The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1922-01-15
BR|TISNCROWD
PRISONS WITH
INDIAN REBELS


Move for Independence
USE or TORTURE CHARGED
Nationalist Leader in Washing
ton Asserts Acts of Czarism
Are Surpassed.
Drastic measures taken. by the
British authorities in India TO sup
press the passive" revolt headed
BY Mohandas X. Gandhi. ara
rapidly filling the prisons If that
country with men. women and
children convicted lin some cases
merely suspected) Of revolutionary
activity. Copies Of Indian papers
which have Just been received here
by the American Commission To
Promote Self-government in India,
have column after column of reports
from all over >the country telling
of arrests Of nationalist leaders,
end of others active in promoting
the boycott against British goods
and the policy of non-co-operation
inaugurated by Gandhi. as the first
step to Independence.
Under two-colunnn heading Prog
ress of Repression" the Bombay
Chronicle, for December 1, publishes
a long account Of the case OF @. b.
Deshpande, president Of the Dharwar
district conference of the All India
National Congress, who was impris-
oned for making a speech In which
he accused the government Of NAL
administration, of broken promises,
and of great injustice. Under the
Indian laws, his remarks were ad-
judged unfair criticism" and he was
sentenced to a long term In prison.
People Rally to Prisoner.
How the Indian people feel about
these prosecutions il indicated by two
reports printed directly after that OF
the Deshpande verdict. One from
Belgium tells of a government en-
n, ye resigning as q protest against
British repression; the other, from
Gadag. tells how the people OF that
town turned out to honor Dashpande
as he passed through on his way to
prison.
A report from Bigram, in Bengal.
of a nationalist women's mass meet
CODuuCtCu oCAAoAtSS Va PoAsSS
prohibition, says AL the ladies
showed eagerness to enter Jail with
their children. Unique enthusiasm
prevails here"
"How many thousands OF Indians
have been arrested within the last two
months. 1t is impossible to estimate"
Sailendra N. Chose, director of the
American Commission To Promote
Self-sovernment in India, said yester-
day in discussing recent reports from
India. Before the Prince OF Wales
entered Calcutta on Christmas Eve
more than 10000 Nationalist were
arrested in that city and elsewhere in
Bengal. Similar acts Of repression
have taken place in every province
through which the Prince has passed.
Definite reports have received show
a total Of more than $1,000 arrests.
but that figure Ia incomplete, and
when complete records are available
It will be found that probably more
than 100000 persons have been de-
prived of their liberty through the
visit of the Prince.
Thousands Die In Prisons.
Never in the darkest days of Rus
STA under the Cars was repression and
persecution carried to greater ex-
tremes then 1t 10 being carried in
India today by the British author.
tiles. Within the last two years, In
the jails of Bengal alone, more than
1000 young Indians have died, the
majority men of education and high
standing in their communities. In
every case death has been duo directly
to the inhuman methods Of prison
management practiced by the British.
Tortures that could have been con.
s~&. txy hi -
practiced in the British prisons-tor.
lures so revolving the details are
impossible to publish.
Men, women and children are
treated alike-the one design of the
British being to crush the spirit of
the people by torturing their relatives
who are in prison.
These things are done where the
prisoner IL not condemned to death, or
transported to the Andaman Islands
or some other penal colony-places that
moro nearly meet Dante's description
Of Hell than any other institution on
earth.
Repression Strengthens Movement.
1T Is a notable fact, however, that
instead Of queIling the will for free
dom. the British tactics have only
made the people more determined tc
cast off the yoke. Although I have
studied thousands Of reports Of prison
ers who have been ill-treated, I have
yet to find one in which cruelty. nc
matter how great. has changed the
will of the prisoner, or made him asl,
his friends to cease their revolution
ary activities.
ION the contrary, each act of repres
sion wins scores of converts to the re-
publican cause. and this month, when
massed civil disobediance' is prac.
ticed for the first time with the re-
fusal to pay taxes to the British, the
government in India will realize what
the independence movement really
means, and how universally II is being
supported by the people. That will
be the turning point In the passive
revolt. 1t is Uncomfortable that the
British will calmly accept the Indians
refusal to pay taxes. AS Imprisonment
of whole communities is impracticable
IL not impossible, the only alternative
for the British is to use force. When
that is done, India will rise in armed
might, and the fight will be to q
finish" .- ..r 1