Evening star., 1925-02-05
USE GANDH| NAME
In RED EDPROPAGANDA
|BoIshevists Try to Convince
Masses They Stand for Doc
trineS of Indian Leader.

Follotcing is the second article by
DR.. Sten hono,o dealing tuith the un-
rest IN India and the dctivity there
Of the Russian communist tnterna-
ttondIe.
By DR. STEN KGNow.
Correspondence of The Star and the Chicago
Daily News.
SANTINIkETAN, Bengal, India, Jan
uary There are some circum-
stances that seem to point to the
conclusion that there is a certain
connection between the recrudescence
Of anarchist crime in India and the
anti-British rropa ganda of the Com
munist Internationale in Moscow. The
anarchists have proved to be in pos
session of arms and ammunition,
partly of a kind that cannot be OBJ
tanned in India, and must, therefore,
hava been smuggled from abroad. 1t
seems to be well established that such
things have been discovered repeat
edly hidden below or in the cargoes
of Russian ships in Indian ports
Quite recently the bolsheviks have
begun to make use of Mahatma
Gandhi's name in their propaganda.
They represent him as a protagonist
of bolshevism. In doing so they point
which they will be able to interpret
as the outcome of bo1shevist ideas.
Gandhl has spoken strongly against un-
touchability, the largely prevailing
prejudice that the lowest classes of
Indian society are impure and that
members of the higher castles cannot
touch them or even come near them.
Moreover, in South Africa, as in In
Ola, Gandhi has stood up for the
masses SSi nf
their employers. and his agitation
against what he used to call the
satanic" government Of India can be
interpreted easily from the bolshevist
point of view as a fight against cap
italism. If we bear in mind that the
British empire in India was founded
by a. commercial company of English
capitalists and that the British ad-
ministration in India has never been
able to dissociate itself from the mer-
camille tendencies inherited from that
honorable company.
Gandhi's View Altered.
1t does not trouble the Soviet au-
' thoritfes in the least that Gandhi has
always. in strong terms, condemned
the use of violence and terror which
play so large a role in bolshevism and
that he has never had any dealings
Whatever with the bolsheviks Their
followers will feel convinced that
Gandhi Is their ally and is working
IN intimate understanding with Mos
COW. If 1t proves possible to con-
vince the masses in India that such
Is the case, the veneration which the
Indian people bestow on the Mahatma
VIII make 1t possible for the bolshe-
vlks TO pose as true friends of India.
In the course of the last year, more
over we have read more than once
ont I1ll
declared themselves to be in favor of
the bolshevist idea. Their pronounce
ments sometimes have been rather
vague, and 1t has been impossible to
avoid the impression that their con-
ception of bolshevism was not ex
actly the same as that of the Russian
communists. Nevertheless it seems
certain that bolshevism as a catch
word has exercised a certain infiu-
ence on Indian minds.
Red Party I'm India.
We can see also that such self
styled bolsheviks have sought con-
nection with the Russian third inter-
natlonale India has had it's repre-
sentatives at the great gatherings of
Communists, and this year a lawsuit
before the Indian courts has brought
10 light certain facts which seem to
point to an organization of the prop
aganda in India under Russian
leadership. A certain Mr.. Roy, who
lives in Europe, sometimes in Russia,
sometimes in Germany, has sent in
structions home to friends and fellow
workers about the proper steps to be
taken in order to promote the cause
of communism in India. There was to
have been a secret Communist party
that would have worked outwardly
with constitutional methods, but in
reality would have aimed at over
throwing the existing society and
bringing about the golden age of
which bolshevism dreams The cor
respondence, to some extent at least,
was intercepted. by government
agents, and several of the persons
implicated have been prosecuted and
sentenced.
The chief impression of the pro-
ceedings, however, is that we have
not before us a widespread and dan
gerous movement, with clear and
we'll defined aims. Mr.. Roy does not
seem to have any qualification for
becoming a real leader of men. To
him communism, like the blessed
word of Mesopotamia, is somewhat
vague and mystic idea, which fills
him with a sacred thrill, but at the
same time he is evidently carried
away by a naive feeling of his own
Importance as an influential CO.
worker for the advancement of the
hazy ideals that have taken his fancy
and stirred his intellect. Some per-
sons think 1t would have been wiser
10 leave him and his theorizing
friends alone than to give to their
undertaking the publicity which is a
necessary consequence of a regular
lawsuit.
Source of Anarchy.
On the whole, it would seem that we
have not sufficient reason for assum-
ing that to any considerable extent
the anarchist movement in Bengal is
due to the influence of bolshevist Rus
sia- Anarchism had made itself felt
in India, notably in Bengal, long be-
fore the Bolsheviks came into power
in Russia. In the troubIous times of
nationalist agitation, when I lived in
India, almost 20 years ago, several
attempts were made on the lives of
Englishmen by young Indians, who
had eagerly studied the writings Of
European reyolutionarles, and who
believed that their methods were the
surest means of freeing their coun-
try OF foreign domination and restor-
ing their motherland to it's old glory.
when the young Bengalis sasng their
national hymn, 'Laude Mataram" ("I
Praise Thee. MotherD, they thought