs are the chosen preserve of the Britishers although none but 'safe and reliable' Indians alone are appointed to the Executive Council. The portfolio of 'Defense' is likely to mislead misinformed minds. What the member in charge really does is to look after the comfort of the soldiers, essentially foreign, on Indian soil and he is the chief canteen supervisor in the country." 8. "The Viceroy is bound by the advice of the majority of his Executive Council in all executive decisions and though he has the right to overrule it in certain specific circumstances, this right has not been used since 1879. Matters of policy, too, even those relating to external affairs are increasingly submitted to the Executive Council for advice. The arrest of Mr. Gandhi for example and other measures taken to counter his movement were decided upon by a meeting of the Executive Council, at which only one British member in addition to the Viceroy, was present and and 11 other members were Indians." Answer: "The Viceroy as can be seen from the nature of his powers and the history of their use is not bound even by the 'advice' of the majority of his council. There is an attempt to draw away the attention of the reader from the fact that he has the powers to exercise the veto and the certification--which have become second nature to him-- by saying that he has the right to overrule only "in certain specific circumstances." An attempt is made to create the impression that in ordinary circumstances he takes the advice of the councillors and abides by it. In fact the Viceroy can, with a single member, discharge the functions of the whole council. The Finance Bills, presented by the British Finance Member of the Executive Council, and invariably thrown out by the Legislative Assembly since long, have been certified by the Viceroy. Even the special war budget of November 1940 which was introduced to take advantage of the voluntary withdrawal of the Congress COMMUNIST HEAD HELD RESPECTED BY INDIANS BOMBAY (ONA) - The Communist Party of India, ranking next to the Congress and the Moslem League among political organizations, is shaping up as a potent influence upon the future of this vast country. Leadership of the party is in the experienced hands of J. C. Joshi, executive secretary of the party, whose organizers and members he directs with a capable hand, a fiery zeal and a prolific typewriter. His bitterest critics in India will concede that he is intensely sincere, and while Mohandas K. Gandhi himself has frequently expressed opposition to the party's efforts, questioned its motives, suggested it has foreign support, and impugned ulterior motives to Joshi's movement, he recently wrote to Joshi: "I dare not condemn you." Joshi is feared, he is opposed; but he is respected. Perhaps this is because he was born a Brahmin. Perhaps it is because he forsook his Brahmin household, where he could live in comfort that bordered on luxury, and came to live among the poor. Today Joshi wears poor-quality cotton shorts and open-neck shirt, nothing else - not even shoes. From behind his spectacles his sparkling brown eyes peer at you, reflecting his earnest zeal and determination to help the little people of India, according to his pattern. When interviewed two weeks before the war ended, he said his party's main program was to "get all India behind the war against Japan." "As for the future," he said, "we have definite plans which call for nationalization of industries and distribution of the land among the people. We want to correct the evils that now exist. There must be education of the masses. It was done in Russia, you remember. It can be done here. Collective farming, social services, free public libraries, distribution of radio sets and motion pictures -- educational pictures -- sending of trained teachers into all parts of the country -- these are some of our plans." [*N.Y. TIMES - Aug. 18, 1945*] INDIAN MINER'S LIFE DONE IN DARK COLORS A depressing picture of the life of workers in the mines of India is given in the bulletin of the International Federation of Trade Unions, condensed as follows from a memorandum by the Indian Federation of Labor: "The average monthly earnings of all mind workers amounted to about 18 rupees [a rupee equals about 30 cents]. Although this represents a nominal increase of 80 per cent since the outbreak of the war, it is wholly inadequate in terms of purchasing power. The official existence minimum figure of wages is 10 rupees per head per month. Present earnings would thus not even reach one-half the minimum requirements of life for a family of four. "As no minimum wage figure is fixed, no restraint is imposed on the private arbitrariness of the individual employer. The rise of profits and of the incidence of accidents are the best indication of the extent of exploitation. Often, even the most elementary safety precautions are not observed, like adequate ventilation and pumping, miners' safety lamps, standard winding equipment, etc. "As the act on the payment of wages does not apply to coal mines, the evil conditions are aggravated by certain business practices. The so-called Mushi system -- an arbitrary estimate by corrupt overseers of the quantity of coal produced -- leads in practice to the extravagant enrichment of these individuals at the expense of the workers under them. "The appointment of the so-called sirdar is, if possible, an even greater scandal. He is a paid recruiting officer who acts as an intermediary between the employer and the worker, and who takes a rake-off for himself in the form of premiums, etc. This deplorable system has come into force in some 90 per cent of the mines in recent years. In many cases this recruiting agent draws, over and above his fixed pay, more in premiums than the miner's wages. The miner is often completely in the power of the agent. "The welfare provisions which are laid down for free housing, water supply, medical treatment, and cheap rice rations, exist for the most part only on paper. "As a general rule, the working is four days a week, and twelve hours a day. Only in a few cases are hours limited to eight a day. The result is a steady decline in the output per head, particularly in the first group, and a steady rise in the number of unworked shifts because of physical exhaustion." INDIA TODAY Published Monthly by INDIA LEAGUE OF AMERICA 40 East 49th Street, New York 17, N. Y. Tel. PLaza 3-5088 The League was organized in 1937 to interpret India and America to each other. The bulletin presents a brief synopsis and interpretation of authentic and significant news from India and gives a list of current articles bearing upon India. $2.00 per year August, 1946 NEHRU HEADS INTERIM GOVERNMENT On August 24 in New Delhi, Viscount Wavell, Viceroy of India, announced the formation of an Executive Council for India, headed by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, president of the Indian National Congress. Thus for the first time, after almost two and one-half centuries of British rule, the administration of India has now placed in the hands of Indians. Although under the Government of India Act of 1919 the Viceroy will retain the powers of "veto and certification," the Viceroy has stated that the new Government will have "maximum freedom" in its everyday administration. The Viceroy announced that the new Government will take office on September 2 and "will administer in the interest of the country as a whole and not of any one party or creed." The new members of the Viceroy's Executive Council are: M. Asaf Ali--an outstanding Moslem, member of the Congress "High Command." For three years (1942- 1945) he was in the same jail as Nehru. His wife, Aruna Asaf Ali, is the well-known Socialist revolutionary who has openly opposed Gandhi's non-violent policies, and was one of the prominent leaders of the "underground" movement when the other leaders were in jail. Age 58. Mr. Coverjee Hormusjee Bhabha--the only member of the Executive Council who is not a nationwide figure. He is known mostly in business circles. Age 35. Sarat Chandra Bose--leader of the Congress Party in the Central Legislative Assembly in New Delhi. He is one of the outstanding members of the Congress Party and wields strong influence in the Province of Bengal. His brother, Subhas Chandra Bose, organized the Indian National Army in Burma. Age 57. Sir Shafaat Ahmad Khan--a former member of the Moslem League, who recently resigned from the League. He has been High Commissioner for India in south Africa. (1941-1945) Age 53, (Sir Shafaat was attacked [*??????????????????????????????????????????????????*] is reputed to be conservative. Age 71. Dr. Rajendra Prasad--a highly respected Congress Party leader. Has been a member of the Congress Working Committee for several years and is a former president of the Congress (1934 and 1939). Age 62. Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari--former Premier of Madras in the first Congress Ministry (1937-1937). He is looked upon as an "elder statesman." Age 67. Jagjivan Ram--president of the Depressed Classes (Untouchables) League. This League is in opposition to the Scheduled Castes Federation of Dr. Ambedkar, who wants separate electorates and representation for the Scheduled Castes. Mr. Jagjivan Ram works closely with the Congress Party and does not believe in separate electorates or representation. Sirdar Baldev Singh--a leading member of the Akali (Sikh) Party. Member of the Punjab Provincial Ministry. Though he belongs to the Akali Party, he has always been considered a pro-Congress man. Age 43. Syed Ali Zaheer--the leader of a very strong Moslem organization called "All-India Shia Conference." This organization is opposed to the Moslem League in its demand for "Pakistan." Age 49. (Two more Moslem members will be appointed later.) It will be noted that no members of the Moslem League were named to the Executive Council. This was because of the July 29 Moslem League decision to withdraw its acceptance of the British Cabinet Mission proposals. the League has declined to participate either in an interim government or in the Constituent Assembly to which it has already elected members and which is to meet shortly to frame the Constitution of a Free India in accordance with the White Paper issued by the British Cabinet Ministers on May 16, 1946. Opinion both in New Delhi and London is that it is most unfortunate that the Moslem League has decided to reject Viceroy Wavell's offer to the Moslem League to join the interim government in which they were offered five seats out of the fourteen. [*????????????????????????????????????????????????*] INDIA TODAY Published Monthly by INDIA LEAGUE OF AMERICA $2.00 per year 40 East 49th Street, New York 17, N. Y. Tel. PLaza 3-5088 The League was organized in 1937 to interpret India and America to each other. The bulletin presents a brief synopsis and interpretation of authentic and significant news from India and gives a list of current articles bearing upon India. Vol V, No. 9 DECEMBER, 1944 INDIAN LEADER ARRIVES IN NEW YORK Mrs. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, India's first woman Minister, and sister of Jawaharlal Nehru, arrived in New York on December 8. She is here on a private visit to see her daughters, from whom she has been separated since she was arrested in August 1942 together with other Congress leaders. Mrs. Pandit was released from prison after being held without trial for nearly a year, and then only for reasons of ill-health. She has been very actively engaged in organizing famine relief in Bengal, and during her stay here hopes to get some rest before she returns to India. "I feel sure that thousands of American lives would be saved if the political situation in India could be cleared up," said Mrs. Pandit at a press conference held in New York on December 10. "The war against Japan promises to be long arduous," she continued. "This is indicated by the slow and laborious campaign against the Japanese in Burma, as well as by the serious military situation in China. The British Government in India boasts of an army of nearly two million men. Why then has the campaign against the Japanese in Burma been so long in starting, and once started why is it so slow?" Elaborating her remarks, Mrs. Pandit said that the Indian people felt that they had no part in the war so long as a definite promise of independence after the war, and present fulfilment of that promise by a responsible national Government in India was denied by the British Government. This fact was responsible for the lack of enthusiasm among Indian soldiers, which had been remarked by General Stilwell and other American and even British officers. "It is useless to deny that the Indian army is mercenary." Mrs. Pandit asserted. "Almost without exception men 'volunteer' because they have no other means of livelihood. I know the case of a young student who applied for an Emergency Commission as an officer. At an interview granted him by the British authorities, he was asked what unless she were led and governed by her own people. It was because of this that we felt the Cripps offer was Inadequate. It merely undertook to expand the Executive Council and include more Indians while maintaining the Viceroy's powers of veto. It denied any responsibility to the country's elected representatives. "We did not feel that in such circumstances we could rally the Indian people. You have no doubt been told that the Cripps offer constitutes virtual independence. The British have been careful to gloss over the fact that the privilege granted to every petty little Prince and Princeling to stay out of the Indian union would have the effect of 'Balkanizing' India. You will appreciate this when I say that there are 563 Indian Princes scattered over the length and breadth of my country and propped up by British bayonets." Asked what she thought could be done to solve the present deadlock, Mrs. Pandit said, "The first step is to release my brother, Jawaharlal Nehru, and the other Congress leaders who have now been in prison, without any trial, since August 1942. Without their advice and participation no move to solve the present situation can succeed. It was by denying Mahatma Gandhi even the right to consult these men and women in prison, that the Gandhi-Jinnah meeting was sabotaged from the very start. If the British Government were really anxious to solve the problem, they could easily release the Congress Working Committee and other Congress leaders on parole. It should by now be evident to anybody with any sense of fairness that these men and women are not enemies of the Allies. "Mahatma Gandhi, one of the most vigorous proponents of the 'Quit India' resolution," she continued, "has been released and none of the frightful revolutions conjured up by the British have come to pass. It seems unreasonable, to say the least, that other Congress leaders are not freed. The situation has altered considerably since 1942 and the British should afford the Congress leaders an opportunity